With the podcast trilogy starting within a weeks time I thought I'd kick this thread off with the first reveal trailer for Drake's Fortune (and a reminder to myself for posting something this time).
I'm most definitely a fan of the series and can proudly call Uncharted: Drake's Fortune my first platinum trophy and a bold new direction for Naughty Dog, not to forget the example of their ICE team paving the way for technical advancement on the questionably awkward architecture of the PS3 at that time.
Good call, I'll post some thoughts for the first of the podcast trilogy.
Uncharted was the reason I got a Playstation 3. I'd been the proud owner of a Playstation 1 from about 1996, but when the Xbox was released I jumped ship to Microsoft and never owned a PS2. I bought a 360 almost on release and really had no desire to get a PS3 whatsoever. Then I saw a video of this new game, Uncharted. I thought it looked really exciting, like a cross between the exploration of early Tomb Raider games and the cover based shooting of Gears Of War. I didn't get a PS3 for quite some time after the game was released, but eventually my girlfriend bought me one for my 30th birthday and I went straight out to buy Uncharted the very same day.
To say I enjoyed the game is an understatement. I absolutely loved it. The tight combat, the lush environments, the brilliant graphics (I remember being genuinely impressed when Drake emerges from water still dripping wet). Everything tied together by a storyline which whilst it wasn't going to win the Pulitzer Prize was far better than 90% of action games out there, and the voice acting (especially from the ubiquitous Nolan North) was exemplary.
That's not to say the game was flawless - it had a few niggles, but they really were minor points. The motion controlled grenade throwing was a pain in the ass, the game was slightly combat heavy too I felt, some of the puzzles were a little tedious and the point near the end where the game basically turns in to a run and gun for a short while wasn't much fun, but that aside the game is pretty close to perfection for me. I still maintain it's the best of a very strong series which has never let us down yet.
Uncharted was one of the games that made me get a PS3,the color palette in particular caught my attetion when most games at the time were using only brown and gray,when I finnaly got my hands on it I played through it in a weekend and went on to replay it immediately after.
What I really made me like the game was how it was like a modern version of Indiana Jones it was a fun treasure hunter story full of twists and turns and some great characters Like Sully,Elena and gamming most beloved sociopath Nathan Drake,the game is very cinematic but for uncharted I think it works really well.
Gameplay wise my favorite parts were by far the puzzle solving and plataforming since it basically expanded on what Tomb Raider had previously set.The combat,while I dont think it's too bad in this game,was the weakest part of the game with it feeling more like a chore than anything else.Overall though it's a great game and one of my favorites in the Ps3.
I feel the first Uncharted gets a bit of a bad rap these days. Almost like it has become the forgotten first child, placed in the corner and reminded what its younger brothers managed to do better.
There is a certain purity to the first game I still feel very fondly about. Before the developers moved towards the more cinematic presentations of the sequels this was only concearned with providing a grand tale in exotic locales with a hero that, right from the start, oozed a huge amount of charm and wit. Right from the first cutscene Drake felt pitch perfect, easy going and funny in a way that was endearing to me. He felt like a genuine person, a proper character.
The is something wonderfully ambitious about Drakes Fortune that still shines through. The emphasis placed on telling an interesting story with good characters while mixing in platforming, puzzling and combat was done in a way where one never felt like it overpowered the other. Everything seemed to flow nicely, at least for the first three quaters, in a way that felt very natural and very compulsive. It is a lot of fun to play and something that is pretty rare in gaming, a proper adventure. An adventure with real breadth, real ambition and a desire to invoke the internal Indiana Jones in every player. I will admit that everything looks and behaves much more simplisticly coming back to it now but I do not see that as a bad thing, in many ways I enjoy that more than what they tried to stuff into the later games without success.
There are issues for me; While the gunplay is fine and does the job the weapon sounds and sense of impact is poor, creating an impression of what should be a powerful weapon having no more impact than a BB gun. The brawling struggles due to timing issues and the final sections suffer due to the more supernatural elements detracting from the excellent work that has gone before it. Drakes movement can also feel sluggish at points, leading to moments of irritation as he responds slightly late to commands given.
This game feels like a good first album to me, the little gem forgotten once the masses got wind of what the fuss was all about. It is still my second favourite after the sequel despite its little quirks mainly because it it feels so unpressured by expectation.
Having finished the sequels and spending an unhealthy amount of time on their respective multiplayer components my recent playthrough of the original was something I went back to with some level of trepidation.
I adored it at the time and despite losing my save to the trophy patch I endured all difficulties, seeking out all treasures and experimenting with all the game had to offer for my first platinum just days after it became available. Despite my trophy hunting compulsion I still had the drive to continue on and enjoy the bonus video content.
My expected reaction to the game coming back to it some years later was a dull adventure with floaty mechanics, some technical issues (slow loading textures), poor vehicle sections and simple combat in light of the experience I'd had with Uncharted 2.
Finishing the game yesterday might have been just a short experience but one that sat in direct opposition of my expected reactions, the scenery can still be lush, the texture issues pleasingly rare and the gameplay strong in most places apart from some frustrating platforming sections (I did enjoy using the desert 5 enough to forgive these issues). Though markedly less action packed than it's successors it still comes across as an entirely playable and enjoyable experience.
I'm still surprised I can enjoy the company of a jock, a journalist and an old fart but this game does it and shows that the rise of a new franchise can indeed be charted.
Uncharted 2 is a great interactive action/adventure movie. I enjoyed the ride. It has some well performed scenes and and dialogue between the characters (but not enough Sully), and a couple of stand-out set pieces. It has a decent enough story arc and is a better game than the first one, and although still a bit naff, the end encounter is much better than that dumb QTE boss fight in the previous game.
There is too much shooting though, it becomes painfully clear when you reach an area that it's going to be another kill room that'll go a couple of waves too long.
Despite the issues, I look back on it favourably as one of my favourite PS3 games.
Uncharted 2 was a great game. I first played the demo, and was really impressed by the snowy landscapes and climbing up that train carriage as it swung, Italian Job style, over the edge of the cliff was a real thrill. When I got to play the full version it was obvious a lot of the game mechanics had been improved. The shooting was tighter, platforming better and the stupid motion controlled grenade throwing had been scrapped. There were some wonderful set pieces in the game, a real stand out moment for me was the battle with the tank coming through that mountain village, and the locations in particular were very impressive and showed much more variety than the original. I also felt that the game was a lot more difficult than the first, and I had to attempt a number of sections several times before managing to advance. But whilst almost everything built upon what the first game had offered, and whilst being technically more impressive, I still didn't feel like I enjoyed it more than the first. The quality of the entire trilogy is right up there with the best the Playstation has ever had to offer, so me saying I didn't enjoy it as much as the first takes nothing away from it, I still rate it as one of the greatest Playstation games ever. I couldn't really tell you why, but I think the first game was unlike anything I'd played in a long time, the second - whilst upping the ante in every department, arguably didn't really bring anything new to the table. Great game though.
So, Uncharted 2... I have owned this game since release and yet never played past the halfway mark until recently. Why? Well, at the time I had just finished the first Uncharted days prior and I couldn't distinguish any significant evolution of the gameplay. The combat felt the same, the Trophies (mostly) felt the same and the delivery (not the content) of the story felt the same. While this is a criticism that can be aimed at many sequels it did affect my initial exposure to the game.
Having revisited the game recently I got much more from it, sure the similarities are still the same and I still feel that more needed to be done to expand the series than was but I did enjoy it and in actual fact I got the experience that people were telling me I should have been having on release. That being a globe-trotting, treasure hunting adventure with wit and character. Is the game perfect, no! However, I believe that it has some of the best use of female characters in video gaming (two contrasting characters with different attitudes to their femininity both in the spotlight for different reasons) and a solid lead protagonist accompanied by a (mostly) excellent support cast. In my mind however the antagonists of the adventure remain weak in comparison.
For narrative and the thrill of adventure alone I want this series to continue into the next generation but to receive some form of progression on the gameplay front. The fact that Nathan Drake is a little trigger happy doesn't bother me but the length of time some of the combat events goes on is a little too long for such weak weapons.
Uncharted 2 is probably this generation's definitive example of blockbuster entertainment: a fantastic first play experience that doesn't quite stand up to repeated play-throughs. Visually it remains one of the most beautiful and colourful games of this generation, and the number and variety of set-pieces means it feels better paced than its predecessor. The game's presentation in general is highly polished; playing it on a big screen with a suitably decent surround system is an absolute joy.
Drake is still a likeable character, and his conversations with the supporting cast feel surprisingly natural given the circumstances. The villain remains a weakness, but this could be said about any number of other games (not every game can have a Zachary Comstock). I suppose one of the big things I missed was the notebook from the first game, which helped to sell the idea that I was an explorer and not a passenger on a rollercoaster ride.
Gameplay-wise I remember not being enamoured with the combat, but it wasn't so much of a distraction as in the first game. Certainly there was nothing that turned me off as much as the sudden switch to monster enemies from no. 1. As an aside, the 'Drake as a mass-murderer' argument has never held much sway with me. Indiana Jones kills lots of anonymous bad guys in the Indy films, and the Uncharted series is simply an exaggeration of that same idea; if you follow this argument you're going to start getting upset about all of the Stormtroopers killed in the Star Wars series, or any number of faceless goons in the James Bond films.
I think there is no doubt that Uncharted 2 is great game and the best in the series,it improved on the original in almost every way even the combat,that I still think it's the weakest of the game,is more enjoyable to play also the new set pieces add alot to the experience of playing as this modern day Indiana jones and are always entertening,the cast is still great with some really good dialogue and memorable characters even if I cant remember the name of anyone other than Drake,Elena,Sully and Lazarovich.The environments however were what really blown me away with the game switching between snowy montains,jungles and a war torn city that reminds us that even color can bloom on the battlefield.
My only real problem with the game is the end boss which I feel is horribly desigined with the palyer having to run away shotting and hope to god they can win,also I wasnt really minding the whole ludonarrative dissonance that plagues that plagues the game until the game itself called attention to it!I really dont know why they did it since they didnt anything with it it was just a imersion breaking moment for me especially with Drake than being the "better man" by no killing Lazarovich himself.
Other than that it is a amazing game that I feel everyone should play at least once and maybe also stop there in the uncharted series.
Uncharted 2 is a game that had a wonderful flow for almost all of its running time, a kinetic focus in telling what is a fairly standard story in a way that is engaging throughout by creating enthralling set pieces, touching cut-scenes and fantastic dialogue.
I really enjoyed playing this game. From start to finish it was just fun, it found its sweet spot and stuck to that for as long as it could. The platforming still felt good, the shooting was completely fine and the way they integrated a far grander sense of scale and presentation to almost every facet of the title created an adventure that was incredibly satisfying and rewarding to be a part of.
What makes this is not the individual component parts, if you want you can take each and find loads of issues with every one, but what that adds up to and the ride it takes you on. As a medium we are starved of good quality characters in big budget action titles where you feel every inch the action hero presented on screen. Uncharted 2 hits a milestone for asking us to at expect more from a game where you obstensibly jump around and shoot people than basic cutscenes and average dialogue.
It is a shame the final sections started to slowly slip down the Uncharted 3 path of unremitting waves with little in-between to break it up but that should not take away from what is still something disappointingly rare. When looking back on any game we have a tendancy to remember the bad parts, the sections that always came after the 'but' in any summary and provide them with more prominance in our reflections. This game did a lot right, and those early sections are what I take away the most and still make me smile to this day.
Perfect 3 word review. Fits for the whole series for me.
My favourite part from all 3 games is the bit of Uncharted 3 when you play as young Drake and he doesn't have a gun. If they made a whole game out of that section it might actually earn all the praise this series gets.
Uncharted 2 was one of the few games that I played with a smile all the way through the game. It had a summer blockbuster feel to it, and improved on the first game in every area. The characters, dialogue, the love triangle and the constant comments from Drake made it one of the most immersive games of this generation.
The standout levels were the first one, the train levels, and 'Where am I', where you just walked through a Tibetan village, playing football with children and just enjoyed the village life. The game varied it's environments and I always felt on an adventure that was progressing.
The multiplayer was also good, and added hours of fun to the game.
I have a vita, and PS+, so I've been trying Golden Abyss. Now, I've come to understand it's not a great uncharted game. However, I'm finding the platforming incredibly dull, gun play awful (although I do like doing fine tuning vita the vita's gyroscopes), leaving only the writing, graphics and performance to really score anything positive... If I'm really not liking the core game of Golden Abyss is it worth looking into at least Uncharted 2, or is it just not for me?
Golden Abyss is actually quite rubbish and leaves itself relying on the features of the machine rather than the quality of the game. Uncharted 2 is a much better game than Golden Abyss.
I have a vita, and PS+, so I've been trying Golden Abyss. Now, I've come to understand it's not a great uncharted game. However, I'm finding the platforming incredibly dull, gun play awful (although I do like doing fine tuning vita the vita's gyroscopes), leaving only the writing, graphics and performance to really score anything positive... If I'm really not liking the core game of Golden Abyss is it worth looking into at least Uncharted 2, or is it just not for me?
Truthfully I would think not. I found Abyss only mildy worse than 2, but then I had come from 3 which felt mechanically broken for me so there is a chance it was treated a little more nicely than some others would have. I get the impression the series may not be for you.
I have a vita, and PS+, so I've been trying Golden Abyss. Now, I've come to understand it's not a great uncharted game. However, I'm finding the platforming incredibly dull, gun play awful (although I do like doing fine tuning vita the vita's gyroscopes), leaving only the writing, graphics and performance to really score anything positive... If I'm really not liking the core game of Golden Abyss is it worth looking into at least Uncharted 2, or is it just not for me?
Golden Abyss sucks.
And this is coming from a massive, massive Uncharted fan. Don't let GA tarnish your experience with Uncharted. Definitely give the rest of the series a chance.
It might help to know that GA was made by an entirely different studio. One of the series' greatest strengths is the writing. None of the original writers were on board for GA, and, it definitely shows.
I quite enjoyed GA. Sure it's not up there with 2 but I still found it a good yarn. It looks lovely especially in some of the later levels, and the gyro aiming is aces. Rubbing artefacts can go do one though.
