[Stephen Carter]

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Nathan Drake re-sets the benchmark in gaming

Reviewed by Ste Carter

Read the review

[ahoy0]

Remember those days back on PS1 playing one of many Crash Bandicoot games? Damn right you do, but it’s funny to think that the same company is making one of the best-selling third person games on PS3 today.

This is one of the main reasons I never played the Uncharted series when it first came out but eventually thought I'd give them a go.
Only just started Among Thieves and after completion, will be playing this.

Great review as always Carter.

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Your review is as awesome as the game itself, Carter.

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Originally Posted by ahoy0

Only just started Among Thieves and after completion, will be playing this.

Why did you score Among Thieves a worthless zero in the poll a while back if you only just started playing it?

[ahoy0]

Why did you score Among Thieves a worthless zero in the poll a while back if you only just started playing it?

I thought there was a 1 in front of the 0 and i rated it based on the front cover,

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Hey Carter, do you rate your games? Your review sounds like a 9/10 or do you not believe in scoring?

I'm afraid I found it disturbingly pleasurable, killing the English, oh dear.

[Stephen Carter]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeTJ

Hey Carter, do you rate your games? Your review sounds like a 9/10 or do you not believe in scoring?

I'm afraid I found it disturbingly pleasurable, killing the English, oh dear.

Not as yet mate we dont no, we will start to once the new front end is up shortly though. Definitely a 9/10 and could be pushing a 10 in some respects

[Stephen Carter]

I should add that scores will be out of five as opposed to ten when we do get them up and running. The latest reviews will receive scores over the next couple of days in preparation for the change over so there'll be a score on this review layer this evening when I've finished work.

[Stephen Carter]

Scores now added to this and a couple of other latest reviews. These will be on all future reviews along with badges once the new section is up Enjoy!

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Cool stuff. I like the category breakdown ratings, they are even better than just an overall rating. Look forward to the new front end

[Stephen Carter]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeTJ

Look forward to the new front end

You and me both mate. Just as a bit of quick feedback, do you like the scores at the top or would you prefer them at the bottom?

[TheyCallMeTJ]

I think most poeple, myself included would like to see it at the top (or on the side), as sometimes we may not have the patience or time (or even just damn lazy) to read through a review but like to see what your rating is. However, you might want to encourage us to read the review first in which case putting the ratings at the bottom would serve you better for the effort you put into writing the review

[Stephen Carter]

Ok mate nice one cheers Just wanted to know for future reference and to see what readers would want. I thought it would be better at the top as you say, people might just read the summary and the score and have done with it. At least people read then though that's the main thing.

[Guns_LotsOfGuns]

Originally Posted by ahoy0

I thought there was a 1 in front of the 0 and i rated it based on the front cover, dumbarse.

You a treading a fine line ahoy0, this forum is not your personal playground, and our members are not here to take your insults.

You new here but do us all a favour and read the rules before posting again please.

[Uridium]

Surprised to see not a single mention of the 3D element of the game (you don't even mention it's a 3D title). I can understand this being missed on many reviews as 3D is still not all that popular but i would have expected an AV specialist site such as AVforums to have mentioned it...

Anyway for those 3D gaming fans among us...the 3D on UC3 is jaw droppingly good in places (the French jungle level in particular looks stunning.) in a couple of the darker levels it can be a struggle to see some far drawn objects but 3D really adds to this title adding an extra layer of depth to cliff hanging scenes, I noticed very little crosstalk even with 3D turned up to the highest level.

Probably the best 3D title I've played to date and I'd say a must play for 3D gaming fans.

[Stephen Carter]

Rectified, small message at the base of the review

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Originally Posted by Uridium

Surprised to see not a single mention of the 3D element of the game (you don't even mention it's a 3D title). I can understand this being missed on many reviews as 3D is still not all that popular but i would have expected an AV specialist site such as AVforums to have mentioned it...

Anyway for those 3D gaming fans among us...the 3D on UC3 is jaw droppingly good in places (the French jungle level in particular looks stunning.) in a couple of the darker levels it can be a struggle to see some far drawn objects but 3D really adds to this title adding an extra layer of depth to cliff hanging scenes, I noticed very little crosstalk even with 3D turned up to the highest level.

Probably the best 3D title I've played to date and I'd say a must play for 3D gaming fans.

Totally agree. The 3D is certainly the best I've experienced. Unfortunately we still have the old age problem of washed out colour palletes and darker lighting but I did give a great sense of depth and vertigo very virtually no crosstalk. Having said that, I still prefer 2D because I appreciate the details and colour tones more than 3D. But its a great novel addition to playback certain chapters in 3D.

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Originally Posted by carter91

Rectified, small message at the base of the review

Lol, thats lazy! Go on just play the rough seas chapter again in 3d, and add a few more lines to the review

[Stephen Carter]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeTJ

Lol, thats lazy! Go on just play the rough seas chapter again in 3d, and add a few more lines to the review

Not all of us can afford a fancy 3D TV you know

[Uridium]

Originally Posted by carter91

Not all of us can afford a fancy 3D TV you know

Didn't think i could until i walked into the DSG clearance outlet in Chesterfield and spotted a TX-P50VT20 for £500....

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Originally Posted by Uridium

Didn't think i could until i walked into the DSG clearance outlet in Chesterfield and spotted a TX-P50VT20 for £500....

Whoa, I was looking at that TV several months ago, selling at £1600 at John Lewis. I opted for Sony Bravia because I preferred the more brighter LED display at the demos. But that model you have is excellent! What a bargain you got there.

Originally Posted by carter91

Not all of us can afford a fancy 3D TV you know

Ah, I thought Uridium was implying you have done 3D reviews before, sorry. If you have a good 2D set, its not worth upgrading just for 3D at the present time as the margin is still quite high methinks.

[Uridium]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeTJ

Ah, I thought Uridium was implying you have done 3D reviews before, sorry. If you have a good 2D set, its not worth upgrading just for 3D at the present time as the margin is still quite high methinks.

I agree...I bought my 3DTV for the 2D quality..I'd have bought it whether it had 3D or not...

Apologies..going off topic here...3D discussion closed ;-)

[Stephen Carter]

Well I just recently bought a new TV so a 3D set is off the cards for some time I think unfortunately if push comes to shove in the future, I can go down to my brothers and play on his 3D set but that means shipping the whole ps3 down with me because he sold his console.

[Foster]

I enjoyed your review dude I only have 1 disagreement with you, I would say the Multiplayer is 4/5 :D but hey that's my opinion keep up the good work mate

[Stephen Carter]

Originally Posted by Foster

I enjoyed your review dude I only have 1 disagreement with you, I would say the Multiplayer is 4/5 :D but hey that's my opinion keep up the good work mate

Cheers buddy glad you enjoyed it but, for me, I didn't find the multiplayer overly engaging other than the co-op modes which I'll admit were enjoyable.

At least you agreed with the rest of the review though eh?

[samhain]

I have finished the single payer and loved it so much. It was a bit more of the same from Uncharted 2 but that is no bad thing. The sense of scale was awesome.

I think the only real issue I had was when trying to rescue Sully from the so called pirates. This was a hugely long and massive level with fantastic set pieces, but it added absolutely nothing to the story in my opinion. Whilst totally enjoyable it seemed a really pointless level and added nothing to the story development.

Still my top game of the year by a long shot

[TheyCallMeTJ]

Originally Posted by samhain

I have finished the single payer and loved it so much. It was a bit more of the same from Uncharted 2 but that is no bad thing. The sense of scale was awesome.

I think the only real issue I had was when trying to rescue Sully from the so called pirates. This was a hugely long and massive level with fantastic set pieces, but it added absolutely nothing to the story SPOILER:

 

as sully was not even there

. Whilst totally enjoyable it seemed a really pointless level and added nothing to the story development.

Still my top game of the year by a long shot

SPOILER: (I also took the liberty of quoting you in spoiler, perhaps you can edit your post and do the same, will be appreciated )

 

Well it was indeed big budget red herring but it shows Drake will go to any length to save Sully and to find it he wasnt even there, totally demoralised him which lead to the moist poignant scene with Elena where he was clearly mentally and physically exhausted from the red herring mission but still ready to after Sully when Elena told him his true whereabouts...but after a 40 winks on Elenas lap.

So for me, that whole spectacular level contributes to the story and I like it. I know where you coming from and to be honest, if you watch the Naught Dog features, they actually do admit that they come up with set piece ideas and try to work a story around it.

[samhain]

post edited...sorry

[Ben Ingber]

I've been playing it on and off for ages, and still haven't finished it. Can't seem to focus for more than half an hour at a time. It's obviously a real looker, and I enjoy the set pieces and the story well enough, but it's never quite 'grabbed' me - possibly with the exception of the fire section which was fantastic. The pirates bit, as samhain said, was a shoehorned distraction that I got nothing from.

An aside: I got the opportunity to play Uncharted in 3D for a little while. Adds nothing. Washes out colours and dims the image - in U3's case, this means it notably worsens the otherwise stunning visuals. As with Films and TV, 3D gaming is a nice gimmick to experience for a few minutes, but hardly something you'd want to endure at the expense of enjoying the actual content you've gone out and paid for.

[Stephen Carter]

I think it's best played in short bouts like you are though to be fair, let's you savour it more like I said on the podcast