| JustThatGamer said: I just don't like Uncharted 1 & 2 at all, IMO they have shallow and simplistic storylines, mediocre gameplay, forgettable and lacklustre musical scores, good but very overrated graphics (especially UC2). |
That's exactly what I would say about Gears (apart from not as aggressive and far better explained).
I'm playing Gears of War 2 now and I just can't get myself into it, the game is just nowhere near as good as I thought it would be.
As for Uncharted, I didn't like it much at first, but I really grew to appreciate it.
When it comes to Gears of War's story, my problem isn't with the quality, it's the fact that there IS no story. Trying to find Maria was interesting, and the scene when you do eventually find her was very hard hitting and it really improved my opinion on the game, but other than that, there IS no story (which makes your argument null). While I do admit the storyline for Uncharted is simplistic (but still good), the charasmatic characters and movement from one epic setpeice to another (along with the explanation for why you are actually there) far more than make up for it, Sully and Drake never fail to put a grin on my face and they are smoe of the main reasons why I can't wait to play Drake's Deception.
As for the gameplay, I found Uncharted to have far more refined shooting mechanics. Gears of War has clunky movement and aiming, having to charge into cover almost breaks the game, I found myself having to walk backwards and then sprint forwards so I could get into cover. The locust take far too many bullets to die and it becomes EXTREMELY repetitive after a while. Monster variety is decent, especially the little guys that blow up. The difficulty is broken, checkpoint placement is poor and often a while back from a boss fight, you can easily be killed by things that are so vague, and if you are downed by locust, then 9 times out of 10 your death depends on how far away your team mate is. As for Uncharted's gameplay, thank god you can do other things than shooting, puzzles, platforming and traversing through levels really mixes things up and gives the game a good sense of pacing.
As for music, I didn't even know Gears of War had any, I never really paid attention to Uncharted 2's either, but the main theme is fantastic, the music played during tense moments is pretty good and the music played it temples is very atmospheric.
As for the graphics, Uncharted 2 is, from a technical viewpoint, the best game I have ever seen. The art style and colour pallet is also excellent. One of the best things about the game though are the epic scenes, scenarios and environments, the game can be thrilling at times and the graphics blow you away. When it comes to Gears of War, the art style falls flat on its face. Monster, character and weapon design is very generic, and the futuristic, post apocalyptic setting is starting to get OLD. The small number of setpeices overstay their welcome and they all look the same, dark and dank. When it comes to the graphics from a technical viewpoint, I would say there are better on the XBOX 360, some textures are sharp and the game has a good sense of depth, but it isn't anything out of the ordinary, never do I boot up Gears of War 2 and think "wow".
Hopefully the game grows on me further and I look at it different once I have completed it.
As for the 3rd entries in these franchises...
Gears of War 3 is looking a lot better than Gears of War 2 I am happy to say, there seems to far more variety in the environments, the game is looking tonnes better both in art design and from a technical view. I hope that the gameplay recieves some improvements too. It won't be a game I will pre-order or buy day one, but if I am impressed with what I see over the next few months I will pick it up after Christmas.
As for Uncharted 3, the E3 demo killed the hype a little bit, it didn't seem like anything amazing although the trailer was good. The Gamescom trailer absolutely blew me away though, the graphics are unrivaled, the gameplay looks excellent, and the scenes were epic, by the time Drake was hanging out of the back of the cargo plane I needed a new pair of underwear. The characters still seem to be top notch as well with Sully and Drake's light hearted dialogue and the scene at the gate with Elena and Drake. This game is a definite pre-order for me.
