Hey,
This is not written by me, its from "MaverickWerewolf" from the ND Forums. I thought it was a great read!
THIS ENTIRE POST CONTAINS EXTREME SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING IN UNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION. DO NOT READ THIS OR VIEW THE SCREENSHOTS IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED THE SINGLE PLAYER STORY.
First of all, I'm going to clarify that I thought the game was totally awesome. What I’m saying here is far from what one would call a “review.” It’s mostly nitpicks and random observations and such, and I don’t want anyone to get the idea that I disliked the game in any way or that I didn’t enjoy it just from reading what I say here. And when I say "disappointed" in this post, I don't mean to an extreme, or anything.
Also, my apologies for the subtitles and low quality of some of the screenshots. Unfortunately I don’t have an efficient way of taking screenshots myself, so I’m using very lame means of acquiring them, and I can’t get rid of the subtitles.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is easily one of the greatest games I’ve ever played (and I’ve played a lot of games, trust me), and it definitely ranks among the other two Uncharted games as my favorite things of all time. Those are just facts. Actually, it felt too short to me. Granted, I did spent all Tuesday playing it non-stop, and I got it at midnight the night before and played it until 2 AM. I played it way too fast, to be honest, but I enjoyed every second of it. It was amazing. I’ve finished it once on Hard and once on Crushing now, and I’ve played most all of the levels a few more times in search for treasures and to get other trophies, and I know I’ll be playing it a lot more: in search for more treasures, for my own entertainment, and to let my Grandma watch the story of the third installment of these movies she enjoys so much (she honestly can't be convinced that the characters aren't real, live actors and that it's a video game instead of a movie).
Now to begin discussing various story (and a few gameplay) elements… again I’ll clarify that I loved the game all to pieces and I’m deeply saddened that I finished it so quickly, just to make sure no one gets the impression that I disliked it. It was one of the greatest things I’ve ever experienced, everything about it: the amazing and award-worthy acting, the exciting and intense story, the breathtaking graphics, the beautiful and chilling music, the witty and lovable characters…
But here we go:
Talbot’s Drugs & the Final Boss: The fistfights were definitely one of my favorite parts of the gameplay. I honestly loved the super epic melee brawls Nate frequently got into and the wide variety of moves that really kept you on your toes. Just... all of them. And I totally adored the final boss fight, although it's questionable whether I can say I like that fight better than Lazarevic. I love Lazarevic's fight, and it lasted longer. Still, this one was fantastic, and is definitely at least competing with Lazarevic for one of my favorite boss fights ever.
So as I said, I really love the final boss fight, but I thought it was way too short. It needed to be longer and more intense somehow. It was great as it was, but maybe amp things up a little... make them fall to some other area as the next stage of the boss fight. Or make Nate drugged for the first round and then have the drugs wear off eventually, perhaps. It would’ve been great if Talbot had somehow gotten to use the drugs to scare Nate almost out of his wits, since he was so stuck on using fear to control people – maybe he could’ve used his drug darts to make Nate hallucinate and see him as a giant fire demon or something. That certainly would’ve been interesting. Talbot with his knife could've been one of the rounds in a longer boss fight.
I totally called that Marlowe was going to die dramatically and Talbot would be the final boss, though. It's just like in Drake's Fortune. Robin Atkin Downes sure is out to get Nate.
Now, about the drugs: personally, I loved Talbot’s drugs and the hallucinogens, and I think it would've been cooler if Naughty Dog had used the element more. I love stuff like that, and it had tons of potential, but it didn’t really get used that much. It would've made one heck of a boss fight... I'm sorely disappointed they didn't do that, really.
And I mean, as effective as the drugs are, you think Talbot would use them more often. I'm not saying it would have improved the story (although I do wish he had used them at least one more time, admittedly, like for the boss fight), since it'd get old after a while, but I thought it was cool and still could've been used a lot more than it was.
I mean, Nate and Sully annoying him? Drug one and let the other have to deal with it. Or drug both. Nate chasing him around? Just drug him and then do as you please with him again. Those drugs were really crazy, and it could’ve made for some more very interesting gameplay, story, and character moments.
I also liked the hallucinogens in the water in Ubar. And frankly, I was expecting the drug from Talbot’s darts to be from the venom of the creepy crawly spiders, particularly after Nate sees one in a jar in Marlowe’s hideout… I guess I was just expecting more to become of the creepy crawlies at all, but oh well. It would’ve been interesting to make their venom an either more deluded – or perhaps even more concentrated – form of the drug, though, as that would explain where it came from and make the creepy crawlies all the scarier.
The Heroes: As usual, the characters were all fantastic. I enjoyed every moment of character development and interaction in Uncharted 3. I have a few little nitpicky complaints, though, and overall I think there could’ve been a lot more character development in general.
Cutter was one of the best developed characters in the game, and I really enjoyed him and his presence. I was extremely surprised when he turned out to be a hero instead of a villain – and when he survived, which I was happy to see. I’d love to see more of Cutter later. I also really enjoyed the moment when Cutter was drugged and attacked Nate; not only did it provide some really interesting and intense gameplay variety, but it set up things really well for Talbot and how he uses drugs and fear to manipulate people – even to the point where they would attack their own friends. I also loved lots of Cutter’s lines, particularly the moment when we first learn he’s claustrophobic.
I wish Chloe and Elena had both gotten more screen time, and I’m afraid I’ll have to ramble a bit about a few appearance complaints…
I don’t really see why Chloe’s appearance changed so drastically. She looks considerably different now, more so than anyone else. But I had to wonder what kind of past she must’ve had with Cutter in order to not just agree with Sully that he had to be put down before he killed Nate. In Uncharted 2, she was quite pragmatic, and it seems like she would have actually killed Cutter if it was necessary to save the life of one of her best friends. I’m guessing she and Nate and Cutter have quite a past together, which is why she tried harder to stop him without hurting him somehow.
At any rate, I’m glad Chloe was included in the game at all, even briefly. She’s probably my second favorite character in the series (behind Nate, of course), and I wish he had gotten to be in this game more.
I was expecting more from Salim, to be honest. He seemed like a cool guy, and I think he could’ve been expanded upon a lot more. There’s not really much to say other than that. I loved his horses, though! I’ve always wanted to see Nate kick some butt while riding an awesome horse (preferably black). So thanks to Salim for making a dream come true.
About Elena, the most striking thing about her is her eyes. Her eyes are shaped very differently now, and for some reason, they’ve turned blatantly brown. They were quite clearly a very crystalline, light blue before – which is the same color as Emily Rose’s eyes, and I really liked that little detail. I thought it was a little awkward and distracting for Elena’s eyes to suddenly become very brown.
But enough of my nitpicking appearances. I thought Elena was really fantastic in this game. She was a lot more fun and likable than she was in Uncharted 2, and her reasons for disliking Nate’s determination were quite understandable… she seemed much more genuinely concerned for him in this game than in Uncharted 2 to me, somehow. One of my favorite moments in the game was definitely the tender moment between Nate and Elena after Nate washes ashore from the shipwreck – not just because Nate was even more huggable than usual in that scene, but it was just a good moment between the two characters. I was disappointed to see Elena disappear from the story, as she was cool every moment she was there.
Nate was his same endlessly lovable self, of course. He was just as awesome as ever in this game, and we got to see various sides of him that we haven’t explored before, which is always great and interesting.
Although where did the quips while fighting people go? I want to hear “I will kick you to sleep!” again. Or did I just miss it somehow?
Expanding further upon the weirdness of Elena’s randomly brown eyes, though, Nate’s eyes changed quite a bit, too. I preferred Elena’s blue eyes and Nate’s bright, light green eyes from the previous games, personally. Nate’s eyes went from distinctly green to a very pale, grey-green. It just seems… weird. Why not keep Nate’s green eyes and Elena’s blue eyes? They suit their characters, and they both look great.
Can I just say, though, that I’m glad Naughty Dog altered Nate’s model from the really early trailers? Nate looks fantastic in Uncharted 3, especially when he and Elena and Sully are in Yemen and he’s wearing that white shirt. I hope they don’t too heavily continue their trend of “the characters must age with each game,” because I don’t really want Nate to look too much older than he does now. He’s always looked great, and his finished model in Uncharted 3 just continues that trend, so I hope they don’t alter him too heavily for any upcoming installments (here’s hoping there are some upcoming installments!). But Nate is my favorite character in anything ever, so maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, enough about that. Now on to Sully, who was absolutely brilliant. I loved exploring the relationship between Nate and Sully, and I’m just going to say this here and now…
Sully’s “Death”: I’m very glad that they didn’t kill Sully. I think that if they had killed Sully, or anyone else really close to Nate, it would change the entire tone of the game. The game is inspired by fun, pulp action-adventure stories, which are some of my favorite kind of stories, and I think it needs to stay true to that spirit, or it won’t be Uncharted anymore. I admit I was scared to death when Nate hallucinated and saw Sully get shot and die, but I was in denial the entire time, and I could perfectly accept it when Sully turned out to still be alive. In short, I’m glad Sully didn’t die, and I personally congratulate Naughty Dog on making him live instead of submitting to the typical story of the father figure getting killed dramatically in the story that focuses upon him.
The Villains: I wish Nate had gotten to be face-to-face with the villains more often. I thought Marlowe, Talbot, and Rameses were all fantastic, and I wish we had gotten to see more of all of them. I particularly liked the air of magic and mystery around Marlowe and Talbot. I also really liked the bits where Marlowe goaded Nate about his past and such; I was expecting more of that... and more Marlowe in general, really. I liked the moments in Uncharted 2 when Nate was at gunpoint and being used by Lazarevic and Flynn, for instance. I would've liked something like that in Uncharted 3 to explore the villains some more.
Marlowe and Talbot both seemed immensely interesting, and I was waiting to learn more about their relationship, Sully’s relationship with Marlowe, what all Marlowe knew about Nate and how, etc. I was a little disappointed when we didn’t get to see the villains that much, especially not face to face and have a battle of wits between Nate, Marlowe, and Talbot, or anything like that. They were still great, but the fact that they were so great made me want to see and learn more of them, and they deserved a lot more buildup before the end.
And then that brings me to Rameses. I thought he was great, but as awesome as the ship levels were and as much as I enjoyed them, I couldn't help but feel that they were a little bit of a departure from the main storyline. Sure, Nate was captured by Ramses who wanted to get an advantage over his employers and possibly find Ubar for his own by using Nate. That makes sense. But it seemed to take quite a while, especially since Ramses was killed right then and there and we don't ever see anything else become of him. I would’ve loved to see more of him – perhaps he could be a smaller boss fight before Nate gets to confront Marlowe and Talbot themselves, as he seemed to be their pirate muscle, and it was intense to have him be captured and tortured even briefly for information he didn't actually have - but nothing more ever became of that entire gameplay segment. It felt like it lasted quite a while only to end abruptly.
Nonetheless, the villains were great. So great, as I said, that I was sad we didn’t get to see more of them. Moving on…
Nate Getting Drugged: Back on the darts, I knew the minute Cutter got drugged in the beginning (which I thought was great, by the way, as I said), that Nate was going to get drugged at some point too, because of the whole "Don't touch me!" bit in the launch trailer. Which is great and it could make for some very interesting moments, but frankly I expected more to become of it, and as I’ve said so many times now, I was looking forward to seeing what weird things could result from him being drugged, since I thought the drugs were a very interesting story element, the likes of which have never been explored before. Would he turn on his friends? Would he end up fighting them? Would he get captured and interrogated? Would he hallucinate himself into some serious trouble? Would he be manipulated into working for the villains? When would he get out of it, and how? What would he remember?
Since the game is from Nate's point of view, we don't get to see any of the parts he doesn't remember, obviously. We only hear a few vague words about what he might’ve told Talbot, and we don’t know what exactly they did with him, how long he was in their grasp, etc. I can understand that we don’t see it because he doesn’t remember it and/or wasn’t in his right mind when it all happened, but I have to wonder all those things, and I was a little disappointed that all that became of Nate being drugged was... mostly a slight departure from the storyline with being captured by Rameses, as I mentioned before.
Another thing about Nate being drugged, and this is a very specific nitpick that I probably shouldn’t even mention, since Nate told them not to touch him and he certainly cleared out of the area very fast, but…
When Cutter was drugged, Nate, Chloe, and Sully tried to take care of him. They took him with them and mostly kept a close eye on him, and they were careful around him and all - but when Nate gets drugged, he basically can just shove Sully away and then run away while the others shout at him. From what we saw, neither Sully nor Elena made a great effort to stop Nate from doing something crazy. They just kind of let him go. Sure, Sully would know that people are dangerous when they're drugged, but it does wear off. And, from what we've seen, Sully is (as Nate himself put it) "as strong as an ox." He may be the strongest of the main characters, from various little implications I've picked up on here and there. So why didn't Sully just try to hold him down or something until the drugs wore off? Or they could at least give chase? If not Sully because they wanted Marlowe to play up his false "disloyalties," then at least Elena would try something, at least try to follow him, right? I mean, she's stubborn as a mule - I would've bet money that she would have followed him and tried to help him. She tried to help Flynn, and this is Nate we're talking about here.
As I said earlier, I wish the hallucinogens and the drugs in general had been used more, particularly when Nate was involved. I think the moments when Nate was drugged were great, but they had potential to be even better, really.
Drake’s Ring: Just a little note here: I admit I didn’t like Nate losing Sir Francis’s ring. I love Nate's ring! It’s become a little signature part of his appearance now, and I just really like it. I was afraid this would happen when none of the multiplayer skins had the ring and the ring was such a focus of the storyline. I understand that it’s part of his character development, but still, I was very fond of his ring.
The Flashback Sequence: I’ll be brief about the flashback sequence… I enjoyed some insight into Nate and Sully’s past and how they met, but I thought the flashback was a bit too long. I know it was all important to the story and interesting in general, but the gameplay sequences were too long, I thought. A lot of the time spent on the flashback could’ve been used to be expanding further upon the villains and other characters involved in the main storyline in present day, such as more time spent on Rameses, or even just more moments with Nate facing off with Marlowe and Talbot… things like that. It was interesting and enjoyable, but I think it took up a little too much time.
The Climax (excluding the final boss fight) & the Ending: I loved Ubar, but I admit I was a bit disappointed that there were no real monsters, just Nate's hallucinations, and the djinn didn't offer as much gameplay variety as, say, the Descendants. The monsters are one of the most fun things to fight, to me, and I was really looking forward to them. But oh well, at least the creepy crawlies, Ubar itself, and the entire hallucination element were all awesome, even if the creepy crawlies never really posed a threat to me when I played the game…
Going on about the ending, as much as I loved the whole game, I couldn't help but feel that the ending cutscene was a tad bit of a letdown. Not only do I kind of wish someone besides just Sully had been with Nate when they found Ubar (could've been any combination of Cutter, Chloe, and Elena), but the final cutscene wasn't quite as great as the previous two games' endings to me. It was great, but I loved riding off into the sunset in Drake's Fortune, and in Among Thieves I loved Nate and Elena's hilarious banter.
And here’s a weird little nitpick about the credits sequence: it didn’t begin with the second half of Nate’s theme, like the previous two credits sequences have done.
I think Marlowe totally should've gotten to open the brass vessel, though. It would've been way more epic to see the curse, or whatever, actually come out and destroy the city while Nate and Sully escape and fight Talbot along the way. I was expecting to play as Nate while he and Sully worked to destroy Marlowe’s crane lifting the vessel from the water, and have to fight Talbot and Marlowe’s men and possibly even get drugged again in the process which would bring up some more intense fights – maybe even Marlowe gets to open the vessel and release the curse/monster/whatever. When none of that happened, I admit I was a little disappointed.
But can I just say that the hallucination of the blood red eclipse when Sully "got shot" and Nate got super mad was really awesome? Because it totally was. Especially if you give way too much thought to various legends that involve eclipses, like I do.
The hallucinations freaked me out a little near the end, I admit. I knew he was drugged, but still, wow. So weird and crazy. It was all great, though, even if it could’ve been even better, but I already went over that.
The Beginning: The beginning was one of the greatest parts to me. The bar brawl felt so cinematic and amazing, and it was great to explore the awesome new melee system so soon. I enjoyed fighting brutes and I loved the movie-like feel of all the fights and how Nate would interact so much with the environment… there’s not much to say other than that. I just wanted to point out how amazing the beginning of the game was and how it absolutely sucked me right in. All Uncharted beginnings have done that, but still, this one was no different.
Anyway, I could go on, and that's enough with all this nitpicking and rambling and stuff - at least for now. I might expand upon everything some more at a later point, particularly since I can't even begin to talk about all the awesome moments that I loved, like the horses and how they felt like actual animals with minds of their own instead of just vehicles that you controlled, and everything to do with them, and the beginning in London that was TOTALLY BRILLIANT, and the beautiful scenic vistas and simply getting another Uncharted story about Nate and his companions... well, all of it. All of it was just fabulous, and Uncharted 3 had the most breathtaking, unique, and incredible vistas and gameplay moments of anything I’ve ever played, perhaps even more than Uncharted 2. The horses and the canyon, the crashing plane, the sinking cruise ship, Ubar… all of it.
So to conclude: the game was nothing short of amazing, and I only wish I hadn't finished it so quickly. Naughty Dog did it again: they definitely made the game of the year - or, in my opinion, several years; at least since Uncharted 2 came out. There entire thing was great, start to finish, and there were so many moments that really got my blood flowing and put me in Nate's shoes. I got emotional a few times, I won't deny, and the entire thing basically just pulled me in and wouldn't let go - and I loved it so much for that. I admit to saying, "And that's for Nate’s RING!" aloud when I was beating up Talbot.
Uncharted 3 definitely has a place among the previous two Uncharted games as my favorite games (or movies, books, or any kind of anything at all ever) of all time. I'm honestly saddened that I finished it so fast and now I have to wait so long for another Uncharted story...
So thank you, Naughty Dog and all the great actors and everyone else who helped create this masterpiece, for Uncharted 3 and the rest of the Uncharted series. I can only hope that in the coming years fans such as myself will have the joy of experiencing more thrilling adventures with Nathan Drake!
