UNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION (PS3)
Oh come on, you knew this game was gonna be here. It’s probably why you checked this list out in the first place- to see if this game was there, and to see what the writeup for it was. Well don’t worry, we aren’t stupid- we aren’t gonna just exclude what is indisputably the most anticipated game of 2011 from our list.
The Uncharted series has grown in prominence exponentially over the last few years, to the extent that it has now come to be recognized as the face of Sony’s flagship console, replacing older, hardened veterans such as a certain angry spartan and a lombax and his robot sidekick. And it isn’t really hard to see why- Naughty Dog’s take on the classic Indiana Jones movies has given us not only exceedingly good games, but it has also given us a face to go along with those games that we can attach to those games, and by extension, to the console those games appear on. Nathan Drake’s exploits and his wisecracks have made him universally endearing, a character who holds appeal for everybody, across all demographics, to the extent that we can safely call him Sony’s Mario.
And what about the games themselves? Well, undoubtedly, they’ve been great, the second more so than the first. The first Uncharted game was released at the far end of 2007, at a time when the Playstation 3 was seriously struggling in the market for a lack of any quality exclusives. As a result, this well made but unremarkable game was instantly seized and became the rallying point for legions of fanboys. In retrospect, it remains a well made game, but a player playing through it now might wonder what all the fuss was about.
No, the Uncharted series truly came into its own with Naughty Dog’s 2009 follow up to the first title, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The game became a runaway hit, going on to become one of the highest rated games of all times, selling millions upon millions of copies, and setting a record for the number of Game of the Year awards it won. It set a new benchmark for games that aspired to be interactive media to tell stories, with production values and characterization that rivaled that of Hollywood blockbusters, and a story that, while still quite ridiculous, could still lay claim to being amongst the best in business.
Clearly, the third title- due in 2011 if the series’ release pattern so far was any indication- would be an exceedingly high quality game too, right? That was the least we can expect from a bunch as talented as Naughty Dog.
One look at the trailer for Uncharted 3 is like a fanboy’s wet dream come true. From what we can see, Uncharted 3 looks set to continue the series’ tradition of high production values and a riveting story, with Drake this time in the sands of- where? Middle East? The Sahara? It isn’t really made clear in the trailer itself, but hell, we’ll be damned if we care. No, what we do care about is the fact that it’s yet another excuse for our favorite globe trotting adventurer to set out on one more of his exploits, accompanied by what are bound to be more of the witty and memorable characters that have become a hallmark of this series by now.
As for the gameplay, well, we really can’t expect all that much, can we? Uncharted 2 really broke no new ground as far as gameplay was concerned, but it represented the absolute pitch perfection of all concepts that were implemented within the game, although some of the platforming could get a bit iffy at times. As long as that is fixed, and we can get an even better multiplayer mode this time around, then more of the same won’t really be all that much of a bad thing. After all, don’t fix what ain’t broke, right Naughty Dog?
