Posted on October 31, 2011 by Venture Beat in Tech & Gadgets Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is one of the best video games of the year. In fact, it is one of the best I’ve ever played. But it will also go down as one of the most annoying.
On the good side, developer Naughty Dog has perfected the art of building a video game experience that mimics the thrills of a blockbuster summer action movie. But that description doesn’t do the game justice, as its story, dialogue, voice-acting, humor and character development are just so much better than anything you’ll ever see in an Indiana Jones movie. (Editor’s note: We don’t support Dean’s casual dismissal of Raiders of the Lost Ark as one of the greatest films ever made.)
Within Sony’s arsenal of exclusives for its PlayStation 3 business, Uncharted is the crown jewel, the game that could keep Sony fans loyal no matter how many Halo or Mario games come out from the other guys. I just wish that Naughty Dog would polish this jewel a little bit more.
The dreamers of the day
No flaws are evident in the beginning. From a starting quote by T. E. Lawrence (“the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible”), author of Lawrence of Arabia, to the beginning of the real action nearly four chapters later, the introductory sequence is impeccably done. The dramatic pace yields maximum tension and mystery. Humor offsets epic events. You don’t even pick up a gun and start shooting until a long introductory sequence has played out. This beginning, told with skillful flashbacks and flash forwards to the present day, shows that the developers would be in good company among master filmmakers like the Coen brothers.
The subtitle about deception is a theme that is woven into many threads in this story. As the game begins, a cinematic — or a pre-scripted film-like sequence — volleys us into that theme. Drake stages a ruse to figure out who is pursuing his family ring, which belonged to explorer Sir Francis Drake. Nathan thus stumbles upon his old nemesis Katherine Marlowe, and some kind of secret society that has been pursuing Drake’s secrets for 400 years, and we meet a new character, Charlie Cutter (pictured right), a likable con artist and thief with a thick English accent and a proclivity to switch sides. That sets the game in motion.
As the deceptions multiply, you as Drake have to consider whether you can really trust those close to you, and if you can trust your own mind from deceiving you. I also had the added experience of being sick with the flu for most of the time that I played the game, and I had to deal with my mind playing tricks on me. As Drake struggled through his own journey of delirium in the game, so did I, in a heavily medicated state.
I imagined, for instance, that I played the game for more than 20 hours, when it was more like 15. As I played the game over multiple days and nights, images from Uncharted 3 invaded my dreams and nightmares. Like Drake, I couldn’t get those damn spiders out of my head. Still, I didn’t mind that, as I could do worse than to ingrain my brain with imagery from Uncharted 3.
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