Unlike Tomb Raider and Assassin’s Creed however, here’s a game that lives up to such adventurous comparisons.Įven if you’re not interested in the narrative components, the gameplay itself is well worth the price of admission. Its narrative elements naturally push it towards Indiana Jones, National Treasure, Romancing the Stone and even TinTIn territory. However, that’s not to say Uncharted 3 is the narrative equal of Rear Window, Citizen Kane or Sunset Boulevard.
Anyone who says games can’t tell stories needs to think again. There’s barely a shootout, wall-climb or puzzle that doesn’t come packaged with some form of narrative exposition. A flashback scene provides a peek at the origins of the Nate-Sully relationship and various well-acted lines uttered by characters mid-gameplay serve to further heighten the drama and sense of scale to the whole affair. A desert scene depicts a vulnerable Nate, giving him a sense of humanity so rare in action movies let alone action games.
Perhaps the game’s biggest achievement is that it doesn’t rely simply on pumping up the adrenaline to create genuinely engrossing, memorable moments. In Uncharted 3 there is no separation between gameplay and cinematics, both elements are seamlessly blended in a wonderfully realised whole that oozes engagement, excitement and emotion at every turn. However (and this is the bit that developers have traditionally struggled with), these filmic elements have been expertly wrapped in a coat of brilliantly engaging gameplay. Uncharted 3’s characters are not the most complex ever created, but they might just be the ones that best fit their respective world. That’s the thing that Naughty Dog’s creative director, Amy Hennig, seems to understand where many of her peers do not – characters feel real when they fit the world they inhabit, they needn’t feel as though they’ve just been plucked from the real world. She’s undeniably comic book-like but, and here’s the genius, like Drake she works because she fits the world. For example, Uncharted 3’s primary antagonist Katherine Marlowe is something of a bizarre cross between Helen Mirren and Anne Robinson in appearance and a she-bitch from hell in terms of personality. Other characters are developed enough to make them seem real, but not so much as to allow them to overshadow the series’ star. Yep, I’ve got myself a bit of a man-crush. He’s strong but gentle, headstrong but intelligent, confident but charming. This helps to define him as one of gaming’s latest (and greatest) videogame heroes and, as we all know, you can’t sell a blockbuster without a strong lead character. More than the previous two games in the series, this is a story about relationships – Nate and his long-time treasure hunting partner Sully, Nate and love-interest Elena, Nate and his ego, Nate and his famous ancestor, and (obviously) between Nate and historical artefacts.Īs you may have guessed, everything revolves around Nate. Like a movie, the core pillars of Nathan ‘Nate’ Drake’s latest adventure are setting, character and plot. Forget Gears 3, forget Call of Duty, even forget Uncharted 2, if you’re looking for something that makes you feel as though you’re playing as the lead character from a summer blockbuster then look no further than Uncharted 3. Uncharted 3 is the videogame cinematic experience. There hasn’t, however, been a game that nails the cinematic experience so brilliantly that you’d seriously contemplate indulging in it rather than watching an actual movie. There are games that just about manage to resemble a cinematic experience. There are games that try and fail to provide a cinematic experience. Personal justification for what’s about to come over. Much of what you’re about to read comes from a film lover’s perspective, as much as it comes from someone who adores videogames. From trips to the cinema with my parents as a kid, to studying film at university, movies are up there with games as a primary passion.
Before I start this review proper, there’s something you should know about me.