A cinematic masterpiece?
Better combat
Combat has been revamped and made more in-depth than previous games. Not only can Nathan shoot weapons, such as an AK-47, shotgun, or sniper rifle, he can now also get close-up and personal and apply melee, combos and finishing moves to dispatch foes in a variety of entertaining ways.
And clever level design ensures that this new gameplay addition has to be used, with some sprawling locations encouraging ranged battles and well-placed grenades, while cramped locations require you to use the cover system, melee moves and stealth to take down the bad guys. You're often given the opportunity to mix up these two styles of combat throughout the game, which serve to make Uncharted 3's combat feel less restrictive than previous games.
Though there are some decent battles, particularly when you're really against the odds and almost overwhelmed by the amount of resistance, gunplay could be better. It doesn't seem to make a huge difference whether you execute a head-shot or body shot - the enemy will die when he's ready - while the cover system isn't particularly slick as you clumsily try to move between one static object to the next. As it happens, the new melee system turns out to be the star of the combat system with some satisfying context-sensitive moves and finishing animations that give some of the battles the spark they really need.
Undoubtedly, Uncharted 3's biggest gameplay strength is the scripted moments that you encounter, which can take you by surprise at any point in the game and leave you quite breathless at the sheer cinematic scale of it all. Whether you're running from a burning building, fighting on the back of a cargo plane, or dashing across the rooftops trying to escape RPG missiles, it's these moments that prove to be the most memorable when the final credits roll.
Indeed, when reflecting back on our Uncharted 3 experience, it's not the gunplay, the puzzles, or the platform-hopping that we remember most; it's the movie-like experience in which we had the privilege of being the star. Though there are some games that have delivered movie-quality performances, Uncharted 3 feels like it's in a league of its own, providing a cinematic experience that relies on its narrative, big-budget set-pieces and dazzling scenery to give you those frequent thrills. Without those big moments, this is probably a game we'd rate at a solid 7.5/10.
Movie-quality production
Yet despite that fact, even when we're doing those things that haven't quite impressed us, we've still been totally sucked in by the quality of the production. In Uncharted 3, every location you visit is a place that feels authentic, ultimately making it a fun world to explore and traverse. Backing that up is the entertaining banter between characters and the in-game cut-scenes that serve to push you forward and want to discover more about this intriguing voyage.
Gameplay in Uncharted 3 is nowhere near as versatile as in Batman: Arkham City - admittedly, totally different games - and combat isn't as tight, yet it's testament to the story, characters and set-pieces, which are on a scale you'll never have experienced before, that the odd boring puzzle or unexciting bout of gunplay is not how we'll remember the experience.
Taking everything it account: the compelling storyline, the heart-in-your-mouth set-pieces, the glorious scenery and the quality of the audio, Uncharted 3 rarely fails to impress, and it's the type of game that once you start playing you'll find hard to put down. This is a difficult game for us to rate because although we acknowledge that the grass-roots gameplay doesn't always hit the right spot, we've generally had a great time playing it.
Whether you will absolutely rave about it as a game-of-the-year contender, or complain that style and narrative takes precedence over gameplay substance, is actually going to boil down to one question: what do you want from a video game? Whatever the answer is to that, if you do buy Uncharted 3 we can guarantee you one thing: you can't fail but be impressed by what Naughty Dog has achieved.
The Good
A mammoth production that looks incredibleGreat storytelling and cast of characters
Jaw-dropping set pieces
The Bad
Some puzzles can be tedious
Trying to find that initial ledge to grab onto to progress can be frustrating
HEXUS Rating
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
HEXUS Awards
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
HEXUS Where2Buy
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is available to buy from Play.com
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
