Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception

[rmoxon]

Well all I can say is that I prefer the combat to UC3 online than the Gears franchise so it can't be 'that' bad. In the Uncharted main game enemies take too many hits to go down but that's nothing compared to the bullet sponges in Gears and given that I've always got the impression Uncharted was originated by an attempt to create a PS3 exclusive Gears, I can see how they ended up going down that somewhat dodgy road with the combat. It feels more wrong with Uncharted though because the plot is attempting something more identifiable than a dumb sci-fi setting.

Yeah there is nothing fundementally wrong wth the mechanics and the online, even in the second game when it was mearly an after thought, has been pretty fun in the series. As I have stated over and over though, its not the core shooting mechanics, its the actual design of game.

The single player shooting portions are just poor in the third game. Ive played alot of third person shooters in my life, I imagine that I have sampled most that have been released, and for me this game deffinitley features some of the most poorly implemented shooting of the last few years in its campaign.

Yeah ok, its not True Crime levels of bad or anything, but its bad all the same and its not what anyone would expect after the second game which featured some great shootouts.

[Jimmyboi]

To be honest I don't see there being that much of a difference between the two (UC2&3) in terms of shoot out set pieces. In fact I preferred UC3 in that regard because there was less of them (at least in the first half of the game). It became dodgy when the hallucination stuff kicked in but then part 2 had the jungle beast things which were introduced for no real reason and also was detrimental to the final third of the game.

I personally don't think UC3 is a massive drop off in quality over UC2, in fact I wonder if its the lack of evolution to the game play which has seen a mild degree of backlash?

[rmoxon]

To be honest I don't see there being that much of a difference between the two (UC2&3) in terms of shoot out set pieces. In fact I preferred UC3 in that regard because there was less of them (at least in the first half of the game). It became dodgy when the hallucination stuff kicked in but then part 2 had the jungle beast things which were introduced for no real reason and also was detrimental to the final third of the game.

I personally don't think UC3 is a massive drop off in quality over UC2, in fact I wonder if its the lack of evolution to the game play which has seen a mild degree of backlash?

No, its poor and unfair level design that has caused a backlash.

[Jimmyboi]

All the games have moments of unfair level design.

[rmoxon]

All the games have moments of unfair level design.

No, they don't, and not all the games frustrate the player. Just this one.

Also with uncharted 3 it's not just moments, it's most of the combat in the game. As I already said I don't think the game is actually that hard but it's so poorly made that nearly every time you die you are blaming the game rather than yourself, and that shouldn't happen.

[Colin]

[Dogg Thang]

This thread has just taken a turn for the hilarious.

[Neil]

Loving your work in this thread gents I'm going to have to buy this now to see what all the fuss is about, oh and just because it's expected of me...

[HIDE][/HIDE]

[Neon Ignition]

Regarding the combat, my stance is that whilst not perfect it's perfectly serviceable for the game and as an example fo the genre as a whole. I found the hand to hand combat to be a decent improvement over UC2, feeling a little more involved and robust this time out if a little over relied on. Gun play wise the controls, post patch, do stand out as less accurate and intuative but still easy enough to manage if not always going for uber precise shots. However the patch did sort this so it's really a dead issue. Environment wise I really can't think of any areas which sank much below the quality in the previous games. There's spikes and dips but nothing that pushes the player quite as hard to 'cheat' like UC1 and 2 sometimes did by using environmental glitches or AI routines against it. Playing it more like it's online helps a lot as it reduces the 'pop up gallery' approach of play that UC2 relied on. It's not perfect by any means, there's lessons in the gun mechanics that it could dow with stealing from Gears just as Gears could do with stealing many an idea from UC to stop it feeling so retro regressive but I haven't seen a single thing that would warrant marking the overall experience down more than a point or two from UC2's easy high score and could never conscionably make out the experience was one of the worst around design wise, that just screams of blinkering to the horrors that exist in other games.

[bash]

The more I think about it the more I believe this game is as good as 2, its just 2 was such a leap from 1. 3 is more of the same, not really pushing things but still bloody enjoyable with more thrills n spills than all of last summers movie blockbusters combined.

[JU!]

Evilthecat, this has not turned into a 'negativity fest'. Maybe you're just seeing it that way because the negativity does not reflect your view? All that's really happened here is that two people expressed a dislike of the combat and the validity of that viewpoint has been challenged. For about four pages. Many disagree with the view, many have no problems and make good points and that's cool. That's discussion. The view is still valid.

Yeah all that happens in UC1 (kind of)?

But even your over exaggerated description above is still a lot better than the mess that is the combat in the third game.

Make that 3 about not liking UC3 combat. I agree not sure why they changed the combat for UC3 and put in QTE sequences to it. Was fine in 1-2 and quite satisfying, I do enjoy the combat still just wish it was more free. The whole square, wait for triangle annoys me and the fights feels more scripted than 1-2. The enemies die a lot easier in UC3 but finding head shots not working as well as they did in UC1. As above the rest of the game is awesome.

I wonder how the combat is in UC: Golden Abyss?

70% complete now I think and loving the set pieces in this. The hordes of enemies that start to appear can frustrate a bit, but no pad throwing yet . Not looking forward to the beast things but did the most frustrating bit I hear which was the dock area I believe.

[rmoxon]

Make that 3 about not liking UC3 combat. I agree not sure why they changed the combat for UC3 and put in QTE sequences to it. Was fine in 1-2 and quite satisfying, I do enjoy the combat still just wish it was more free. The whole square, wait for triangle annoys me and the fights feels more scripted than 1-2. The enemies die a lot easier in UC3 but finding head shots not working as well as they did in UC1. As above the rest of the games is awesome.

I wonder how the combat is in UC: Golden Abyss?

On chapter 11 I think now and loving the set pieces in this. The hordes of enemies that start to appear can frustrate a bit, but no pad throwing yet .

I think the Dev team was split between UC3 and Golden Abyss so hopefully the people who know how to make decent combat worked on the Vita game.

[Jimmyboi]

No, they don't, and not all the games frustrate the player. Just this one.

Also with uncharted 3 it's not just moments, it's most of the combat in the game. As I already said I don't think the game is actually that hard but it's so poorly made that nearly every time you die you are blaming the game rather than yourself, and that shouldn't happen.

Well I can only speak from personal experience and for me, the first time I played UC2 was the most frustrating out of the franchise. I enjoyed it more when I replayed them all for the trilogy but 2 is the only one to really irritate so I can't agree that its just UC3 alone that has the problem. I think these problems of poor level designs is one that has its moments in all 3 games.

The tank confrontation in UC2 was just as bad (if not worse) than anything I can recall from UC3 - Here's a tank, so your natural response is to hide to avoid being shot right? It took me a long time to realise that the solution was to defy the games own logic and run right at the tank taking bullets in the face so that I could get to an RPG in a different location, an RPG which I had no comprehension existed until after I had discovered it - Design like that is not rational logic. It makes sense to the developers because they already know the surroundings and solution and are taking it for granted we will too, in doing so they lose sight of what appears logical to someone thrown into that situation without knowing what exists around the next corner.

This type of short coming in Uncharted can be found sporadically throughout all 3 games. The only bit that irritated me with 3 was the stage where you're jumping from boats getting shot from all sides. In fact I'd go as far as to say that UC2 is probably my least favourite in the series (although I know that is a minority opinion) because at least UC1 was nippy and had the excuse of being a new IP.

[rmoxon]

Well I can only speak from personal experience and for me, the first time I played UC2 was the most frustrating out of the franchise. I enjoyed it more when I replayed them all for the trilogy but 2 is the only one to really irritate so I can't agree that its just UC3 alone that has the problem. I think these problems of poor level designs is one that has its moments in all 3 games.

The tank confrontation in UC2 was just as bad (if not worse) than anything I can recall from UC3 - Here's a tank, so your natural response is to hide to avoid being shot right? It took me a long time to realise that the solution was to defy the games own logic and run right at the tank taking bullets in the face so that I could get to an RPG in a different location, an RPG which I had no comprehension existed until after I had discovered it - Design like that is not rational logic. It makes sense to the developers because they already know the surroundings and solution and are taking it for granted we will too, in doing so they lose sight of what appears logical to someone thrown into that situation without knowing what exists around the next corner.

This type of short coming in Uncharted can be found sporadically throughout all 3 games. The only bit that irritated me with 3 was the stage where you're jumping from boats getting shot from all sides. In fact I'd go as far as to say that UC2 is probably my least favourite in the series (although I know that is a minority opinion) because at least UC1 was nippy and had the excuse of being a new IP.

If youre thinking of the bit I think you are then I can't remember even dying on the bit from UC2 that you describe, I may have I don't know, but it didn't really defy logic, certainly not video game logic which pretty much dictates that when a tank appears you must run around and find a rocket launcher.

Its not logic that is a problem anyway, it's that the game is unfair. Sure the fact that every shoot out in Uncharted 3 has enemies appearing from places you have already been to surround you is not logical, but that's not what ruins the game, it's the fact that those things are unfair that ruin the game.

Uncharted 2 didn't really have any moment where I thought the game was unfair besides maybe the final Boss on crushing, which required a lot of patience, for the rest of the game if you died you considered it your own fault. Pretty much everytime I died in Uncharted 3 I considered it the games fault, and that's the difference.

Incidentally it's not just the combat that is unfair in UC3, even trying to run in a straight line isn't pleasent. I only died a couple of times during the rooftop chase scene near the start of the game but everytime I did I was annoyed becuase it happened due to the over exaggerated movements of the main character as you steer him about, that's on the developer, not on the player, and that should never be the case when you die/lose a life in a game.

[ETC]

I think the Dev team was split between UC3 and Golden Abyss so hopefully the people who know how to make decent combat worked on the Vita game.

Golden abyss was made by Sony bend so no real input from naughty dog on that aspect btw the combat in it is closer to uc1