Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (2011)

December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 / stephensopinions / Leave a comment

While Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was a huge leap forward in all aspects, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception did not make any noticeable improvements to the formula. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception plays remarkably similar to its predecessor, so much so that it barely feels like its own game. Since they are so similar, you should read my review on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to understand my thoughts on that game. My thoughts on Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception are nearly identical barring a few minor changes.

One place of improvement that could be attributed to Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is its overall story. While the story follows the same basic format of seeking treasure in a lost city, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception does focus a bit more on the relationship between characters. This entry into the series finally recounts how Nathan and Sully met, and how Sully became a father figure to the young vagabond. During these flashbacks, a young Nathan is attempting to steal a ring from a museum when he encounters Sully. Many years later, the game takes place when Nathan and Sully utilize the ring to unearth a path to Iram of the Pillars. From there, the story follows the same general plot points as its predecessors as Nathan and company follow a clue laden trail.

Despite Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception being a nearly identical experience to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, it still deserves credit for being an impressive adventure in its own right. The game mostly takes place in France, Syria, and Yemen, as well as a few chapters on the ocean. There are plenty of bombastic set pieces and action sequences which Uncharted is known for. From crashing a plane to escaping the clutches of modern-day pirates by sinking their ships, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is certainly not lacking on action.

There seems to be a new emphasis on melee combat in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. There are frequent scenarios in which Drake must punch his way through dozens of enemies. Unfortunately, this importance on melee combat is misguided due its mechanics. Melee combat is nothing but a quick-time event (QTE). Simply press the button that pops up on the screen. Not only does this take the player out of the moment, but it also removes any sort of decision making. I still feel like the gunfights in Uncharted are overly simple, but the fistfights are far worse in that regard. When the player is in a shootout, at least they are given the agency to choose what cover to get behind, what enemies they want to shoot at, what weapons to use, so on and so forth. Strategy and skill come into play during firefights. In hand-to-hand combat, you simply press a button when the game tells you to.

One other difference that I noticed was a change in how the combat arenas were designed. In most of the shootouts in the previous games, enemies would only appear in front of the player. The arenas in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception are noticeably more open and enemies are prone to flanking the player. On one hand, I like that Naughty Dog is trying to encourage the player to move around a bit more. You cannot really sit behind one piece of cover when enemies are coming at you from multiple angles. On the other hand, there is no reasonable way to deal with these new flanking threats except targeting them before they reach you. Moving around from cover to cover is dangerous considering that getting hit a few times equates to death. And once an enemy is on top of you, they engage in melee combat, meaning that you are stuck in a QTE while getting shot at.

It is incredibly frustrating to die while being caught in an animation which you didn’t want to do anyway. I don’t want Drake to stand up and start punching at a guy when he’s getting shot at by a dozen others. Once an enemy has successfully flanked you, you are doomed. I appreciate that the developers realize that posting up behind a wall and taking shots at enemies when it is safe grows boring after a while. However, these new rushing and flanking enemies don’t have meaningful ways to counter them other than just prioritizing killing them before other enemies.

My biggest gripe about Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was just how derivative it was. The climbing, puzzles, and shooting mechanics are all exactly the same as its predecessor. Even the story itself follows the same outline. I would’ve liked to see something to make the either the climbing or the shootouts more engaging. As it stands, the climbing sections are still incredibly mundane and not even remotely interactive. The combat is serviceable, but it does not match the explosive action to match the game’s bombastic set pieces. Uncharted is all about capturing the feeling of being an action movie, cowering behind cover for minutes at a time just doesn’t cut it.

Overall, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is in no way a bad game. It is just unfortunate that no strides have been made to improve any of the game’s core gameplay pillars. Instead, we got a game that seems afraid to deviate from the successful formula of its ancestors. Regardless, I think that Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is a fine game, just not one that is ever going to be regarded as influential or important.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)

December 31, 2019 / stephensopinions / 1 Comment

My biggest complaint about Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was that the game aged relatively poorly. It was certainly playable, but it was obviously outdated. What’s astonishing to me is just how large of a leap was made between Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves on nearly every conceivable level. For the games only being released 2 years apart, the second game in this legendary adventure series blows its predecessor out of the water. The visuals, gameplay, level design, and overall scope of the game were so dramatically improved that I do not hesitate to recommend Uncharted 2: Among Thieves despite me not falling in love with the original Uncharted.

The basis of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is that Nathan Drake and his companions are retracing path of Marco Polo, attempting to find the lost city of Shangri-La. This leads the player through a plethora of gorgeous locations. From dense jungles in Borneo, to a crowded city in Nepal, to a remote village overlooking the Himalayas. These striking locales are memorable not only for their views, but also for the action sequences that occur in them. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves makes phenomenal use of set pieces to make for unforgettable experiences. The game opens with Drake precariously hanging onto a train which is dangling from a cliff. Whether you are jumping from rooftop to rooftop avoiding a gunship, or employing guerilla warfare to take down a tank on a mountainside, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has some unforgettable action.

The components of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves are identical to its predecessor, except they were vastly improved upon. The 3 pillars of gameplay remain: combat, climbing, and puzzles. Combat in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves feels far smoother to play than its predecessor. Hit registration is better and guns feel more impactful. Enemies actually react when hit, so you know when you’ve hit them. Headshots feel far more consistent. Movement in general is smoother in every regard. While the game is still a third-person shooter with no obvious additions, the gameplay was polished so that it is actually fun.

One of the issues that I attribute to the gameplay is that even through the newfound shine of modernization, it is still a relatively rudimentary third-person shooter. The vast majority of gunfights revolve around the player posting up behind a piece of cover, popping their head out for a second or two to kill an enemy, and then hiding back behind the cover to recover health. Occasionally enemies will flank or throw grenades, but this just equates to swapping to a different piece of cover. While it can be engaging for short bursts, it is not innovative or creative in any way. Moreover, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves occasionally has pacing issues.

The pacing of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the games greatest triumphs as well as one of the games biggest flaws. For the majority of the game, Naughty Dog masterfully divides all of the different components that define Uncharted. Cutscenes, action sequences, combat, climbing, and puzzles are all represented frequently. They are split into small, digestible chunks so that the player does not get bored. When each component is only 10-15 minutes at a time before switching gears and doing something else, then their individual basicness can often be overlooked. For the vast majority of the game, that is the case. Even though the climbing, puzzles, and combat are all individually simple, they worked well together in small chunks. Unfortunately, for some sections, the beginning and end of the game in particular, the same cannot be said. When I have to spend hours in gunfights with no reprieve, I start to get exhausted.

The combat of the Uncharted series can be thoroughly enjoyed in brief sections. When punctuated by cutscenes, set pieces, and action sequences the shootouts can be rather fun. And after a few minutes of relaxing climbing or puzzles, there is an allure of getting into a firefight. Still, the combat is absolutely rudimentary. Sitting behind a wall and popping out to take a couple shots at a time is not exhilarating. Especially when a gunfight goes on for too long and you are stuck behind the same piece of cover for what feels like an eternity. It can get stressful and frustrating as you just want this particular fight to be over, but sticking your head out for a second too long results in death. Again, this basic third-person shooter gameplay is not offensive, but there are a couple of combat sections in the game that drag on for way too long.

I would be remiss to not comment on the increased frequency of climbing in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The first game in the series certainly had climbing, but was not nearly utilized as much as it is in this entry. I think this is a bit worrying, as the climbing in these games is completely brainless. You simply hit a button and hold the stick in the general direction of a ledge and Nathan will magically snap to it. There is no fail state. There is no way to lose. It is completely devoid of player input. The developers try to make it seem exciting by creating spectacle around the player, but it doesn’t sufficiently mask how boring climbing is. The climbing is necessary downtime between intense gunfights. It serves as a breather and an opportunity to take in the environment around you. I just hope that future games in the series do not continue this trend of adding more and more climbing sections. It was mostly tolerable in this game, but there was definitely more of it than there was in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, like its predecessor, does not have a particularly memorable or hard-hitting story. Instead, the story is the vehicle to deliver the player to all sorts of interesting locations, as well as giving the characters plenty of interaction. I do think this game had a better overall narrative than the original game, but it remains of the realm of an action B movie. Still, the series shines because of its characters. Nathan, Sully, Elena, and the newly introduced Chloe all feel like living, breathing, characters. Their interactions, dialogue, and motivations are incredibly well written. This is complimented by the performances of the actors that voice these characters.

Overall, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves significantly polished the base left by its predecessor. There was a large graphical leap, controls were tighter, gameplay more crisp, better use of set pieces, and a more intriguing story. I wrote most of the flaws of the original game off due to its age, but I feel like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is modern enough that I cannot dismiss the shortcomings of the series thus far. The combat can get dull after a while, and climbing is entirely unengaging. Despite this, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a solid action-adventure game. Especially if you like tons of spectacle and well-written characters.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007)

December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 / stephensopinions / Leave a comment

The trend of cinematic games can be traced back to Naughty Dog’s adventurous series: Uncharted. These third-person shooters have a heavy emphasis on writing, storytelling, and cinematic aspects. If you were to transform Indiana Jones into a video game, Uncharted would be the result. The series follows Nathan Drake, a charismatic treasure hunter who is addicted to the thrill of unraveling century-old mysteries and claiming their bounties. The first game in the series, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, sets the tone and formula for its successors.

Uncharted bases its adventures in myths from reality, which provides an interesting alternate history spin on most of Drake’s travels. For example, in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Drake and company are hunting for El Dorado. Drake deciphers a series of clues to lead him to the lost city of gold. There is an air of mystery of why the city has never been found and why its treasures have been undiscovered for so long. The trail of clues leads the player across the globe, from remote jungles to abandoned citadels to dilapidated cities. While the overarching story is nothing spectacular or groundbreaking, it serves as a backdrop to the characters themselves.

The quality of writing in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is shockingly good, especially for a game that came out in 2007. Video games have always had an issue with campy writing, but are usually excused as writing is not nearly as important in games as it is in film. Luckily, games in the past few years have done a much better job at hiring professional writers to create natural and flowing dialogue. The Uncharted series may have been the start of this trend, as the emphasis on quality dialogue is apparent. The characters banter and rib each other like friends would in real life. They have obvious motivations and flaws which shape their personalities. Drake’s drive to discover lost treasure is one of his greatest strengths as it makes him remarkably persistent. Yet his single-mindedness in this regard often thrusts himself and his companions into danger. All of the characters of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune feel like real humans, with tangible desires and personalities, and this is all due to the natural dialogue and writing.

The gameplay of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune revolves around three pillars: gunfights, puzzles, and climbing. The game attempts to strike a balance between these vastly different styles of interaction. These components have strikingly variation in player interactivity. Gunfights require the player’s full attention, you need to constantly search for cover, aim and shoot, keep track of where enemies are, rotate through different weapons, and so on and so forth. Puzzles in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune do not necessitate much thought or input from the player. The vast majority of them have the player open up Drake’s notebook and decipher a clue on how to progress. Most of the time, this means hitting switches or levers in a certain order. Not exactly cerebral or engaging. Climbing is the least interesting element of all. Simply hitting a button to jump from ledge to ledge is a far cry from strategically making your way through a gunfight.

What I consider to be the core gameplay of the Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune series are its gunfights. These games are third-person shooters which utilize a cover system. Hitting a button will duck the player behind nearby cover, and clicking your aim button will pop your head out to take a few shots at open enemies. Generally, this iteration of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune feels a bit like a shooting gallery. You pop up for a couple of seconds to blast at an enemy or two, and then duck back down to avoid taking too much damage. Rinse and repeat until all enemies are eliminated. Occasionally, enemies will try to run up to you or use grenades to flush you out of cover, but for the most part you can just sit behind a single wall to dispatch of most foes. Its not nearly as exciting as it could be.

Moreover, the gunplay just feels off to me. Bullets don’t feel like they have significant impact. Enemies don’t really recoil when they are hit, so its hard to gauge if you are even landing your shots. This is not helped by the fact that some enemies have massive health pools and take loads of shots to take down. Furthermore, hit registration feels very off. Headshots in particular seem to miss way more often than they should. All in all, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune definitely feels a bit dated in its gunplay mechanics, which is not surprising for a game that I am playing 12 years after its initial release.

What Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune does best is cultivate the feeling of adventure and discovery. The prospect of playing as a globetrotting treasure hunter is one of the most appealing aspects of the series. Drake travels the world, picking up breadcrumbs left by historic adventurers. This idea lands the player in a variety of locales, exploring tight caverns and catacombs as well as climbing to peaks of mountains to view scenic vistas. Every game needs an intriguing concept, and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune nails that.

Overall, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune felt dated in a lot of its design. The stiff gunplay and occasionally cumbersome controls cannot be ignored. Additionally, a huge draw of the series is just soaking in the scenic horizons of the game’s various locales. This is far less attractive when the game is 12 years old and is far removed from being graphically impressive. Its hard to fault the game for me playing it so late, but its undeniable that Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune suffers from its age. Regardless, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune did a great job in many aspects such as capturing the sense of adventure and having well written characters. That is why I am excited to play the later entries in the series, as I hope that some modernization is all that Uncharted needs.

Borderlands 2 (2012)

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 / stephensopinions / Leave a comment

Admittedly, I don’t have a fresh mindset going into Borderlands 2. I wish I did, but I’ve played this game numerous times since its release. It is hard for me to give my straightforward impressions since I am already so familiar with everything in Borderlands 2. This should be a testament to how much I enjoyed the game. I rarely replay games, but I’ve played Borderlands 2 about five times. Even after a couple of single-player campaigns as well as a few co-op playthroughs I still never grew tired of Borderlands 2. With Borderlands 3 finally being released, I think it is time for me to finally let one of my most played games rest.

Playing the first Borderlands has made me appreciate the sequel with at least a little of a fresh perspective. The original game invented the looter-shooter genre, but Borderlands 2 perfected it. The general formula is the same as the original game: you play as an intergalactic treasure hunter, blasting your way through desolate wastelands to reach a mystical vault. There are 4 different vault hunters to choose from, each with their own abilities and skills to upgrade as they level up. Of course, to reach the vault the player must shoot their way through hordes of bandits, alien creatures, and deadly machines.

Unsurprisingly, Borderlands 2 is tangibly more modern than its predecessor. Visually, Borderlands 2 holds up superbly. The classic comic book style is striking and remarkably distinguishable. When you see a screenshot of Borderlands, you know its Borderlands. While I felt like the environments of the original game were an amalgamation of shades of brown, the world of Borderlands 2 pops with vibrant colors and varied areas. Most importantly, Borderlands 2 just feels better to play than its predecessor. Movement is less sluggish, the weapons are more responsive, and there are far less technical issues. It cannot be understated how important it is for an FPS to have guns that simply feel powerful. The sounds, animations, enemy reactions, and immediate feedback all contribute to having weaponry feel impactful. Additionally, my Borderlands playthrough was plagued by technical issues like bugs and crashes. Thankfully, Borderlands 2 performs consistently and cleanly compared to its ancestor.

Looter shooters live or die on their loot system. When loot is weak or infrequent, the player can feel like no progression is being made. Conversely, overly powerful or abundant loot can lessen the impact of those moments where you get something really special. Borderlands 2 strikes a nice balance which the original game did not. The original game’s loot was heavily randomized: fodder enemies could drop top-tier loot, but most of the time you just got garbage. While Borderlands 2 cut down on the player’s odds of getting great loot from random enemies, instead the game doles out more consistent loot at obvious intervals. Doing side quests and defeating bosses is the single most reliable method of getting new and exciting guns. I much prefer this system over farming numerous weak enemies for a tiny chance at a new piece of equipment.

Borderlands 2 is legendary partly due its characters and story. As you traverse the planet of Pandora you encounter various factions vying for control. At the head of the conflict is Handsome Jack, a cruel and vindictive business man. His ultimate goal is to open the vault and harness the power that is held within. As the vault hunter, the player is obviously at odds with Handsome Jack. As you ally with the locals at the town of Sanctuary, Handsome Jack is prepared to do anything to take you and your associates down. It cannot be understated how iconic of a villain Handsome Jack is. His genuine belief that he is the “good guy” makes him a compelling nemesis, willing to do anything to succeed. There are many returning characters from the first game, including the playable vault hunters from that expedition. I absolutely loved seeing how the protagonists from the first game played a key role in the narrative of Borderlands 2.

While known for its bombastic sense of humor, Borderlands 2 is hit or miss in the writing department. Every character is an over the top caricature, equipped with heaps of jokes. Unfortunately, many of the jokes fall completely flat. Now, this is partially due to when the game was released. In 2011, the internet was full of outrageous “random” humor which Borderlands 2 heavily leans into. It may be unfair to judge the ridiculousness of Borderlands 2, as it was a product of its time. Still, it feels like the writer’s were trying to hard to pack in a million gags, and I wish it had been dialed back a bit. Despite it being a defining feature of the game, much of its humor has not aged particularly well.

Ultimately, I think Borderlands 2 was a revolutionary game which blew open an entire genre. Looter shooters have become increasingly popular over the years, but Borderlands 2 holds supreme. The bombastic action, variety of characters, plethora of guns, graphic art style, and wacky dialogue certainly makes this game unique. I’ve played this game numerous times since its release, and it will always remain as a classic in my heart.