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[Elios83]

So I've played through Uncharted 1, 2, and am almost done with 3.

And....I really don't fucking get it.

The set pieces? Amazing.
The characters? Fantastic.
The acting and stories? Campy as hell but enjoyable.
The technical prowess? Absolutely astonishing and unbelievable what they pulled off on the PS3.
The puzzles? Pretty great for the most part.


But the combat? Good god fucking damn is this the most frustrating, most poorly-playing series of third-person shooters I've ever played.

Uncharted 1 is the worst overall, but 2 and 3 aren't much better. And 3 somehow out-does 1 in its terribleness toward the end of the game when you're stuck in the sandstorm.

Toward the end of Uncharted 1 I set the difficulty to Easy instead of Normal and the game improved 1000%. I tried 2 and 3 on Normal to start too to see if they improved the balance of the encounters, but nope nope nope once I started dying due to unfair and un-fun situations over and over and over again....nope, back to Easy.


But even on Easy!! Uncharted 3 is a terribly playing piece of shit toward the end of it!!

An overwhelming and ridiculous number of enemies that's never fun to fight against. Grenades plopping in from everywhere while guys flank you endlessly. Other guys sniping you from hundreds of feet away despite it being impossible to see them through a sand storm. Add enemies with rocket launchers and grenade launchers on top of it. And then there's the heavy machine gunners who take a billion bullets to take them down. But there's little place to take cover from them??? Oh yeah, and there are armored machine guns firing at you from jeeps and you need to climb some towers to get rocket launchers to take them out. I had a grenade launcher but of course that wouldn't work....I needed rocket launchers because fuck you that's why.

But before the encounters began, Drake of course gives some pithy line of "let's do this quietly". So I try to take down enemies quietly. I sneak up on someone and circle my camera around 3 times to make sure no one sees me....I snap his neck.....BAM EVERYONE IS NOW AWARE OF ME AND SHOOTING AT ME SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Stealth is just fucking broken in these games. Ugh.


In the first Uncharted, I forgave them. In the 2nd game, they improved, so I welcomed it even though it was still awful for the most part. The third game, I know it was done by the "B" team but I would have expected them to learn lessons from 1 and 2.


At this point, I'm just worried about Uncharted 4. Good lord do I hope they completely overhaul every single bit about how the combat encounters work.

Tbh I finished (and platinumed) U3 at brutal with the original aiming system at launch which was more difficult to handle because of the recoil and I didn't have many problems. At easy it's so easy that it becomes boring. I'm not a super expert of the genre or anything like that.
Maybe you haven't found a way to properly play this kind of game? You play it as if it was a fps, you don't cover enough/wait to recover health before attacking again? I dunno.

 

[mrklaw]

That section in U3 is pretty bad though. You can only pass with rocket launchers which you can only find by climbing little buildings and the weapons are not visible unless you do. Normally in such forced encounters you'll come across the necessary weapon naturally - like the sniper rifle on the stone walls.

I think it would have been OK as a semi puzzle if you had to seek out the RPGs but the two machine guns are pretty brutal so you don't get much time to search around, and then they throw in a grenade launcher guy for fun too. And they all suddenly start opening up on you with literally no warning which is jarring

U3 for me had the worst combat - they seemed more bullet-spongy than usual, and headshots didn't seem to connect as well as they did in the first two games.

I still enjoy the combat generally, but I love UC despite the combat and not because of it

 

[Fancy Clown]

Even though I've played these games to death, coming back to them in this remaster still feels fresh. I was impressed with how well Drake's Fortune holds up in some regards (graphics, presentation--I love the dramatic music that plays in gunfights), but the fairly static wave based encounters and poor pacing really hold it back. There's just way too much combat in it, which isn't something I ever felt before curiously. I actually really like the giant room where you have to follow the roman numerals. It's got great atmosphere, and it's the best pacing break in the game with some decent mix of puzzle/platforming. But overall the game wasn't nearly as fun as I remember which made me worry that Uncharted 2 wouldn't hold up either.

Nope, Uncharted 2 is still amazing. Playing it back to back highlights exactly how much better it is in literally ever single regard. Graphics, art, animation, pacing, writing, voice acting, combat. It's just such a huge leap forward and the opening is such a confident piece of storytelling that even though it has the mildly annoying forced stealth, and lots of slow walking and tutorializing, I was still totally engaged even though I've beaten the game 4 or 5 times before.

I think Borneo is an underrated section of Uncharted 2 as well. People say the game doesn't really kick off until Nepal, and to a certain degree that's true, but Borneo a) looks fucking amazing in this remaster (it seriously looks like a PS4 game at times), b) I love how it's paced. The fact that it mirrors the opening bits of Drake's Fortune especially highlights this. You're going around in a jungle with Sully who's making jokes about whore's in a church, but this time the gameplay is so much more varied. The level design is way better with really cool sandboxes (although the encounters arent as good as the ones in Nepal as its still slightly in tutorial zone), you can do some stealth, there are more nooks and crannies for treasure, theres that little bomb engaging moment, lots of great story beats, and some really cool mystery adventuring with the UV blue torch. Also, Sully (bye until the end of the game :-( ).

Lastly, I miss Eddy Raja too, but let's be real, Flynn is easily the best Uncharted villain thus far. His banter is amazing, his motivations are clear but you're not hit over the head with them, he has a strong presence in the game, hes a good mirror of Drake, and he's got that smarmy accent. He's a blast whenever he's in the game whereas Eddy Raja was just fun and silly, but was never sketched out as well or was as believable. Lazaravich isn't nearly as complex or interesting, but he doesn't need to be. He's the big evil guy that justifies you killing hundreds of people to stop him, and he's got a sweet design, good voice acting, and strong sense of character and that's enough. Uncharted 2 really has the best cast in gaming, and I never really gave credit to the villains until now for some reason.

Can't wait to continue playing from Nepal and see how the rest of the game holds up.

 

[dLMN8R]

That section in U3 is pretty bad though. You can only pass with rocket launchers which you can only find by climbing little buildings and the weapons are not visible unless you do. Normally in such forced encounters you'll come across the necessary weapon naturally - like the sniper rifle on the stone walls.

I think it would have been OK as a semi puzzle if you had to seek out the RPGs but the two machine guns are pretty brutal so you don't get much time to search around, and then they throw in a grenade launcher guy for fun too. And they all suddenly start opening up on you with literally no warning which is jarring

U3 for me had the worst combat - they seemed more bullet-spongy than usual, and headshots didn't seem to connect as well as they did in the first two games.

I still enjoy the combat generally, but I love UC despite the combat and not because of it

I think this is it, actually.

I didn't clearly describe my opinions - I could handle most of the game on Normal, but still died a bunch and I just wasn't interested in that type of trial-and-error gameplay for games which frankly don't play well at all.

So I lowered it to Easy, and yes Uncharted 1, 2, and most of 3 were indeed really easy.

But for the entire last ~20% of Uncharted 3 and some other bits throughout 1 and 2, the game was still absurdly poorly balanced and absolutely anything but "easy" on Easy difficulty.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

I just finished Uncharted 3 and, despite a few really just annoying combat sections, I had a good time with it.

I think the game just, constantly, puts the player at a major disadvantage in Uncharted 3, more so than the other games, in most combat sections and has terrible cover/enemy placement.

It's like a game entirely composed of Shambala encounters.

 

[besthijacker]

Quick Question....

Anyone knows if EU version also includes Polish audio?
Not sure from where should I order it.

EDIT: Got Special Edition from Australia, but it doesn't come with Polish Audio. I doubt US version is going to have Polish Audio...that leaves me with EU version...

 

[Fancy Clown]

Almost done with Uncharted 2. Since it's been a while since my last playthrough, I've really forgotten how good this game is. Like, after The Last of Us came out I was like "okay, this is hands down ND's best game"...but honestly Uncharted 2 in some ways still might be there best. I don't know, it's close. The pacing is insane (although it gets a little too balanced towards combat once you hit the monastery, especially after just white-knuckling it through the village, tank set-piece, and convoy). Waking up in the village and then spending two chapters in the ice caves is still my favorite pacing section in series, and a real highlight. The atmosphere there is off the charts, the platforming is fun, and Tenzin is a great character.

Also, real talk here, the combat in Uncharted 2 is so ridiculously underrated. Like this is one of THE best TPS after RE4 in terms of its encounters, mechanics, and level design. The verticality, the enemy types, your maneuverability, how the game mixes up each encounter is unmatched. The second half of the game in particular really ups the encounters. I feel like most peoples favorite sections in UC2 fall before the village invasion, but I think the fights are actually better from there on. The sandboxes in the village and monastery have a lot more verticality and flanking positions to them, and they throw a lot more combinations of special enemies at you to really keep you on your toes. Even though the end game is pretty combat heavy (although there are still some nice platforming breathers, and the monastery is a great location) I don't mind too much because of how good the combat is.

Now I'm even more curious to replay Uncharted 3 again to see if my thoughts on it have changed. Major props to Bluepoint on this collection, the games look and play amazing and don't feel out of place on the PS4 at all, and it's great having all three on the disc with a classy menu system and practically no loading time.

 

[Game4life]

Almost done with Uncharted 2. Since it's been a while since my last playthrough, I've really forgotten how good this game is. Like, after The Last of Us came out I was like "okay, this is hands down ND's best game"...but honestly Uncharted 2 in some ways still might be there best. I don't know, it's close. The pacing is insane (although it gets a little too balanced towards combat once you hit the monastery, especially after just white-knuckling it through the village, tank set-piece, and convoy). Waking up in the village and then spending two chapters in the ice caves is still my favorite pacing section in series, and a real highlight. The atmosphere there is off the charts, the platforming is fun, and Tenzin is a great character.

Also, real talk here, the combat in Uncharted 2 is so ridiculously underrated. Like this is one of THE best TPS after RE4 in terms of its encounters, mechanics, and level design. The verticality, the enemy types, your maneuverability, how the game mixes up each encounter is unmatched. The second half of the game in particular really ups the encounters. I feel like most peoples favorite sections in UC2 fall before the village invasion, but I think the fights are actually better from there on. The sandboxes in the village and monastery have a lot more verticality and flanking positions to them, and they throw a lot more combinations of special enemies at you to really keep you on your toes. Even though the end game is pretty combat heavy (although there are still some nice platforming breathers, and the monastery is a great location) I don't mind too much because of how good the combat is.

Now I'm even more curious to replay Uncharted 3 again to see if my thoughts on it have changed. Major props to Bluepoint on this collection, the games look and play amazing and don't feel out of place on the PS4 at all, and it's great having all three on the disc with a classy menu system and practically no loading time.

Yup. It set the bar for encounter variety and design last gen. I am hoping UC4 sets a similar bar this gen for the TPS genre. I dont think there has been a better paced game made since UC2.

 

[Glass]

Can this be one of my favourite game series without actually playing it?

Been watching a streamer play through the series this week and goddamn it's so good. The characters, the writing, the set pieces, the humour which comes off effortlessly but so few games do well...

A PS4 is going to be mighty tempting when 4 comes out.

 

[Revven]

I just finished Uncharted 3 and, despite a few really just annoying combat sections, I had a good time with it.

I think the game just, constantly, puts the player at a major disadvantage in Uncharted 3, more so than the other games, in most combat sections and has terrible cover/enemy placement.

It's like a game entirely composed of Shambala encounters.

The Shambhala encounters share nothing in common with UC3's encounters or any of UC3's endgame encounters. The Shambhala encounters in UC2 have actual thought and design behind them instead of just planting you in a combat arena and having you go at it with demon soldiers that can teleport behind you (see: Chapter 21 your first combat arena vs the Djinn in UC3).

UC2 introduces The Guardians in a much more intelligent and fair way. They start on a level above you, do a taunt to give you ample time to shoot them a couple of times (or throw 'nades which are purposefully littered around the area that triggers them to spawn) and they jump across to the area right above you and once again give you more ample time to pump bullets into them or toss two 'nades. All it takes to down one Guardian is two grenades and then once you've done that they'll drop their Crossbow and you can down the other using the Crossbow with only two shots.

Every combat arena with the Djinn in UC3 is just funneling you into one after the other with them placed all around you or in front of you. UC2 has thoughtful design where it starts with regular soldiers looking around for you, giving you the opportunity to stealth a few and get the power weapon(s) they're carrying as well as pick up a few grenades along the way to prepare you to take on stronger soldiers and a few Guardians.

No, Shambhala is sublime combat design while the City of Brass (or if you want to call it Atlantis of the Sands) is awful design. There isn't a single good combat arena in Chapter 21 of UC3. They're all terrible. In Chapters 24-25 of UC2, it's all really good for the most part save for the last one before you have to

Spoiler

help Elena back to a resting place

with the "monster closet" (which isn't even that bad once you know to walk to where they spawn and then that triggers more Guardians to show up).

 

[Fancy Clown]

Yup. It set the bar for encounter variety and design last gen. I am hoping UC4 sets a similar bar this gen for the TPS genre. I dont think there has been a better paced game made since UC2.

From what we've seen of UC4 thus far it looks to raise the bar and then some, honestly. I have very high expectations for it.

 

[Ricky_R]

Even though I've played these games to death, coming back to them in this remaster still feels fresh. I was impressed with how well Drake's Fortune holds up in some regards (graphics, presentation--I love the dramatic music that plays in gunfights), but the fairly static wave based encounters and poor pacing really hold it back. There's just way too much combat in it, which isn't something I ever felt before curiously. I actually really like the giant room where you have to follow the roman numerals. It's got great atmosphere, and it's the best pacing break in the game with some decent mix of puzzle/platforming. But overall the game wasn't nearly as fun as I remember which made me worry that Uncharted 2 wouldn't hold up either.

Nope, Uncharted 2 is still amazing. Playing it back to back highlights exactly how much better it is in literally ever single regard. Graphics, art, animation, pacing, writing, voice acting, combat. It's just such a huge leap forward and the opening is such a confident piece of storytelling that even though it has the mildly annoying forced stealth, and lots of slow walking and tutorializing, I was still totally engaged even though I've beaten the game 4 or 5 times before.

I think Borneo is an underrated section of Uncharted 2 as well. People say the game doesn't really kick off until Nepal, and to a certain degree that's true, but Borneo a) looks fucking amazing in this remaster (it seriously looks like a PS4 game at times), b) I love how it's paced. The fact that it mirrors the opening bits of Drake's Fortune especially highlights this. You're going around in a jungle with Sully who's making jokes about whore's in a church, but this time the gameplay is so much more varied. The level design is way better with really cool sandboxes (although the encounters arent as good as the ones in Nepal as its still slightly in tutorial zone), you can do some stealth, there are more nooks and crannies for treasure, theres that little bomb engaging moment, lots of great story beats, and some really cool mystery adventuring with the UV blue torch. Also, Sully (bye until the end of the game :-( ).

Lastly, I miss Eddy Raja too, but let's be real, Flynn is easily the best Uncharted villain thus far. His banter is amazing, his motivations are clear but you're not hit over the head with them, he has a strong presence in the game, hes a good mirror of Drake, and he's got that smarmy accent. He's a blast whenever he's in the game whereas Eddy Raja was just fun and silly, but was never sketched out as well or was as believable. Lazaravich isn't nearly as complex or interesting, but he doesn't need to be. He's the big evil guy that justifies you killing hundreds of people to stop him, and he's got a sweet design, good voice acting, and strong sense of character and that's enough. Uncharted 2 really has the best cast in gaming, and I never really gave credit to the villains until now for some reason.

Can't wait to continue playing from Nepal and see how the rest of the game holds up.

I agree with Borneo. It looked amazing back then and it played quite well.

It's actually one of the chapters I'm looking forward the most if I get the Collection.

 

[Arondight]

Nearly finished the games. The visuals are amazing, Guns feel decent, and really enjoyed the stories. I pretty much have to agree with the combat disappointments. Hipfiring and meleeing is great in UC2, step back in UC3, but anything else involving combat isn't very satisfying. I don't quite like the slow motion in UC2 but better system than UC3. I would prefer something like melee combat from TLOU. Fast, responsive, no locking in system for a long time and incredibly punchy feeling every time.

Puzzles are ok and nice way to break up combat, Platforming progress needs huge improvements. They're ok in the first three games but they're far too scripted, too linear and there's very little point to it. I would have liked to see greater diversity, choice in pathways rather than following yellow/white bricks everywhere. What I do like is platforming during gunplay scenarios. Moving around a lot, jumping around and flanking them. The game would have been better if they had some sort of stealth mode similar to TLOU as well.

Set pieces are amazing no doubt, Shooting in the collapsing building, trains sequence, burning Chateau, etc. Brillaint stuff. Jaw dropping especially for games made a few years ago.

I actually don't quite like the diversity of enemies. Snipers in a few numbers are ok as it makes you constantly on the move(getting closer and shooting them), but really hate Armored enemies where it takes more than a whole clip to the head is just not fun. Enemies with shotguns that flank is enough to be devastating and keep you on the move so further adding them just makes the experience annoying.

Really looking forward to UC4 and seeing the improvement.

 

[OfTheOverflow]

Somewhat unrelated to the game, but I had a wonderful time at an Uncharted NDC/4 event in Sydney the other night and was lucky enough to win a 1TB PS4, an awesome Uncharted 4 poster that I got Arne to sign (plus my NDC steelbook), and an a neat NDC shirt. On topic, hope to Platinum all the games soon, anxious about the speedruns though. Also very keen for U4 beta, so close to being able to play it the other night.

 

[krae_man]

I forgot how annoying the nesting doll enemies are. You shoot a guy in the head and his hat falls off. Did he have a "get out of hedshot free" card or something?

Almost done 2.

 

[Gamerman1]

Enjoying this collection immensely. Can't believe I never bothered with any of them on my PS3. For some reason I thought I wouldn't like them.

 

[TerryWogan]

Having defeated a certain annoying bullet sponge boss on crushing in Uncharted 2, the game then makes you repeat the opening climbing sequence. I don't think I've ever been more angry at a game. I should go and do something else for a week to calm down.

 

[Jack Scofield]

I kind of feel that it would have made more sense to put grenades on R1 in this remaster, so it would be easier to aim your gun and throw grenades at the same time.

On the PS3 this was much easier, since aiming was on L1 and you could use your middle finger to hit L2 and toss a grenade. But with the new controls it's impossible to do this unless you contort your hands in a weird way.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Having defeated a certain annoying bullet sponge boss on crushing in Uncharted 2, the game then makes you repeat the opening climbing sequence. I don't think I've ever been more angry at a game. I should go and do something else for a week to calm down.

It's way shorter and uses different camera angles. I thought it was cool and would be far less jarring then suddenly cutting away. Hardly something to get angry about for an easy 2 minute sequence lol.

The train boss fight was a real misstep though. I have no idea why they thought having a normal human tanking that many shots would make for a good fight, especially in a tiny train car.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Just finished 2. Fuck the boss fight gets worse every time I do it. Like I get what they're going for with it, including a climactic boss fight instead of a QTE and involving traversal and the sap mechanic, but it just sucks. It goes on way too long and just gets more annoying as it goes on, and if you die you have to start all over. Really puts a damper on the end of the game. And a lot of the encounters in Shambala kind of suck too. Like the last fight before the boss is literally just a corridor with no verticality and you just cover shoot at way too many special enemies. There are some good parts in Shambala (the stormy fight, and the platform setpiece) and it looks beautiful, but it's just such a step down from the practically flawless game design up until that point.

Started Uncharted 3 and it's crazy how good it looks. I remember it not being a huge leap up from U2's graphics but it really js. The bar fight is awesome too, even if it's a little janky. The next chapter was a lovely surprise my first time through as well. I think they did a good job of trying to match UC2's opening while doing something different.

 

[Haines]

Where can I find a good explanation of the quality of this collection? I borrowed 2 last year and loves it, but never played the others.

I haven't done my research and I'm curious if this collection is the bees knees or plauged with technical issues.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Where can I find a good explanation of the quality of this collection? I borrowed 2 last year and loves it, but never played the others.

I haven't done my research and I'm curious if this collection is the bees knees or plauged with technical issues.

It's amazing. Practically flawless 60fps and some slight gameplay tweaks from the originals make them play better, and the updates to the graphics are insane. Theres basically no loading times, you can switch between all three games at ease, and they added photo mode, some new difficulty modes, speed runs, more stats and trophies.

It's about as good as a remaster can get. I've beaten all three games loads of times on the PS3 but it's almost like I'm playing them fresh again in the collection.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Still working my way thru U2..

12 year old has been watching me playthru the entire series. Loves 'em (^____^)

I know people praise U2 to high-heaven but for whatever reason, I still feel the way I did about it back when I first played it in 2009.
It's good to great (I'm one of those people who does think it's a slog up until Nepal tho, sorry), but I still prefer U1.
Also, I still HAAATE what they did to the combat/mêlée timing to U2. U1 had this wonderful, rhythmic 3-press timing to it that was, seemingly removed with U2. Now, it seems like you just repeatedly spam square :/

 

[SketchTheArtist]

Booted up Uncharted 3 and after going through the first two, man oh man does it have pacing problems.

I remember the game never really lifted up for me on my first playthrough years ago, but after going through the previous games closely to my new experience with the third game, it's pretty jarring.

The game starts very low-key with the brawling bar sequence, to a tailing mission in the flashback to a slow platforming sequence. It's so paint-by-the-numbers and uneventful compared to the second one. The second game started with a very basic but original climbing sequence where stakes were high and your surroundings were driving the spectacular and exhilarating aspect of the opening sequence.

Not saying it should be BIGGER than Uncharted 2 but it should start with something exciting and in high gear so the rest of the game has momentum.

God of War 3 tried to step up the complexity of GOW2 and failed in my view because it just tried to be bigger and not more original and spectacular.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

I wish crushing difficulty had more thought put into it. Just upping enemy accuracy and damage to ridiculous levels is the lamest way. I remember doing it on golden abyss and I did it but it was more frustrating than fun. It completely breaks the cover system the combat was designed around to the point you pretty much can't use it. There are tons of encounters that become at least 50% luck based. I get shot through walls at times as see enemies shooting through their cover. To top it off when you get past the bits that are tough because the encounter clearly wasn't designed around it (blue room ugh) you don't feel satisfied, you just feel relieved you never have to do it again.

Maybe it's because golden abyss was on a portable so I could chip away at it when I had time but having less time to game I got to cp.6 I think on U1 and just though "why the fuck am I doing this, its not fun at all".

Guess I'll just not bother getting the plat on these. I know I could do it as I think anyone can. It's just a matter of retrying over and over till you get the right mix of memorising enemy positions and luck that enemy doesn't do anything odd/shoot through walls/headshots not registering.

Would be so much more fun if damage etc was same as normal but each difficulty had harder enemy set ups and better tactics.

 

[ThisOne]

Just started UC1 for the first time since 2007. Forgot how janky and weird some of the animations and platforming were. Pretty fun, if straightforward, game so far. Looking forward to finishing it and starting 2.

 

[dLMN8R]

One thing that gives me massive optimism for Uncharted 4?

The Last of Us.

I'm playing the remastered version for my first time immediately after playing all three Uncharted games, and holy shit it's an entirely new level of quality combat.

I know it's intentionally a very different style of game, but it's executed on so utterly superbly in a way I never got from the three Uncharted games. I'll be a happy camper if Uncharted 4 takes a lot of cues from The Last of Us.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Honestly, despite the backstop in enemy hit reactions in UC3, the combat is still really good. When you've got your flow on, the combat looks the most "uncharted" as I find myself running around, meleeing, and steel fisting a lot more than the other games, it's super scrappy. Melee system is definitely the best of the three games too, even with O being throw. Every fight just looks and feels so good, I love snatching an enemies weapon in midair or pulling the pin on their grenade and kicking them away.

One thing that gives me massive optimism for Uncharted 4?

The Last of Us.

I'm playing the remastered version for my first time immediately after playing all three Uncharted games, and holy shit it's an entirely new level of quality combat.

I know it's intentionally a very different style of game, but it's executed on so utterly superbly in a way I never got from the three Uncharted games. I'll be a happy camper if Uncharted 4 takes a lot of cues from The Last of Us.

It does. It has the stealth, heavier guns sounds, AI, interactive dialogue moments, and even wider levels.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Honestly, despite the backstop in enemy hit reactions in UC3, the combat is still really good. When you've got your flow on, the combat looks the most "uncharted" as I find myself running around, meleeing, and steel fisting a lot more than the other games, it's super scrappy. Melee system is definitely the best of the three games too, even with O being throw. Every fight just looks and feels so good, I love snatching an enemies weapon in midair or pulling the pin on their grenade and kicking them away.

I can never get past the wack hit reactions. Like even if I excuse the over the top (sometimes sloppy) encounter design, the pacing, the dumb spawns, the wonky stealth that kinda works but not really, the melee system being thrust onto you mid-firefight, roll also being grab, etc., at the end of it all the hit reactions are non-existent and it kills the whole thing for me. It's so flat and makes glancing shots completely useless. They improved firearm audio but without the right hit feedback they're just loud BB guns.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I can never get past the wack hit reactions. Like even if I excuse the over the top (sometimes sloppy) encounter design, the pacing, the dumb spawns, the wonky stealth that kinda works but not really, the melee system being thrust onto you mid-firefight, roll also being grab, etc., at the end of it all the hit reactions are non-existent and it kills the whole thing for me. It's so flat and makes glancing shots completely useless. They improved firearm audio but without the right hit feedback they're just loud BB guns.

The hit reactions taking a dive is really dissapointing but they aren't totally non reactive. Every other bullet seems to get a flinch (which is still not good enough), and the enemies take fewer hits to kill than the other two games. Gun sounds are good too, and the double barrel shotgun can lay people out from decent range as well.

Imma pay close attention to the encounter design this time around, but the combat in the chateau level was great. I should really record some of my gameplay because the mobility and scrappy melee combat and run and gun makes the combat look super "uncharted" as I said. I do agree with a lot of the other problems like stealth not working as well, too many waves, some frustrating encounters, and I remember the back half of the game fucks the pacing up by being almost entirely comprised of shootouts.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Ok Uncharted 3 combat only works when the level and encounter design facilitate its fast paced gameplay tweaks. Syria does not do this. That's always my least favorite part of the game. It's got some good adventuring bits, and it's pretty, but the combat portions are horrible. So many waves in a giant arena where all the cover is scrunched to one end, and an overuse of armored enemies that are distinctly worse than the ones in UC2 = not a good time.

The Chateu before it had great encounters with plenty of good cover formations, verticality, and no armored dudes.

Playing it back to back with UC2 shows off how much better the latter is in pacing too. The first half of UC3 has too much slow walking and puzzle solving, and the back half doesn't have enough.

Again, the Chateu is my favorite part of the game because it's so well paced. Absolutley perfect mix of traversal, story, puzzles, combat, and setpiece spectacle. It's also insanely, insanely good looking.

 

[SketchTheArtist]

Ok Uncharted 3 combat only works when the level and encounter design facilitate its fast paced gameplay tweaks. Syria does not do this. That's always my least favorite part of the game. It's got some good adventuring bits, and it's pretty, but the combat portions are horrible. So many waves in a giant arena where all the cover is scrunched to one end, and an overuse of armored enemies that are distinctly worse than the ones in UC2 = not a good time.

The Chateu before it had great encounters with plenty of good cover formations, verticality, and no armored dudes.

Playing it back to back with UC2 shows off how much better the latter is in pacing too. The first half of UC3 has too much slow walking and puzzle solving, and the back half doesn't have enough.

Again, the Chateu is my favorite part of the game because it's so well paced. Absolutley perfect mix of traversal, story, puzzles, combat, and setpiece spectacle. It's also insanely, insanely good looking.

Yeah, playing the Uncharted games back-to-back, the flaws of the first and third one rear their ugly heads sadly.

I really feel that Henning, even how talented she is, kinda dropped the ball for the third one and I feel Uncharted 4, before changing Director, was heading that way. Especially following the immense success and critical acclaim of Last of Us and how Uncharted 2 is still talked about to this day.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Yeah, playing the Uncharted games back-to-back, the flaws of the first and third one rear their ugly heads sadly.

I really feel that Henning, even how talented she is, kinda dropped the ball for the third one and I feel Uncharted 4, before changing Director, was heading that way. Especially following the immense success and critical acclaim of Last of Us and how Uncharted 2 is still talked about to this day.

I lay less blame on Hennig than I do on Justin Richmond (the game director) and, perhaps more so, on them rushing it for the fall release rather than delaying it which I think would have at least let them fix some of the pacing issues and add another layer of polish. The writing and story beats for Uncharted 3 are still very good for the most part. I think the theme and intropspective storytelling is good, it's just that almost all of the side characters get very little play (which again I think might be becuase of the rush to release). The villains are pretty bad too.

I still really like Uncharted 3 but it is certainly a step down from 2 in almost every regard. I think Druckmann and Straley are gonna kill 4, it looks like everything I ever wanted from an Uncharted game.

 

[SketchTheArtist]

I lay less blame on Hennig than I do on Justin Richmond (the game director) and, perhaps more so, on them rushing it for the fall release rather than delaying it which I think would have at least let them fix some of the pacing issues and add another layer of polish. The writing and story beats for Uncharted 3 are still very good for the most part. I think the theme and intropspective storytelling is good, it's just that almost all of the side characters get very little play (which again I think might be becuase of the rush to release). The villains are pretty bad too.

I still really like Uncharted 3 but it is certainly a step down from 2 in almost every regard. I think Druckmann and Straley are gonna kill 4, it looks like everything I ever wanted from an Uncharted game.

Oh, I always thought Hennig was the director of U3 (Damn you IMDB!). Yeah, story beats are good but I still wish that reveal about Drake's past would've had more breathing room for it to truely sink in. It created depth for his character that was lacking for a while.

But yeah, the biggest culprit for me was pacing. It was really bad and hurt the entire experience for me. Also, like you said, the antagonists were really lacking.

And yes, I really feel they're gonna kill it with Uncharted 4.

 

[Revven]

Ok Uncharted 3 combat only works when the level and encounter design facilitate its fast paced gameplay tweaks. Syria does not do this. That's always my least favorite part of the game. It's got some good adventuring bits, and it's pretty, but the combat portions are horrible. So many waves in a giant arena where all the cover is scrunched to one end, and an overuse of armored enemies that are distinctly worse than the ones in UC2 = not a good time.

The Chateu before it had great encounters with plenty of good cover formations, verticality, and no armored dudes.

Playing it back to back with UC2 shows off how much better the latter is in pacing too. The first half of UC3 has too much slow walking and puzzle solving, and the back half doesn't have enough.

Again, the Chateu is my favorite part of the game because it's so well paced. Absolutley perfect mix of traversal, story, puzzles, combat, and setpiece spectacle. It's also insanely, insanely good looking.

The Chateau is easily the best designed part of UC3 but Syria... is really not terrible because all of the combat arenas (save for the one just before the end of the chapter going into The Middle Way where you're forced to fight) can be stealthed through. I'm a firm believer that if Chapter 2 of UC2 is meant to introduce you to stealth (which it is) that Chapter 8 of UC3 is the introduction to stealth but a really poor attempt at it for numerous reasons -- one of which being the lack of Nate's signature quote of "do it quietly". While latter parts of the game have this quote and are not at all stealth-designed (i.e Chapter 14).

If you stealth through Syria, it becomes much better from a design standpoint (because you can clearly see how they designed it for stealth first rather than going Rambo) but it's still incredibly dull and uneventful as far as compared to Chateau.

I'll link you to my vids that show it (if you haven't seen them)

First area of Chapter 8

Second area of Chapter 8

Third final area of Chapter 8 before the forced combat sequence

It's not very clear how you're supposed to stealth these areas of Syria so that's why you run into these "waves of enemies with annoying armored guys" except the very last combat sequence which is hot garbage and inexcusable as the de facto way to beat it is to sit behind that cover you start out in and headshot people with the G-MAL. Very uninteresting design there for sure.

The final bullshit area when Cutter breaks his legs is awful I'll grant you that one as well but you can also make that much easier if you climb off to the side of the bridge (after you pass through the building to get to it) and shimmy to the end, throw a grenade at the riot shields and armored guy and then run past everyone to the gated room to go down the stairs -- letting your AI partners essentially auto-kill all the enemies you leave behind you while taking on the last three guys down the stairs. But even you do that it's still not very well designed at all lol.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Ok Uncharted 3 combat only works when the level and encounter design facilitate its fast paced gameplay tweaks. Syria does not do this. That's always my least favorite part of the game. It's got some good adventuring bits, and it's pretty, but the combat portions are horrible. So many waves in a giant arena where all the cover is scrunched to one end, and an overuse of armored enemies that are distinctly worse than the ones in UC2 = not a good time.

The Chateu before it had great encounters with plenty of good cover formations, verticality, and no armored dudes.

Playing it back to back with UC2 shows off how much better the latter is in pacing too. The first half of UC3 has too much slow walking and puzzle solving, and the back half doesn't have enough.

Again, the Chateu is my favorite part of the game because it's so well paced. Absolutley perfect mix of traversal, story, puzzles, combat, and setpiece spectacle. It's also insanely, insanely good looking.

Now you're speaking my language. The Chateau is easily the best part of the game and it's all downhill from there IMO, aside from the massive set piece moments. I don't bother with trying to decide who gets the blame for the game being what it is, Hennig or Richmond, but I do think there was a lack of nuance throughout the third game in areas that were already resolved in the second.

 

[Revven]

Now you're speaking my language. The Chateau is easily the best part of the game and it's all downhill from there IMO, aside from the massive set piece moments. I don't bother with trying to decide who gets the blame for the game being what it is, Hennig or Richmond, but I do think there was a lack of nuance throughout the third game in areas that were already resolved in the second.

It really is strange, it's like a completely different team designed The Chateau and then some other team took over for Syria and beyond. That part of UC3, those two chapters, are extremely well paced and done that it's odd how they messed up from there but... they did. :/ (Could be chalked up to having less than a year to make the game, though).

Combat areas are great with lots of cover to allow you to move around, puzzles aren't difficult but also aren't super easy to figure out the first time through, enough puzzles in between the action, and then a nice set piece that combines both Drake's movement and combat as you escape through the burning building.

Even has a calm beginning with a stroll through a beautiful woods (albeit short stroll) and great banter throughout.

And the optional treasures are also well placed in it. It's a stark contrast to Syria for sure.

 

[psychotron]

Being a huge fan of all 3 games upon release, it never occurred to me until now just how inferior 3 is to 2. The lack of proper hit animations was very jarring, whereas I didn't notice them before. Among Thieves stands up incredibly well in contrast.

 

[Fancy Clown]

The Chateau is easily the best designed part of UC3 but Syria... is really not terrible because all of the combat arenas (save for the one just before the end of the chapter going into The Middle Way where you're forced to fight) can be stealthed through. I'm a firm believer that if Chapter 2 of UC2 is meant to introduce you to stealth (which it is) that Chapter 8 of UC3 is the introduction to stealth but a really poor attempt at it for numerous reasons -- one of which being the lack of Nate's signature quote of "do it quietly". While latter parts of the game have this quote and are not at all stealth-designed (i.e Chapter 14).

If you stealth through Syria, it becomes much better from a design standpoint (because you can clearly see how they designed it for stealth first rather than going Rambo) but it's still incredibly dull and uneventful as far as compared to Chateau.

I'll link you to my vids that show it (if you haven't seen them)

First area of Chapter 8

Second area of Chapter 8

Third final area of Chapter 8 before the forced combat sequence

It's not very clear how you're supposed to stealth these areas of Syria so that's why you run into these "waves of enemies with annoying armored guys" except the very last combat sequence which is hot garbage and inexcusable as the de facto way to beat it is to sit behind that cover you start out in and headshot people with the G-MAL. Very uninteresting design there for sure.

The final bullshit area when Cutter breaks his legs is awful I'll grant you that one as well but you can also make that much easier if you climb off to the side of the bridge (after you pass through the building to get to it) and shimmy to the end, throw a grenade at the riot shields and armored guy and then run past everyone to the gated room to go down the stairs -- letting your AI partners essentially auto-kill all the enemies you leave behind you while taking on the last three guys down the stairs. But even you do that it's still not very well designed at all lol.

Yeah I stealthed through all the encounters in Syria this time around. I just hate the giant combat bowl in the middle, and the escape at the end.

There are things I like a lot about the Syria section though. The spider and puzzle section in the crypts, the creepy crusader statues, running from the RPG's, and the vertical combat on the tower. It's just the big combat encounters drag it down a lot.

Now you're speaking my language. The Chateau is easily the best part of the game and it's all downhill from there IMO, aside from the massive set piece moments. I don't bother with trying to decide who gets the blame for the game being what it is, Hennig or Richmond, but I do think there was a lack of nuance throughout the third game in areas that were already resolved in the second.

I think part of why the Chateau level is so good is because that's what they used for the first demo of the game so they polished the hell out of it. I believe the woman who designed it also designed the Uncharted 4 PSX level so she's clearly a big asset to Naughty Dog.

 

[Certinty]

Can't believe how short 1 and 3 are. 2 took me 8 hours on normal which was a good length but the other 2 took me 5 and 6 hours, that's way too short.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Can't believe how short 1 and 3 are. 2 took me 8 hours on normal which was a good length but the other 2 took me 5 and 6 hours, that's way too short.

I think 1 is a good length for what it is, but 3 definitely could have used another hour to pace out its back half a little better.

 

[AKyemeni]

Replaying the trilogy again and I thought that UC2 had the worst gunplay.

For me, when it comes to gameplay (gunplay, encounters, melee): UC3>UC1>>>>UC2.

In UC2, the bullets never go where I want them to go and the gunplay doesn't feel nearly as satisfying as the other 2.

I got the three platinums, time for UC4 beta now. Can't wait.

 

[Spinluck]

Yeah, playing the Uncharted games back-to-back, the flaws of the first and third one rear their ugly heads sadly.

I really feel that Henning, even how talented she is, kinda dropped the ball for the third one and I feel Uncharted 4, before changing Director, was heading that way. Especially following the immense success and critical acclaim of Last of Us and how Uncharted 2 is still talked about to this day.

The first one feels incredibly dated and has some really poor combat encounters. The controls are janky and the enemies barely react to being shot. Great game at the time, but is nothing but decent to me now.

 

[GnawtyDog]

Replaying the trilogy again and I thought that UC2 had the worst gunplay.

For me, when it comes to gameplay (gunplay, encounters, melee): UC3>UC1>>>>UC2.

In UC2, the bullets never go where I want them to go and the gunplay doesn't feel nearly as satisfying as the other 2.

I got the three platinums, time for UC4 beta now. Can't wait.

Recoil breh, recoil.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Recoil breh, recoil.

UC3 has way more recoil than 2 tho.But I haven't had a problem with accuracy in any of the 3 in the remaster.

 

[Replicant]

The thing about Uncharted stealth section is that if you fail, you get punished heavily. Lots and lots armored guys to deal with. But do it perfectly and you leave the area around 4-5 min shorter than if you didn't. See the airport scenario for example.

 

[jon bones]

i know the UC beta doesn't start til Dec but how do I do the client off the disc?

 

[hbkdx12]

The thing about Uncharted stealth section is that if you fail, you get punished heavily. Lots and lots armored guys to deal with. But do it perfectly and you leave the area around 4-5 min shorter than if you didn't. See the airport scenario for example.

Speaking to UC3 specifically, it felt like the game would tease you with segments that suggested they could be stealthed but then the game would pull some BS that would make it nearly impossible to do so without essentially "gaming the game" I don't know if they tweak this for the remaster but in the original it was horrible.

The two segments that stand out in my mind with great disdain in this respect is the airport sequence and the ballroom of the cruiseship.

Regardless of all that though, where it really crosses into bad game design is that even if you stealth everyone possible and have one enemy left, if that one enemy spots you, suddenly 20 dudes just come seeping out of the walls from nowhere. Like, wtf is that?! You might as well just have an open firefight from the start and not waste time trying to stealth anything

 

[Fancy Clown]

Sorry Net_Wrecker, the ship graveyard level all the way to jumping on the cruise ship is the shit. Amazing level design with a mix of verticality, awesome water gimmick, and moving platforms. Encounter design ain't bad here either. It's some proto-Uncharted 4 type combat arenas.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Sorry Net_Wrecker, the ship graveyard level all the way to jumping on the cruise ship is the shit. Amazing level design with a mix of verticality, awesome water gimmick, and moving platforms. Encounter design ain't bad here either. It's some proto-Uncharted 4 type combat arenas.

Just when I thought you were cool smh

I just can't get into it. The graveyard feels like a great concept of a dynamic combat bowl ruined by really obnoxious enemy types and placement- pretty much the story of the entire game tbh. And again, I could possibly still forgive it and have some fun if not for the underlying issues with shooting and melee that make it totally unsatisfying for me to interact with enemies. It IS proto-Uncharted 4 combat, I won't deny that, but it seems like they made some refinements since then that will totally blow it away.

In terms of arena style firefights in the series so far, I think the snowstorm encounter from UC2 is my favorite.