Uncharted 3: A Case of the 'Lost Spark'

Ever since my brother so graciously bought our family a PS3 out of his own pocket money, I've been gaming on that thing non-stop.  So much so that I brought it to college with me.  Hooray for lost GPA!

Obviously, though, I knew that this would happen, and I only intentionally brought four games back with me: Mass Effect 3, Saints Row: The Third, Street Fighter x Tekken, and, last but not least, Uncharted 3.  Honestly, even though I'm kind of a Mass Effect junkie, and fighting games have some kind of ethereal handle on my nervous system that doesn't let go until I can beat hard mode arcade with my hands tied behind a bucket full of sea urchins, crabs and lobsters, I was most excited to boot up Uncharted.  Why you might ask?  Well, let's just take a look at why Uncharted just makes people giddy in the first place, versus what Uncharted 3 actually did.

The Graphics

Let's not lie to ourselves.  If Uncharted was made by any other company than Naughty Dog, it wouldn't be nearly as good-looking.  It's a very pretty game!  One of the first things people notice about the Uncharted games is that every piece of the levels is just plain gorgeous.  It's amazing to me that a single studio can create huge, sweeping landscapes and realistic looking ancient ruins!  I mean, you really do feel like a thief-archaeologist in these games just exploring shit.

Look at those rocks!  This horse!  The sun!

Okay, ow.  Don't look at the sun.  Might have to turn down the gamma.

Everything in Uncharted just looks and feels real.  These games could be ripping right off the market and placed into a movie and pass off as an excellent animated film (albeit a mildly predictable movie, but that's neither here nor there).  However, if we're going to get all sober for a minute here, then we ought to compare the games good-looks to it's predecessors.  How does Uncharted 3 stand up to its legacy?

Meh.

And by "meh", I mean my eyes just had an orgasm.

Yeah, it hardly needs to be said that Uncharted 3 still has the excellent graphics and features of its predecessors.  The only gripe about this end of the series is that there just isn't enough variety of colors in this game.  I mean, greens, oranges and browns dominate the game's landscape, and even though it's a modern game and this is the norm for color variety now, I still can't help but remember how Uncharted 2 did it.

Uncharted 2 had color.  It had more than green and orange and brown.  It had blue, white, lots of gold--do you see where I'm going with this?  As much as I hate to say it, Uncharted 3's levels had a lot of the same colors in them, and in an attempt to cover that up, they made the levels look massive.  And even though that's really cool and all, it only made me want to play Uncharted 2 more, only because of the sheer variety of design that Uncharted 2 had.

Y'know, there's just something about fighting tanks in the snow that just screams color.

Pacing

The Uncharted series is well known for being excellently paced.  Everything just feels like it's going in the right place, every cutscene should feel like you wanted to take a break from shooting and it came at the perfect time.  In Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog perfected it.  They made it so that when every action scene came up, you didn't say, "Well shit, I don't want to have to run-n'-gun my way through thousands of nameless baddies."  Instead, the first thing out of my mouth was, "I wonder what the hell this game is going to pull over my eyes this time.  Dazzle me, Drake.  Dazzle me.

In Uncharted 3, Naughty Dog certainly tried to do the same thing.  The intent was definitely still there, and there were many moments where I felt like I just *couldn't* put the controller down because I had to just get through one more chapter.  And, of course, there were one or two points where I just felt like the game wasn't letting me progress.  For those of you who have played the game, anyone remember that part with the sandstorm?  Yeah, of course you do.  That's because it was actually really annoying, and almost felt like the game developers just put it in there because it wasn't hard enough yet.  Honestly, it wasn't, but it didn't belong at that moment.

BACK, HEINOUS SANDSTORM DEMON!

BACK I SAY!

However, among the parts that felt mildly out of place, there are so many redeeming parts to that to make up for it.  The Airport was probably the most exciting section of the game, and I'm not gonna lie, the Chateau was pretty fucking chaotic and fun too.  So with the aggravating, frustrating parts, there also came a good deal of very smooth, hard parts that you still died in a lot, but it was fun to die.  Oh, and the Ship?  I'll say this much.  Extremely out of place, but gods dammit did it make me want to play that game so much more...

Anyway, the only gripe I had was that the game wasn't quite as long as the second iteration.  Whereas Uncharted 2 had 26 chapters, Uncharted 3 harkened back to the first Uncharted by only having 22 chapters, and that was something that I was a little less than excited about.  As much as I would have loved a longer Uncharted, Uncharted 3 felt like it had run its course, and by the end, it didn't have much steam left to go that extra mile.  However, there is one reason why I wish they did keep on going...

Plot

Now, I hate to say this, but Uncharted 3 probably has the weakest plot in the series.  No, I don't mean it was terrible, I mean it was mediocre for an Uncharted game.  It was like the developers took the first two games, stripped down the basic formula, added two new antagonists and said, "Yup, uh-huh, now onto level design."  Not to say that they didn't have the usual fucking amazing characters and characterization going on in this one, but it felt like we had all been down this road before, and that none of the characters had much new to say.

No compelling love triangle this time around, boys?

Ah well, I guess you can have Elena or whatever-her-name-is.

Well, okay, perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh on Uncharted 3's plot.  To be fair, they managed to make one of the nameless baddies that you happen to beat down in the beginning become a mainstay character, which is a very ballsy plot choice, and one that managed to work perfectly in the game.  And, as it's hard to talk about plot without spoiling a thing or two, I'll just say that the Antagonists in this game were a bit better thought out than previous installments (Uncharted 2's villain was the obligatory power-hungry meathead, and Uncharted's was the obligatory "I'm gonna rule the world, guys!" villain).  However, I felt that their inevitable downfall was a bit...rushed.  Not to get all spoiler-y on you guys, but in Uncharted 2, you had to fight the main antagonist head-to-head; in Uncharted 3, you don't really get a chance to go toe-to-toe with the villains until the very end, and even then it just feels like a mad dash to finish the game, rather than finish the boss.  Granted, there is a hefty battle at the end, but it feels lackluster, almost like the climax came at some other point in the story, but you just can't seem to recall where it was.

"Now, where the hell did I put that climax?

I should just keep a GPS on that damn thing..."

However, all nitpicking aside, there's nothing wrong with Uncharted 3's storyline.  It's just bland, it feels like you've seen it all before except done better.  Maybe it's just because this game came after Uncharted 2, which, admittedly, is a pretty difficult game to live up to in terms of expectation.  But the plot was very thin, go from point A to point B, kill this person, get shipwrecked/airplanewrecked, repeat steps 1-3.  It's good, but if you aren't eager to hear more interactions between Nate and his crew (one of the reasons I got the game), you won't be missing anything plot-wise if you skip this game.

Multiplayer

Here's where things get a bit better.  The Multiplayer is just as good as last time, and with a little bit of DLC, I'm sure it can be an even bigger experience than last time.

...What?  It's Uncharted Multiplayer.  Play it.  It's loads of fun, no matter which game you play it on.

The Soundtrack

HHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG-

Sorry.  I get a little carried away when it comes to music.  Once again, Uncharted 3 does little to improve what was already there in Uncharted 2.  It's good, sure, maybe even a little bit better.  But you certainly won't hear the soundtrack outshining anything that was previously already done.  It's great, don't get me wrong, just not quite as good as last time around.

~The Verdict~

Is it hard to figure out?  Uncharted 3 is a great game.  It's got flair, style, fully-acted out cutscenes that startle you with their incomparable voice acting work and their impeccable timing, and lots of nice artwork and sounds.  It's a great game.

But seriously, if you've already played Uncharted 2, you actually don't need to play Uncharted 3.  Honestly, if a friend has it, play a couple of his/her favorite chapters, and forget about it.  It's cool to have, sure, but I think when it comes time to finally trade in some heavy hitting titles back to gamestop, Uncharted 3 might not be very high on the "For-keeps" list.

Cheer up, dude.  There's always next gen.

Chloe needs to stop being so DAMN SEXY,

~CascadaKatana

Preview- Mass Effect 3 is *drumroll*

...

Not as bad as everyone says it is.

Preview: Fez, A Release Date?!

If you've been active in the indie community for any amount of time, you know about Phil Fish and Polytron.  And if you haven't, you've probably heard a bit of buzz about Phil Fish, at the very least.  Anyone remember that whole gaffe about him saying that Japanese games just suck?  Even if you don't, you can probably already tell that Phil Fish is a very blunt dude, and one that certainly takes his game making seriously.  So seriously, in fact, that Fez has been in the making for about four years now (if memory serves me correctly).  People have been anticipating his title for all of those years, even to the point that when an advanced copy of Fez's soundtrack was released, a good majority of the devoted fanbase (to a game that wasn't even out yet, mind) decided to download it.  He's obviously a great developer, there's no getting around that.  Perhaps a bit blunt, and maybe a little conceited, but definitely not an amateur.

Japanese games just suck.  Except for all of the games I took inspiration from.

Those only mildly suck.

All kidding aside, Phil Fish and Polytron have done some excellent work with Fez.  And needless to say, up until now, Fez didn't have a release date.  But with each lovely push of media, the video game hipsters of the world only grew hungry for more of that deliciously-pixelated, fezed man.  Well, that is, until now.  Not to worry video game hipsters, Fez is coming.  And it has a release date.


April 4th, 2012.  You read that right.  2012, NOT 2013.  Anyone find it ironic that it's going to be released on a Friday?

Universal Rule: Hipsters can only release their works on unlucky days.

All for the sake of irony, my friends.

Anyone else notice that it's close?  Like, really close.  Like two weeks close.  Holy shit, I'm going to die with excitement.


And if anyone's interested, you can watch Fez's video trailers on their site.  

Or, y'know, right here.  It's gorgeous.  Just look at those pixels!

Needless to say, once I get my hands on the game, I'll give you guys what I think.  Oh, and next time, I'll have slightly less of a grudge against Phil Fish.  He's kind of an asshole, and his game is by no means a posterchild for indie games at all (more on that at a later date).  However, I can't deny that I'm a sucker for games that look like this, and the fact that it's realized in full 3D makes all that just the tinniest bit better.


Did I mention that Phil Fish is pretentious?

Obligatory "Welcome to my Blog!" Post

Welcome, one and all, to a little blog that, until further notice, I'm going to refer to as Katana's Kiosk!  First of all, thanks for visiting!  Even if it doesn't look like much now, I'm sure that with a little time and effort put in, it'll pick up in no time.  So, if you're visiting, you must be wondering, "What exactly is this blog?  Who are you and why should we care about what you write?"

"Sometimes I like to pretend I care about what you're writing..."

A difficult question with a segmented answer, one that I've carefully laid out in question form.  Yay!

Who are you?

I'm an amateur blogger who is very interested in becoming a critic for video games and other media.  I'm also a college student and an avid writer (Creative Writing minor, fuck yeah!).  I wouldn't say that I have lofty dreams, but it wouldn't be accurate to say that I'd rather slink away into the throes of monotony, and not have my voice be heard in some regard.  So, here I am, writing about a passion and hobby of mine that I've had for the better part of my life: video games!

What are you writing about?

Simple!  I'll be writing about a lot of different things, but mostly I'll be providing news and hype for upcoming games that I hear about.  Not only that, but I'll be reviewing games (obviously once I finish them to the fullest extent) and writing prospectives on older games that I've played, or am currently playing.  In this way, I'll provide you, the readers, with a little bit of information and a semi-biased (this is, after all, my opinion) reports on the news of the video game industry.  This includes all types and genres of video games, including the newest of the new indie games the moment I hear about them (flash games included!).  So if you feel that I'm not reviewing or touching upon a game that you wish to hear about, go ahead and shoot me an e-mail.  If I've played it, I'll write a rather large post on why it was good, what worked, or what didn't work.  If I haven't played it, it might be tough for me to drop everything and immediately start that game.  But, nag me anyway.  As long as your nagging is well thought-out and not filled with typos and passive-aggressive comments, I'll heavily consider playing and becoming acquainted with the game!  And, of course, I'll mention the person who introduced me to the game (gotta give credit where it's due!) in the post/review.

And above all, I'm just writing about video games.  I can't stress enough that this is all opinion based, so obviously I won't have all the answers, and sometimes I may not have taken a good enough look at some games.  On the whole, though, I will attempt to be as thorough and helpful as possible with games.  Tl:dr, I won't review a game or provide a prospective look at it unless I've gotten everything I can out of it.

Why?

Why not?  Video games are usurping many other types of media for a kind of social supremacy; a wave of new media that has revived a subculture (nerd-dom, hurrah!) that, heretofore, was shunned due to bias and perhaps some admittedly drastic unhygienic habits.   Essentially, I'm catering to that.  As much as it's important to hear about one side of the video game industry, sometimes you won't get a straight answer from the major video game reviewers and critics.  Especially because of their new popularity, video games have become a consumer market, and one that, indefinitely, will have some "dirty cops" as reviewers.  As much as I hate to say it, a lot of video game critics aren't very good at their jobs, as they tend to "butter up" a game even if the storyline has thousands of plotholes, or there are grievous mistakes in programming or design that render the verisimilitude of a world completely inert.  Not all reviewers are like this, but many have turned toward this kind of "nice guy" reviewing, and in a lot of ways, that's bullshit.  I'm not going to give scores, or grades to games, because that tends to undermine several different qualities of a game that a text document might not be able to portray accurately in a few paragraphs.

I also want to say that I'm doing this because I want to, NOT because I have to.  I don't have to buy a game and review it just because it's getting a lot of hype.  If I hear that a game isn't doing so well, but it got a lot of publicity, I might comment on that, but playing the game to the fullest extent would be taxing, and difficult considering the fact that I will have other things that I have to take care of (y'know, in life and stuff).

Really...?

Video games?  Yep.  There's been a lot of debate as to whether or not video games are worth it these days, as the prices rise and, let's be honest, video games contribute to quite a bit of the global warming crisis we're in the middle of.  I'm not going to get all political here, but it's a struggle to convince a wider number of people that video games are not only important, but they can also be art.  I believe this wholeheartedly, and I'm hoping that, after reading a few posts, you will too.

And if you don't like it, the back button is in the top left-hand corner of your screen.

You managed to get this far.  Why not stay awhile...?

Thanks for coming, and enjoy your stay in my kiosk!  It's pretty messy at the moment, but I've got a lot to sell.

Have a wonderful day,

~CascadaKatana