Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Catch-All

Stele wrote:

Just finished the first game tonight. Yeah yeah, way behind, but I just got my PS3 like 5-6 weeks back.

Guess I've got 11 months to get and finish the 2nd huh?

All things going well, that'll be me in a month's time!

Been looking forward to the Uncharted series from the beginning so hopefully this'll be more of the same.

Hit me up if'n either of you want to do the co-op levels. They're a blast.

Dyni wrote:

I could have sworn some of those desert shots were pre-rendered, but apparently Naughty Dog confirmed that the entire thing was done in engine. It looks like they've somehow managed to top the visuals of the 2nd.

In engine does not equal in-game. The Killzone trailers were all in-engine as well.

To echo everyone else, holiday season next year is going to be brutal on my wallet and free time. And I love it.

EvilDead wrote:
Dyni wrote:

I could have sworn some of those desert shots were pre-rendered, but apparently Naughty Dog confirmed that the entire thing was done in engine. It looks like they've somehow managed to top the visuals of the 2nd.

In engine does not equal in-game. The Killzone trailers were all in-engine as well.

I'm not sure what you're getting at, KZ2 is one of the best looking games I've played. The cutscenes and gameplay are pretty seamless.

The narrator did and didn't sound like Nolan North, or at least didn't sound like Drake, until the very end.

Anyone else think of the zeppelin scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? I can imagine this section of the game starting in the passenger section, but progressing to dodging planes on the surface of the zeppelin and making harrowing jumps from girder to girder before it all comes crashing down.

Might as well put in a pre-order now for the collectors edition that comes with a jar of sand from the Sahara or whatever.

I think there were more interesting reveals at the VGAs this year than the last E3. Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3, and Elder Scrolls 5? Where the hell did this come from?

casual_alcoholic wrote:

I think there were more interesting reveals at the VGAs this year than the last E3. Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3, and Elder Scrolls 5? Where the hell did this come from?

And those 3 games all come out in the same month. I'm going to be so broke next year.

Well Mass Effect was known to be a trilogy before the 2nd one even released. And with Uncharted movie in the works, a 3rd game seemed inevitable.

Not surprised by anything except that the same month release really. And you know there will be other stuff in November too.

Evo wrote:
EvilDead wrote:
Dyni wrote:

I could have sworn some of those desert shots were pre-rendered, but apparently Naughty Dog confirmed that the entire thing was done in engine. It looks like they've somehow managed to top the visuals of the 2nd.

In engine does not equal in-game. The Killzone trailers were all in-engine as well.

I'm not sure what you're getting at, KZ2 is one of the best looking games I've played. The cutscenes and gameplay are pretty seamless.

The cutscenes in the game, maybe, but trailers I'm sure are put out on beefier hardware. As Evil Dead said, in-engine doesn't mean in-game. If the engine doesn't have to do the math of gameplay and dynamics and all that and it can be run on a powerful dev machine (read: not PS3 hardware), the devs can beef up the models and shaders and such to a point that your system at home isn't capable of reaching. That's why you see a lot of game models as "15,000 polygons in real time! OMG!!", when in fact the in-game model the player controls is maybe something like 8-10k, if not less, and the 15-20k model is for cutscenes and promo.

Stele wrote:

Just finished the first game tonight. Yeah yeah, way behind, but I just got my PS3 like 5-6 weeks back.

Guess I've got 11 months to get and finish the 2nd huh?

Right behind you, man. Just got to somewhere around chapter 11 last night.

indy wrote:

The narrator did and didn't sound like Nolan North, or at least didn't sound like Drake, until the very end.

It's for sure him! He's in the booth in the behind the scenes recording just that line:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1FnE...

Bonus Trumpet and Pogo shots. I love studio dogs; they're like presidential pets, but -better-.

Gameplay footage which I hadn't seen before. Makes me wish I owned a PS3 (almost)

I've reached my spoiler stage where I refuse to watch gameplay stuff. What I love, though? Trailers!

The whole crew! Suits and ties! Cleanish shaven Sully! ARGH! Why are you not out now, game? WHY!?

The beta's up now for PS+ members, and I believe Infamous 2 owners with a code. Go, go, go!

Whoa, guess today would be a good day to finally sign up for my free Plus.

cyrax wrote:

The beta's up now for PS+ members, and I believe Infamous 2 owners with a code. Go, go, go!

It's all downloaded, I'm all fed. Expect impressions in a few hours. All I can offer up so far is that all the customization stuff looks like a blast, and that it is, indeed, a beta.

EDIT: And the impressions are: Yeah, very beta. Disconnects, the odd lock up, and some crazy frame-rate thing. But it's strikingly awesome.

The basics are the same, with the running and the climbing and the shooting and the pulling fools off ledges. Some of the guns have changed--the Dragon now only scopes in, which BOOOO, and the FAL is now the G-MOD or something. The maps feel super-duper dense, and there are routes a-plenty, which was my favorite part about U2 MP--it was exceptionally hard to camp, and easy to move around. The Boosters are tiered now sort of like MW2--you buy the basic level, then do specific things to unlock further levels. Fair enough, that was hardly the problem I had with MW2.

Character-wise, Nate and Sully are there, and each side has a generic Dude. There isn't much in the way of customizables in the beta, but it seems you gather treasure sets in MP for specific items--my Sully must have a fedora.

The wild part is everything else. At random time it will announce this Power Play thing which does all sorts of craziness for 30 seconds or so. One's a VIP thing, one seems to reveal the location of the entire winning team, the most batsh*t one turns, in the view of the winning team, everyone into skeletons marked as enemies, not revealing which side they are until you shoot them. On top of these, you can trade the medals you earn for temporary bonuses--the one I have right now is 14 medals for an RPG.

The airbase level starts with a, I'd guess, five minute sequence where the good guys start on a cargo plane, and the bad guys start on trucks chasing it down. It's an awesome idea--that level from U2, but in MP, but right now it's really rough on the villain team. Hopefully, they can figure out how to balance it, because the idea is great fun.

So, it's a blast.

I should have an invite from Infamous 2. I might fire this up tomorrow.

Managed to play a few rounds of the beta this evening. I really, really like the pace and feel of it so far. Like SpacePPoliceman mentioned, the level design is top notch and they really didn't skimp on the verticality aspects of it. Shaping up nicely!

I played a few rounds yesterday. They are taking a note from Killzone and using rotating game modes, but those modes rotate within a TDM game, so it comes off as being a lesser version of KZ's approach. The most innovative thing I saw was the change in location on the airplane level. Overall, I liked it quite a bit, but I liked it for its being more Uncharted MP more so than for anything in particular that it's doing.

I remember being a bit baffled by the multiplayer in the last game, and after a couple rounds of this beta I'm feeling the same thing. To me, this game just doesn't work as a multiplayer shooter. It feels clunky and the combat is just incredibly unsatisfying, the weapons feel like toy pellet guns.

Ha I got an email with a code to get in on the beta testing... can't imagine there are that many people in need of one since most of us should have PSN+ now, but if anyone wants, PM me.

So far I like it, and even the bugs have been enjoyable. Occasionally a lonely set of propellers takes off from a nonexistent runway on the airport map, and one time a match didn't end because the 50th kill didn't register, but people who died stayed dead. There was maybe one dude left running around, no idea what to do.

My only criticism is that it just takes too many shots to kill people, and way lag is handled, which all too often results in two people punching each other to death.

I've only played about three rounds of the beta so far, but I've really enjoyed it. I don't know exactly what it is about it, but it doesn't seem as bland or frustrating as the majority of other online shooty bang bang games that I've played. I think it's largely due to the level design mixed with the smooth controls. It's easy to quickly get to higher ground and get the drop on someone, and for me so far there has been a good balance between moments of getting caught in the middle of a multi-man shoot-out and moments of running around alone, looking for someone to attack and trying to find the right vantage point to launch that attack.

I like that it takes a while to kill someone. Means that even if someone sees you before you see them, you might still have a chance to take them out if you can get to cover quickly enough. I've been able to get a few small kill-streaks, which has been nice since I'm not an online competitive shooter kind of guy and as such I'm usually not too good outside of a single-player environment. I think I've managed to get almost or just as many kills as I did deaths in all three rounds that I played, which definitely keeps the frustration levels low. It helps that everyone's pretty new to the game, so I'm on a pretty even playing field right now, but I've even been able to hold my own decently against a level 25 player because of how easy it was for me to run away and circle back around to take him from another angle thanks to a combination of the level design and the amount of bullets it takes to die.

There was even a moment where, in a free-for-all deathmatch (oh, how I miss free-for-all deathmatch in shooters), about 4 of us converged on a single treasure and I was able to take them all out and swoop in and grab the treasure, which was pretty exciting for me. Very few multiplayer games have been able to present a moment like that when I'm still learning the ropes and remain fun. I love the treasure and medal-collection aspects to it all, as well.

So far, my experience has been completely bug-free on top of everything, although that's probably due to not having played it for more than an hour yet.

Hopefully, as I play more of the beta it continues to be just as engaging and interesting as those first three rounds. If it does, then whenever I get Uncharted 3, I have a feeling this may be multiplayer I stick to for at least a month, and that's pretty high praise from me. Last multiplayer I played for more than a day or two was in Red Dead Redemption, and that was usually in the Friendly Free-For-All mode, which was basically like playing single-player with other people running around in the same world doing stuff that had no affect on me.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

My only criticism is that it just takes too many shots to kill people

My biggest fear was that this would still be the case. Given that, not going to bother with the beta. I'll be in for Uncharted 3 of course, but SP only... again.

Thin_J wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

My only criticism is that it just takes too many shots to kill people

My biggest fear was that this would still be the case. Given that, not going to bother with the beta. I'll be in for Uncharted 3 of course, but SP only... again.

I encourage you to try the co-op mode in the beta. I get frustrated with the competitive multiplayer when I empty an entire AK-47 round into an enemy as he rolls around like a jackass, only to have them get up and pop me once in the head while I'm reloading. I'm not really cut out for that mode.

But the co-op is fantastic. It's a Horde mode that plays a lot like the single-player mode tackled with two friends. It seems AI enemies go down much faster than human enemies (except those damn beret-wearing shotgun guys who show up in later waves). Not only is it a blast to play, but you'll level up way faster this way than in the deathmatch modes. I'm usually lucky to end up with a better than 1:2 K:D ratio in deathmatch, but I'm usually near or at the top of most co-op matches. This is where I'll be spending most of my time with the beta and retail release.

I'm excited to see the other two modes. Co-op Arena is the current offering; Co-op Hunter and Co-op Adventure are coming up.

Uncharted 2's co-op mission mode was pretty wonderful. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with that mode this time around.

Yeah, we had great times with Uncharted 2 Co-op. Right now, I wish the timer on Co-op arena were a little more forgiving.

Also a shame that they pulled Plunder mode for some reason. Their version of CTF, Plunder is fabulous.

Also also, dig the taunts. Every time I think I've hit the most hilarious one, there's an even hilariouser one. Sully doing Aw Snap? Priceless.

I tried sending some party invites earlier, nothing happened, so I don't know if they work. I really like the buddy tdm and hope to try the co-op with some of you soon.

Noon tomorrow and the beta is over. I'm going to be online tonight at some point. I monitor my friend's status, so even if I'm not on at the moment I may come join you.

Downloaded it and still haven't played it. Pesky Steam sale and tickets got me all distracted.