First of all I am a beloved fan of the Uncharted series and particularly the second adventure in the series Among Thieves which deserved every piece of praise that it deserved. That said Uncharted 3 was a MUST for me this holiday season and what I had seen over the year this was promising to be possibly Uncharted's finest adventure yet.
So is it? If I'm being honest with myself....possibly not. However that shouldn't persuade you not to get this game. As always Naughty Dog create a very realistic world in a fantastic setting and give us very rich, well rounded characters that are above all else, the heart of the Uncharted series.
Uncharted 3 is very much the bromance piece of the series. After fans demanding more Sully, Naughty Dog responded and brought Sully back for Nathan Drake's latest adventure. This time Drake is on a quest for 'The Atlantis of the Sands,' that his anscestor, Sir Francis was sent to investigate from Queen Elizabeth the 1st. However it's as never straight forward as Nathan will be racing to the destination against Katherine Marlowe, a woman who is linked to a 400 year old cult conspiracy to hunt for Atlantis themselves and of course things never go soo simply for our hero. Unlike past Uncharted villian's you'll notice that this is the first female villian(ess) and she's a different type of villain. She's more challenging as she psychologically get's inside our hero's head. (Chapter 11 was WOW!)
The graphics look astonishing in this. I know everyone says they're the best on any console and to be fair, it's a fact. It even comes to the point I no longer use the term graphics with Uncharted. It's simply perfected game animation. Here the WOW moment is the sand. In Uncharted 1 Naughty Dog worked on water, in Among Thieves it was snow and now the sand is visually the stand out of this title. When walking across it, you can feel your fingers pushing on your controller, really getting the feel of the condition of the sand dunes. It feels awesome.
The multi-player is fantastic too. Here we see a more perfected model of the multiplayer that existed in Uncharted 2. 5x5 team objective maps and competitive maps filled with modifications for weapons, character, medal kickbacks and perks all giving every player who goes into Uncharted's multiplayer their own individual identity. However for multi-player the stand out and possibly overlooked aspect is the co-op adventure modes. Here 2-3 players battle their way through small self contained narratives based on maps from the 3 Uncharted games whilst battling swarms of enemies. The result is challenging. It's brilliant.
It's impossible to think that anyone who owns a PS3 will not be thinking about buying Uncharted 3. It surpasses it's predessasors in many ways but leaves behind some moments i miss. That said Uncharted 3 is fantastic and not one to be missed.
Story 4/5
Gameplay 4/5
Graphics (I mean animations) 5/5
Multiplayer 5/5
Overall 4.5/5