Written by: Jim777 on November 2, 2011.

Again lets get this out of the way. Do you own a PlayStation 3?

YES –  GO BUY UNCHARTED 3 RIGHT NOW

NO – Go buy a PlayStation 3, then buy Uncharted 1, Uncharted 2, and Uncharted 3 and play them.

Now onto the review proper.

There are a few names in the world of video games that command awesome respect, studios that are known for putting out the best of the best in terms of video games. Valve, Rockstar, Blizzard, the titans of the industry. However recently a new studio has come into that position, Naughty Dog.

The studio has a history of great games, Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and of course Uncharted. I have grown up with these games and so has the PlayStation.

Uncharted 2 was the game that raised Naughty Dog to be one of the best studios around, and its Uncharted 3 that will firmly cement them.

STORY

Uncharted Drakes Fortune follows Nathan as he once again trots the globe in search of a lost treasure, the Atlantis of the Sands. Once again there is a group of bad guys right on his heals, this time headed by Katherine Marlowe an old face to both Nathan and Sully. The game knows that your used to its forumla, U1 and U2 devloped story in much the same way, but U3 bucks that trend. You will get a look into Drake’s past, how he met up with Sully, and why this race between Drake and Katherine is very much personal.

No suprises here, the story is great. It is told with breathtaking cinematography, is full of twists and turns, plenty of “oh shit” moments, and you may even get a tear in your eye once or twice.

GAMEPLAY

This is uncharted, so all the game play mirrors the first two. There have been some nice additions, melee combat now has alot more variety and usefulness, stealth makes a bit of a clunky appearance, there are new guns, and more enemies to fight.

Platforming is as good as ever with a few new moves to master, and few cheap deaths.

There are some frustrating portions where you will die frequently, and this kills the pacing of the game and can get annoying. However this is a minor gripe, and one that is true of any shooting game.

PRESENTATION

This game is drop dead beautiful, not only is it graphically superior but the art style is second to none.

Animations is smooth and fluid, and characters feel like real breathing people. Drake brushes walls, slows down to be silent, looks around himself curiously, and in later levels will animate as being tired and beaten after a long grueling level.

Voice acting is great, Nolan North steals the show once again as Nathan but Sully Elena and all the other characters all sound and look great.

LENGTH AND REPLAY

The game is decent in length, it took me about a day and a half to beat. Its the same as the first two and watching the credits role is as always bitter sweet, nothing is quite as satisfying and sad as seeing that “Charted!” Trophy ding on the top of my screen for the third time.

As always replay value is here, there are tons of treasures to be found, weapon kills to earn, and of course the dreaded Crushing difficulty to beat.

MULTIPLAYER

Uncharted 3 adds a huge level of polish to the great multiplayer established in U2. There is progression, load outs, boosters, kickbacks, skins, emblems, taunts, outfits, and more to earn. Each mach you feel like you progress even if you didn’t do your best. Co op returns, and rounds out a nice beefy multiplayer mode. There are also tons of map packs planned, and of course Naughty Dog is known to host regular double XP weekends and provide a stream of support for their multiplayer fans.

Closing Notes

What more is there to say? Folks Uncharted 2 was unanimously the very best game of 2009 and Uncharted 3 is poised to claim the throne once again as best game of 2011. Thats not my prediction personally but there is no doubt that its a contender, slugging it out with Portal 2 and Skyrim as the very best video games have to offer.

Now look, I know i said i wouldn’t give out another perfect score so soon (Hell i will be saying the same thing in 10 more days)

But the fact of the matter is that Uncharted 3 is a masterpiece of a game, as IGN’s Greg Miller put it “This game is the reason I play games.” I could not agree more Uncharted is what i want games to be, its what games should aspire to be, and its no question the best exclusive currently in the PS3′s library. It would be a grave injustice to call it anything less then a 10/10. Keep in mind a score is always subjective, and a 10/10 doesn’t mean that a game is flawless.

For me it means a game that goes above and beyond and gives you great and unbeatable entertainment value, and Uncharted 3 does that.

So it is my honor to give Uncharted 3 Drakes Dception a score of 10/10 and call it one of the major game of the year contenders for 2011.

Uncharted 3 10/10
Gameplay
Presentation
Length & Replay Value
Multiplayer

Overall
Average score from all categories.