What's so bad about Uncharted 3?

i'm playing the nathan drake collection amongst other games currently. i only played uc2 on the ps3 before i sold the console years ago so it's my first time playing uc3. got to say so far i'm enjoying it, in fact it seems to improve on uc2 in some areas. the story's pretty good, the settings are interesting enough, it feels less repetitive and overall it's not bad at all, up to now anyway (i've not finished it yet -about two thirds of the way through - so easy on the spoilers pleeeeeeease).

the set pieces aren't as spectacular as uc2 and the hit detection in combat is hit and miss, sometimes dire tbf, but beyond that it's nowhere near as bad as i thought it would be. reading some comments on these boards it sounded like the shunned ginger step child of the series but i'm not finding it anywhere near as bad as some would suggest it is. retro-reading a few reviews seem to back me up, in fact it seems to have been relatively well received overall.

so what's your experience with it? are you a fan or not? and why?

In my opinion, the issue with it is:

i. the entire plot premise is redundant as it's essentially the same story as Uncharted 1 IIRC, and yet the characters have to go through the motions again to learn lessons they should already have learned (Drake has already experienced the simulated experience of Sully's death in Uncharted 1... Why does he need to experience it again to get it into his head that he should probably give this fortune hunting business up?)

You could argue that this is intentional as a way to create contrast with the first game and belabour the point that 'he's still at it'... But I think you'd be giving the game too much credit as none of that comes across from the game itself.

ii. The story is told poorly because it overuses sheer coincidence as the plot driving mechanic (for example, spotting the bad guy in a bustling town and ending up taking shelter in the very place they need to be... what are the odds?). And that's in addition to some really puzzling loose ends (like a villain that can take a bullet, but without any explanation, supernatural or otherwise, being invoked to explain it).

iii. Because of the way the plot is driven forward the set-pieces don't form one cohesive, pacey campaign, leaving the entire thing feeling like a higgledy-piddledy mess of ideas. Interviews reveal that's because designing the game around the set-pieces was how Uncharted 3 was developed, and it shows.

Uncharted 3 feels like a load of good ideas that's missing a spinal third of game to hold the entire thing up.

Redundant grapple-system that's forced throughout the campaign. Seriously! I kept shooting those big guys in the head and they tank it like a pro, once even had one just teleport near for the QTE because I was trying to exploit a higher platform.

That's right, it's also a poorly scripted QTE grapple-system at that. Just like those WWE games, and if those bad games get slated, so should U3.

Add to that, movement isn't as tight as Uncharted 2 (input really seems off for the movement).

Plot and pacing went everywhere, with a whole lot of walking simulator, I stopped after fire doods started showing up in the scene with Sully apparently dying (again).

Then you have the multiplayer. Which I enjoyed a whole lot. . Because outside of my movement complaint, all else wasn't present in the MP. Till I discovered it had a Pay to Win model. . . And with that it's a snapped disc_

Overall. It was a painful gaming experience and I couldn't be paid to try it again. It almost put me off The Last of Us. Which I'm glad I gave the benefit of the doubt.

As time goes on, I really hope more people understand the flaws in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

I don't know what people are complaining about. It's the best game ever made.

It's my favorite of the three UC3 games on the PS3. I particularly liked the pier and the Brass City levels.

ok ok some fair points, well made. particulalry from @SOedipus.

so the plot is like an old pub's dart board - there's one or two, ahem, noticeable holes- the controls aren't all that precise, everything goes predictably wrong, the enemies are bullet spongies or the hit detection is just really off, it's got its fair share of QTEs... but tbh you could say the same about uc2 to some extent and i think you all know this deep down.

i don't know if it's because i don't hold uc2 in the same esteem that some on here do (good but not great). this feels like more of the same, but more polished and closer to 4 than it does to 2.

i think you lot played it 5 years too early. if you'd have held out 5 years like i did you may have enjoyed it more. or not. probably not. i'm clutching at straws here. kind of regretting making this thread now. got a feeling i'm going to be the only one who doesn't mind it lol

edit: vindicated by @jun_aka_pekto phew!

@Macutchi: For me it was the repetitive gameplay, which I know shouldn't be a factor, but it wasn't the best gameplay to begin with.

For me the down trend in UC3 over UC2 was noticeable immediately. I went from beating Uncharted 2 to starting Uncharted 3 within minutes(thanks to the NDC). Within 60 seconds I could already tell that they had made adjustments to the controls which made them sloppy. I felt like I was running on ice, and had a lot more trouble lining up headshots than the previous 2 games. I eventually got used to it, but it started off the experience on a sour note.

After that I really did not like the sequence where you get chased by the spiders, it wasn't fun, it was down right annoying. The longer I played the game the more I realized it was the same story concept looping over and over again. Slow walking sequence where you can't do anything but move forward at a snails pace. Followed by a short period of gun play. Next would be some platforming, followed by more gun play, followed by a chase scene where its either enemies, spiders, or whatever. Rinse and repeat this method 5 times and tack on an unsatisfying ending and you've got yourself a mediocre game flanked by masterpieces(2 & 4).

Uncharted 2 started with a tense and terrifying set piece. Uncharted 4 started with a tone defining set piece that was shrouded in mystery, leaving you to wonder where the story was going. Uncharted 3 started out like, well, like they ran out of good ideas.

I don't speak for others. So, those who liked UC2 better are perfectly valid in doing so.

That said.... There were sequences in UC2 I wasn't fond of such as all the train stuff between Urban Warfare and The Village. I loved Urban Warfare though. That was my favorite level in UC2. I also liked the short, but charming Where am I?

I just happened to like more levels in UC3... The ship levels, the pier levels, the Brass City, underneath Yemen, etc. To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the story in UC 1-2-3.

@Macutchi: My favorite part was the multiplayer, so I'd have likely enjoyed the new collection less.

I'd still give U2 the edge over 3 even without the online features. Melee was purely optional, pacing is way better, and the controls handle more precise.

My issues with U2 are minimal in comparison, with the last boss being the games biggest flaw.

But to give Uncharted 3 one compliment is it's a beautiful looking game with great voice work. But then so does God of War: Ascension . .

It's a perfectly fine game, people were just expecting more open ended gameplay, instead it was more of the same.

I think all of the Uncharted games are the same to me.

Climb this climb that. Keep climbing . Shoot the badly programmed gun.

Look at all the people who care so much about story and what not and forget that they are play a game with actual or good gameplay.

I thought that it was a pretty good game overall. Some aspects weren't quite as good as Uncharted 2 but there were some that were better.

the gameplay is formulaic. platforming, a puzzle, the enemy catch up with you, you fight wave after wave of identical ones, then there's some kind of cinematic escape sequence. so completely agree there. even uc4 suffered from this to some degree but with more variation and improved combat.

interesting that you went straight from 2-3 so could immediately compare the difference. i played uc4 in between and then took an extended break before playing uc3. maybe that made some of its issues less immediately obvious / transparent. however i did think that uc2 suffered quite badly from what you're saying in the last third. the first third was incredible, the second third not quite as edge-of-the-seat. the last third was downright tedious. wave after wave of identical looking enemies, uninspired platforming and then a horrendous final boss.

yeah i do agree agree. particularly about the final boss. that and the whole final third (maybe just in comparison with the quality that had come before it in the first two thirds) took the shine off uc2 for me and reduced it from great to good in my eyes

It's not a bad game lol I only played a bit of it but what I played I liked it alot

@Macutchi:

Frankly, I loved Uncharted 3. It definitely had its moments of awesomeness but I guess in comparison, it wasn't as action packed as Uncharted 2. That's really the only thing wrong with it, the rest improved on Uncharted 2. Story was even better than Uncharted 2, we got to see Drake's past, and the physical combat got alot better.

I think most people were just too sprung on Uncharted 2 that they expected it to be more epic in scope. And you know how people get when they spot something that they don't like. Suddenly the story is poorly told, the gameplay is sloppy, all kinds of shit that's not even an actual problem in the game.

Uncharted 3 is not a bad game, i think what happened was expectations after 2 was set to high and when 3 came out and didn't feel like a new creation but was more of the same , most people got disillusioned

But Uncharted 3 is still a very good game and worth a playthrough.

It felt like a step back. Uc1 was a first step, 2 perfected it and 3 felt like a huge step back. Story was much worse and gameplay barely improved, set pieces were nothing special after 2 and the supernatural enemies are horrible (I don't want to spoil why)

@Macutchi: Yeah I fully agree. The ending was pretty 'meh' in Uncharted 2. On top of that; to this day the whole Blue men/ Yeti cosplay doesn't click with me. and much preferred the supernatural take in the original Uncharted.

Elena getting hit with the grenade was a big shocker. But her even tagging along after the village attack was just pandering to fans of her character. I understand from a story perspective, Elena is Drakes best-girl and she needs screen-time, but I feel she could have played a different role entirely.

Glad you bring up Uncharted 4 a lot, however that's a subject I prefer to avoid. Don't like to discuss the other two main games much, as my opinion doesn't seem efficient for an in-depth discussion.

Uncharted 4 didn't really grab my attention anyway, mostly due to my bad experience with Uncharted 3. And, many of the issues I've had with the entire series didn't see overhauls in the current-gen successor from what I played.

As for the original, I played it once, wayy. . . back in its release year. And I don't like nostalgia to blind my opinion. I naturally assume Uncharted 3 technically plays better (minus grunt grapplers), but has worse overall pacing. But in the end Uncharted 3 was/is suppose to be the successor to Among Thieves.

Ages ago I gave Uncharted 3 a estimate 500 word review and scored it 6/10. It's removed now from the site (In my attempt to get less hate mail) but to me it was a very dull experience, mostly rated above average because of presentation and still having above average cover shooting mechanics. Definitely shouldn't be considered, unless you're dying for more Drake adventures (imo).

My two only major complaints about the game overall:

1: Naughty Dog pushes Elena to the side and that didn't go over well with me. HUGE disappointment that she was hardly in the game. I like Sully, but come on! Now that we have the Sully character development out of the way, let's move on.

2: The game felt a bit short compared to the others. I know it was 22 chapters, but many chapters were LOOONG especially the 20th one, however the game as a whole was paced very fast and I felt like I was done in no time at all compared to the previous games.

The story was mediocre, the graphics somehow seemed downgrade from Uncharted 2, and the gameplay really lacked balance and cohesion. It felt like every 2 seconds they would interrupt what I was doing to make something explode or collapse. While this is cool occasionally, it kept happening, and happening, until it became a serious frustration. There were also too many obtuse puzzles and lengthy platforming sections. When I would finally run in to some bad guys, it would be a tedious unarmed combat sequence. Oh, and having Drake dynamically interact with the environment every time you move just made him control like he was drunk.

Overall this is how I rank Uncharted games as of now. Uncharted 2>Uncharted 4>Uncharted 1>Uncharted 3. Never played the Vita version.

I think a lot of people had unrealistically high expectations for the third game after Uncharted 2 and set themselves up for disappointment. I love the Uncharted series, but TLoU is on a whole different level.

I bought Uncharted 2 somewhat late and bought it at the same time I bought Uncharted 3. I started playing both in parallel. I found myself going to Uncharted 3 more and eventually finished that game first. It took a while longer for me to finish Uncharted 2.

I dunno I couldn't get past UC2 cuz they are so boring. Cut scenes and story only go so far when the game play is bland.

phew, in comes the cavalry to back me up.

some well reasoned, rounded and interesting thoughts. i can see why people view it the way they do. i think overall it's a perfectly fine game with a lot going for it but people's opinion on it changes relative to their view on its predecessors and successor, plus based on the way the view that very specific type of game.

what's the story behind that? what kind of hate mail?

@Macutchi: One more thing I forgot to mention, (and not sure if anyone already talk about it) UC3 didn't even go for any Supernatural element enemies this time around, Djinns are in the last part and they aren't really supernatural to me though, they are hallucinations from a drug which I think was a mistake this time around, I was actually disappointed that there were no actual supernatural creatures this time. Although the Djinns were annoying but I gotta say is, it was fun killing Ghost Rider lol.

You know how Fanboi/girls are when you dislike the newly hyped exclusive game. I remember two particular users who spammed me a lot when Uncharted 3 was Naughty Dogs latest game, solely over replying to a blog and having a less positive user review.

Most known one of the two had a low polygon Klonoa as his avatar. Use to lurk the Forums. And was very outspoken how Naughty Dogs Uncharted series is the only thing keeping the gaming industry together; I believe that was the title of his blog. He wasn't overly rude at first but messaged me a lot on how everything else in the medium was damaging the future of gaming. . . And how the games I enjoy are terrible by todays standard. . . Eventually resorted to the "drink bleach" meme like messages_

But the other was quite the opposite, brought nothing to the subject dubbing me the usual "Xbot, Loser, and so on" either had a alt or a dedicated follower who supported his bias opinions. Regardless I told them if they kindly stop, I would remove my review -Story

True, but I did finish Vanquish also for a second time before Uncharted 3 came, so yeah. . My excitement for the future of cover shooters was at a certain level. Yet I still see Uncharted 3 as the most flawed entry in the series. Just not bad enough to be put next to a game like Quantum Theory_

wow easy on the spoilers dude i haven't got that far yet lol. i think the supernatural thing is a bit of a contentious point. some find it detracts from the authenticity of the game. others think it adds another layer to the plot. i tend to see mixed views on the subject.

jesus. you should've named and shamed them on the forums and let people go to town on them. i'd have enjoyed that. you shouldn't have given in. deleting it meant they won. it can be fun having a bit of banter about a game with people of differing opinions but to stalk someone like that is really f*ckin weird. the irony of him calling you a loser lol

@Macutchi: Hmm probably right, but I also don't come here with the intention of causing grief. Just like to chat with other gamers and such.

Sure my review was removed but my thoughts remain the same. And to me, that was enough. Didn't care about the insults so much, it was the quantity of them lol.

You find all kinds of people on GS, that's just how it is.

I played the uncharted collection a few months back and it was overall pretty good but I don't get why people think UC2 is the best. Maybe it was amazing back then but now I would score it 8/10 which means its still awesome but not the masterpiece I expected it would be. UC4 on the other hand... now that was an incredible experience. UC3 imo did not make as big of a leap as UC1 to UC2 so people weren't that impressed.

@Macutchi: Sorry about that, I assume you already beat the game.

Im not an Uncharted fan but I certainly can not label any of the games as "bad". UC 2 however had a very good balance between scripted moments and fun gameplay. UC 4 built on that premise but with UC 3 they were way too scripted. That's my main problem with it.

Other than that, it's actually really fun, the mp is great for a laugh and the characters are well written as always.

no i did say in my opening post no spoilers please but dont worry dude its a 5 year old game and i've played the sequel. it actually sounds pretty cool lol, you've actually given me more incentive to finish it and postpone starting dishonored 2 until i do

Yeah I think the same about UC3, loved it the most.

Somewhat UC2 felt completely overrated and UC3 underrated

Eh, even uncharted 1 I had to force myself to beat, played a little of 2 and skipped 3. I think uncharted would be a great movie, but the gameplay has always been subpar imho.