Good game, but fell slightly short of #2
I remember mention in the first title that Naughty Dog was focusing on the ideal that this game would make you feel as if you were within a movie... but actually involved, manipulating the progress. I felt this slightly in the first title and it really came alive in the 2nd. I felt this title was a drop back to the first. This game does still deserve a great rating between 8-8.5. Anyone giving it a 9+ seems far too generous.. or just hasn't finished the game.
Graphics/Sound:
I asked for a surround sound home entertainment system for Mass Effect 3, but was perfectly fine with testing it out on UC-3. First off, WOW, the sound track and voice acting/dialog will blow you away (as always for this series). Beautiful layout, scenes, and backdrops...
Story/Campaign:
This was my only real concern and disappointment with a series, I have come to love playing. The game starts off well and is a blast for the first 4-5 hours. However, it started to lose me after aimlessly walking around the desert. After that, there never seemed to be a climactic point which both previous titles had to drawl me back in. If you are going to create an empty void in the title, that is ok to mix up the pace..but afterwards I never felt involved. I never felt drawl into the story or the characters. Besides Sully, there is no character or relationship building which you would find in a title such as Mass Effect or even a game as comical as GTA.. as such, YOU don't feel apart of the game or 'movie' that Naughty Dog is trying to develop.
Mechanics:
Most of us buy this game for the 'adventure' element, and not first or third person shooting quality. Being a big fan of FPS in role playing games, I will admit this was a bit disappointing... but also being a fan of the series, expected... It is still a head scratcher for me to spot 2 or 3 rounds from an AK-47 into an enemy's skull and they are still standing.
Hand to hand combat got repetitive very...very quickly. You could put 5 or 6 rounds into an enemy's chest, but if he got close enough to you for a melee..the fight was on. It seemed none of those rounds had any bearing whatsoever.
Multiplayer:
Multiplayer has its place. It is fun in this game, don't get me wrong. I just still have a hard time watching players barrel roll through a sea of AK-47 rounds and walking away almost untouched. It may be an issue with hit recognition, or the fact that it allows too much hit points for each respective player.
All in all, good game. If it was my first time introduced to this series, I would even say great game. It is a great filler until Mass Effect 3. However, after my expectations were set so high from Uncharted 2, that this one felt somewhat disappointing.