Sony Interactive Entertainment Uncharted 3 : Drake's Deception Standard Anglais PlayStation 3

Nate Drake's third adventure boasts all the same perks as the previous two - great characters, cinematic set pieces, a winning combination of puzzle solving, stealth and blowing the hell out of people with rocket launchers. While realism was stretched in this one to brand new breaking points, it did so with a great deal of charm and charisma.The story starts in London (you Americans love a sinister British accented bad guy) or at least a vision of London populated entirely with grimy bars and Jason Statham look-alikes. There is brawling and smashing heads into toilets, and a great deal of `grabbing things from the environment to smash over peoples' heads.' Thus begins the adventure to prevent said British bad guys from acquiring an ancient artefact of untold power.While the gameplay is almost identical, the characters now familiar faces and the continent hoping escapades expected, Unchartered 3 does manage to keep the franchise fresh. There are some intriguing sequences that reveal more of the central relationship between Nate and his mentor Sully. Seeing Nate as a young boy, and a few suggestions implied by the bad guys give us telling insight into our heroic lead and the past that we know very little about. There are also some pretty great mind bending sequences as Nate succumbs to the mind altering effects of a drug the bad guys use.Best set pieces include an utterly ridiculous, but spectacular fight on board a plummeting aircraft and the following escape from seemingly inevitable doom, a nausea inducing sequence on board a boat in rough seas and of course the final location - a secret city in the desert.Downsides include some pretty impossible sections where pressing a button at exactly the right moment was the only way to escape an untimely (and repetitive) demise. The game does tend to throw you a lot of checkpoints in these sequences though, so each bit of progress you make is at least saved. The controls in general did seem a bit shaky at times. Trying to climb out of a collapsing building is rather difficult when you're trying to jump over a stair banister and can only manage to repeatedly jump in the air as if trying to grab a higher ledge. And there was Nate's habit of throwing back grenades into the cover you are standing next to, resulting in them blowing up right next to you... That got me a few times before I gave up on the `throw back grenades' mechanic.But overall this is a great game for fans of the franchise like me. The puzzles are hard enough to be satisfying, but not rage inducing, while the shootouts don't drag on too long, but do provide plenty of opportunity to cause creative mayhem. If you enjoyed Unchartered 1+2 you'll definitely get a kick out of this one.

As the follow-up to the very impressive "Uncharted 2: Among thieves", I was very curious which direction the next game was going to take. As an action game, "Uncharted 2: Among thieves" was so very effective there seemed to be little room to improve upon it. While "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" contains all the elements of previous games, it uses them better, and has an unexpected focus on storytelling and characters.In "Uncharted 2: Among thieves" the game at times consisted of linked action set pieces and prolonged shoot-outs, connected by only brief moments of "reprieve". As intense as the action was, it would wear you out. While the intense action returns in "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception", the "editing" of the action is better, heightening its impact. Level exploration, puzzles and character interaction connect the action, and when the gunplay begins, it flows naturally from the events that preceeded it, and connects to the story that follows it. The same is true about the game's puzzles, which are so much better integrated into the story than in previous games. They no longer feel like they might have been slotted in for the sake of having a puzzle moment here and there: in "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" the puzzles are part of the game and its story. Finally, the action set pieces no longer have the strong emphasis they had in "Uncharted 2: Among thieves", in which they were perhaps the defining aspect of the game design.As a whole, "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" is a much more assured and balanced game design than its predecessor, since it gives each part of the design its due.What surprised me was how much more emphasis there is on characters and storytelling in "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" than in previous games. These elements were certainly present, and moments such as the closing scenes of "Uncharted 2: Among thieves", in which you had to wonder whether one of the main characters had actually survived would make you feel a lump in your throat. "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" manages to do this successfully, repeatedly and without becoming manipulative. If "Uncharted: Drake's fortune" succeeded by making you care about the game's protagonist and then repeatedly put him into jeopardy, "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" goes that one crucial step further by putting the other supporting characters in jeopardy, too. This part of the game works so well because of how the storytelling makes you care about the characters, who are fleshed out even further than in previous games. Yes, "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" has flash-backs and a "When Nathan met Sully..." section, which tie everything together.All of these aspects would already make a great game, but there is, of course, more. Instead of action set pieces that focus on gunplay, "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" features recreations of breathtaking live action film stunt work in which you are placed in control. The "playable blockbuster" aspect of the game, so prominent in "Uncharted 2: Among thieves", shifted from making things explode bigger and louder and bodies piling up higher to intense action which repeatedly surpasses the hanging train sequence which introduced "Uncharted 2: Among thieves". Without spoiling anything, the later parts of "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" which take place in a ship graveyard and on a ship rolling on a stormy sea are unique in action games, and they surpass what is even possible in live action films. It is as if the designers of "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" had thrown down the gauntlet to say "let's see you try this in the inevitable 'Uncharted' franchise movie".While "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" is a game, it succeeds where contemporary live action adventure films struggle, and struggle hard indeed. The writing, the characters, the storytelling, the action and how it is staged, make "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception" the best action adventure "film" in many years, so to speak. It sets the bar so high that it should put the very idea of a film adaptation into doubt.The game closes with the game's protagonist stating that he had "nothing to prove", his actions and conduct already spoke for him. I believe that with "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception", the game is in the same situation. It is no longer part of a franchise which used to be another riff on a riff on an action movie series, angling for its own movie adaptation, the inevitable movie-tie in game and the merchandise. With "Uncharted 3: Drake's deception", it no longer has anything to prove, it finally has come into its own.

I bought the game a couple of weeks ago and I was stunned by its graphics and the atmosphere. The graphics are indeed worth a special prize. I also liked the fact that in some scenes, the angle we see the hero changes and instead of the classic where camera follows him, this is seen from the side, from above, front etc giving a different look and really putting you "deeper" in the game. I also liked that some stealth attacks have added, like grabbing opponents while you're in a pit, or falling on them from balconies (I think that is very similar to Assasins creed). Also the shooting has become harder and takes more effort to hit your opponents. The sound is excellent with many choices for multichannel (incl. dts), but you must choose it from the sound menu. With the multiplayer / online unfortunately I hadn't had the time, but I read that it is also great.I finished the game on "normal difficulty" but did not expect to do it so soon. I would say that ultimately it is less lengthy than I expected and the end is a little "romantic" without anything special or carrying any element of surprise. In some places the opponents are numerous, making you fiddle a bit more to pass them, looking at the same time for appropriate weapons to take down everyone. Still, compared to 2 I think that has fewer runs where the hero climbs walls, chandeliers, etc. and it also has fewer puzzles.I think, because I did not play online, that developers gave more weight to the online modes, but this remains to be seen. Also, some trophies are a bit funny up ridiculous I would say (eg "marco polo" or "fish in the market") but again this is a matter of taste. Will play again on hard, to see how many hours will it take me. Overall, the game is great and definitely worth bying!