3/5 ★ – DarkDrawer's review of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

This game is the biggest game yet of the Uncharted series (at the time of its release) and it has a lot of exciting set pieces, but it is a conflicting piece of media as its obvious there was production problems in the background. Uncharted 3 starts unlike the other games not while in a set piece, but while making a deal. This introduction sets up a massive part of the game being the emphasis on hand to hand combat which is a shame because its not that interesting in execution. This leads to eventually a flashback to when Sully and Nathan meet which, while nice, isn't very substantive. This game boils down to being a Sully game, but overall, this game fails to really expand on their relationship or really test it in any way. At no point do they doubt each other and at no point are they following up on the "don't trust Sully" garbage the main villain, Marlowe, gives. Speaking of Marlowe, she's a posh British old woman who is pretty entertaining, but isn't given all that much due to her group being some secret organization which has some ties to the supernatural, but nothing is really confirmed. There clearly was supposed to be supernatural explanations for some acts in this game, but its never followed up and instead the end mcguffin is hallucinogenic water (or whats causing it which seems to be magical, but is never confirmed). This is weird because they utilized seemingly hallucinogenic darts earlier on both Nathan and the new character, Cutter. This game seemingly couldn't stick to a lane on whether to be more fantastical in nature or not and the game suffers as a result. In terms of the main cast, Cutter was a delight. He's a British meathead with a brain (so not really a meathead). He had chemistry with the main cast and I liked how useful he was. He and Chloe (who returns and does sadly little) are removed from the game after about a third of the game. Sully is here the entire game and later, Elena comes in. While I like Elena, the game and Nate LOVE Elena. It seems Elena and Nate are separated, but still 'married' following the last game. The game does ultimately sell me on how much Nate is secure in Elena's comfort, but I do not find her character that charming or interesting. As mentioned before, this game focuses on Sully a lot, but this can be conflicting with how the last game played out. It seems Nathan trying to not kill is again, failing (but this line of thinking is never brought up in this game) and evidently Nate is oh so reckless for adventuring here even though halfway through, he's doing it to save others. A little silly. Sully is dragged around a lot here and while I appreciate the duo gameplay, it doesnt feel as cohesive as Uncharted 2's. Sully being too old for any of this like in Uncharted 2 isn't really brought up for some reason? No idea. With all those criticisms in mind, it's the most formulaic Uncharted has been, but its also the most bombastic. That game poster is EVERYTHING when it comes to the vibes. The plane is cool, the boat is cool, etc. Some puzzles make you feel smart and some platforming makes you feel... smort? ( definitely not smart with how much I dont know where I'm going somewhere.. Combat isn't bad, but does lack some much needed cover sometimes. The cover shooting while climbing as well is annoying. The villains' comeuppance, both Talbot and Marlowe was pretty uneventful and nothing much was gained at the end. Uncharted 3 is a pretty short game and therefore doesn't drag, but at some point, it does bring to mind "what was the point" when it comes to the story.