PAX Prime 2011 Eyes-On: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Single Player - Preview
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 28 August 2011 / 4,773 Views
The Uncharted franchise is known for many things: great storytelling, brilliant graphics, top-notch voice acting, liberal sprinklings of humor, and massive setpiece moments. It's a rare demonstration where I find myself truly blown away and amazed. The single-player demonstration for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is one of those.
The above trailer is a very truncated version of the single-player demo shown at PAX Prime 2011. It's very obvious from the beginning that the relationship between Elena and Nathan has grown and deepened since last we saw them. They have a deeper understanding of each other and I'm hoping that plays out throughout the game. You then take control of Drake as he works his way toward the cargo plane that's trying to take off. We get to see some classic Uncharted platforming, gunfighting, and hand-to-hand combat, then Drake is off to the races, but you can imagine how he fairs trying to chase down an airplane on foot. Fortunately, Elena is still as stubborn as ever, and shows up with a Jeep to help him get aboard.
Once stowed away on the plane, Drake tries to climb through an air duct and the unthinkable happens, somebody actually sees/hears him and pulls him out. I know, this is unprecedented for a video game, air ducts are always sacred sneaky spaces. Kudos on that one, Naughty Dog.
Anywho, a big burly guy pulls Drake out, knocks him around a bit, then opens the cargo doors to try and throw him out. Drake sticks it to the big guy, but then all the other guys with guns come out to meet him and all the cargo starts falling out. This is where the setpieces really started to impress me. This whole thing would be an impressive setpiece for most games, but this is just par for the course in Uncharted, except all the cargo is actively moving around and falling out as you're trying to advance back into the plane and shoot bad guys. Show me another third-person shooter in which ALL the cover is constantly moving?
Nevertheless, Naughty Dog's Arne Meyer works his way through the bad guys and just as he's nearing the cockpit, a giant hole blows out of the side of the fuselage, the whole plane starts to fall apart, and the screen goes to white, then the Uncharted 3 logo. Yeah, they just upstaged the train sequence from Uncharted 2. I then notice my eyes are the size of saucers and my jaw is on the ground. I try very hard not to gush in most previews, but sometimes you just can't help it. Uncharted 3 is looking THAT good.
Look for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception exclusively on the Playstation 3 on November 1.
