The Adventure Continues...

Three times the treasure, three times the danger

2011 was an interesting year for the gaming industry. The next generation of game consoles was only two years away. PS3 had been behind Xbox 360 in sales for several years, but they were starting to catch up. Developers had become familiar with the necessary processes, and now both consoles were using their hardware to their full potential. Gaming franchises had also hit their stride. Call of Duty was releasing Modern Warfare 3. Assassin's Creed was releasing Revelations, the third game in the Ezio trilogy. Batman: Arkham City was setting a new standard for superhero games.

         And in the midst of all this, was Nathan Drake.

         Much like its predecessor, development on Uncharted 3 began immediately after the second game was released. Naughty Dog knew they had a hit on their hands and wanted to capitalize as much as possible. Now that the hardware challenges of PS3 were quickly fading away, the creative team wanted to push the story and visuals as far as they could go. They worked on improving motion capture and having the game feel more cinematic in nature. They had made the necessary changes from the first to the second game and now wanted to refine the franchise even further. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was released in November 2011 to widespread critical and commercial success.

This is why you should always use the buddy system when treasure hunting.

         Set two years after the events of the last installment, Nathan and Sully are on yet another treasure hunt. This time, they are searching for the Atlantis of the Sands, a lost city supposedly located somewhere in the Rub’ al Khali desert. Moreover, Sir Francis Drake is said to have found this city and hidden it from being discovered and Nathan wants to find out why. Among their travels, they run into Elena who is revealed to be Nathan's estranged wife by the time of this game. As the journey becomes more dangerous, Nathan is forced to choose between solving the mystery or protecting his loved ones.

It's always a great feeling when this trio figures something out.

One of the most obvious changes I noticed during my playthrough is the approach to storytelling. On the surface it may seem like more of the same, but character development really shines through here. In the first game, Sully was all about the money and the treasure and he didn't really play a larger role in the second game. Here, the relationship between Nate and Sully is often the emotional crux of many scenes. It's clear that these two have each other's backs and that Sully sees Nate as a son rather than a means to an end. There's also the relationship between Nathan and Elena. In the second game, it's revealed that they had dated at one point but had since broken up. Now it's revealed that they had been married and it seems as though Nate’s treasure hunting ways put a strain on their relationship. These concurrent storylines really serve to humanize Nathan. He still has the cocky and sarcastic attitude that many players love him for, but he's also vulnerable and fiercely loyal to those that he cares about.

Gameplay is similar to the previous titles but has some minor changes. One of the most prominent is hand to hand combat. Although this game heavily relies on firefights and finding cover, the option to engage in melee combat is a welcome change. It had been an option in previous games but had not been as fleshed out as it is here. Puzzles are more frequent and serve as a nice change of pace from breakneck action. They strike the perfect balance of being engaging but not frustrating. Traversal also plays a large role as is the series standard. However, the constantly changing scenery provides a chance for players to think critically about pathways through an environment. There's the usual climbing on windowsills but you might also be stuck on a sinking cruise ship… or hanging out of a plane. The player is definitely required to suspend their disbelief on a few occasions, but I think that adds to the enjoyment. Video games are meant to be a form of escapism and the Uncharted series is an excellent example of that.

In case of emergency, hang on for dear life!

It's also worth noting that Drake's Deception received quite an upgrade in the visual department. I didn't mention graphics in my reviews of the first two games because they tended to be a little rough around the edges. Now, I'm not a gamer who thinks that visuals are the only thing a game should be measured by. I also understand that these titles are much older and are going to not look as polished as more recent titles. But even playing the remastered versions of these three games, I could see a difference between Among Thieves and Drake’s Deception and a massive shift between Drake’s Deception and Drake's Fortune. The different environments feel so breathtaking that I would often stop playing just to take in the world around me. The lighting feels more natural, and the character models look more human. The advancements in motion capture allow for the individuals on screen to seem realistic even when the circumstances aren't. Of course that's nothing compared to Uncharted 4... But we'll get to that eventually.

         Drake's Deception is a rare case of lightning striking a third time. The storytelling is enhanced, the gameplay has been polished, and the graphics are far more refined. After four years, Naughty Dog had finally figured out what an Uncharted game should feel like. It broke sales records when it released on PS3, so porting it over to PS4 as part of the remastered collection was a no brainer. Nathan Drake had become a PlayStation icon, and gamers were starting to take notice. It didn't seem like things could get much better for Uncharted fans.

         But in the world of treasure hunting, there's always something more on the horizon…

This post was written by Vanessa Hart, creator of Deep Dive Gaming.