Everything you need to know about Sony's biggest 2011 blockbuster.
Australia, October 23, 2011If something's truly important you can't trust it to paper or parchment. You need something more permanent. Something that will last. Something like stone.
Man's most important knowledge is written in rock. It explains why we've just unearthed a couple of stones containing the ten most fundamental commandments of Uncharted 3. We've translated the ancient script; read on to learn what we found.
1) Thou Shalt Be a Bastion of Single-Player Games
We know Uncharted 3 will ship with a considerably hefty multiplayer mode. It's been detailed at length on this site. Still, anybody who tears Uncharted 3 out of its box in order to dive exclusively into the multiplayer mode is simply missing the point. It'd be like buying a new movie just to use the disc as a Frisbee. Uncharted 3 is not a sport; it's a rollicking, old-fashioned action-adventure just begging to be absorbed.
As far as single-player games go they just don't get much more incredible than this. Uncharted 3, like its forebears, will no doubt be a poster child for modern video game storytelling. The crew at Naughty Dog have an uncanny knack for building rich characters you can emotionally invest in. They've demonstrated they can expertly craft an exceedingly well-paced ride from beginning to end, a superb crescendo of increasingly more breath-taking excitement. The kinds of production values on display here are near second-to-none.
Uncharted 3 is, first and foremost, for those of us who prefer their gaming without a side of teabagging and a sprinkle of racial abuse.
2) Thou Shalt Not Sully Thy Campaign With Single-Player DLC
Uncharted 3's campaign will be entirely complete out of the box. Buy the game and you get the full story. That's it.
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, game director Justin Richmond confirmed that Naughty Dog would much rather spend time developing a new game than fresh single-player content for Uncharted 3.
"Whenever we sit down and think we should do some single-player DLC, someone pitches something and we realise – that's a five hour level," said Richmond. "We'd rather build out another game than we would do episodic content."
It makes a lot of sense. Uncharted and Uncharted 2 both have very distinct endings, endings that tidily wrap up the story and leave you on a high note. The last thing you need is a tacked on PS that undermines the nice, clean finale you just experienced. When we watch Indy and company ride off into the sunset at the end of The Last Crusade it's done. Over. We don't need an extra 15 minutes of malarkey as they head back into town, grab a taco and pack for the return flight.
Similarly, we don't need added fluff packed into the middle of proceedings either. Why risk upsetting the balance of what's obviously a very deliberately paced experience?
3) Speaketh of Sully, Thy Shalt Have More Sully
Sully will be playing a more prominent role this time around. Good. Dude rocks. Case closed.
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"It's true. I am awesome."
4) Thou Shalt Be The Last Crusade
We don't mean literally Drake's final adventure; rather that Uncharted 3 will be Naughty Dog's Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. A sweeping adventure through the sand on the search for something remarkable before a vile crew of villains can get there first.
The similarities between Indy and Henry Jones, Snr. and Drake and Sully can't be ignored. The result seems a lot more like a subtle homage rather than a straight lift, but we can already see the spirit of Indy's final adventure burning bright here. Fingers crossed for a flashback level. Drake doesn't wear a hat, but perhaps someone from his past is responsible for untucking half his shirt.
Wait, what do you mean they made a fourth Indiana Jones movie? Aliens, you say? No, you must be mistaken.
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"I lost that day Sully. But that didn't mean I had to like it."
5) Thou Shalt Impress Harrison Ford
Speaking of Indiana Jones, who better to endorse Uncharted 3 than the man behind the man who's clearly inspired the whole series?
Sony has clearly asked itself the same question, filming the man formerly underneath Indy's fabled fedora playing portions of Naughty Dog's upcoming blockbuster. It's pretty evident from the video Ford isn't particularly familiar with games of this type, but he seems genuinely impressed with the product and how it's been crafted.
"I think it's really remarkable," says Ford, after chasing down and boarding an aircraft on its takeoff run. "The storytelling is very visual and exciting and the action just keeps on coming. I think it's very realistic and very dramatic. I love the reality of the character's reactions to the situations he's in. It's very exciting."
"I have not seen a game anything like this."
Of course it's likely Ford simply snuck in under the pretence he was just there to view the tapestries. The video ends before we presume he threatened everyone with a nearby MP40 and plunged out an open window clutching the PS3. We imagine top men are waiting to examine it. Top men.
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"Damn it, I said no camels! That's five camels!"
6) Thou Shalt Not Taketh Out the Women We Love
Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells has already explained that Chloe and Elena aren't the emphasis of the story the way they were in Uncharted 2, but the key thing is they haven't been replaced. Indiana Jones may have bounced from Marion Ravenwood to a shrieking blonde woman to a sexy Nazi spy his dad managed to sleep with before he did, but Drake's relationship with Elena and his history with Chloe are important to the world of Uncharted.
Elena, in particular, is a shining example of female characterisation in video games; an uncommonly cute yet credible woman. She's there because she's vital to the story, not because they needed a couple of D-cups to kiss the main character at the end. Elena's appeal stems from her courage and confidence, not because Naughty Dog decided put her in minishorts.
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"Uh uh. They're not shorts and I'm not wearing them."
7) Thine Score Will Be Rousing
Greg Edmonson, the music composer for both Uncharted and Uncharted 2, has returned for Uncharted 3. This is brilliant news; Edmonson's supreme work with the Uncharted soundtracks is a crucial part of what makes the whole Uncharted package so class-leading. Uncharted OSTs are among the best in the business.
Uncharted is the only game series Edmonson has worked on, but you wouldn't know it from the tremendously good nature of the scores he's composed and conducted so far.
Edmonson's music work on the Uncharted series is the only good thing to come from the cancellation of the cult TV show Firefly. Edmonson was the composer for the all-too-brief series; who can say he would've been available had the show not been axed.
8) Thine Graphics Will Be Confounding
We've seen this game in action. You've seen this game in action. It looks impossibly good, right? At this point in the generation Uncharted 3 stands aloft; a bold example to consumers and other publishers alike that says, "This is what games can look like. This is what games should look like."
The combination of amazingly drawn and organically animated characters with environments steeped in vast detail and bathed in unbelievable lighting effects puts Uncharted 3 on a pedestal few other games share.
We don't know how Naughty Dog consistently gets Uncharted to look this good. Time and talent, no doubt. That, or they're all warlocks.
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"Man, I've got something in my eye. Could be sand."
9) Thine Set-Pieces Will Be Astounding
London pub brawl? Check.
Escaping a sinking boat? Check.
Mid-air melee on the open ramp of a cargo plane? Check.
Horse chase? Tsunami? Burning villa? Check, check and check.
And that's just what we've gleaned so far. Expect a barrage of thrilling moments at every bend.
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"Ahem. Seatbelts, gentlemen."
10) Thou Shalt Be the Reason Hollywood is So Worried
Oh yes. Thou shalt indeed.
With games this cinematic, who needs to go to the movies?
So there you have it, The Ten Commandments of Uncharted 3. Think we've missed anything important? Have something to say? Let us know in the comments below.
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