The Uncharted 3 demo shown to the press (and streamed to the world) was quite impressive. Motion seemed to be the concordant theme; lights, waves, and water all seemed to be swaying to and fro as Nathan Drake infiltrated a ship in stormy sea. The tech and the drama were undeniably impressive, it was hard to tell whether your heart was racing from Drake’s constant peril or the whiz-bang FX of Naughty Dog’s technical prowess, but the gameplay seemed content to keep pace rather than push forward. It was good, but it wasn’t anything we wouldn’t have expected from Drake’s brand of third person action.
A second demo, shown behind closed doors to select members of the press, made better on the promise of pushing gameplay just as far as presentation. Drake needs to board a plane at an airport rife with bad guys and the odds are admittedly pretty bad. He convinced Elena to take an errant Jeep and hit the road, assuming all of the risk himself. She agrees, and we saw Drake move over and around buildings at an airport in pursuit of the massive cargo plane. Gunplay was familiar, but melee appears to have received a big boost. Drake was throwing guys off buildings left and right while occasionally taking the time to shoot. And then the plane started to take off.
Drake made a mad dash for the landing gear but it was impossible to catch. Suddenly Elena swept by in the Jeep, collected Drake, and got him to the front wheel with a modest amount of difficulty. Inside the cargo bay Drake was surprised and overpowered by a burly opponent, losing his gun in the process. Smashing Drake’s head in wouldn’t be fun, which presumably is why the henchmen opened the cargo door on the plane. Quick on his feet, Drake is able to pull a parachute attached to some cargo, which has a domino effect on other random objects scattered across the plane’s cargo bay. One of the crates clips the bad guy and takes him out of the picture, but Drake starts to get sucked out as well. It also appeared he was dodging flying boxes in real time and, just as the demo closed, it looked like he would have to make his way back up the plane in a manner not unlike the “train over the cliff” segment of Among Thieves.
One can only assume that same cargo plane is the one Drake eventually drags down over the desert, as seen in Uncharted 3’s debut trailer.
The demo was presented in 2D, but afterward we were treated to a canned 3D demo. It was the third time I had seen Uncharted 3 in full 3D, and I am confident in saying might be the game that finally pushes players toward re-upping their living room with a 3D television. It certainly isn’t worth the price for 3D alone, but if you were an earlier HD adopter (like yours truly), then your 2004 set has to be feeling pretty dated now. All part of Sony’s master plan? Maybe, but with more ground-up examples like Uncharted 3 I could find myself throwing a little more cash toward a competent set.
We’ll see, maybe in time for November release of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.
