Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Hands on Preview
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PS3
Release Date: November 2nd, 2011
With only a few short weeks to go until the official release date of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, the good people of Sony organised to fly Naughty Dog into Dublin to give us a chance to get to grips with some of the games’ impressive qualities.
While informed that there would be a selection of Multiplayer Modes to choose from in the finished product including a co-op mode, it was a typical Deathmatch scenario in which we found ourselves playing. Players are divided into two teams, heroes and villains. On the heroes side players can take control of characters like Drake himself or fans favourite Sully. Villains (as far as can be discerned at this early stage) seems to be comprised entirely of grunts. Happily, however, they all seem quite distinctive from one another (and I personally found myself growing quite attached to the sleazy, bald-headed ruffian I kept playing as.)
Gameplay took place in the Yemen Vista, pictured above, what appears to be an abandoned town in the middle of the desert. The map itself is excellent, providing plenty of ledges and hiding places in which to scope out your opponents. It also has a courtyard, and wide open rooftops to allow for some pretty amazing fire fights. One feature, which may only be applicable to this map, was the inclusion of environmental events. In this case, it involved a sandstorm which essentially restricts the eyesight of players to a mere few feet in front of them. This occurs a number of times throughout the match, and keeps things wonderfully fresh.
The gameplay itself is comprised of ridiculously addictive entertainment, with a side order of quality gameplay and controls. It handles quite similarly to the Multiplayer Mode of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, but there have been some slight tweaks to make it that bit more enjoyable. It is just as much fun trying to find your opponents as it is trying to take them out. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop and hiding beneath ledges, everything about the gameplay is simply infectious. The multiplayer calls to mind a sort of hybrid form of Assassins Creed: Brotherhood and Modern Warfare. However, Uncharted 3 is it’s own game and the multiplayer, which isn’t even the main highlight of the game itself, is a testament to its quality.
One particular aspect which is quite grabbing is the introduction of Power Plays, a new feature which allows the losing team to gain the upper hand. There are a variety of these Power Plays. Those seen during the preview included having one player being ‘marked’ on the winning team, and being visible to all on the losing team, and also doubling the strength of the losing teams’ attacks. These Power Plays have a tendency to last for a period of about sixty seconds, and inject a little more adrenaline into the matches.
The Multiplayer for Uncharted 3 features both split screen and online play. Having only played one mode and one map, its quality can not be guaranteed. However, so long as Naughty Dog doesn’t steer too far from the formula presented here, things are looking very very good for PS3 owners.
Stay tuned for our follow up interview with Richard Lemarchand Developer of Uncharted 3 tomorrow.
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