Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Plot synopsis:
Two years after the previous game, Nathan "Nate" Drake (Nolan North) and Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Richard McGonagle) enter a pub in London to meet with a man named Talbot (Robin Atkin Downes), who is interested in purchasing Nate's ring belonging to his ancestor Sir Francis Drake. The duo accuse Talbot of offering them counterfeit banknotes, and a fight ensues. Outside the pub, they are subdued by Charlie Cutter (Graham McTavish), Talbot's cohort. Talbot's employer, Katherine Marlowe (Rosalind Ayres), appears and steals Drake's ring. Cutter then shoots Sully and Nate. A flashback 20 years earlier finds a 14-year-old Nate (Billy Unger) exploring a museum in Cartagena, Colombia, in search of the ring, and seeing a younger Sully, unknown to him at this point, who is working with Marlowe to retrieve the ring. Nate is caught by Marlowe and her henchmen, but Sully rescues him from the agents and takes the boy on as his protege.
Returning to the present day, it is revealed that the meeting was an elaborate set-up by Nate and Sully to track down Marlowe, with Cutter being a friend of theirs. With the help of Chloe Frazer (Claudia Black), they trace Marlowe's car to an underground library, where they manage to retrieve T. E. Lawrence's notebook and a map showing Francis Drake's secret voyage to Arabia, where he was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I and the infamous John Dee to search for the lost city of Ubar. Using these items, Nate works out that clues to the city's location lie in Crusader crypts in a French chateau and a Syrian citadel. He and Sully head to eastern France and locate the long-abandoned chateau in a dense forest. They find one half of an amulet inside the crypt, but are ambushed by Talbot, who takes the amulet. Suddenly, flesh-eating spiders appear and kill one of Talbot's men, but Nate and Sully narrowly escape them. Talbot and his men then set the chateau on fire. Nate and Sully escape and quickly head to Syria.
In Syria, Nate and Sully meet up with Chloe and Cutter, who have learned that Marlowe is the head of the same order to which Francis Drake belonged, which seeks to gain power by exploiting the fears of their enemies. The group finds the second crypt and the other half of the amulet (encountering more spiders), revealing the location of the next clue in Yemen. As they escape Marlowe's men and the citadel, Cutter breaks his leg. Chloe and he both decide they can't continue the quest further, though Nate promises to do so for them.
In Yemen, Nate reluctantly seeks the aid of his estranged wife Elena Fisher (Emily Rose), who, despite multiple vain attempts to get them to abandon their quest, helps them locate an underground tomb where they discover the location of the lost city within the vast Rub' al Khali desert (once again encountering spiders). Back above ground, Nate is shot with a hallucinogenic dart and wanders off on his own. He wakes up outside a café with Marlowe and Talbot, where Marlowe is shown to have accumulated documents concerning Nate's childhood, revealing that Nate started using the name Drake after growing up in the St Francis orphanage upon his mother's suicide and being abandoned by his father. She threatens Nate to reveal the location of Ubar. When Talbot gets news of Sully's location, Nate breaks free and gives chase to Talbot throughout the city, but is knocked out and kidnapped by Rameses, a pirate working for Marlowe, who interrogates him for information about Iram of the Pillars and who claims to have captured Sully. Nate escapes captivity and searches for Sully on the pirates' captured cruise ship. However, he discovers that Rameses lied about having Sully and detonates a grenade, causing the ship to start sinking. Before Nate can escape, Rameses shoots the ship's glass ceiling causing the tipped-over ship to flood and killing himself, but Nate manages to escape.
Nate is washed ashore back in Yemen. He is reunited with Elena, who informs him that Sully was indeed captured by Marlowe's men and taken on a convoy into the Rub 'al Khali with Sully being forced to lead them to Ubar. They decide to attempt a rescue by sneaking onto a cargo plane due to airdrop supplies to Marlowe's convoy. Nate successfully infiltrates the plane but is discovered on board by Marlowe's men and a shoot-out ensues. A large explosion occurs on the plane resulting in a massive decompression which tears the plane apart. Falling through the sky, Nate is able to land safely on the desert floor by grabbing hold of a cargo pallet and deploying its parachute. After wandering the desert hopelessly, without water, Nate encounters Marlowe's men before being rescued by a troop of men on horseback led by a Bedouin named Salim (TJ Ramini). At the Bedouin's encampment, Salim tells Nate that the city of Ubar was doomed thousands of years ago by King Solomon when he imprisoned evil Djinn within a brass vessel and cast it into the heart of the city. Salim agrees to help Nate and leads him to the convoy, which they destroy while rescuing Sully. They ride into a nearby sand storm, but Nate and Sully lose Salim amidst the dust as they arrive at the gates of Ubar.
Upon entering Ubar, Nate and Sully come across a water fountain that Nate drinks from. Suddenly Talbot appears with Marlowe and shoots Sully, killing him. Overcome with rage and vengeance, Nate gives chase and encounters more of Marlowe's men, who seem to have been possessed by the Djinn. He experiences vivid hallucinations of his past and of Sully, before eventually coming to his senses and finding his mentor alive. The true mystery of what happened to the people of Ubar thousands of years ago becomes apparent: when King Solomon cast the brass vessel that had the minerals that caused hallucinations, into the depths of the well beneath the city, it tainted the water with a powerful hallucinogenic agent, which caused Nate to imagine Sully was shot and killed. Nate realizes that the vessel is what Queen Elizabeth had sent Francis Drake to find, but after learning the consequences of his quest, Drake abandoned his mission. Thus the two figure the brass jar and the drug within is what Marlowe is really after. Nate and Sully search the city and locate Marlowe, who is using a winch to pull the brass vessel from the waters. Sully is nearly killed by Talbot, but Nate destroys the winch and accidentally blows up the central cistern of Iram, causing the city to begin to collapse around them. Marlowe and Talbot corner Nate and Sully but the floor gives way, throwing Marlowe into a sinkhole. Despite Nate's attempt to save her, Marlowe sinks to her death, taking Drake's ring with her. As Ubar collapses, Nate and Sully fight Talbot, who is shot and falls into the sinkhole. Salim rides in to rescue them as the city is engulfed by the desert sands.
Nate and Sully return to the airport in Yemen where Sully gives back Nate's wedding ring, which he secretly kept safe when Nate and Elena separated. Elena joins them and Nate offers her his wedding ring again. The two embrace with the promise of a fresh start, and the three fly back home on Sully's new sea plane (similar to the one from the first installment).

Tags: violence

Review:
And as they did alone came the new game that everyone was excited for was Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception.
This game proved to be a very great stealth based game and was more that Naughty Dog could deliver to it's gamers.Uncharted Drake's Deception is the best game of 2011.
You get to discover how great the story moves nicely along as you play the game even further which is just amazing.This game also not to mention has great graphics and has great stealth that you can use to dodge the enemy's attacks and also shoot them or grab their weapons when they are defeated which is a neat feature.
It will get difficult as it progresses but you will learn it pretty soon.Also this game has plenty of brand new levels and just like Batman Arkham City, These levels will get hard as you keep going through them trying to figure out what your objective is and what task you need to complete.
But also because you will need to kill enemies in order to pass that same level so you won't be getting any trouble to complete it at all.If you are a fan of Uncharted then get this game.
Not to mention, the game also has the longest time to complete, in fact it was so long that I remember when I finally finished the game, I recalled playing the early chapters like it was years ago.With all those cramped in a single disc, you might not notice that UC3 has the largest data size ever released as a video game to date - over 50 GB!
In past UC games, I really love viewing the cutscenes I've passed over and over again through movie viewer feature to admire the scenes and as an enjoyment bonus (in fact, I do think that the movie feature is among the feature you love in UC series, right?) Now in UC3, with all those major overhauled in graphics and others, can't you imagine the passion to watch it over and over again?
Drake's gotten in over his head this time as a mysterious woman named Katherine Marlowe is looking for the lost city along with her group of men, and they'll stop at nothing from preventing Nate and Sully from getting to the city alive.
As this time around it's not just focused around Nathan Drake, it still is majorly as he is still the main character, but it also heavily focuses upon Victor Sullivan as the story focuses on the bond between Nate and Sully.
I found this really intriguing as I am a huge fan of Victor Sullivan's character, and it was always pondering in the back of my head, the prospect of how Nate and Sully came together, well now I don't have to wonder as they tell us the story in an exciting chapter that know one will expect.
The only criticism I have of the story is I feel the character Elena was under used as I liked the role she was playing, as it showed really tense and emotional moments between her and Nate, but for me it was just way to short.
My first initial impression of him was not a good one to say, it wasn't bad, but as time grew on he felt more like an actual Uncharted character as he was both witty and sarcastic and had moments where he made me laugh whilst bantering with his crew mates.Players of the previous Uncharted games will feel right at home when they begin to battle in gun combat.
Because this time you can interact with objects in the area to use, for example when your engaging in a bar fight at the very beginning of the game you can use beer bottles to smash over your enemies heads.
Naughty Dog have done such an amazing job with the visuals, everything just looks so life like and beautiful it makes Uncharted 3 a rich experience, rather than just a video game.
Because of how beautiful the visuals are, it's easy to get lost in the world of Uncharted 3, which makes the game feel as if your tagging along on the journey instead of sitting in your room playing through it using a controller to enable Drake.
In Uncharted 3, the multiplayer has been improved on heavily, as you can now create your own hero or villain and customize as you please by purchasing items through experience points earned through multiplayer games, you have an actual story emerge when you play the co-op adventure missions, unlike in Uncharted 2 where they took a location from the campaign and made you kill wave of soldiers to reach a treasure.
The layout of multiplayer mode also looks more professional and up to date as you now have an Uncharted TV in the lower right corner of your TV screen, so you can enjoy and watch news from Naughty Dog, Uncharted 3 trailer's, multiplayer kills and even videos about Naughty Dogs newest game in development The Last Of Us.So in conclusion if you have a PS3 you need to buy this game, it's completely worth the money as it offers a rich experience you won't have experienced from any other game.
There was nothing like the war torn city you had to navigate your way through, there was no super great action scene on the train, and there just was not as good a villain to fight.
With that being said, it was still a very good game and still better than the first game in the series, though all have been great so far and I will most certainly buy an Uncharted 4 should it come out.
I feel this one was rushed a bit more than the second game, and that may account for some of the small faults I found, but even though it came out relatively quickly after the second one they still managed a rather good story and some incredible game play.
The characters are some of the best in video games and the story was very sound too, though I will say there was really not all that much in the way of a super ending fight as there was in the second game.
This is one of the best games of all time the combat in the game is just insane weather your breaking beer glasses or a bar stool over someones head the excitement doesn't just end there the multiplayer with tons and tons of new ways to play and game types it will leave you on the edge of your seat for hours and hours of excitement.Trust me if you've played the original uncharted games once you put this game in you can tell the difference from the beginning the graphics the game play everything I was kinda worried when I saw the trailer and I thought the game might not live up to its expectations but I was surely wrong if I was to announce game of the year I would definitely go with uncharted 3..
The voice cast are the best of the best and Nolan North could simply never be replaced as the now iconic Nathan Drake.The games truly are that good and over the years they've never missed a beat and not made a single bad game.
Naughty Dog is a developer in a million who lovingly craft these near perfect games consistently.Drakes Deception is the 3rd of the 4 outings for Mr Drake and picks up with the second game left off, brings back all the old characters and gives Nathan and friends another memorable, powerful and action packed adventure.The Good:Great storyVery fun to playFlawless voice castThe Bad:Nope.
The only frustration I had with the first two games was the final boss battle in Among Thieves, which was a real bitch, but I've already felt like throwing my controller at the TV at least a half dozen times during number 3 and I'm still really early on in the game.
It scratches the itch of needing a good soundtrack in an Uncharted game, and every track works with where it plays.
Drake's Deception is an all-rounded, psychological and emotional adventure for gaming's greatest hero that the players buy fully into for one of the greatest titles of all time.
It explores Nate's backstory, delivers beautiful locales, has a classic Uncharted story delivered just like a perfect Hollywood blockbuster with characters all given an arc or purposes that drive and has sensational action set-pieces that rival any film, show or game that can be named.
To be honest though, it didn't have the exact peace of the mind as Uncharted 2.However, this game also had the younger days of Nathan Drake and that did play a great part of the success of the game..
For those who are invested in the characters of this series, you will no doubt appreciate the back story of Nate and Sully...how they first met and some of their early adventures too...which are playable.Graphics: Spectacular at times, but sometimes characters don't seem real...they're less than realistic, but pretty good nonetheless.
Can't say the same thing for this second sequel.Strengths of the game: * Whilst I think that the first half of the game is very poor (reasons given below), the game really launches into the atmosphere once Nate ends up in the pirates' ship graveyard...it's cinematic (in a good way).
Uncharted is such a series that you can't help but get into the story and the characters of the series.Uncharted 3:Drake's Deception proves that it can do just as well as the other games in the Uncharted Series and why I'm proud to be a fan of the series Nathan Drake (Voiced by Nolan North) along with his team Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Voiced by Richard McGonagle), Elena Fisher (Voiced by Emily Rose), Chloe Frazer (Voiced by Claudia Black) and Charlie Cutter (Voiced by Graham McTavish) must handled Katherine Marlowe (Rosalind Ayres) and her right hand man Talbot (Robin Atkin Downes)For the first time we get to learn more about Drake and Sully in terms of how they cross paths in the first place.
The story in the game does a strong job with holding your attention as all the Uncharted Games do and this one is no different I really thought the plot was quite unexpected at times and moments you didn't see coming that is what makes the game so good is that you won't be disappointed.The Voice acting is very strong as the cast not only did the voice work but also Motion Capture for the game so they gave well done performances which is always a promise with the Uncharted series is that you will always get strong voice acting.
The Graphics are nothing short of perfection the game just always delivers on graphics the characters look great as again the actors motion capture their performances so it gives them some realistic looks also the level designs is just superb every attention to detail they really made a great looking game along with making it a blast to play.The controls are very gamer friendly and make it a game you could just get into from the moment you begin to play.The Game Play once again just rocks as you get action and puzzle solving the game just reward you in every way that's what makes Uncharted worth playing because the game play does something right from action,puzzle solving and combat system it just feels great If you want to give this game justice you have to go play it for yourself because it is a game you shouldn't be without.With superb graphics,Great voice acting and tight Game Play you are going to be in for a thrill rideI give Uncharted 3: Drake' Deception an 9 out of 10.
It honestly felt like I was fighting against UK Parliament as the main bad guy looks a lot like David Miliband.The game flashes back to Nathan Drakes childhood, somewhere in the mid-nineties and how he met Sully.
Even Nolan North as Nathan Drake felt a little tired this time, and not that sparkling personality we come to know and love from the last two games.
Greetings from Lithuania."Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" (2011) is a very good game, with superb production values, amazing and jaw-dropping action set pieces, great graphics and perfectly polished gameplay.
While i did like the story overall, especially Nate's relationship with Sully, the game had some pacing issues, and kinda big ones.
you may not agree with me but i LOVED how the game play was at the beginning or even after they changed it a couple of times but like i said...
You still have the chronic problems with one-dimensional villains and a severe lack of character development for rest of the cast, but there are several highly cinematic scenes towards the end of the game that are marvelously executed and make the story more memorable than it otherwise would have been.If you are already invested in Nate and his adventures, you're doing yourself a disservice by not playing this game.
Uncharted 3 takes a great story great game play and great graphics and delivers a masterpiece.
I bought this game on its first day of release here in Greece.I have seen multiple times all the trailers and making of videos but i have to admit i had my doubts.But i was so wrong.This game is a thrill ride from beginning to end.The plot of the game revolves around Atlantis of the Sands, a mythical lost city in the Rub' a Khali desert.A significant part to the whole story plays Nathan drakes ring which is the key to finding Atlantis Of The Sands.Also,this time around the game gives a much bigger emphasis to the relationship between Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan(Sully).The villain of the game is Katherine Marlow(looks a lot like Hellen Mirren)who is also looking for this lost city.The game also explains the back story of how Nathan and sully met.Some characters from the previous games also return a.k.a Chloe Frazier and Elena Fischer.There are some pretty amazing moments between Nathan and Elena which i will not be spoiling.The thing that defines this video game is that is full of cinematic moments where your jaw will literally drop to the floor.From trying to escape a sinking cruise ship to hanging in the back of a burning cargo plane and escaping a tsunami wave you will be left breathless.There are a lot of twists during the story but the big ones are in the finale of the game.The graphics are the most detailed and realistic ones i have ever seen in a video game in any platform.Especially the sand effects are breathtaking,you have to see it to believe it.The controls are responsive and really make you feel like your are drake and going through these incredible adventures.I heard a lot of complaints about the shooting part of the game.I don't agree with any of them because its the same as it was in uncharted 2 which i loved.At the end of the day uncharted 3 is an amazing video game that will leave you shocked,thrilled and touched until the very end.It is better than anything Hollywood had to give in the last ten years,easily better than uncharted 2 and the best thing the video game industry has to offer.Do yourselves a favor and live it,because this is not a game,this is an experience..
The games makes great use of the system's processing power to move from cutscene to gameplay and back again, putting our hero in the middle of crumbling buildings, leaping rooftops and even escaping an (upended) sinking ship.The reason "Drake's Deception" doesn't reach the lofty heights of its predecessor ("Among Thieves", still my favorite) is because it gets lost in the importance of the movie setpiece.
The Uncharted games are by far my favorite game series and I have played them many times through, because of this I was very much anticipating the release of Uncharted 3.
I rather like not having a boss fight in the Uncharted games.
I want complete control over the character at all times and much less cut scenes to interrupt the game play.Over-all Uncharted 3, as well as the other Uncharted games are much better than any other game out there.
The Uncharted series has perfectly combined action and adventure with breathtaking graphics and pristine control while still focusing on a story which keeps the player motivated.
The story, game play, control, combat, and exploration simply do not impress after such amazing titles like Uncharted 1 & 2.
It is a great game, and I will probably play it again on crushing, however I will not come near to enjoying it as much as the other Uncharted games.
I like the Uncharted series and personally think that it has a great way of imitating the storytelling of a Summer Blockbuster while still being it's own thing.
I thought the first was standard fair but I liked it's sense of humour enough and it was an easy enough game to have me pick up the sequel, which I consider the best game on the PS3 refining gameplay, telling a better story and it just being all out fun.
I don't know, when the final cutscene played I thought "This would be a great way to finish if I didn't know there was a fourth one getting made" It seems to progress Drake in a way that I would see him doing this stuff less and finally settle down with Elena and Sully getting a new version of the plane in the opening level to the first game just seems right.
I have no doubt the fourth game will be good but I think this ending here seemed like the best way to go out.
All in all I felt like I enjoyed Among Thieves more as a complete game although Deception certainly took my breath away more than a couple of times.