Preview: Uncharted Drake's Deception

Naughty Dog’s Playstation 3 exclusive series Uncharted, since its inception, has been just as fun to play as it is beautiful.  The first game, Drake’s Fortune, took players to a beautiful tropical island filled with as many dark secrets as there were bad guys.  The sequel, Among Thieves, took the series in a similar direction, bringing into focus Nate’s search for the lost city of Shambhala while trying to manage two former lovers and an ally who betrayed him.  Among Thieves introduced multiplayer gameplay to the masses and is still one of the most widely played online games on the Playstation 3 despite two Call of Dutys and a Killzone title being released in the past year and a half.

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Nate’s search for ancient treasures will be continuing this November in what will probably be the most crowded season in the history so it has a lot to do in order to stand out from the crowd and earn your hard-earned cash.  Given the previous two games though, it is clear that such a task is hardly a challenge for Naughty Dog.

On the Trail of the Treasure

Nathan Drake has a chronic problem: he can’t but find himself in some of the worst scrapes possible once he has set his mind to something.  In 2007 his quest for El Dorado put him on an island filled with pirates who cared not for his presence and two years later he found himself in Nepal where he was in a derailed train hanging off a cliff with a gunshot wound in his belly given to him by bloodthirsty mercenaries.  His luck clearly isn’t the best in the world but in those two previous escapades he was able to stop the bad guys, get the girl, and save the world.  So when Nate find himself stranded in the middle of the desert amidst the wreckage of a crashed plane with only a gun and a bandana wrapped around his head you can understand that, while he’s having a bad day, his goal is still reachable.

Drake’s quest this time around has him on the hunt for another lost city: Iram of the Pillars, otherwise known as the Atlantis of the Sands.  Supposedly located somewhere on the Arabian peninsula, Iram was a location long sought for by many historical figures including T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), Claudius Ptolemy, and, more importantly, Drake’s distant ancestor Sir Francis Drake.  Given that the 16^th century privateer was right about El Dorado (albeit not very descriptive of the secrets of the city) Nate has no doubt in his mind that the City of a Thousand Pillars exists as well.

Drake, once again, won’t be alone in his journey.  Longtime ally and mentor Victor “Sully” Sullivan returns, this time in a much larger role than he did in Among Thieves as he will accompany Nate throughout much of the story.  Drake’s opposition this time around is Katherine Marlowe, a member of a secret British organization that has existed for four centuries.  Marlowe and Drake come into conflict over Francis Drake’s ring for which they both claim ownership of.  Right now it is unknown to what extent Marlowe, Drake, and Sullivan have interacted with one another in the past but given early teases and lines from Sully it is clear that they’ll be enemies throughout Drake’s Deception.  Elena Fisher, Drake’s love interest in the previous games has also been confirmed to be involved in the story with rumors that Chloe Frazer may appear as well.

A Rock and a Hard Place

Save for a hands-off demo shown at a press event back in December much of the singleplayer story is being kept under wraps.  Recently though the press was given access to the multiplayer at a Los Angeles event.  Those who expect to see minor improvements on Uncharted 2’s multiplayer scene should stand up and take notice as tweaks are only a small part of the new package.

Naughty Dog promises that all the gameplay modes featured in Among Thieves will be returning but the game also includes a swell of new ones as well.  The first of these, and probably what is going to be one of the most popular, is called Three Team Deathmatch.  Instead of pitting two teams of five players each against one another, this new mode pits three teams of two players against one another for the top prize.  Players will be able to perform context-sensitive taunts and the like for bonus experience points and what is being called the Buddy System will allow players to spawn next to their partner should they not be in combat ala games like Halo Reach.

Going around and trying to make the distinction between players in Uncharted 2 was a bit of a hassle because, for better or worse, you only had a set amount of skins to play as.  Drake’s Deception is looking to step away from that thanks to a new character customization system.  Players will be able to take base skins and customize them anyway you see fit, changing colors to emblems and logos, to even clothing and hats (if you are a Team Fortress 2 player your ears just perked up at that last item). 

Multiplayer stages ripped straight from the singleplayer experience is a growing trend these days (albeit a disturbing one in this writer’s opinion) but if the level of presentation is as strong as it is in Uncharted 3 then it certainly is a good thing.  One such stage, Airstrip, takes the trend to the next level by starting off the match with teams racing down a runway in trucks behind a cargo plane.  Players will trade fire as they attempt to jump between trucks in an effort to actually climb into the bay of the plane.  After a set amount of time the plane’s bay door closes and it takes off at which the stage shifts to a more traditional static battlefield where players fight amongst hangers with vintage World War II fighters.  Long sightlines make for a good sniping map but there’s plenty of cover to be had everywhere you look.

Players will find a significant game changer for the main gameplay modes in the form of Power Plays.  Towards the end of a match a Power Play event will activate that alters the course of a match by either giving the losing team a gameplay advantage or by changing the stakes of the game.  Sudden Death  can activate should the score be close at the end of a match and limits players to only one respawn.  Overtime on the other hand extends the match’s time limit by an extra minute.  Some, such as Elimination, give the losing team a direct advantage by making it so the winning team cannot respawn for a set amount of time.  The winning team isn’t completely powerless in these events however as they can gain bonus experience points for surviving a Power Play.

Along with these nice additions comes a bunch of refinements to the overall experience.  Splitscreen for two players is now available and you can have two PSN accounts playing at one time instead of one account and a guest.  Players can now, in addition to posting gameplay updates on Twitter, also update their Facebook and even full match videos directly to Youtube.  If you needed a way to update your friends as to that sweet 23-3 match you just played Naughty Dog is enabling you to do so more than any other game to date.

Path of Light

Uncharted 3 may be a while out but it looks to be progressing nicely toward its November 1^st release date.  Gamers that are interested in playing the game early though are in luck as a multiplayer beta will be available in early July.  If you are a Playstation Plus subscriber or purchase a new copy of Infamous 2 you will be able to gain access to the beta on June 28^th while players who opt not to will have to wait for it to open up for everyone on July 5^th.  The summer gaming drought may still be over the horizon but Naughty Dog looks to be ready to give you an excellent weapon to stave off the dreaded boredom monster right when we need it most.