Adventure's new name: Uncharted 3

These days adventure is alive and well and it finally has a new name. Returning in its third installment, Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception is an awesome cinematic experience. In this new game we find our protagonist, Nathan Drake, in search of another lost civilization and looking to find the treasure of a lifetime. At this point, one has to wonder why the world can't keep track of these cities or at least keep readied documentation. In either case, Drake is taking on another globe trotting adventure into the unknown. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is an experience you won't soon be forgetting. As fans of the series will know, the Uncharted games have always done their best to be immersive cinematic experiences brought to life by the giant set-piece moments throughout the game and made real by the voice acting talents of the actors behind the principle characters. This time around players can expect nothing less, whether you find yourself fighting your way out of a crashing plane or trying to escape from an overturned cruise ship, there is no shortage of excitement.  

The story follows the player in search of ancient lost city known as "The Atlantis of the Sands." Beloved characters from stories past make a return and new characters appear as well, but most are conniving, evil, bastards; which makes fighting them even better. In Uncharted 3, the plot takes players to even more inviting locales than before. You begin you journey in London and from there the story expands across multiple continents from Europe all the way to the Arabian dessert as you race to find this "lost city". I don't want to go into too much detail about the story so as to not risk any spoilers; but rest assured that it's great. The team at Naughty Dog, have a team of fantastic writers. Now on to all the nitty gritty details, such as graphics design, score, leveling, etc.

To all those expecting Uncharted 3 to be even better than its predecessor may walk away feeling slightly disappointed; but don't let those words dissuade you. I feel as though each game should stand on its own merits. Uncharted 3 does everything Uncharted 2 did and for the most part it does it bigger and better. It's hard to describe what makes 2 better than 3, but I feel as though Uncharted 2's story was just so well balanced. With Deception the games formula is starting to show. You fight, platform, solve a puzzle, then repeat. Thankfully it doesn't matter because the formula works so well. It's just come to the point now, that it's hard to imagine the developer, making an Uncharted 4 that will be better than this; but I know that it'll be just as good.

From a technical standpoint, this games shines on all fronts; it's the best yet. The environments are designed with such detail, it's hard not to just run through them, and the levels themselves are well designed also. Their layouts inspire creativity in combat and offer up some interesting stealth scenarios. While we're on the subject of combat, everything from the hand to hand brawling to the gunplay is so much tighter than anything the series has provided before it. Once again Greg Edmonson provides the musical score that ties all these elements together with another enthralling piece.

For those looking for more bang for their buck than just a kick-ass single player story, there plenty to be done online in multiplayer and co-op. There's just no shortage of fun to be had as a modern day fortune hunter. Uncharted 3 raises the bar many times and once again sets the standard for what action adventure games should be. Sony has a signature franchise on their hands and thankfully it's not going away anytime soon. My only wish is that more can experience it; but it's nice having exclusivity.