Why I Played The Uncharted 3 Beta For 8 Hours Straight

I’ve spent all day playing the recently released Beta for Naughty Dog’s upcoming shooter, Uncharted 3.  Damn near 8 hours later I’ve come away satisfied, surprised and completely amazed by what’s in stock for Uncharted fans worldwide. Whilst the game feels familiar in terms of mechanics, Naughty Dog have clearly refined and improved the formula that made Uncharted 2 a huge success online.

Right off the bat it’s clear that Uncharted 3 is more customization heavy than it’s predecessor.  You can create custom emblems, load-outs, and even create your own Hero or Villain to take into the fray. The options are somewhat limited in the beta, but you get a clear idea of how diverse characters will be in the full experience. A full wardrobe of hats, shirts, pants and gloves are available, all of which can be colored and arranged to your liking, but it’s not only the visual aspect of your character you’ll have access too, load-outs are just as important, if not more.

A wide variety of clothing awaits you

Customizing your load-outs greatly effects the way you’ll do combat in Uncharted 3. Prefer being a sniper? Make sure you spawn with a Dragon Sniper in hand, or perhaps you’d like to enter fray at mid-range with an AK47? Of course you’re not limited to one selection, as there’s 4 different load-outs you can customize to your liking. As you play you’ll earn money to upgrade said weapons, with useful permutations such as bigger clips, improved rate of fire and so on. “Boosters” also make a return from Uncharted 2, but for those who aren’t familiar with the series, think of them as perks from the Call of Duty games. The boosters in the beta give you a slight taste of variation, with effects like decreased sprint recovery time or the ability to see power weapons on the map from range, giving you the edge on the battlefield.

The Beta gives you access to five different multiplayer modes. Team Deathmatch, Free For All, Three Team Deathmatch (You and a friend versus 4 other people), Hardcore (No boosters, or Medal Kickbacks) and Co-Op arena which is essentially survival against AI. Jumping straight into Team Deathmatch, one improvement that Uncharted 3 has above it’s predecessor is the new cinematic feel to the online frag-fests. Before a Team Deathmatch game will start, it’ll show a small in-engine cutscene featuring your character (and the people on your team) having a small briefing before combat, or rushing to cover before the enemy gets the jump on you. It’s very similar to that of Brink’s pre-game cutscenes, and they help flesh out the combat as more then just mindless shooting fun.

Upgrading weapons to fit your playstyle is a nice touch

The two maps featured in the beta are “Chateau”, a vast crumbling mansion in the middle of a lush jungle and “Airstrip”, a 2 part combat scenario consisting of high adrenaline firefights across moving vehicles across a runway, then it’s into an industrial complex for the latter half of the game. Airstip is definitely the standout map, as it brings a new dynamic to combat. You’re not just fighting on solid ground anymore, you have to manage your aim at breakneck speeds. Another point well worth noting is how damn beautiful Uncharted 3 really looks. Being an avid PC fan, I’m rarely blown away by console visuals, but Uncharted is truly breathtaking at first sight. Everything from the realistic shadows being cast over the land, to the lush vibrant foliage of Chateau, the game looks damn near real, and it’s an absolute treat to interact with such an amazing landscape.

The character models also look incredible, but what’s more incredible is annihilating them online. If you’ve played alot of the UC2, you’ll know exactly what to do here. Climb up walls, pull enemies off cliffs, hide behind cover while spraying AK fire, then sprinting over to an enemy corpse and pressing the X button to pull off a groovy dance. The mechanics stay largely the same, which is a good thing, Uncharted 2 was one of the most seamless experiences the PlayStation had to offer.  However, the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer does have some original mechanics, which all add to the experience in positive ways.

First off is the new “Kickback” feature, which is a power-up earned in-game by attaining various medals. You’ll get medals for running, taking cover, killing enemies in a row without dying and so fourth, these will all be counted towards a personal tally. Once you’ve filled your quota for the “Kickback”, you’ll be able to use it to your advantage. The Kickback I selected was the ability to spawn a RPG out of nowhere, to do this, I needed to earn 17 medals before I could activate said ability. Of course you’ll be able to pick and choose what Kickback you want to bring into the fray, and some cost less medals then others, but go hard or go home, right?

He probably won't make it

Uncharted 3 also does a brilliant job of making the combat even, right up until the end of the round. I never played a game that ended in a score difference  greater then 4, but how does the game itself help keep this balance? Answer: Power Plays. The new “Power Play” system randomly generates objectives or team based perks seemingly when a team falls behind. These random “Power Plays” can include objectives like Assassinating the other team’s VIP for a bonus score, or they can grant team-wide perks, such as the ability to see the entire opposing team through walls, in an attempt to even up the score. These new systems actually help the game-play feel fast, fresh and damn intense right up until the final moments. There’s also some minor UC3 exclusive features thrown into the mix, such as the ability to click in L3 to start sprinting, and purchasing one-off boosters for the next game you get into.  It’s hard to get a feel to see if anything’s unbalanced, or overpowered in it’s current state, but hey, that’s what a beta’s for right?

With the Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta open to all PlayStation Plus members (which is pretty much everyone, thank you hackers) you have no excuse not to jump right in and see for yourself how Naughty Dog‘s shooter is shaping up. With Battlefield 3 and MW3 on the horizon, it’s easy for people to forget about other great multiplayer experiences. Judging by this beta, Uncharted 3 could possibly be one of the most frantic, fun and downright enjoyable online experiences this generation has to offer.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to start a new match.