Uncharted 3 impressions

Uh-oh . . .

 

Something is wrong.  I am supposed to be having a great time with Uncharted 3.  But I am not.  Well, not completely anyway.

 

It seems to be a fine game.  It looks so good on a technical level it is stupid.  Just stupid.  Naughty Dog are technical wizards. The voice acting, like all prior games in the series, is excellent.  The interaction between characters has a natural flow that no other game can match.  It follows the same formula as the previous games too, both of which I loved.  But I am not enjoying this third installment much.

 

This happens to me from time to time.  I get jaded.  I get tired of the same old thing.  The very thing I used to love prior.  Maybe it is a normal progression.  Something is initially impressive.  It is the first time you are doing it.  Seems fresh, exciting.  So the stakes are raised, the excitement level increases.  But you reach a point when you become desensitized to it all.  The explosions and set pieces are bigger, but it is a road you have already traveled.  You know what the outcome is.  The veil is raised.

 

Wow, I am rambling at this point.

 

Uncharted 3, more so than the other games, feels very controlled.  In the sense that I feel like almost everything is scripted to the point where my input matters little.  Almost as if I am playing a modern version of Dragons Slayer.  I find all the platforming sections excessively boring, because it no longer feels exciting.  Or fun.  You are just going through the motions.  All the environments conveniently have ledges and railings for you to grab on to.  All your jumps are basically pre-planned and the animation seems canned.  Pre-determined.  Precision is not required.  You just press in the general direction and hit jump, no worries, Nate will get there.

 

Things then get predictable.  It is a sure bet that eventually a ledge will break off or a section will begin to collapse.  It is supposed to be exciting.  To give a sense of danger to what you are doing.  Except it is all canned.  There is no need to panic.  You are not falling to your death.  Just keep pressing that jump button at a steady pace and all will work itself out.  The excitement is just not there for me anymore.

 

The predictability continues with the story.  As has been the case practically every time, you make your way through a level trying to acquire an object.  You get said object.  You escape the area and are greeted by the game's antagonist who was waiting for you and takes the item away.  Rinse, repeat.  I am only halfway through the game and I think this has happened four or five freaking times already!

 

Like I said, I am jaded.  Uncharted does what it does very well.  I guess what it does just doesn't excite me anymore.  Shame.