2) Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Uncharted 3 was my most anticipated game of the year. It was my most played game of the year. It's a new entry in one of my favorite series this generation. Why isn't it Game of the Year? A few reasons, one of which is the total surprise of the number one game, but some of the things in Uncharted, on reflection, could have been better. I feel like, in some ways, Uncharted 3 was rushed out to meet a year old deadline. Naughty Dog have talked about this before, and I think I agree with that if U3 had been given a few more months to bake it would have been a significantly more polished product.
I'm not going to dwell too much on it, though, because what we got was amazing. I've been through U3 three or four times since it came out in November, even Platinum'd it just a week after starting it. I can't complain too much about it, because even after all those replays, I still come away with the same positive impression I had when I first completed it. That's the mark of a good game to me -- one that holds up on replays. The setpieces are every bit as enjoyable to watch and experience the first time through as they are the second or third.
I think Uncharted 3 really nails the feeling of playing an action movie. The best thing about Uncharted is that through almost every scene in the game you're still in control of Drake. You're still interacting with the game on some level, even if you aren't influencing everything going on around you. There's something to be said for that, and I don't think Uncharted gets quite enough credit for it. You absolutely cannot set your controller down to watch what's happening on the screen. My favorite setpiece is undoubtedly the cargo plane. Some of the impact of that scene might have been ruined by all the pre-release footage, but it was still so good. As far as pure gameplay segments go, there's no doubt that the Cruise Ship takes it running away. Everything about those few chapters was a pure rush of awesome that I can't say many games match.
I also thought the story and characters were their best here. There are some problems with the script, it's not quite as tight as U2's, but it's far more interesting. The narrative is still mostly straightforward, but the darker mood and more personal story about Drake made for something a lot more interesting and engaging to follow. I got into Marlowe's mindgames and taunts about Drake, his past, and the personal vendetta the two had for each other, as well as the relationship problems between Drake and Elena, and then Sully. I thought it was nice how they handled that, actually. They never dwelled on it for too long, and never made it a central focus of the story, but the exchanges between Drake and Elena were always tinged with bitter remarks and sharp words, a general feeling of 'what happened to us.' The scene where Drake just says "I'm sorry" before passing out on the couch is one of the high points in the series in terms of cutscene direction, in my opinion. Exploring the relationship between Drake and Sully was pretty good, too. It was all done without much exposition, which was nice.
Uncharted 3 might have been able to provide a more cohesive experience with time, maybe it could have dared to change up the formula a bit more, but the improvements that were made from Uncharted 2 are apparent (melee, puzzle design), and what it doesn't change never needed to be in the first place. It might not be the most innovative game this year, but it is damn near the best. Uncharted 3, for me, was excellent through and through.
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"When I was a young man, I had liberty, but I did not see it. I had time, but I did not know it."