Uncharted 3 sees protagonist Nathan Drake and mentor Victor Sullivan traveling around the world to such places as the Rub' al Khali desert, in search of the legendary lost city, the Iram of the Pillars. Chloe Frazer and Elena Fisher also return in Uncharted 3. The plot draws from the archaeology days of T. E. Lawrence. Arne Meyer, Naughty Dog's community strategist stated that the "main theme of Uncharted 3 is 'finding the way'". Upon its release, Uncharted 3 was met with high critical acclaim, averaging 92% on both review aggregate websites Metacritic and GameRankings, making it one of the most critically acclaimed video games of 2011 for the PlayStation 3 on both websites.
Gameplay
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective, with the player in control of Nathan Drake. Drake will have a large number of different animation sets, enabling him to react according to his surroundings. Drake is physically adept and is able to jump, sprint, climb, swim, scale narrow ledges, wall-faces to get between points, and perform other acrobatic actions. Drake can now take on opponents in more ways than before: hand-to-hand combat with multiple opponents, contextual melee attacks, and new stealth options. Uncharted 3 also features expanded and diverse traversal moves with deep gunplay. Drake can be equipped with up to two firearms – one single-handed and one two-handed – and four grenades. Drake can pick up weapons, automatically replacing the existing weapon he was using, and additional ammunition from downed enemies.
Multiplayer
Similar to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3 is planned to include a separate multiplayer component with network play that runs in open beta during July 2011, featuring competitive and cooperative modes of play. The beta features several customization options, such as different character skins, ability boosters, skill medals to attain, and a progressive ranking system. Uncharted 3 will introduce free-for-all modes such as standard deathmatch, character model and weapon modification, and dynamic environmental 'events' within multiplayer maps, similar to the set pieces from the game's campaign - such as a hostile plane flying above shooting all players it catches in its crossfire. Collectible treasures are also said to be available within the multiplayer maps, which can be used as in-game currency for unlocking new characters, customization equipment and boosters. Unlocked customizations can either allow for changes to be made in character appearance, such as clothing and skin tone, or upgrading weapon attributes.
A Buddy System has also been implemented into multiplayer. At the beginning of each match, the player may be joined with a random partner or a friend if joining their game. The buddy's emblem remains displayed as part of the player's HUD to indicate their location relative to the player's own on the map. With your Buddy, you can do a cooperative taunt over dead enemies you defeated together, and can also collect each others' earned treasures for them. The player is able to spawn next to his buddy so long as the buddy remains alive and out of combat.[11] With the aim of making the multiplayer more flexible and accessible, several logistical improvements have been added, such as the capability to join games in progress or for two different PlayStation Network accounts to play together in split-screen multiplayer on a single console. In the event of ties or near-ties, matches enter an elimination mode as they wind down, in which the players are restricted to one life and must compete to wipe out all of the opposing team's members first within the allotted remaining time.
Several new features have been included in the game, including mechanics that create gameplay situations designed to assist the losing team, improves ability enhancements and augmentations that must be purchased for each use, special abilities that are made available when a certain amount of medals has been attained within a match, and "Uncharted TV", a small video window that appears throughout the multiplayer menus, creating a video that can be uploaded to Facebook, YouTube or the XMB. Multiplayer also includes a character creation system, allowing a user to extensively customise their in-game character. Co-operative multiplayer also returns from Uncharted 2.
Plot
The story begins with Nathan "Nate" Drake (Nolan North) and Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Richard McGonagle) meeting with Talbot (Robin Atkin Downes) in a pub in England. They negotiate a trade, a large sum of money in return for Sir Francis Drake's ring. Nate and Sully accuse Talbot of offering them counterfeit bank notes and, after fighting their way past Talbot's thugs, Nate and Sully emerge in an alleyway, where they are surrounded and subdued by Charlie Cutter (Graham McTavish), Talbot's cohort. They are then approached by Talbot's client, Katherine Marlowe (Rosalind Ayres), who steals Drake's ring. Nate attempts to go after her, but Cutter guns him and Sully down, seemingly killing them.
The story transitions into a flashback from 20 years earlier. A 14 year old Nathan Drake explores a museum in Cartagena, Colombia, in search of Sir Francis' ring, but is thrown out after guards suspect him of being a thief. Intrigued by the actions of a younger 40 year old Victor Sullivan- who he does not know at this point- Nate follows Sully to a keymaker and pickpockets him, before returning to the museum. He steals the ring but before he can leave, he is caught by Marlowe, her henchmen and Sully, who was working for her. Nate flees with the ring and is rescued from Marlowe's agents by Sully, who decides to act as a mentor to Nate.
Returning to the present day, it is revealed that the meeting was an elaborate set-up by Nate and Sully to get closer to Marlowe, with Cutter being an old friend of theirs. With the help of Chloe Frazer (Claudia Black), they trace Marlowe's car to a hidden library, where they manage to retrieve T.E. Lawrence's notebook and a map showing Francis Drake's secret voyage to Arabia, where he was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to search for the lost city of Ubar. Using these items, Nate works out that clues to the city's location lie in Crusader crypts in a French chateau and a Syrian citadel. Nate and Sully head to eastern France and locate the long abandoned chateau in a dense forest. They find one half of an amulet inside the crypt but the two are ambushed by Talbot, who takes the amulet and sets the chateau on fire. Nate and Sully escape and quickly head to Syria, fearing that Chloe and Cutter, who travelled to the Syrian citadel, may have been followed as well.
They meet up with Chloe and Cutter, who have learned that Marlowe is the head of an order dating back four centuries that seeks to gain power by exploiting the fears of their enemies. The group reaches the second crypt and find the other half of the amulet, revealing the location of the next clue in Yemen. However, while trying to exit the citadel, Cutter is cornered by Marlowe and Talbot, forcing him to hand over the amulet piece. Nate, Sully, Chloe, and Cutter manage to escape and Chloe and Cutter back out while Nate and Sully travel to Yemen.
They meet with Elena Fisher (Emily Rose), who helps them locate the underground tomb where they discover the location of the lost city as well as evidence that Sir Francis Drake had also found the tomb and what he learned there caused him to abandon his mission. The trio are then attacked by flesh-eating spiders and flee above ground, where Nate is shot with a dart containing hallucinogens. After stumbling away alone, Nate wakes up outside a café with Marlowe and Talbot. Marlowe gives Nate to a band of pirates she hired led by Rameses to interrogate him for information about Iram of the Pillars. Rameses claims to have captured Sully who is being held captive on a cruise ship on the docks. Nate manages to escape captivity and searches the cruise ship, but discovers the pirates did not take Sully hostage. Mortally wounded, Rameses blows a massive hole in the ship's hull, causing the entire vessel to capsize. Nate navigates the overturned ship before diving into the ocean, ultimately washing back onto shore. He is reunited with Elena, who informs him that Sully was captured by Marlowe's men and taken on a convoy into the Rub 'al Khali desert, but they may be able to rescue him if they stowaway on a cargo plane due to deliver supplies to Marlowe's convoy.
The two of them infiltrate the airstrip and Nate manages to stowaway onboard as it takes off. He is soon discovered by Marlowe's men on board and a shoot-out ensues, resulting in serious damage to the plane. Nate is pulled from the plane by an air vacuum, but is able to activate a parachute and descend safely. After wandering the desert, suffering from heat exhaustion, severe thirst and experiencing hallucinations and mirages, Nate arrives at a ghost town in the desert where he is attacked by Marlowe's men. A troop of men on horseback, led by Salim (TJ Ramini), appear and ride to Nate's rescue. At the horsemen's encampment, Salim tells Nate that the city of Ubar was doomed thousands of years ago by King Solomon when he imprisoned evil Djinn within a brass vessel and cast it into the heart of the city. He agrees to help Nate and leads him to the convoy spotted by his scouts. Nate and Salim destroy the convoy and rescue Sully. Salim then instructs Nate and Sully to follow him into a nearby sandstorm, but the pair lose him amidst the dust and they realise that they have arrived at the gates of Ubar.
Upon entering Ubar, Nate and Sully come across a sophisticated water fountain that Nate drinks out of. Suddenly Sully is shot in the back and killed by Talbot. Overcome by rage, Nate gives chase and has to fight more of Marlowe's men, who seem to have been possessed by the Djinn, engulfing themselves in flames and moving at impossible speeds. Nate eventually comes to his senses and finds Sully alive. The true mystery of what happened to the people of Ubar thousands of years ago becomes apparent: when King Solomon cast the brass vessel into the depths of the city, it fell into the water and began to taint the water with a powerful hallucinogenic agent. The people were subsequently driven mad, and civilization within the city collapsed. Nate realises that the vessel is what Queen Elizabeth had sent Francis Drake to find, and what Marlowe was looking for now. Nate and Sully search the city and locate Marlowe, who is using a winch to pull the brass talisman from the water. Nate and Sully destroy the winch and the explosion sets off a chain reaction throughout the entire city, causing the city to collapse. Nate and Sully attempt to escape, but run into Marlowe and Talbot and see Marlowe trapped in quicksand. Nate tries to save her but he fails and Marlowe is left to drown in the sand, taking Drake's ring with her. After Nate and Sully defeat Talbot, who attempted to kill them, Salim rides in on his horse and leads them to safety as the city is engulfed by the desert.
Nate and Sully return to the airport in Yemen where Sully explains why he took such an interest in the young Nate. He then gives back Nate's ring and turns to see Elena joining them. The two embrace each other and the trio flies back home on Sully's new sea plane.
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