So, why do people like the Uncharted games so much?

[woodaba]

I've played quite a but of the adventures of Nathan Drake. They aren't bad games, certainly. I don't think anyone could say that they are. The Second and Third games are pretty decent, honestly, and the worst I could say about the first one is that it is mediocre. But I can't say that they are any more than that. They are ok games.

And yet, these games are consistently heralded as some of the greatest of the generation, and are the cream of the PS3 crop, and yet, they're really little more than Gears of War clones which crib the rest of it's mechanics from Tomb Raider, only dumbing them down even further.

The first game, in particular, is little more than a generic, by the numbers third person shooter with a storyline that might as well be Raiders of the Lost Ark with the serial numbers filed off. I mean, really. Look at the villain of the majority of that game and tell me he isn't Belloq in a different hat.

Later games gained more of their own identity, with plots that were less blatant rip-offs of Indiana Jones, and gameplay that exhibited a little more variety, but for my money, they never really arose above 'pretty good' and don't have a single original idea in their entire body. So, Uncharted fans, what makes you love this game series? Maybe you can enlighten those of us who don't quite understand the appeal of these games why they are hailed as the top of their class?

EDIT: Obligatory "ohboyit'sthisthreadagain"

 

[Maeshone]

It's mostly down to the characters and character-interaction for me. While all the characters may be walking bags of clichés I still love every single one of the characters, and Naughty Dog are (IMO) unparalleled when having their characters interact and play off each others personality.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I don't think Uncharted was ever really meant to be anything more than entirely "Indiana Jonesish" so the whole "It's just like Indiana Jones!" probably isn't a negative for most people who enjoy the series, like me for example. In fact the Indiana Jonesishness of the series is why I enjoy it so much, it's big exciting action adventure and while the ludonarrative dissonance is a little offputting I still find them really damn fun to play.

So yeah... it's Gears of War with characters I like and a shiny overcoat of Indiana Jones... which is a type of game I want to play... Don't know what else to say really, if you don't like it you don't like it.

 

[Rickin10]

I can't stand Uncharted, as i hate linear, cinematic, press 'x' to win games, and Drake is just so obnoxious. But I can understand why people love them.

 

[woodaba]

It's mostly down to the characters and character-interaction for me. While all the characters may be walking bags of clichés I still love every single one of the characters, and Naughty Dog are (IMO) unparalleled when having their characters interact and play off each others personality.

That's interesting, because the writing and characters are my least favorite parts of those games. It's like Naughty Dog is trying to pull off the Whedonesqe snark factor but really, really, don't have the skill to do it. Every single character comes across as insufferable, selfish, jackass. Sully is the only character I ever really connected with.

 

[Emmenia]

Uncharted 1 was Tomb Raider with good combat. This alone made it well worth playing even if the whole thing got a little tiresome towards the end.
Uncharted 2 expanded on everything that was good in the first game and removed a lot of the bad. It was like playing an Indiana Jones film and had great cinematics and a lot of memorable moments for me.
Uncharted 3 admittedly fell flat. Everyone went 'Ooh nice cinematics' for the second one and Naughty Dog took that to the extreme in the third to the point where the story just stopped making any kind of sense.

In my opinion the series is at least worth playing through once. I don't hail them as 'top of their class' (maybe the second one) but this doesn't mean there isn't a huge amount of fun to be had.

Anyway, don't worry about not enjoying them as much as others do. Each to their own.

 

[King Billi]

It's appropriate that you bring up the comparison to Indiana Jones because I love these games for the axact same reason I love those films.

And I think it's to easy to just call it a rip-off. I mean seriously these kinds of stories have been around forever, do you really think Indy was the first to do it?

Anyway I'm a sucker for this kind of exciting, pulpy adventure and when it comes to finding video games in this style Uncharted is one of the best examples out there.

It's just fun!

 

[5ilver]

My explanation: lack of good games for the PS3.

Yeah, there are *some* games for PS3 but can you really compare the quantity & quality to PC? Or even PS2?

 

[woodaba]

It's appropriate that you bring up the comparison to Indiana Jones because I love these games for the axact same reason I love those films.

And I think it's to easy to just call it a rip-off. I mean seriously these kinds of stories have been around forever, do you really think Indy was the first to do it?

Anyway I'm a sucker for this kind of exciting, pulpy adventure and when it comes to finding video games in this style Uncharted is one of the best examples out there.

It's just fun!

Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't hold up the Indiana Jones films as beacons of originality at all. They are homages to classic pulp adventure serials, and that's fine. However, the line has to be drawn somewhere, and for me, it's when Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is literally the exact same plot as Raiders, only with a couple of names changed around.

And I do enjoy the games, like I said, as much as think the first one is decidedly "meh", the latter two are legitimately fun if nothing else, particularly Among Thieves (like Ammenia said, Drake's Deception went way overboard with the scripted set-pieces, pun not intended).

The only real point of contention I seem to have is that I don't think a decently fun, yet awfully generic third person shooter with basic platforming is deserving of being called as one of the best games of this generation.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I think it's the only game series that got the 'action movie' experience right and made it fun. It's not the modern war vibe of "shoot these guys, take this rocket launcher, run there, shoot these guys, talk to this guy, take this remote explosive, go there, wait for dialogue", it's the Indiana Jones vibe of constant action that isn't gun fights over and over. (Okay, there is constant gun fights, but it's balanced with puzzles and I think the environments you are stuck in for the fights allow for a lot of freedom and movement). Action is running from a tank, fistfighting in a cargo plane, picking off guys in a train wreck, fleeing the burning chateau, or infiltrating a museum.

And there's the climbing -- admittedly archaic, but it mixes well with the shooting by allowing a lot of different angles and freedom in the fights.

Drake's Fortune is okay, might've aged a bit, the combat is solid but I think a little harder.
Among Thieves fixes a lot of what made Drake's Fortune weak and expands on it. Set pieces and environments make the game feel like an Indiana Jones movie, including a small debut of the Nazis.
Drake's Deception is... admittedly the combat, multiplayer (coop!), and melee are the best of the series, but the story is stupid-weird in where it takes you. I think Naughty Dog said they thought of the set pieces then formed a plot around it, so it's a really asunder story with a lot of over the top scripted scenes. The coop alone has had me playing the game the most.

The PS Vita game I haven't played.

 

[King Billi]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't hold up the Indiana Jones films as beacons of originality at all. They are homages to classic pulp adventure serials, and that's fine. However, the line has to be drawn somewhere, and for me, it's when Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is literally the exact same plot as Raiders, only with a couple of names changed around.

And I do enjoy the games, like I said, as much as think the first one is decidedly "meh", the latter two are legitimately fun if nothing else, particularly Among Thieves (like Ammenia said, Drake's Deception went way overboard with the scripted set-pieces, pun not intended).

The only real point of contention I seem to have is that I don't think a decently fun, yet awfully generic third person shooter with basic platforming is deserving of being called as one of the best games of this generation.

Well as much as I do love these games I suppose I wouldn't really consider them "landmarks" in gaming either.

They are very well made though and I feel that's important to note, it goes to show that you don't need to go overboard with features in order to deliver a good time. The developers took the barest minimum of gameplay they needed and presented it in the best possible way.

Nothing revolutionary for sure but still undoubtedly fun.


Also I really can't see how you consider Drake's Fortune a rip-off Raider of the Lost Ark? How exactly?

If anything I would have thought the comparison between Drake's Deception and The Last Crusade was more obvious.

 

[woodaba]

Also I really can't see how you consider Drake's Fortune a rip-off Raider of the Lost Ark? How exactly?

If anything I would have thought the comparison between Drake's Deception and The Last Crusade was more obvious.

Both works are about a treasure hunter and his girlfriend/sidekick racing against a rival treasure hunter with less scruples and a secondary villain in control of a military force in search of an ancient artifact that turns about to be cursed in some manner and directly or indirectly causes the demise of at least one of the villains.

They're pretty darn similar.

 

[loc978]

I enjoy the hell out of watching other people play the Uncharted games. They make a fine movie, and the platforming/puzzle sections are enjoyable in a casual sort of way... but the combat mechanics and controls are absolutely atrocious. I guess I can say I've "played through" 1 and 2 with my roommate. I let him do the shooting, while I did the platforming.

Also, they're lauded as excellent for their movie-inspired storytelling and characterization. Just a collection of effective tropes. Personally, I prefer more cerebral games... but Uncharted has a very wide appeal. Kind of the definition of appealing to as many people as possible.

 

[Excelsior789]

Same reason people like Indiana Jones I'd imagine. For the spectacle and sense of adventure. The characters are fun and easy to get behind, but that's not really what its about.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

I'm one of those weird people who much prefer the controls and overall movement of Uncharted over Gears of War. I just like how much more mobile it is and how by default the characters movement isn't tied down to where they're aiming, and the vertical elements of some parts of the levels. As far as the original Tomb Raider comparisons, I hated the stiff controls of those games, so not much else for me to say on that. I do think they may have overloaded the buttons on 3, especially the circle button.

 

[Lightknight]

Actually, I just finished playing uncharted two and have moved onto three right now (just started playing it last night).

It really just feels like a fun and epic adventure. Indiana Jones is not a bad way to think of it but the whole genre is much broader than just Indiana Jones. Jones is merely a subset of the overall set in which Uncharted is part of. There's a reason why it's metacritics are so high. It's got a great story to it with amazing and vibrant locations and the graphics are pretty nice with very detailed elements to the game. Yes, the mechanics can be frustrating and sometimes you can get stuck in an area for far too long. But when you get past it you really feel like you've accomplished things. The puzzles are fun and you really can't ask a game to do much more than that. Add that to the ability to try to be stealthy and some fun climbing mechanisms and there's not a lot to complain about.

As for Gears of War. Aside from the cover system I'm totally not seeing it. Tomb Raider I definitely see. Do you have a ps3 or just a 360 (or both/neither/top hat)? Calling a ps3 exclusive game a clone of a 360 exclusive game makes this question necessary. I often find the biggest complaints of this game to be from 360 only owners whereas I own all consoles and a powerful machine and couldn't give a damn if a ps3 game was good or a 360 game was good. I just want good games regardless of the rock I find them under.

 

[King Billi]

Also I really can't see how you consider Drake's Fortune a rip-off Raider of the Lost Ark? How exactly?

If anything I would have thought the comparison between Drake's Deception and The Last Crusade was more obvious.

Both works are about a treasure hunter and his girlfriend/sidekick racing against a rival treasure hunter with less scruples and a secondary villain in control of a military force in search of an ancient artifact that turns about to be cursed in some manner and directly or indirectly causes the demise of at least one of the villains.

They're pretty darn similar.

Eh... That description could be applied to all three games couldn't it? I feel that Drake's Deception mirrors the plot of The Last Crusade much more so to the point that alot of specific chapters seem almost copied from scenes of that film.

 

[Xavier323]

I enjoyed the first Uncharted. It was just a fun Indiana Jones-esque adventure. The second Uncharted was just more of the same, except the novelty had worn off. I didn't play the third.

I agree. They're pretty good games but they don't really deserve the ridiculous praise they get.

 

[Lightknight]

I enjoyed the first Uncharted. It was just a fun Indiana Jones-esque adventure. The second Uncharted was just more of the same, except the novelty had worn off. I didn't play the third.

I agree. They're pretty good games but they don't really deserve the ridiculous praise they get.

There was a significant gap between the time I played one (when it first came out) and when I played Uncharted 2 (last week). Perhaps there is something to be said for spacing them out?

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

To me, the games almost feel like a throwback to last gen style games. This gen has lot of the gritty fps's the sharp textures but last game had a lot of 3rd person adventure games with a variety of game play and fancy colorful environments. Uncharted 2's game plus with the ability to unlock skins and pointless abilities is definitely something we don't see often this day in age. Naughty Dog also does a lot of things really well like the pacing of th the narrative, Drake's animations, and the set piece moments

Make no mistake, I like lik the gritty fps's too but Uncharted feels unique this gen