Press Pause Radio Look: Georgie's Love Letter to Nathan Drake

Hey Everyone, Here's another blog sooner tha I usually post one out, I was thinking that I would post this blog for both my blog & Press Pause Radio because I just wanted to give some much needed shouting out to a Franchise that I have stumbled upon & now can't stop thinking about.

I have always been a big fan of anything Naughty Dog developed, I've always felt that out of the two 2nd party developers that are under Sony (Insomniac being the other) That Naughty Dog always had the the strongest library & talent with Franchises like the original Crash bandicoot series (before Vivendi Universal started turining it to shit) & Jak & Daxter. Being the fact that I have now owned a PS3 for a good couple of months now, & with Uncharted 2 recently being released, I decided to go out & just buy both of them...probably one of the best decisions in terms of Video game shopping I've made yet this year! Starting off with Uncharted we are introduced to game's protaganist & the man that you can relate your self to Nathn Drake, through vague references similar to the way you draw out a plot & character within in a movie, you dont just play as Nathn Drake, you become him. As the Intro scene sets in with the first game sub-titled "Drake's Fortune" you are on the hunt for clues of your ancestor Sir Fancis Drake's expedition on the lost city of gold El Dorado & out to see you are trying to recover the Journal of Sir Fancis Drake with the funding & support of a Network reporter by the Name of Elena Fisher who is the Plucky female lead within the story. I immediately appreciated all the real world ties the game created with basis of Sir Francis Drake & creating a fictional yet completely possible storied spin on his quest that  he had made as an admiral & explorer of the English fame nighted by the Queen herself. I finished defending myself from the Pirates & through out the situation I knew this game wasn't going to be ordinary at all. As I was then saved by Nate's best friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan, watch the cut scene show casing the journal that Nathan found, I sat watching with anticipation, just waiting for the next scene to happen, & getting to familiarize myself with these characters. The gameplay was perfect in this entry but it definitely kept me on my toes, though not as puzzle heavey as I would have enjoyed, I really, really liked the platforming in this game, the sense of testing your gut feeling with the next jump ahead or hanging off of the side of a fortress, ready to infiltrate & track down the where abouts of Elena as you two get seperated & dwelving into the secrets of El Dorado. I have never had a problem & actually quite enjoy collecting itmes within games but hunting down & finding treasures became addicting, exploring my surounding in between gunfire & even crossfire if I find myself to be so daring as Nathan Drake, it only adds to the brilliance of the ambiance & gameplay of the game. Now as for the gunplay...

The shooting aspect of Uncharted also plays a major part. The game has really strong gameplay mechanic mixing Socom elements with Gears of War esque cover system. The gun selection in the game is alsoo quite robust, with Variations of shotguns, assault rifles, AK47's, M4's & so on. I also really enjoy that it's not just hide behind something & shoot, you can shoot while rnning as well as you can also shoot while hanging from a ledge & you can also shoot your enemy just enough to where a simple melee attack will kill them & speaking of the Melee attacks. with the Melee attacks you can either do a stringed out bare knuckle combo where you keep the enemy at bay which works when you can isolate an enemy from alerting other & starting a possible gun fight or you can do a Brutal Combo if done just right with square, triangle, & square & the opponent will be killed within three moves, another variable is the light stealth opportunities extended to you to where you can snap  a neck or two. The only complaint that I have is the grenade mechanic that was implemented with SIAXSIS control must have sounded good on paper, but wasn't implemented  very well. the controls aren't neccessarily broken, but they are very awkward & take some time to get used to it. This & many other aspects that made up Uncharted have been drastically improved in...

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I already found myself loving the original Uncharted & Naughty Dog was able to take everything they did right with Uncharted & make it a hundred times better while improving every flaw that I had with the original Uncharted. First off, the presentation of the story is done so well, & not only retains all of the cinematic quality that the story flows through but it is even better, the entire plot is introduced with Nathan Drake severley wounded in the gut & bleeding profusely as he awakens in a Train car which is hanging off of a cliff & slowly decsending off the cliff as you struggle to climb & jump your way up the train car with Rocks falling towards you & pipes or railings that you desperately climb collapsing from your wieght & breaking off to fall in the abyss below you as you finally making a daring leap on to the edge of the mountain cliff, & roll over knowing that the worst has yet to come as the story then flashes in a "In medias res" fashion to show where the story truly kicked off . That sort of feeling only escallates on & on through out the game & it keeps you fully immersed. While the original Uncharted had you excited for what's next, this entry literally has you on the edge of your seat.

Going beyond the story that keeps you coming back for more. The puzzles involving Drake's journal are much more innovative & the combat, Oh the combat! As I mentioned with the combat in the original Uncharted, in Uncharted 2, the melee combat has more depth & dare I say, much more competant A.I. from your opponent's strategy as your opponents will fight back much more in this round & you have an option to counter their moves & when you are the recieving end of the physical punishment, there are opportune times in which the entire scene slows & you can reverse the opponent's attacks giving you the chance to retalliate & finish the fight really gave me the same sensation I had with the combat system with Batman Arkham Asylum. I have noticed that the Brutal Combos are much more difficult to pull of though in Uncharted 2 than in the original because you can either screw up the timing which is significantly more precise that in the previous entry or as I stated earlier the enemy A.I. is better so you have less opportunity to unleash a Brutal combo. The stealth element that was hardly used in the original Uncharted, has been fleshed out in much more depth with the newest entry. With the neck breaking aside you can now stealth attack while taking cover standing or crouching if an enemy nears your position at certain point you can grab the enemy in for a quick kill, all while remaining undetected & ready to move, you can also do this when hanging from a ledge, nothing is more satsifying then grabbing an unsuspecting opponent by vest of their uniform & flipping over & into their long demise that awaits them as they fall below.

The gun play is mostly the same with new weapons being the Crossbow or a battle assault rifle as well as a Riot shield that can be aqquired from certain enemies after their defeat which acts as the mobile cover system that is akin to Gears of War 2, (however no hostage taking like in GOW 2), the grenade tossing is much better handled as you now have the option of either using the SIAXSIS control scheme like the original or you can use a much more traditional method of simply moving the throw arc motion of your grenade toss with the right control stick for anyone that felt the SIAXSIScontrol scheme was too awkward like I did. The flow of the game & presentation as I mentioned above are just amazing, & alot of gamers compare Uncharted & it's her Nathan Drake to Indiana Jones & I rightfully agree, but the polish & love put into Among Thieves I would compare Among Thieves to Raiders of the Lost Ark while Comparing Drake's Fortune to Temple of Doom, with out spoiling too much, I'll give you a comparison, within Drake's Fortune there is scenes involving a Trck chase where you are gunning down enemies who are chasing after you with their trucks & cars, in Among thieves, their is a very similar scene, EXCEPT YOU'RE FUCKING JUMPING FROM CAR TO CAR THROWING OFF OR SHOOTING YOUR ENEMY PASSANGERS UNTIL IT'S TIME TO FUCKING JUMP SHIP TO THE NEXT CAR! Drake's fortune has you Jet Skiiing through dangerous enemy infested canaled fortress area while in Among Thieves your are fighting your way through a moving train from car to car & I won't go in to details because words can not express how amaing this level is to experience. The Multiplayer is also great with many variable modes on takes of King of the hill or odd man out senarioa, definitely the best multiplayer I have experienced on the PS3 so far & there are competetive & coopertaive modes that you can play through, however I have only dabbled in this mode & will be experiencing soon as I have now just finished completeing both of the games (they're so good though that I am going to replay through them again on a harder mode!)

All in all, if you own a PS3, you are required by a an invisible law of awesomeness that you are to own both of these fine games, I dont see this Franchise going away anytime soo & I personally can not wait for the next installment & see what Naughty dog has in store for me.

Comments

[Kevin L]

Awesome article sir. After finishing Uncharted 2, I do believe this game is game of the year.