2016 – The Highlights (EHeroFlareNeos)

Whatever your opinion may be on how 2016 turned out, let’s now take this time to reflect back on the entertainment we received during the year. This year, we were able to watch a lot more movies and play more games, so this list is now longer as a result. As usual, we are limited by what we actually watched and played, as we do everything on our own time and dime, and the list is in no particular order.

Top Movies of 2016

Deadpool

This R-rated Ryan Reynolds passion project came out at exactly the right time and proved that it could stand out in an era of big blockbuster superhero movies. Deadpool is a laugh riot as it mocks modern superhero conventions and regularly breaks the fourth wall with perfect comedic timing. It’s sort of an antithesis to other films in the genre, as the story is more personal and the final fight does not resort to leveling an entire city, but rather stays entirely within a confined space. I highly recommend it to absolutely anyone, though it must be stressed that Deadpool is absolutely not for children.

Zootopia

Zootopia has a production history as fascinating as the unique world that it takes place in. For a PG-rated movie, it manages to tackle the mature subject of racism in a universal way without talking down to the audience and features a cast of flawed and expertly written characters. Various small details such as the realistic way the animals move help to sell the setting and immerse the viewer. Combine this with smart humor and incredible voice acting and you have a movie that shouldn’t be missed.

10 Cloverfield Lane

Where Cloverfield was a mockable attempt at a found footage film, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a masterwork of a psychological thriller. The consistently ambiguous nature of the events does a fantastic job of keeping you guessing about the true nature of everything until the very end. While its connection to the original Cloverfield seems vague at best, the very gripping and multilayered narrative will leave you trying to process what you just saw in the days following your initial viewing.

Keanu

Comedic duo Key and Peele’s first venture into feature-length film has no shortage of laughs as it follows two average joes in their quest to enter the criminal underworld to steal back a kitten. The humor is mainly found in the many contrasts that occur along the way, all of which make the movie fun to watch more than once. Come for the cute kitten, stay for the laughs.

Kubo and the Two Strings

Laika Studios proves once again that they are the modern masters of stop motion. Kubo and the Two Strings presents an original story set in ancient japan which pushes the envelope as far as it possibly can in terms of what’s possible with the medium. Apart from the top-notch animation and voice acting, the story knows how to immerse the viewer and deliver in terms of narrative and emotional payoff.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I wasn’t sure at first how to feel about Rogue One, but the end result turned out better than I had expected. Rogue One is a true Star Wars prequel, with an engaging story and likeable characters, plus the ending neatly plugs directly into the original Star Wars. As a bonus, watching Rogue One and Star Wars back-to-back only enhances the latter.

Yo-kai Watch: The Movie

Although Yo-kai Watch: The Movie does not have the same pedigree as most of the other movies on this list, I was able to feel a great sense of fun watching it. Its story adapts Yo-kai Watch 2 in a way that is very film friendly, the animation is pretty high quality and the humor is enough that it doesn’t try too hard or overstay its welcome. While perfectly enjoyable in its own right, it also makes for a good family movie and is one of the very few video game movies that actually succeeds at being a good movie.

Top Video Games of 2016

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Naughty Dog proves once again that they are masters at storytelling in video games. The story focuses on Nathan Drake, but this time showing him as torn between settling down and having a family or indulging in his lust for adventure, as well as the consequences which follow his decisions, leading to a satisfying conclusion to the franchise. There is also a much better mix of gunfights and platforming than in previous games, aided in part by the introduction of the grappling hook, which helps to pace the game better, and the controls were the smoothest yet. If you didn’t have a reason to get a PS4 before, Uncharted 4 is a pretty good one.

Doom (2016)

Although this was my first proper exposure to the Doom franchise, I felt this latest entry was exactly what the FPS genre needed. The old school maze-like level design and fast-paced gunplay emphasizing environmental awareness felt like a breath of fresh air and I enjoyed every second of it. Doom (2016) demonstrates that sometimes going back to your roots is the best way to stand out from the competition.

Gears of War 4

This latest entry in the Gears of War series retains much of the familiar elements that fans have come to love and expect, but also adds just enough to keep the gameplay interesting. Thanks to placing more of an emphasis on the environmental awareness, players will now have to be aware of a new enemy type, Juvies, possibly erupting out of organic cover spots, as well as keep track of enemies which can quickly jump around the battlefield. There is also the occasional storm that can throw off trajectories and force you to dodge lightning to get to the next objective. The new gameplay challenges, combined with a fairly well-written “passing the torch” story, mark this game as one of the few reasons to actually own an Xbox One.

Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition

Another solid reason to actually own an Xbox One is to play the Definitive Edition of Killer Instinct (2013). The combo-based fighting system forces the player to think about the most effective combo strings (if they’re not playing with an assist function), the fighters all feel different from each other and can suit any playstyle and the music, especially Celldweller and Atlas Plug’s collaborative contributions in Season 3, is fantastic. The ability to also have all characters and other DLC on-disc in one package for a pretty good price also made it pretty enticing. Plus, unlike Street Fighter V, it’s actually a complete game.

Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits

Although Yo-kai Watch has been compared to Pokémon in the west, the concept of monster capture is truly where those similarities end. Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits has the player traveling around Springdale befriending spirits called Yo-kai responsible for all of life’s problems, both big and small, while also preventing the evil Dame Dedtime from erasing the Yo-kai Watch from history, thus preventing humans and Yo-kai from ever becoming friends. The story is engaging and the gameplay is well-designed, as it encourages the player to strategize and create the right Yo-kai team with the right mixture of special abilities while the active battle system keeps them on their toes. A number of real-world touches to the open world, as well as giving each Yo-kai a unique and distinguishable personality, add to the game’s charm and help make it a worthwhile 3DS experience.

Top Disappointments of 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

The second installment in DC’s cinematic Extended Universe, following a three-year gap after Man of Steel, does very little to raise the bar from its predecessor. It’s overly dark and plodding narrative feels more like filler leading up to the showdown promised in the title, only to have the actual fight remain one-sided throughout the entire five minutes in which it occurs. On top of that, DC and Warner Bros. lazily inserted teases for their other films, which come off as complete non-sequiturs. It’s amazing how one can go in expecting nothing and still feel disappointed.

Suicide Squad

The latest installment in the DCEU is better than both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, but that’s not really saying much. What could have easily been a light-hearted antidote to the preceding movie is, in reality, an overstuffed movie that was hastily re-edited in a rather obvious way in an attempt for Warner Bros. to save face. Too much plot and not enough character (except for Harley Quinn and Deadshot) and story logic, as well as a botched interpretation of the Joker, make for one of the bigger disappointments of the year.

Warcraft

Though I knew next to nothing about the Warcraft games, I went in solely to see what director Duncan Jones, son of the late David Bowie, was capable of. Unfortunately, this movie was made exclusively for Warcraft fans by a Warcraft fan. The plot is somewhat easy to follow at first, but gets lost somewhere in its own lore and character names are nearly indistinguishable unless you’re already familiar with the property. It’s difficult to recommend to a general fantasy-loving audience, but if you’re already a Warcraft fan, you’ll no doubt love it.

Ice Age: Collision Course

Not that I really expected too much out of an Ice Age sequel, I had even skipped Continental Drift, but this installment is proof enough that the franchise just needs to die already. The basic premise alone is far-fetched, but then it tries to balance too many characters at once and makes Shrek-esque references to modern trends and technology while making the animals act even more human-like than they ever did before. It should also say something if not even the usually humorous Scrat segments could save this disaster.

The Secret Life of Pets

Not that I expected high quality from this movie to begin with, but I initially thought it might at least be decent. Unfortunately, the humor willingly appeals to the lowest common denominator and the plot is literally Toy Story with Pets, not to mention there are some darker elements that the trailers made no effort to show, perhaps in favor of repeatedly drilling Bounce by System of a Down into the viewer’s brain. It seems that so far that Illumination still has yet to even match their first success, Despicable Me, in terms of quality.

Street Fighter V

As a fan of the Street Fighter series, I was relieved that Capcom finally made a proper fifth entry after the slew of Street Fighter IV versions that weren’t supposed to exist. Unfortunately, the game was obviously made to appeal more strongly to the tournament crowd, as a complete lack of a proper story mode until a few months later, as well as the absence of a proper Arcade mode, a rather small launch roster and a broken Fight Money system, cement this game as hard to recommend except to the most die-hard fans. Either wait for the inevitable [Prefix] Street Fighter V with all of the DLC on it or just get Mortal Kombat XL or Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition instead.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan

As both a fan of Platinum games and more recently the TMNT franchise, both felt like a natural fit for a satisfying action game. Unfortunately, while the graphics and voice acting are solid, the gameplay left something to be desired, with a rather short campaign and a difficulty which pales in comparison to previous Platinum projects like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It wasn’t a bad game by any stretch, but it lands on this list purely for a lack of substance.

Dead Rising 4

Since I had played all of the other Dead Rising games and generally liked them, mostly the first two and Off the Record, I readily played the holiday themed fourth instalment when I got it for Christmas. The combo weapons and vehicles are fun to use, and it’s fun to mow down zombies without feeling rushed by a strict timer, but the whole experience reaches its conclusion much faster than the other games and there was a relative lack of difficulty, as leveling up takes less effort than before. Ultimately, it goes on this list because unlike the other games, I felt less motivated to max out Frank’s stats in the post-game due to an unexplainable feeling that something’s missing.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Golden Abysmal

When the PlayStation Vita was released in February of last year, one of the launch titles was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, the subject of this review. As a PlayStation Plus member, I was able to get a few Vita games for free, which happened to include this one and Gravity Rush. While the release of this game wasn't exactly confidential, I decided to download it, figuring it had potential since I had played the other Uncharted games. Having finally gotten around to playing it (after moving my Gravity Rush save to make room on my ridiculously small memory card), I now think that Golden Abyss is great...as a tech demo.

Some time before the events of Drake's Fortune, Nathan Drake is following a man named Jason Dante to a dig site in Panama. During the trip it is shown that Dante's ropes have been cut, which causes Drake to suspect that the land owner, Roberto Guerro, doesn't want them there. Dante ignores this and presses forward until they get to the site, run by Dante's partner, Marisa Chase. When Dante leaves to discuss matters with Guerro, Chase reveals to Drake that she doesn't trust her "partner" and ends up discovering something significant about the site. The joy of discovery doesn't last long however as it quickly goes sour when Dante reveals that he's not exactly the most trustworthy person on the planet.

Now that looks like a guy you can trust.

Compared with the other Uncharted games, Golden Abyss is a bit lacking in the story department. While there is something interesting in the ultimate search for a Quiviran myth, the pacing is sometimes at odds, with a couple of time skips among some sections that last quite a few chapters (there are 34 in the game overall), all so the game can meet the two weeks present in the in medias res opening. That said, the characters are also a little underdeveloped. Guerro is fueled by a lust for power and Dante is a total asshat who is only concerned with monetary matters, specifically of the gaining kind. Nathan and Victor Sullivan are the only ones who comes off as complete, though that's more likely due to their established relationship in the game's console brethren. Marisa Chase, as the new female lead, is also a little worse for wear. She does have some rather interesting character moments, I'll give her that, but she's more consistently the damsel in distress compared with Elena Fisher and Chloe Frazer. When she's actually at your side however, she's actually a bit useless, having terrible aim (possibly excused by her lack of experience with a gun, but you'd still expect an AI partner to be at least helpful) and otherwise being a dead weight. In the end, the writing is overall pretty weak.

Of course I also need to discuss the gameplay, in which I found quite a few flaws. Since the control layout doesn't have the L2 or R2 buttons, they of course needed to adapt the familiar scheme to work on the handheld and they managed to do that pretty well. It's more akin to Drake's Fortune in that there isn't a whole lot of complexity, but this does allow the design to get pretty much everything in minus the "Look Mode" and change grenade throwing to a system involving the touchscreen wherein a tap of the icon will throw it toward the center of the screen but dragging the icon allows for more precise throws. In this sense, Golden Abyss works very well and makes it easy to get into the game.

Where it fails however is in the alternate control scheme, which actually runs simultaneously with the one I described. Confused? Allow me to explain. The alternate scheme includes the use of the touch screen, gyroscope and rear touch pad to navigate and aim. Touching a ledge while climbing or swiping (described as "painting") the ledges will make Drake automatically make his way there, which is actually pretty useful and I'd mix it up with real skill at times, but it still comes across as something introduced for the smartphone crowd. Then there's using the rear touchpad for zooming with a camera or sniper rifle, the latter of which was most annoying since not only are there times when you're pretty much required to use the gun, but the way my hands grip the Vita naturally puts my fingers on the pad, so my aim keeps changing unless I hold the system by the edges; not exactly convenient. Sometimes a sidebar also pops up on screen when there is an action you can perform, which works well until you need to use a turret. Until I knew exactly how to have my thumb on the right stick (admittedly the grip would be better of the sticks were concave but I do manage to make it work in the end), my thumb would keep pressing the exact part of the screen with the turret icon, exiting me from the turret and forcing me to work out how to keep my thumb down properly.

This is not natural!

The other great annoyance was the use of the gyroscope to aim, which I saw described on a forum as basically fine-tuning your aim after you use the right analog stick. My issue with this? I already know how to aim pretty well and I'm pretty sure that I know where I want my shot to be. The extra "fine-tuning" that the gyroscope may provide actually threw me off, causing me to turn off the feature to prevent further annoyance down the road. Because aiming was also pretty slow (especially when using the camera), I also had to increase the sensitivity to maximum just so it would be more expedient to aim before shooting. This is significant for me, since I never turn off or adjust options before doing a review, with the exception of turning on subtitles so I can better understand what someone is saying and better remember what's going on (as a result I'm annoyed when a modern game doesn't have a subtitle option, but I never address this for fear of coming off as nitpicking).

Melee is also pretty bad, since it's always three hits with the Square button, or alternatively three taps of the punch icon, and then one or two swipes on the screen. I didn't exactly enjoy this, since it made it rather monotonous and it was sometimes easy for the game to fail at recognizing my strokes. This is greatly disappointing, since the melee in Drake's Deception was absolutely amazing to the point where I actually made it part of my combat repertoire, and considering that this game came out after Drake's Deception, they could have altered the controls to better match this (then again I'm not exactly an expert on game development aside form the fact that maybe they were already too far gone in their decisions, so you can probably take that with a grain of salt).

When the extra features of the Vita aren't used in combat however, they are used elsewhere. For one, you cannot navigate menus except by touch, mirroring the Vita's main menu, which I think is a bad call considering my first instinct with any game is to navigate menus with the d-pad and make selections with the action buttons, not figuring out how to touch things and getting annoyed when I didn't make the exact motion needed in the exact spot (you can probably tell by this point that I'm not the kind of guy who plays a whole lot of smartphone games, though this is justified by me having an outdated "dumb phone" if you will). Touching the screen is also required for picking up treasures by using the sidebar, though I would have preferred the more expedient use of an action button. The sidebar also has other opportunities for more collectibles, including charcoal rubbing that requires you to rub the screen, which I actually thought was a pretty fun thing. Sadly, the screen/pad combo is used for rubbing an object clean, though this isn't for collectibles so much as it is for something that would advance the story; it's also used for observing objects for certain details, but I have no real way of determining how I get 100% at that stuff.

Not that bad, all things considered.

Then we have the design of the puzzles, which does everything in its power to make sure you use that touchscreen, because all of them do in some fashion. This includes opening locks by turning a dial (and having the characters explain how to do it every single time), moving items on a board (and making me wonder how Drake can do these amazing feats of strength) and reforming an image with torn pieces of paper through such an orientation that I had to turn my Vita on its side...like a smartphone. On top of this there is one puzzle that requires a light source hitting the camera, but since my house isn't the brightest, my brother had to a hold a flashlight under the system to prevent me from accidentally blinding myself on a super-bright bulb while still letting me see the end result. In the end I'd consider the puzzles, for lack of better words, uninspired.

Equally uninspired is the level design. It feels pretty safe without some of the complexities of the console games. Uncharted is also known for its action set pieces, and while there are a couple of great ones here, there weren't enough to keep me interested throughout the campaign. It also doesn't help that there aren't as many environments, though they are impressively detailed, and some might defend this by saying that the system has limitations, but I believe that if God of War: Ghost of Sparta could have amazing and more varied environments, and that was a PSP game for crying out loud, then SCE Bend Studio could have done better.

Actually pretty impressive.

One thing I can still praise this game for would be its voice acting, which is actually pretty good and shows how good the actors, especially Nolan North, can be, no matter how flat their characters are. The sounds were also on par with the console games and the music is actually pretty decent, if not exactly on par.

As a side note, you can also now, thanks to a patch, collect and power up cards for another Uncharted game called Fight for Fortune, a card game which I have no interest in playing, but I still felt was worth mentioning.

In the end, Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a game that's just okay. It's definitely not as good as the ones on PS3 thanks to not only an uninteresting narrative, but also some poorly executed features that manage to negate a portion of the good features present. I'd recommend this to fans of Uncharted, but only on the grounds that they really want to drop money on something this average. If you're not an Uncharted fan or willing to drop however much it costs, then you're much better off downloading it for free with a PlayStation Plus account. Even then, I can't guarantee that you'll enjoy the adventure.

Uncharted (Comic) - A Thrilling Addition To The Franchise

I am aware now that even though the blog's header is emblazoned with the promise of reviews for licensed video game comics, only three exist so far (and all are done by the same person). Since there's time before the next major video game release and I don't really have anything to build up to, I've decided to try and rectify that.

It appears that if a video game series is popular enough or if they want to generate hype, they'll create a comic book adaptation. This isn't in itself a bad thing, since it gives the series another opportunity to expand on its own universe without requiring millions of dollars and years of coordinated effort. In the case of the Uncharted comic, the subject of this review, it was made during production of Uncharted 3 and since the first issue around the game's November 2011 release, it effectively counts as a tie-in comic, in fact being a six-issue miniseries. As someone who is a fan of the Uncharted franchise, as well as comic books, I knew as soon as I heard about it that I needed to read it. I did so and over the course of six months found myself anticipating each new issue, enjoying the sight of a brand new tale unfold. Four months after the final issue release, I'm here to say that the journey is very much worth a look.

After completing a treasure hunting job, Nathan Drake divides the spoils with his partner Flynn, who parts ways with him after Nathan takes the one thing he was looking for: a journal. Victor Sullivan, aka Sully, wonders how it could be of any value to their employers, Michael and Rose Doughty, but Drake notices that the journal is in code and translates it to figure out its value. It turns out that the journal is also the flight record of Richard Evelyn Byrd, who discovered a place called the Amber Room within the confines of the Arctic. When they learn more about the discovery, Nathan and Sully decide to try and discover it before the Doughtys in the hopes that they can claim the treasure of the room for themselves. In the events that follow, enemies are made, friends are made for the first time and a secret about the Doughtys proves to be a danger to everyone.

The execution of this story is pulled to such an amazing capacity as to feel exactly like the video games. It even goes so far as to open with a quote, this time by Richard Evelyn Byrd, and stick Nathan right in the middle of the action. Having most of the story be told in flashback as a result only contributes to the feeling, with some scenes making me wonder if they could be turned into interactive game levels. In this regard, I feel that writer Joshua Williamson really knew what he was doing. The dialogue in fact was crafted well enough that I could hear every character's voice in my head and believe it, though I did have to try and invent voices for the newcomers.

Speaking of which, the characterization is absolutely flawless. Among many things, this comic fills us in on how Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer, first seen in Uncharted 2, met each other for the first time. Their banter and building trust for one another is done such that it seemed to fit right in with how they would behave. Sully also fills his role well as Drake's partner and mentor, as well as acting just as he would under normal circumstances (or at least what constitutes as normal for them). The new characters Michael and Rose Doughty are also very interesting. Their overall motivation regarding Nathan Drake is actually pretty justified yet at the same time justifiably crazy. What's more interesting is that while the brother and sister duo both want to find the Amber Room, their actual reasons differ in that while they both want something of monetary value, one is lazy and the other is adventurous. In the end they are both memorable characters and great additions to the world of Uncharted.

The art of this comic is also amazing. Sergio Sandoval's pencil work and Pol Gas' inking with the colors of Ikari Studio bring out the look of Uncharted and adapt it well to fit a new medium, expertly converting the 3D models to a gorgeous 2D style. I have no  issues with anatomy or character designs since they match the models they are based on and the Doughtys are able to stand out from everyone else in a way that is visually appealing. I also liked the expressions given to each character, which also with the dialogue allowed me to believe that the actions of the characters are what they would do in a given situation. The covers for each issue are impressive as well. While the cover artist changes at least once, the action depicted is accurate to the events of the issue while also functioning very well on its own as a piece of art.

An example of the interior art.

My praise extends to the action sequences, the bread and butter of the franchise. There are, appropriately, a few set piece moments that are stunning and impressive to look at. The amount of space they take up on a page is very appropriate, since it retains the feeling of size that one might see in any of the games. They are also a good way of creating tension by thrusting Drake into a very harrowing situation and allowing us to wonder just how he'll live through the next one. Some of the fight scenes are also very well choreographed and have a unique panel layout, including one fight between Nathan and Chloe involving a two-page spread made of panels.

After reading this a second time, I believe this story to be a possible prequel to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune since Elena Fisher isn't mentioned. This is also Chloe's first canonical appearance and she is shown in Uncharted 2 to be an old flame of Drake's, so this position in the timeline seems to make sense.

DC's Uncharted comic is a welcome addition to the franchise. It's story and characters are well written, the art is fantastic and the overall vibes that I would normally get from the games are still present within the pages. What makes it even better is that the story is still very good even without association with the franchise, though it would make a little more sense to those with experience. Any fan should pick this series up, as well as comic readers that want a well executed action story. The series is now available as a Trade Paperback, so there's no excuse not to pick it up, though if you're like me and have the individual issues, you can also pinpoint exactly what month DC changed their logo to what we see now (and my opinion of that logo is another story for another time).

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

While Uncharted: Drake's Fortune may have felt like a rough start for the franchise, Among Thieves was able to take the concepts to the limit and pull off the feel of a big budget movie spectacularly, simultaneously raising the bar to a near impossible height. I wasn't quite sure at first if Uncharted 3 would be able to live up to the expectations, but I am proud to say that, thankfully, it does.

As one would expect, the action begins right off the bat, although instead of climbing up a train we have Nathan in an extended barroom brawl. It is in the first scene that we meet Katherine Marlowe, possibly the best and most memorable antagonist out of all three games. Whereas Drake's Fortune revolved around the diary of Sir Francis Drake and Among Thieves used information regarding the lost fleet of Marco Polo, Drake's Deception has a centuries-old artifact used to aid in locating the city of Ubar, also known as the Atlantis of the Sands. What follows is an amazing journey across the world, from France to Syria, and plenty of mystery surrounding secret organizations and ancient myths made real.

However, the main focus in the story is more about human interaction. While we do see Nathan and Elena keep their romance alive, Sully and Drake take the spotlight, including a great look at their origin story that reveals exactly who they were twenty years ago. As the story unfolds, we see just what lengths they are willing to go to in order to help each other out as well as just how much they care about their survival.

Along the journey, the number of amazing set piece moments I witnessed was truly remarkable. If you've seen any summer blockbuster, you'd be able to recognize one or two memorable scenes, which this game completely outshines by throwing in as many as possible that still manage to contribute to the story. On top of this, Naughty Dog managed to improve the graphics to the point where I had to remind myself on occasion that I was playing a video game. The physics that accompany them are also well done on their own, making the locales all the more realistic.

The gameplay for Uncharted 3 is also improved well, but also steps back a little. Melee combat feels more natural thanks to the variety of moves Nathan now has at his disposal, which allows it to feel more like a viable method of taking out enemies than relying almost exclusively on gunfire. The gunplay on the other hand, while still relatively good, is another story. The dev team added a few more frames to his running animation that, while impressive, make it more difficult to aim while trying to run-and-gun. Still, the level design is very well done and platforming felt better in a much more subtle way, such as being able to reach for a ledge. The puzzles were also very clever and creative, which is a good thing considering they make you think a little harder about what you're doing.

While I did like the game overall, there were a couple of levels that stood out, if only because the rest of game was done so well. One in particular is the gunfight in a pirate graveyard, which has you surrounded by a seemingly never ending assault while highlighting the swimming mechanic. The section may have been easier if this was better implemented, but it did me no good, forcing me to jump from boat to boat and simply lie in wait to better line up a shot. The only other section that felt annoying was a desert level later on that had similar problems, except whatever challenge might have come from firing almost blindly turned to frustration as I anticipated specific enemy placement.

Uncharted 3 is an excellent example of what can be done not just with the PS3's tech, but also within the realms of storytelling. While I was eventually able to figure when certain gameplay moments would occur in a somewhat formulaic fashion, it was still good fun. What really got me through though was the fact that I was able to feel for the characters. I began to question as the game went on whether or not they would be able to make it out alive or even if the game would have a happy ending. This is a PS3 title that shouldn't be missed.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

After the success of Uncharted: Drakes' Fortune, developer Naughty Dog produced a sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, released 2 years later in 2009. This playthrough was my second, and I still loved it the second time, even more so than the original. If Drake's Fortune was an attempt at making a game feel like a Hollywood movie, then Among Thieves has almost succeeded with flying colors.

From the very beginning the game captures your attention and doesn't hold anything back. Already, Nathan Drake is on the brink of death. Within an inch of his life, he must scale a massive train car to get to safety to reach a cliff on the snowy Tibetan mountains. After going through a moment as amazing and powerful as this, I was glad to find that the game is liberally filled with more like it, each one equally filled with arresting tension and drama, from an intense train ride to taking out a battle tank in a small mountain village.

The plot this time revolves around the lost fleet of Marco Polo, and it is filled to the brim with moments like those found in Uncharted. It's amazing not only what locations the story hits, but also where Nathan Drake goes as a character. His voice acting, like all of the other characters, is still solidly done with great seriousness but also with perfect timing of his more lighthearted side. His situation becomes ever perilous, and he always knows what to say.

The gameplay mechanics haven't really received any additions, but rather the right tweaking of the first game to get it done right. The guns are more fun to use, and necessary, and there is a surprisingly great variety in the enemy types that make firefights more interesting and rewarding. Enemy AI is also improved, making them smarter and thus more satisfying to overcome. While I do like the different mechanics for throwing a grenade by assigning it to a single button, the ease of access is also annoying when I accidentally pressed the button to throw one. Otherwise, the cover system is improved and the blind fire system is a very nice addition.

As far as graphical capabilities are concerned, Naughty Dog really knew what they were doing and seemed to take  full advantage of the PS3's tech. Locations from Borneo to Tibet are beautiful to look at, with a stunning attention to detail and a smooth flow unmatched by most video games of this generation. The snow and water effects are impressive to see, as is the flow of the character models.

This greatly aids the level design. The levels feel more natural in pacing with less predictability in the location of a firefight, as well as a seamless transition between player control and cutscenes. Platforming is still linear, although the challenge is not lost at all. With variances like spinning gears and falling ledges, the game really knows how to keep players on their toes in moving around.

Uncharted 2 is a testament to game design mastery. From the biggest breathtaking set-pieces and moments, to even the most subtle of details, it's a real marvel to play through. This is a game that should not be missed by anyone who owns a PS3, with a video game that feels very much like an action blockbuster. However, I do recommend playing through the original beforehand, as some things make more sense or are much funnier once you know the continuing character relationships.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

With the launch of the PlayStation 3 in 2006, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, and Sucker Punch began developing more mature titles for the current console generation. In 2007, just a year after the console's launch, Naughty Dog released Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Similarly to Sucker Punch's Infamous, Uncharted contrasted with Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter IP by crafting a third person shooter, but also by going for the feel of a Hollywood movie. The game received critical acclaim, leading to a sequel in 2009 and a third entry to be released this November. To build up to a review of that game, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, I will review the first two games starting with Drake's Fortune.

The story involves the protagonist Nathan Drake, essentially a modern day Indiana Jones, who finds the coffin of his ancestor Sir Francis Drake. Inside, he finds a clue that leads him to search for the legendary treasure of El Dorado. As he goes off to search for it he is accompanied by TV documentarian Elena, who also serves as his love interest, and his shady partner Sully. The narrative surrounding the events that follow is masterfully crafted, filled with plot twists, double crosses, and cliffhangers that are perfectly weaved into the game. I felt like I was invested in what was transpiring onscreen and the characters it involves, giving me more incentive to keep playing to find out what someone would do next.

What helps greatly with this is the graphics. For an early PS3 title, the game is still amazing to look at thanks to its heavy photorealism. From the lush and beautiful foliage to some incredible water flow and physics, the environment really contributes well to setting up the atmosphere of the game. Equally amazing are the range of expressions the characters can emote, especially in the cutscenes, assisted well by some great choices for voice acting. While the game may be almost four years old at this point, the effort put into it all helps it stand the test of time. From an overall graphical standpoint I would consider this game a landmark in what was possible at the time.

Thankfully, the gameplay manages to match the game very well, its design traits consisting of intense shootouts, well-done combat, light puzzle solving, and challenging platforming. While the guns are fun to use and control in the right ways, there is more of a focus on finding and moving between cover to stay alive. This helps to keep the player at the height of their senses, making them more aware of the three-dimensional plane around them. If an enemy gets particularly close, you can easily exchange fisticuffs with them, using timed button presses to gain even more ammo compared to simply shooting them. The AI is also pretty smart and challenging, but like with Duke Nukem II, it's the right level of difficulty that makes winning a firefight all the more satisfying once you outsmart their tactics. The platforming is also in the vein of Prince of Persia, with some slick animations and a more streamlined approach.

Since this game is very well constructed even now, I only had a couple of fairly minor complaints. When you get the chance to pilot a jet ski through tropical waters, it's an enjoyable change of pace but the controls felt off and sometimes it took the pace with it. The only other thing I found weird was the sudden genre shift close to the end of the game, which, while justified for the plot, felt odd to play through nonetheless.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a masterfully crafted gem from the dark early days of the PS3 worth playing even now. It knows what it's doing and definitely delivers on it, coming very close to feeling like an actual movie. If you have a PS3 and want to experience gaming to a new degree, go out and get this game (it should be fairly inexpensive by now). Next up is Uncharted 2, and I can't wait to see again how it improves on this already great package.