Uncharted : Drake's Fortune*

[DuckThor Evil]

I personally feel that Uncharted is slightly over rated here in the graphics department. 9 sounds about right to me. I think it's definately up there with the best of them and for example the shadowing might be the best I have seen in a console game. It still looks like a this gen console game on a machine that has 512MB of ram if you ask me. It's no Crysis.

My experience is based on the demo, and based on that it has very confined environment and that helps to push the graphics. I don't have CoD 4, but it getting 10 is not that surprising considering that it has a lot more stuff on screen and big explosions. On a large HDTV screen those things appeal to many people. I'm going to have to see it on my own screen before I make further comments on it though.

Uncharted is pretty and also atleast as importantly feels like a very solid adventure/3rd person shooter that should be a must buy for everybody who likes or tolerates this genre.

 

[patsu]

I don't have CoD 4, but it getting 10 is not that surprising considering that it has a lot more stuff on screen and big explosions. On a large HDTV screen those things appeal to many people. I'm going to have to see it on my own screen before I make further comments on it though.

Buy it ! It's a good game for MP. As for score of 10 for visuals, yes, you should experience it too. Just make sure you hit the spawn points asap in SP. Otherwise, you'll be wasting a lot of time (like I did).

 

[Arwin]

I'm guessing CoD4 gets high points for graphics for two reasons:

1. You can easily compare it to reality, and no matter how low poly for example the air-strike section probably is, it looks a lot like what people know from tv and internet.
2. It's an existing, popular franchise, that has impressed before with its presentation, but not its graphics, and this time graphics did not stand in the way of an excellent presentation, even if its more art driven then technology driven.

 

[Phil]

I'm guessing CoD4 gets high points for graphics for two reasons:

1. You can easily compare it to reality, and no matter how low poly for example the air-strike section probably is, it looks a lot like what people know from tv and internet.
2. It's an existing, popular franchise, that has impressed before with its presentation, but not its graphics, and this time graphics did not stand in the way of an excellent presentation, even if its more art driven then technology driven.

Another thing to add: A lot of things seem very scripted, but still the attention to detail is very impressive. On a technical level, Uncharted is easily above it (and more difficult to get right) than what CoD4 is achieving. That doesn't make it less of the impressive experience that CoD4 offers. And it does run at 60fps which I think should be applauded, 720p or not.

Cheers Phil

 

[Daozang]

Xbox 360 games that have been released in the last two months have sold well in spite of the looming presence of Halo 3.

I think this was helped by MS focusing on its upcoming 2007 titles during E3. It allowed the Bioshock, Mass Effect and other 2007 releases to get a big portion of the spot light.

Uncharted not only had to deal with Lair, RC and HS eating major share of the spot light during the past year, but it also had to live in the shadow of KZ2, MGS4, LBP, Home and GT5.

Go back to "The E3 Thread! Who will come out on top?" thread.

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=42478

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=42705

You'll see very little talk there about Uncharted and that E3 generated very little hype for the title.

In the Sony thread there like maybe one mention of uncharted in like 15 pages.

RC and Uncharted are vying for the best PS3 title for 2007 and both were treated like a middle or step children by Sony during E3. Thus, this has possibly created a lack of connection between those two titles and gamers for the holiday season.

You are right. I guess it is the fault of Sony themselves. Something that MS did last gen, with H2. What I'm saying though is that hype is the problem, not Halo.

 

[Daozang]

I personally feel that Uncharted is slightly over rated here in the graphics department. 9 sounds about right to me. I think it's definately up there with the best of them and for example the shadowing might be the best I have seen in a console game. It still looks like a this gen console game on a machine that has 512MB of ram if you ask me. It's no Crysis.

Of course it isn't Crysis. Should it be compared with Crysis though?
Comparing it with other console games seems more right to me.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Of course it isn't Crysis. Should it be compared with Crysis though?
Comparing it with other console games seems more right to me.

The whole point was to say that it belongs to its own weight class and is very well represented there, many people seem to think that Uncharted is in a another weight class. In my opinion the best looking games on PS3 and X360 are pretty close. Uncharted definately has it's strong points, I'm not denying that in anyway.

 

[dantruon]

The whole point was to say that it belongs to its own weight class and is very well represented there, many people seem to think that Uncharted is in a another weight class. In my opinion the best looking games on PS3 and X360 are pretty close. Uncharted definately has it's strong points, I'm not denying that in anyway.

i agreed, however we must take into account that this is ND first game for the PS3 so I think their next game will be up there with Crysis. For example the jumped in graphic fidelity of the first Jax game to the last was huge.

 

[_phil_]

The demo is not really representative of wat the game looks at its best.Far from it.

 

[djskribbles]

The demo is not really representative of wat the game looks at its best.Far from it.

agreed. i've seen much better environments from videos of Drake.

still, i wouldn't say Drake is up there with Crysis, but its certainly up there for console games. imho, it is the best looking console game thus far.

 

[Neb]

still, i wouldn't say Drake is up there with Crysis, but its certainly up there for console games. imho, it is the best looking console game thus far.

At the top list for console games but no chance against Crysis, there is so much difference it is almost pointless to compare. IMO actually closer to Far Cry than Crysis.

It is nice to see all teh stuf they packed in Uncharted with some particle effects, shadows, etc at 720p with 2xAA.. thumbs up! :smile:

I heard Far Cry has AI problems. If so, this game is already ahead of Far Cry in my book. What's more, this is only PS3's first year.

AI is one area where Far Cry completly dwarfs Uncharted, no pun but the AI in Uncharted is far worse than in Far Cry. Even wit hsome minor bugs it is still head and shoulders above.

yeah, i bet no matter how enormous the difference is between farcry and uncharted, u'll still put them in the same sentence wouldnt ya.

I just said that graphically and game feature wise it is far closer to Far Cry than it is to Crysis. And FC outdoes Uncharted in some areas and lose in other areas but in AI FC completly dwarfs Uncharted period.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/NebulasPhotoPocket/Small4.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/NebulasPhotoPocket/Small1.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/NebulasPhotoPocket/Small3.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/NebulasPhotoPocket/Small2.jpg

 

[Phil]

Got to love comparing a 3rd platformer / action game to a FPS. No doubt Crysis looks great, but the comparisons are becoming quite tiresome now.

 

[deepbrown]

Got to love comparing a 3rd platformer / action game to a FPS. No doubt Crysis looks great, but the comparisons are becoming quite tiresome now.

And we can actually play it at its best!

I know the quality of this pic is bad...but still nice to look at.

 

[macabre]

And we can actually play it at its best!

I know the quality of this pic is bad...but still nice to look at.

I still have to find out how to make pics from my TV...this is the best I could get :
That old cam (3 mp,noisy and notice the dead pixel on Drakes arm) doesn`t help either.

 

[Daozang]

The whole point was to say that it belongs to its own weight class and is very well represented there, many people seem to think that Uncharted is in a another weight class. In my opinion the best looking games on PS3 and X360 are pretty close. Uncharted definately has it's strong points, I'm not denying that in anyway.

Agreed. I think that the top games on both consoles are to close to each other. Having said that, Uncharted and Mass Effect are the two that seem a bit above the rest IMO.
COD4 on the other hand never really impressed me, but it has more to do with the art direction than with what the engine is capable of.
As for Crysis, well it's amazing, but in a league of its own in any way imaginable. But if you try to play that game on an average PC, it will definately look a lot worse than Uncharted.

 

[ultragpu]

And we can actually play it at its best!

I know the quality of this pic is bad...but still nice to look at.

wow. cant belive we're seeing this level of quality this early in ps3's life.

 

[DJ12]

I cannot wait to see what they do next time.

 

[ultragpu]

At the top list for console games but no chance against Crysis, there is so much difference it is almost pointless to compare. IMO actually closer to Far Cry than Crysis.

It is nice to see all teh stuf they packed in Uncharted with some particle effects, shadows, etc at 720p with 2xAA.. thumbs up! :smile:

yeah, i bet no matter how enormous the difference is between farcry and uncharted, u'll still put them in the same sentence wouldnt ya.

 

[patsu]

At the top list for console games but no chance against Crysis, there is so much difference it is almost pointless to compare. IMO actually closer to Far Cry than Crysis.

That's because you distilled games into mere visual experience.

I wouldn't say "no chance" since the subjects you highlighted are really different games. And since we are talking about games... even something as simple as Tetris, PacMan, Sudoku, Everyday Shooter can still deliver a unique and intense experience Crysis can't overshadow.

I heard Far Cry has AI problems. If so, this game is already ahead of Far Cry in my book. What's more, this is only PS3's first year.

There is also much difference in price and stability/complexity too. I don't have time for tuning.

The whole point was to say that it belongs to its own weight class and is very well represented there, many people seem to think that Uncharted is in a another weight class. In my opinion the best looking games on PS3 and X360 are pretty close. Uncharted definately has it's strong points, I'm not denying that in anyway.

Don't get me wrong either. CoD4 is a nice game... but the graphics is not 10 in my book. For various reasons, 9 is about right (for me !) too.

 

[Arwin]

My only regrets for this game so far based on the demo are that you can't actually climb everything. You can climb a lot, but there are some incongruencies for stuff like when at one point you can very obviously climb up using the vegetation (if you take a hint from the game, it points you to it), but you can't climb very similar looking vegetation in other areas - in these cases you just helplessly jump up and look silly. I can see how that would have made the game a lot more work though, but for next time it would be great if you could do that kind of thing - it would give you a more immersive feel with the environment. Same thing with the wildlife, which is great, but I would have loved if you could kill the birds or the fish ... it's not important for the game, but again it gives you more of a feeling that you are actually there, something which is already so much stronger due to the swaying plants and. I do like that even in the demo you can work your way back quite a bit if you want to ... when I completed the demo on Hard, just before I got to the section where the demo ends, I turned around and went back. Eventually you start noticing that the bodies start disappearing (like Resistance by the way, bodies stack up rather nicely with physics and all, and they slide and fall nicely too, though they can keep sliding a tiny bit too much perhaps).

My other regret is that when Drake starts moving, he moves forward before his animation starts, and the movement doesn't really come 100% from pushing himself forward with his foot. That brakes the illusion of the animation a little.

Other than that though, I'm really, really amazed by this game. The textures are the best I've ever seen, and so are the shadows especially because they are cast by swaying trees, and work over the player character and everything. Sometimes, when you get an area with bright sunlight, these shadows, and a lot of great textures, the game just looks breathtaking.