The year was 2011. Although the Wii had dominated the HD Console War, the Playstation 3 had already secured itself as the superior machine to its chief rival, the Xbox360, mainly by not breaking down so easily. The PS3 also had an extensive library of games, including modern classics like Grand Theft Auto 4. It was in November of that year that Naughty Dog released the hotly anticipated third entry in the Uncharted series.
The third entry in the Uncharted series sees Drake go up against Marlowe, a woman from Sully's past who seeks Nate's greatest treasure: his ring, which originally belonged to Sir Francis Drake, Nate's alleged ancestor. It all begins with a bar scuffle between Nate, Sully, and a man named Talbot, who seeks to buy Nate's ring. After the fight, Marlowe herself appears and steals it from Nate. Unbeknownst to her, Nate made a forgery for her to take...
Nate and Sully, with some help from Chloe and a mutual friend named Cutter, track down Marlowe to a secret library, hoping to discover what she's looking for and why she needed Nate's ring. Eventually, Nate finds himself on his most epic quest yet...
I'm keeping the story short because we have a LOT to discuss.
Let me not mince words: Uncharted 3 takes everything the previous two games did, and did it bigger. Better? I'm not entirely sure, but bigger, certainly. The game starts off with a bar brawl, introducing the player to the new melee combat mode that the player MIGHT use every now and again in the game. Gameplay wise, the most notable addition to the series is the option to take grenades launched by the enemy and throwing them back, adding more realism to an already realistic series. In my personal opinion, this was the BEST addition to the series' gameplay, as it adds options to how to deal with grenades besides "run for your life."
There are many, many memorable moments in the game, many sequences that are simply breathtaking in their cinematic scope. Perhaps the earliest is the flashback scene of a young Nathan Drake running through the rooftops of Colombia, evading an organization trying to kill him for the ring he stole from a museum, only to be saved at the last minute by Victor "Sully" Sullivan, forming a relationship that lasts well into the former's adulthood.
The game introduces two notable characters: our villains, Talbot and Marlowe. Talbot is a man with a flare for theatrics, but not one for action. He is seldom ever fought directly, and most of the time he's pulling strings from the background, either intoxicating our heroes with hallucinogens or calling the shots from behind the scenes. He'd be more memorable, if he weren't playing Second Banana to Marlowe.
Marlowe is disappointing, let's not mince words. She is only the third major female character to be introduced in an Uncharted game, and the player can't even face her in battle. This is a major issue for me, as I LIKE being able to pulverize the main antagonist of whatever video game I get invested in; Marlowe doesn't even give me the satisfaction of a quick-time event.
Marlowe is simply Lazarevic and Navarro recycled, searching for an ancient treasure to weaponize and sell to the highest bidder. In this case, a hallucinogen located in the ancient city of Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands. Sure, Marlowe gains points by being part of an ancient secret order that's centuries old, and for being a cold bitch, but when you get down to it? She's simply a retread of what had already been done before.
It IS true that Marlowe is far more cerebral than Lazarevic and Navarro, to the point that one can claim that her mental cunning is what sets her apart from said villains. She's not above blackmail, kidnapping, and of course, using hallucinogens to get what she wants. This intellectual, calculating nature helps her stand out as a major threat, but the EXECUTION of said character is mitigated by the fact that she herself is not at all threatening. Wether Marlowe is a GOOD villain because of her cerebral nature, or a bad villain because of her otherwise powerlessness, is up to the individual to decide. Me? I was more impressed with Lazarevic.
The game introduces two notable characters: our villains, Talbot and Marlowe. Talbot is a man with a flare for theatrics, but not one for action. He is seldom ever fought directly, and most of the time he's pulling strings from the background, either intoxicating our heroes with hallucinogens or calling the shots from behind the scenes. He'd be more memorable, if he weren't playing Second Banana to Marlowe.
Marlowe is disappointing, let's not mince words. She is only the third major female character to be introduced in an Uncharted game, and the player can't even face her in battle. This is a major issue for me, as I LIKE being able to pulverize the main antagonist of whatever video game I get invested in; Marlowe doesn't even give me the satisfaction of a quick-time event.
Marlowe is simply Lazarevic and Navarro recycled, searching for an ancient treasure to weaponize and sell to the highest bidder. In this case, a hallucinogen located in the ancient city of Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands. Sure, Marlowe gains points by being part of an ancient secret order that's centuries old, and for being a cold bitch, but when you get down to it? She's simply a retread of what had already been done before.
It IS true that Marlowe is far more cerebral than Lazarevic and Navarro, to the point that one can claim that her mental cunning is what sets her apart from said villains. She's not above blackmail, kidnapping, and of course, using hallucinogens to get what she wants. This intellectual, calculating nature helps her stand out as a major threat, but the EXECUTION of said character is mitigated by the fact that she herself is not at all threatening. Wether Marlowe is a GOOD villain because of her cerebral nature, or a bad villain because of her otherwise powerlessness, is up to the individual to decide. Me? I was more impressed with Lazarevic.
But now let me talk about the main theme of the game: Drake's past. All game long there's a running theme of Nathan Drake's past coming back to haunt him, in one way or another. That's why this game focuses more on Drake's past than the first two games combined; we learn how Nate met Sully, where he got his ring, where he grew up, who his family was, among other things. We even learned that Drake's not even his real last name, finally cementing the notion that Nathan really isn't Sir Francis Drake's descendant.
The idea that Nathan "Drake" was lying about who he is. or was, is unsettling for the player, especially if he had gotten to know Nate during the first two games in the series. Of course, in real life Sir Francis Drake had no heirs, and Nate's claim was that he had no heirs that "he knew of." While it's logical and realistic for Nate to NOT be Drake's descendant, as his claim would raise several logical questions (like how he KNEW he was Drake's descendant) the fact of the matter is that Drake was carrying on this deception throughout two games.
The question of WHY would be answered next game, but we'll talk more about that next week.
For now I want to talk about the ramifications of Nate's deception. When it was revealed that Drake wasn't even Nate's real name, I was shocked. But it got me to thinking: what's in a name? A name is a combination of words that identifies a person, a place, an object, etc. A name is an identifier, put simpler. The name forms an intricate part of one's identity; in fact, I've argued before that a name is the basest part of one's personal, individual identity.
This goes back to the notion of "Drake" not being Nathan's true last name. We know for a fact in this game that Drake is a name Nathan gave himself, presumably out of admiration for Francis Drake. We learn that Nate's childhood wasn't a happy one; indeed, we meet a seemingly teenage Nate as a wandering kid, slightly malnourished, clearly homeless, but crafty and skilled in the arts of theft and stealth. It is that chance meeting with Sullivan that helps Nate become the man he is today, but the core of Nate's character, that love of history and adventure, was present even before then.
By the time Sully met Nate, the latter was already calling himself Nathan Drake. Sir Francis Drake represents for Nathan everything he loves: history, adventure, the romantic life of wandering the world in search of treasure and excitement. Drake chose the name for a reason, a reason that he himself demonstrates throughout the entire series: he's trying to live his life according to what he's passionate about. The name Drake evokes adventure, and Nathan craves it more than anything.
"The name you choose, is like a promise you make." The Doctor, Doctor Who, from the episode The Name of the Doctor.
A second theme to the game is The Family you Choose. Friends are the family you choose, the people closest to you, that you share your life with. For Nathan, that's Sully and Elena, more than anyone. Sully is not Nate's father; Nate's real father abandoned him to an orphanage. Sully, however, acted like a father to Nate since the latter was a teenager. When Sully was kidnapped, Nate traveled halfway across the world, braved the harshest desert in the world ON FOOT, just to find him. Sully is not Nate's father by birth, but he IS his father by choice.
And Elena? Elena plays a much shorter role here than in the previous two games. But her status as Nate's love interest is solidified by the ring she carries. Elena is Nate's true love, his wife, the woman he chose to spend the rest of his life with.
There is more that needs to be said about both themes, but we'll continue this discussion next week, when we discuss A Thief's End.
The question of WHY would be answered next game, but we'll talk more about that next week.
For now I want to talk about the ramifications of Nate's deception. When it was revealed that Drake wasn't even Nate's real name, I was shocked. But it got me to thinking: what's in a name? A name is a combination of words that identifies a person, a place, an object, etc. A name is an identifier, put simpler. The name forms an intricate part of one's identity; in fact, I've argued before that a name is the basest part of one's personal, individual identity.
This goes back to the notion of "Drake" not being Nathan's true last name. We know for a fact in this game that Drake is a name Nathan gave himself, presumably out of admiration for Francis Drake. We learn that Nate's childhood wasn't a happy one; indeed, we meet a seemingly teenage Nate as a wandering kid, slightly malnourished, clearly homeless, but crafty and skilled in the arts of theft and stealth. It is that chance meeting with Sullivan that helps Nate become the man he is today, but the core of Nate's character, that love of history and adventure, was present even before then.
By the time Sully met Nate, the latter was already calling himself Nathan Drake. Sir Francis Drake represents for Nathan everything he loves: history, adventure, the romantic life of wandering the world in search of treasure and excitement. Drake chose the name for a reason, a reason that he himself demonstrates throughout the entire series: he's trying to live his life according to what he's passionate about. The name Drake evokes adventure, and Nathan craves it more than anything.
"The name you choose, is like a promise you make." The Doctor, Doctor Who, from the episode The Name of the Doctor.
A second theme to the game is The Family you Choose. Friends are the family you choose, the people closest to you, that you share your life with. For Nathan, that's Sully and Elena, more than anyone. Sully is not Nate's father; Nate's real father abandoned him to an orphanage. Sully, however, acted like a father to Nate since the latter was a teenager. When Sully was kidnapped, Nate traveled halfway across the world, braved the harshest desert in the world ON FOOT, just to find him. Sully is not Nate's father by birth, but he IS his father by choice.
And Elena? Elena plays a much shorter role here than in the previous two games. But her status as Nate's love interest is solidified by the ring she carries. Elena is Nate's true love, his wife, the woman he chose to spend the rest of his life with.
There is more that needs to be said about both themes, but we'll continue this discussion next week, when we discuss A Thief's End.
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