By
Matthew Scott Hunter
 UNCHARTED
3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION (T)
Sony Computer Entertainment
PlayStation 3
Most adventure games simply put you in a room
and give you something to do. Uncharted games
put you in a room, give you something to do
and then tear that room to pieces while you’re
doing it. Any elaborate strategy you devise
flies out the window the moment the chateau
begins burning apart around you, or the cargo
tanker begins rapidly flooding with water, or
you tumble out the back of a plane without a
parachute. These elaborate and virtually non-stop
cinematic sequences keep you perpetually on
your toes, constantly feeling like you’re in
a bit over your head. Aside from a greater emphasis
on fisticuffs, there isn’t a whole lot to differentiate
Drake’s Deception from its predecessor in terms
of gameplay, but there doesn’t have to be. Uncharted
games are about the thrill of discovering what
dramatic cliffhanger is waiting around the corner,
and this third chapter in the series certainly
hasn’t run out of surprises.
Over the course of three games, Nathan Drake
and his motley crew have endeared themselves
to us, and their pithy dialogue and superb voice
acting make the cut-scenes a welcome break from
the carefully choreographed bedlam. The difficulty
ramps up nicely as you grow closer to the lost
city, Iram of the Pillars—this entry’s requisite
MacGuffin. And once the credits roll on your
single-player campaign, Drake’s Deception will
keep you busy with cooperative and competitive
multiplayer modes, which give a slight boost
to player speed for a nice frenetic pace. With
three excellent adventures under its belt so
far, the Uncharted series is beginning to look
like the best reason to own a PlayStation 3.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: WAR IN THE NORTH
(M)
**1/2
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Xbox 360
Little did we know that while Aragorn, Legolas
and Gimli were waging their epic battle against
Sauron’s forces, another ranger/elf/dwarf trio
was fighting in a similar skirmish up north.
These Rosencrantzes and Guildensterns of Middle-Earth
are the focus of this latest LOTR game, and
while their story occasionally intersects with
Tolkien’s, it’s hard to care about the exploits
of this heretofore unknown B team. The environments
do a good job of reproducing the atmosphere
of Peter Jackson’s films, but the narrative
is forgettable, and once you’ve hacked and slashed
a few orcs and cave trolls, you’ve hacked and
slashed them all.
GOLDENEYE 007: RELOADED (T)
****
Activision
Xbox 360
Last year’s GoldenEye 007 remake finally makes
its way to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, giving
those who defected from Nintendo consoles after
the era of N64 a chance to soak up the nostalgia.
But you needn’t have played the classic N64
shooter to enjoy Reloaded. More reimagining
than remake, this game features several nods
to 1997’s great (albeit dated) original, but
is otherwise a completely modern James Bond
adventure. There’s a terrific balance between
stealth and run-‘n-gun gameplay and the clever
addition of a nifty smart phone gadget that
can be used to snap espionage photos, hack turrets
or detonate remote mines. |
