Spring-Loaded
Member
This has been something I've considered not just about the Uncharted series, but for any semi-realistic climbing in other games.
Ever since finishing the first game and starting the second game in the series back to back, I was convinced the climbing/traversal was great during combat and for breaks between the combat, but not much more. Once the limits of it became clear to me and I was no longer at the edge of my seat during leaps, wondering if I'd actually make it, or if the scenery wasn't particularly gorgeous or if I wasn't focusing on the animations, it was just me going through the motions. I felt similar about the climbing in the first of the Tomb Raider reboot (played through all of that) and Assassin's Creed (only played the first chunk of the first game and the multiplayer in Brotherhood). In those games, I either didn't mind it or even kind of enjoyed it when it served a particular end (TR: backtracking through the Metroid-lite environment to get somewhere, AC: during multiplayer where everyone could freerun, so it being "hold button to freerun" no longer seemed dull).
UC4 improved on the climbing without fundamentally altering it you can still hold a button to not grab a ledge like in the previous game, grabbing ledges occurs automatically if the jump/reach goes far enough like with most games, and the animations are still generally great. It now lets the player reach for handholds without having to tap the X button unless it requires an actual leap. It's also accompanied by sliding and rope swinging.
Even though it's improved, it's a lot more prevalent in 4 than it was in previous games. It's still great during combat especially with some QoL improvements, but the climbing itself became what I thought it would when I went to replay the game (since I bought the game and enjoyed replaying one or two of the past games): just going through the motions. Again, I genuinely find it fun and appreciate how streamlined it is when I'm climbing up a wall while getting shot at, just not on its own. There are plenty of games I enjoy merely moving around in (Super Mario 64/Sunshine/3DWorld, Batman Arkham City/Knight, Grow Home, Vanquish, Okami, Ratchet & Clank: a Crack in Time w/hover boots, some others), but the only one I can think of that makes climbing on its own fun is Grow Home, and that game's approach wouldn't work here because of how goofy it would look for "realistic," character models.
The biggest problem for me is I can't think of any way to make it more fun on its own and at its core without affecting its use in combat. If it becomes something any more complex or involved, then traversal during shootouts could become less viable. If strictly climbing-focused sections become more freeform (many more handholds, vines-walls, piton-able surfaces), that might be harder to program, or mess up the visual design of the environments, or deviate too far from the focus of the game (maybe; just having more places to climb rather than really linear paths could be all that it needs). I was curious what people think could be done to make it more fun on its own.
Ever since finishing the first game and starting the second game in the series back to back, I was convinced the climbing/traversal was great during combat and for breaks between the combat, but not much more. Once the limits of it became clear to me and I was no longer at the edge of my seat during leaps, wondering if I'd actually make it, or if the scenery wasn't particularly gorgeous or if I wasn't focusing on the animations, it was just me going through the motions. I felt similar about the climbing in the first of the Tomb Raider reboot (played through all of that) and Assassin's Creed (only played the first chunk of the first game and the multiplayer in Brotherhood). In those games, I either didn't mind it or even kind of enjoyed it when it served a particular end (TR: backtracking through the Metroid-lite environment to get somewhere, AC: during multiplayer where everyone could freerun, so it being "hold button to freerun" no longer seemed dull).
UC4 improved on the climbing without fundamentally altering it you can still hold a button to not grab a ledge like in the previous game, grabbing ledges occurs automatically if the jump/reach goes far enough like with most games, and the animations are still generally great. It now lets the player reach for handholds without having to tap the X button unless it requires an actual leap. It's also accompanied by sliding and rope swinging.
Even though it's improved, it's a lot more prevalent in 4 than it was in previous games. It's still great during combat especially with some QoL improvements, but the climbing itself became what I thought it would when I went to replay the game (since I bought the game and enjoyed replaying one or two of the past games): just going through the motions. Again, I genuinely find it fun and appreciate how streamlined it is when I'm climbing up a wall while getting shot at, just not on its own. There are plenty of games I enjoy merely moving around in (Super Mario 64/Sunshine/3DWorld, Batman Arkham City/Knight, Grow Home, Vanquish, Okami, Ratchet & Clank: a Crack in Time w/hover boots, some others), but the only one I can think of that makes climbing on its own fun is Grow Home, and that game's approach wouldn't work here because of how goofy it would look for "realistic," character models.
The biggest problem for me is I can't think of any way to make it more fun on its own and at its core without affecting its use in combat. If it becomes something any more complex or involved, then traversal during shootouts could become less viable. If strictly climbing-focused sections become more freeform (many more handholds, vines-walls, piton-able surfaces), that might be harder to program, or mess up the visual design of the environments, or deviate too far from the focus of the game (maybe; just having more places to climb rather than really linear paths could be all that it needs). I was curious what people think could be done to make it more fun on its own.
