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[Fancy Clown]

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS ACROSS ALL UNCHARTED GAMES

All this talk about Uncharted 4 put me in the mood to dive into some classic Uncharted goodness. Unfortunately, my PS3 has gone the way of all things (actually I'm pretty sure it was a combo of Uncharted 3 and The Last of Us that killed it) so, the only Uncharted I'm able to replay is the Vita entry, Golden Abyss.

To preface my thoughts on this game, so I don't give the impression that I'm going to be bashing this game and the people who like it (I am genuinely curious as to why some people consider it one of the best in the franchise, though), I'll start by saying that I do enjoy this game. It's pretty good fun, and it's unbelievably cool to have an Uncharted adventure that I can play wherever I want. Also, jaggies aside, the game is insanely beautiful. I mean, just look at it:

But, while the game is pretty fun and stunning to look at, it just falls so ridiculously short of any of the Naughty Dog entries in the series.

Story:
For starters, it is incredibly clear that Naughty Dog had no hand in writing this game. The story isn't necessarily bad--although it is unmemorable--but it is told poorly. One of the strongest aspects of Naughty Dog games--and by extension the Uncharted series--is that they try and make as much of the story interactive as possible, and only use cutscenes when gameplay simply wouldn't make sense. This lead to all sorts of awesome storytelling moments across the Uncharted games: exploring a Nazi submarine in Drake's Fortune, mountaineering and bonding with someone who doesn't speak the same language as you in Among Thieves, and the desert scene in Drake's Deception.


With Golden Abyss it seemed like they took every opportunity to tell the story by only using cutscenes. Seriously, for every 5 minutes of gameplay it seems like there are 2 minutes of cutscenes. It's incredibly tedious, especially considering the writing just isn't very good. Out of all the new characters, only Dante is remotely interesting (the Chase and Guerro are so, so cookie cutter). Gone are the brilliant character interactions of the original triliogy, or even the interesting existential themes of 3, only to be replaced by an endless onslaught of hit-or-miss banter. Probably 40% of the dialogue could have been cut from this game.

You will find nothing like this in Golden Abyss:

Gameplay:
It's been said before, but I'll say it again. The gimmicky touchscreen stuff in this game is awful. It just pads the game out. I don't even feel motivated to grab the treasures in this game because positioning a camera just right, or doing my 100000th charcoal rubbing is so tedious, and destroys the pacing of the game.

The combat in this game is a lot of fun though; it's classic uncharted action. The problem is, until the last 3rd of the game you will mostly be doing the 'exploring' and 'puzzle solving' mode of Uncharted. Again, this wouldn't be a problem if Naughty Dog had made it (3 doesn't have a lot of combat in the beginning either, but makes up for it with amazing story telling moments like the young Drake section). Even the platforming feels worse for some reason, with way too many boring 'press x a million more times than you should have to to climb up this segmented ledge' and not enough 'wholly shit the bridge is collapsing gotta climb up'.

This is fun:

This is not:

In general, there's not enough 'holy shit' moments that Uncharted is known for.There's not really a single set-piece beyond a tame 'run away from explosion' and 'dodge turret fire', or any moment that stands out at all. It really just sort of blends together. Even people that don't like Uncharted 3 have to admit it's far more memorable than this game, where you get to: play as young Drake, escape a sinking cruise ship, fly out of an airplane, desert walk, do a caravan chase, etc.

I appreciate that this game tried to take the scale back to Drake's Fortune levels, but even that game had more memorable and enjoyable sections than GA (nazi submarine, jet ski, giant death trap puzzle room, zombies, jeep chase). What is there to remember from this game? That time you were in the canoe with sully and couldn't change directions but swiped the screen every few seconds to paddle while listening to mediocre banter?
Even the setting in Golden Abyss just felt uninspired compared to the others, with ruins I never felt in awe of, too much repetition in color-scheme and design, and not enough attention to detail.

Also, I would be remiss to mention that this game contains the worst final boss of almost any game I've ever played. 2, back to back, really really lengthy QTE bosses that you have to start all over if you lose. It's like Drake's Fortune's boss only 10x worse.

Again, all in all it's a decent Vita game, and I would love to see a sequel that gets past all the growing pains of this one. I just don't think this game comes close to any of the original Uncharteds, in any facet really.

So GAF, what are your opinions on this game? I especially would like to hear from those that loved this game. What makes it better than any of the first 3 in your eyes?

 

[GarciaHotspur]

The worst Uncharted honestly...

And a bad game IMO, Sony Bend didn't get it.

 

[ta155]

Found it incredibly boring, completed it over the course of about 3 months because it just dragged. I don't know if I'd ever played a game that I thought was too long before I played this.

 

[Markitron]

Ridiculous QTE's aside I really liked it. And tbf I doubt there is many people that think it is better than any of the PS3 games

 

[ryushe]

My second favorite Uncharted after U2.

It also wins in having the best Drake and Sully moment in the entire series.

 

[OverBlood 3]

I like it better than 3 but then I like getting a sharp stick in the eye more than playing the third game. Couldn't even finish it because it was so buggy, no idea what was going on but there was a tonne of game breaking bugs for me. Just ruined the whole experience, didn't care much for what story I saw either. Loved the other 2 and the vita game.

 

[Kilau]

I thought it was a very good game but I didn't enjoy it more than any other Uncharted game. The story was weaker and doesn't really fit into the series (intentional?)

I know the touch mechanics get a lot of hate, but they didn't bother me much. I can totally understand why some people hate them. I really enjoyed drawing a climbing path for Drake to follow but got bored of the rubbings.

The game really looks great to me and the controls were spot on. So yeah..I like it for what it is, not what it isn't.

 

[Fancy Clown]

My second favorite Uncharted after U2.

But why??

 

[RP912]

I actually liked this game for some weird reason. If they would have taken out the random and pointless touch features, it wouldn't have gotten so much flack.

 

[Team Klimt]

Agreed. Writing and acting is overly cheesy. The "funny guy" character was cringe worthy. Ended up skipping cinematics - didn't do that for ND.

Gameplay was fine but Its not in the same league as PS3 games as a complete production.

 

[schadenfood]

Tried to get through this when I got a Vita last month, still haven't progressed past the first hour. Aiming feels really lousy, even with auto-aim turned on. The only thing I really like is directing where to climb using the touchpad--that's about it.

And the constant pop-up notifications and menus telling you that you've unlocked a card for the card game nobody plays are so, so obnoxious. Is there any way to turn those off?

 

[ZeroX03]

It's a pale imitation. Like one of those shitty iOS clones. Every element was just wrong. Writing didn't pop. Gameplay was a drag. 'Puzzles' and exploration didn't come naturally, they felt like a chore more than anything. Bugs galore. Developer had no idea how to frame things in the cinematic nature that ND does.

Only two commendable elements are the graphics and motion controlled sniping.

 

[TheChaos0]

I thought it was better than the first one. Touchscreen stuff was only mildly annoying. The camera stuff was really unnecessary.

It's a pale imitation. Like one of those shitty iOS clones. Every element was just wrong. Writing didn't pop. Gameplay was a drag. 'Puzzles' and exploration didn't come naturally, they felt like a chore more than anything. Bugs galore. Developer had no idea how to frame things in the cinematic nature that ND does.

Only two commendable elements are the graphics and motion controlled sniping.

I can't agree. Bugs galore? I don't remember a single bug in the game. Like I said, I felt it was better than the first Uncharted.

 

[Renpatsu]

This game could have been moderately enjoyable but the touch screen implementation is completely UI intrusive taking you out of the moment and the fact that gestures need to be repeated with such monotony that it utterly breaks the flow of the gameplay which otherwise was a fairly good facsimile of the console counterparts.

Edit: I'm specifically talking about the lifting, breaking through walls, QTE sections. I actually enjoyed the touch implementation for climbing and cleaning; and gyro aiming is always a plus in my book.

 

[Jimrpg]

The first half of the game is pretty bad, the levels are short and there's no variety and the storytelling is horrible.

Spoiler

But then sully shows up and the Uncharted feel returns.

. The second half is a lot more interesting in terms of gameplay and also level design. All the new characters are boring like u said. Overall I think it's a really good game,a fantastic launch game, but the worst of the 4 uncharteds. 2>3>1>GA

 

[-Horizon-]

Found it incredibly boring, completed it over the course of about 3 months because it just dragged. I don't know if I'd ever played a game that I thought was too long before I played this.

Are you me?

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

that QTE at the end was some terrible bullshit.

 

[Andodalf]

Gyro aiming is FANTASTIC. seriously fun. Other than that the only uncharted it can beat is one. Still a very good game tho. Might be the most console quality like game on vita.

 

[sindbadthesailor]

I like GA. Sure, it had more than a few annoying parts but those were entirely the result of likely being required to showcase what the Vita and it's various gimmicks (cameras on both sides and the rear touch pad namely) could do. It was still fun though.

 

[ryushe]

But why??

Uncharted 1 was good, but felt too... I don't know, tech demoish for me and I vehemently dislike Uncharted 3.

Plus Uncharted GA was just fun to play (gyro controls > aiming with the PS3 pad).

 

[hamchan]

It's better than 3 because the enemies are more like 2 rather than horrible, bullet spongey, frustrating, constantly dodging enemies.

Plus gyro aiming is nice too.

 

[dionysus]

Sidekick girl was the worst example of ludonarrative dissonance that I have played in a long while. Sorry for using the annoying buzzword.

"Hi, I am a pacifist. I hate violence. Nothing justifies killing. Ooo lookie treasure guarded by hundreds of people Drake is going to have to kill to get to and are trying to kill me. I am just going to run ahead.....no Drake save me by killing hundreds of people. Now I am going to make small talk and make wisecracks while standing in the midst of 10 corpses."

I admit I stopped playing it when I was walking along a path that the sidekick girl specifically said was impossible for anyone else to reach, and just when I needed to rescue her yet again from long range there was a high-powered russian sniper rifle conveniently on this path that supposedly no one else could have reached.

 

[2+2=5]

"The problem is, until the last 3rd of the game you will mostly be doing the 'exploring' and 'puzzle solving' mode of Uncharted"

That's exactly what i liked of it and honestly i would have liked more of the exploring/collecting/puzzling, i only played Uncharted 1&2 demos and to me they are boring tps with good graphics and exotic environments, i have some Uncharted(3 i think) thanks to Ps+ but i will never download it.

For what i played Golden Abyss is the only Uncharted i liked.

 

[w00zey]

cause they crazy. I did enjoy it though.

 

[Ricky_R]

I didn't enjoy as much as I did the console versions and there wasn't anything remotely memorable on it, tbh. Still, it was fun when I finally got into it.

 

[kazebyaka]

I really liked it. It also has the best story out of all games in the series. Gameplay was fine, but it could use a bigger budget and release on a home console

 

[RE_Player]

In my opinion 3 > 2 > Golden Abyss > 1.

 

[BronsonLee]

Better than 1, worse than 2/3.

 

[Augemitbutter]

liked it more than 3. it was straightforward. still need to find all the treasure.

 

[Digital Snake]

First game in the series that I tried and it kind of made me ambivalent to the rest of the series.. I know its not fair to the console versions and maybe I'll try and play UC2 one day.

 

[Machinehead]

The events presented are well connected, making for a cohesive world. Much, much better than 3 in that aspect, which had a lot of different set pieces poorly put together, worsened by the distracting and out of place hand animations. 3 suffers from padding, like the desert scene: it doesn't give any kind of feeling, it is just boring to play. U3 also played quite bad, due to the turning animations which became less responsive, and the bad diagonal aiming. GA brought the gyro aiming, which is genious.
Uncharted 3 looks good and has good enemy encounters (I know people are going to kill me for saying this). Some scenarios were great - like the boat -, but most were not as good as they could have been. I definitely prefer GA over 3. U2 is still king, though.

 

[Lambtron]

The touch screen stuff was sort of annoying but it felt more like an adventure than a series of chest high cover set pieces. I absolutely detest the last third of U3, and U1 wasn't as tightly paced. Uncharted 2 is definitely better but GA is my second favorite of the series.

 

[Celegus]

I played it for about 15 minutes and haven't touched it since. Loved the 3 main games though.

 

[oSoLucky]

So many unnecessary QTEs and END SPOILER:

Spoiler

Fucking final boss fight a QTE with instant death moments? Count me out.

Almost every melee encounter ends up in a QTE. The touch screen doesn't make them any more fun.

Touch controls to throw grenades(unless I missed something the whole game).

Stopping the player who is completely balanced on a rope to start a mini game of tilting the Vita to not fall to your death. First time this happened, I was in bed.... not happy. Who thought that would be fun every 30 minutes?

Absolutely horrible pacing, and the last third of the game drags on far too long IMO(like U3).

The game shoehorns you into far too many scripted encounters and thus doesn't feel fluid at all.

IIt's easily the worst in the series IMO, and just above average overall.

Fight for Fortune could have been cool, but drops are too random and there are too many collectibles.

 

[DukeBobby]

I enjoyed it at first, but I got sick to death of all of the terrible touch screen puzzles after while. Never finished it, probably never will.

 

[DBT85]

Outside of the annoying boss fights and balance beam sections I really enjoyed it. Gyro aim was fantastic for me as I suck with sticks to be accurate.

It's also the only Uncharted I've a) played more than once, b) got the platinum on. I feel a large part of that was the gyro aim making it not an entire ballache for me to play.

 

[Blackage]

I hated all of the touchscreen, microphone, light recognition, motion control Vita stuff, every gimmick really ruined the game for me and was a pain.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Better than 3, worse than 1 and 2. Not much to really say, it's portable Uncharted. A decent, if fairly uninteresting entry in the series.

 

[murgo]

I loved the game and platinumed it within a few days

 

[Gestault]

I agree that I thought Golden Abyss was better than U1, and before the control patch, I'd have agreed that it was better than U3. I liked it quite a bit, silly shoe-horned Vita features aside.

 

[KalBalboa]

I really liked the treasure hunting in this one. Flipping through the pages of the journal, climbing up and down ropes with the rear touch... felt good.

 

[LicenceToK1ll]

Definitely the worst Uncharted yes, misses that Naughty dog magic.

For me: 2>3>1>GA

 

[DeadManWalking]

They are crazy people and there should be tv show about them.

 

[Natureboy99]

Gyro aiming is FANTASTIC. seriously fun. Other than that the only uncharted it can beat is one. Still a very good game tho. Might be the most console quality like game on vita.

LBPV is better than LBP2. Also Wipeout is console level.

 

[SlasherJPC]

2>3>Vita>1 For me, 1 is just really hard to go back to. I've tried and I have to push myself to finish it every time.

 

[acevans2]

The Vita-feature gimmicky stuff isn't good, but for me personally it doesn't take away from the rest of the experience. The rest of the traditional Uncharted gameplay is fun and I enjoyed it a lot. They definitely succeeded in some key elements of the Uncharted formula like having impressive visuals/vistas, and using a pulp-y tone. I'd take another side-story sort of Uncharted game on Vita like this any day.

 

[UberTag]

Gyro aiming elevates Golden Abyss above UC3. It really is a revelation.
And, you know what, it doesn't NEED to be a Vita-exclusive innovation either.
The DS4 is capable of it. I'd like to see this implemented in a console game or two.

 

[PAULINK]

Uncharted Golden Abyss was a great outing for the vita, I thoroughly enjoyed it when I played it when it came out. For what it was, a portable uncharted, I was really blown away. The only thing that really left me sour was the forced touch controls and that lame ass ending. Definitely left a better impression on me than the shitfest that was Uncharted 3.

 

[bananafactory]

Better than 1, worse than 2/3.

Came here to say this.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

I enjoyed it.

For another studio other than ND doing uncharted as a launch title on a handheld, being forced to implement gimmicks, I thought they pulled it off pretty well.

I don't really remember much since it's been 2 years since playing it...but I recall liking Drake/Sully/Dante and the gyro aiming was heaven. the balance of exploring to fighting didn't stick out to be as badly as it seems to with others. I actually enjoyed the exploring bits more in this one compared some of the console games because it was a bit more explorable and less linear. Lots of collectables too.

The rubbings etc. were stupid, but honestly they are over in like 3 seconds. Holding the vita to the light rarely happens if I recall. The worst offender to me was the balancing on logs.... seriously could never figure out hold to hold the vita properly...it was luck every time getting across.

overall i thought it was a pretty grand adventure of a PS3 game for having to be scaled down to a mobile launch title....

Gyro aiming elevates Golden Abyss above UC3. It really is a revelation.
And, you know what, it doesn't NEED to be a Vita-exclusive innovation either.
The DS4 is capable of it. I'd like to see this implemented in a console game or two.

I think the reason why the gyro aiming worked so well though is because everything is attached to the screen you're using. trying with a DS4 may prove a bit difficult since you have to focus on multiple things. The motion aiming is heaven though on vita. love it in killzone too. do they have it in borderlands?