• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss |OT| Drake arrives at a smaller screen near you!

Tratorn

Member
Hello Gaf!

Are you having troubles with collecting all the Bounties in the game?
I do :(
Anyone have any suggestion? Wanna create a black market group to exchange the missing ones?

Let's arrange something!

Good idea.
These trophys are the last i need for platin, but it's no fun at all to grind them.
It's a shame, because I liked to get all the other ones.
 

Gen X

Trust no one. Eat steaks.
All you guys saying you want to trade on the Black Market and I'm not seeing any PSN IDs.

Mine: Weak_Spot

Please send an accompanying message 'Bad day at Black Market' so I know who you are. =D
 
Great game so far, it starts to feel like vintage Uncharted half way through, not the huge set pieces but just great gameplay, Im playing on hard which imo is the best way to play this, I wish it had the treasure trophies that go according to how many you find like the console versions.
 

SmokyDave

Member
Well, I finished this last night and I have to say, I really enjoyed the second half of the game. As my earlier post suggests, it took me a long time to 'click' with the game (I was just going through the motions until Chapter 15/16), but when it did, I had a blast. Some great platforming and firefights in the latter half of the game. I thought I'd be deleting it as soon as I completed it but now I'm far more inclined to do a little treasure hunting.

Although this didn't give me the same sense of 'Wow!' as Uncharted 2, I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the game and I don't regret the purchase at all.
 

depward

Member
I finished this tonight. Thought it was a solid 8.5-9.0 game and a great launch title. Two things that bothered me:

1) Was it just me... Or does Drake say "shit" a lot in this game? I don't recall in U1, 2 or 3 him saying it. There was one climbing sequence where he said it five times. Struck me as very undrake-like.

2) The collectables are out of freaking control. One play through netted me zero complete mysteries.
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
I thought the 1st half kinda crap. Too much filler, too much *how can we use the Vita features* moments. I think if they chopped a bit of the first half, the pacing would have been much better.


I didn't catch on the 'shit' from Drake but I was dreading the "That's what she said" line. I'm kinda surprised that isn't the OT because I swear they said it like 3-4 times. 3-4 times too many
 

Sintoid

Member
Bounties are terrible!
It's almost a week I don't see a new one, I still miss the same treasures of last week
The rarest ones are really hard to find :(

Gen X accept my friend request XD
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Bounties are terrible!
It's almost a week I don't see a new one, I still miss the same treasures of last week
The rarest ones are really hard to find :(

Gen X accept my friend request XD

Find a place where you can grind and keep restarting the checkpoint from menu. I hope you're not actually going through the whole level for bounty hunting
 

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
This game is really amazing me the further I get in. At Chapter 23 now, and touchscreen over-use aside, it's definitely my second favourite Uncharted ahead of 1 by a small amount, and far superior to 3.

Bend really really got this right. Its kinda weird to not see as much raving about it when the bum-note of 3 got a helluva lot more press.
 

Sintoid

Member
Find a place where you can grind and keep restarting the checkpoint from menu. I hope you're not actually going through the whole level for bounty hunting

I'm doing like you suggest but believe me, I retried at least 20-30 times the same session (for example the "50mm caliber" sessions) and when you miss only last 2-3 rare bounties in a collection it's still not enough grinding...

I think that black market is the only affordable way to reach this achievement...
 
What a great launch title. After a slow start and the unfamiliar and even annoying touchpad introduction, the game opens up and gets really well. Different environments and set pieces. I like how they integrated it in the stories within the Uncharted series. I giggled quit often due to 'references' to what i already expirienced in Uncharted 1, 2 or 3. Every Uncharted gamer will find himself familiar with the protagonists and the vibe.
 

Sintoid

Member
What a great launch title. After a slow start and the unfamiliar and even annoying touchpad introduction, the game opens up and gets really well. Different environments and set pieces. I like how they integrated it in the stories within the Uncharted series. I giggled quit often due to 'references' to what i already expirienced in Uncharted 1, 2 or 3. Every Uncharted gamer will find himself familiar with the protagonists and the vibe.

Got a bounty from you with black market, thank you very much ^_^
 
Finally finished it

Overall it's still an 8/10

Basically it's saved by it's second half and when I made the conscious decision to ignore collectibles entirely.

The last boss fights pissed me off though until I
used my index finger instead of thumb

To sum it up though

+ Great performances from merely good writing
+ Solid gunplay but it's should have controlled better. Being more deliberate with the gunfights (because twitch-based shooting is more or less impossible) helps quite a bit
+ Great sound. Music is particularly affective.
+ AMAZING visuals. Sub-native res or not, it's the best looking handheld title to have ever come out ....from a purely technical perspective of course
+ Fairly lengthy
+ Dante is
probably the best villain the series has had up to this point (haven't played U3), and I hope he makes a return =/
. Loved his knife. Smartly placed characterization right there if you pay attention through the whole story.

- Touch based/vita specific nonsense almost completely kills the actual gameplay. Balancing, rubbing, rowing, all of it. It just becomes so gratuitous
- Collectables are a bit of an embarrassment with how forced they feel. If you do indulge they basically ruin the pacing of the game and Sony Bend should have come up with something better to pad out the gameplay. It's really shitty honestly...
- Chase
another damsel in distress eventually. Really don't like what they ended up doing to her character

So yeah, in the end, the good outweighs the bad. I'd say Sony Bend can stick with the franchise but could use quite a bit more guidance from ND with the design.

Also, anyone buy that $1 "treasure map" that shows you everything in-game? Sounds like a pretty decent convenience if you plan on going for Platinum
 

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
I'll start by saying I just recently got a Vita, and the Uncharted series is not only my favorite Sony series (Unless you count Team Ico games as a series), but is also one of my favorite video game series of all-time. I am also going into Golden Abyss almost completely blind.

Those first three chapters were by far the lowest point of series by a mile. Everything came off as "look at me, when at Bend can do Uncharted on a portable!". Everything felt extremely uninspired, and was pretty much boring to boot. Not only that, but I constantly had "this is on Vita, look what we can do with Vita!" shoved down my throat with countless rubbing of artifacts, balance treelogs, and slicing of bamboo. It also doesn't help that not of that is fun, and none of it even worked particularly well. The slicing of bamboo/fighting touch screen inputs often misinterpret my direction of touch, which is bewildering to me in the age of touch screens. The rear touch pad for climbing and spinning artifacts is awkward and somehow less intuitive then using an analog. Hell even the menu is a chore to go through with touch-only selections and swipes.

Even more concerning is how much I am having trouble grasping the aiming in this game. Maybe it's the nubs (which I have problems with adjusting to the placement) or just the horrible aiming mechanics in general (this makes UC3's aiming pre-patch look like heaven), but whatever it is just isn't working for me. Thankfully gyro controls are provided, but even that doesn't offer enough sensitivity to full make use of unless you are on a swivel chair. Even with sensitivity all the way up, you can only make slight adjustments to the cursor and still are depedent on the right nub. I just wish UC:GA had a set-up similar to Residet Evil: Revelations when it comes to gyro controls because that worked so flawlessly for me.

Also of concern is a few glitches here and there, most noticeably the sudden disappearance of voice acting during cutscences. Bend has seemed to somewhat match the charm of Uncharted when it comes to dialogue, but even that is a step-down so far compared to the main Uncharted's. I just hope Golden Abyss is somehow sucking wind during the "tutorial" section and while start hitting (or a least trying) it's stride in the upcoming chapters.
 
Yep sounds exactly how my initial impressions were. The game does grow on you though and the worst bits are on the front end
The biggest thing I will stress is to avoid pictures/collecting stuff at all costs. It kills the pacing and is completely superfluous
 

Massa

Member
Finished my third playthrough of the game and still don't have even half of the rare bounties. By the looks of it I will not be getting a platinum trophy in this game.
 
Finished my third playthrough of the game and still don't have even half of the rare bounties. By the looks of it I will not be getting a platinum trophy in this game.

I was on my second on hard and yeah, I kinda just gave up too

Note to Bend, this ain't how you do trophies...
 

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
Yep sounds exactly how my initial impressions were. The game does grow on you though and the worst bits are on the front end
The biggest thing I will stress is to avoid pictures/collecting stuff at all costs. It kills the pacing and is completely superfluous

Yeah I didn't believe you but it has taken a huge step in quality after the opening scenes. In fact, I would go as far to say that overall I am enjoying this more then I did Uncharted 3 so far (currently at chapter 23).
 

Raine

Member
I'll start by saying I just recently got a Vita, and the Uncharted series is not only my favorite Sony series (Unless you count Team Ico games as a series), but is also one of my favorite video game series of all-time. I am also going into Golden Abyss almost completely blind.

Those first three chapters were by far the lowest point of series by a mile. Everything came off as "look at me, when at Bend can do Uncharted on a portable!". Everything felt extremely uninspired, and was pretty much boring to boot. Not only that, but I constantly had "this is on Vita, look what we can do with Vita!" shoved down my throat with countless rubbing of artifacts, balance treelogs, and slicing of bamboo. It also doesn't help that not of that is fun, and none of it even worked particularly well. The slicing of bamboo/fighting touch screen inputs often misinterpret my direction of touch, which is bewildering to me in the age of touch screens. The rear touch pad for climbing and spinning artifacts is awkward and somehow less intuitive then using an analog. Hell even the menu is a chore to go through with touch-only selections and swipes.

Even more concerning is how much I am having trouble grasping the aiming in this game. Maybe it's the nubs (which I have problems with adjusting to the placement) or just the horrible aiming mechanics in general (this makes UC3's aiming pre-patch look like heaven), but whatever it is just isn't working for me. Thankfully gyro controls are provided, but even that doesn't offer enough sensitivity to full make use of unless you are on a swivel chair. Even with sensitivity all the way up, you can only make slight adjustments to the cursor and still are depedent on the right nub. I just wish UC:GA had a set-up similar to Residet Evil: Revelations when it comes to gyro controls because that worked so flawlessly for me.

Also of concern is a few glitches here and there, most noticeably the sudden disappearance of voice acting during cutscences. Bend has seemed to somewhat match the charm of Uncharted when it comes to dialogue, but even that is a step-down so far compared to the main Uncharted's. I just hope Golden Abyss is somehow sucking wind during the "tutorial" section and while start hitting (or a least trying) it's stride in the upcoming chapters.
The bad aiming is due to very strong input lag. I was hoping that a patch would come to fix this issue but it doesn't appear to be happening. It's a shame because I would very much like to play this game again but I can't enjoy it when the aiming is like this.
 
This game is a lot longer than I expected lol. Was planning on going for a platinum but it seems like it'll take quite a while.

Edit: better title for the game would be Uncharted: Steve Blum Murder Simulator
 

Grinchy

Banned
I'd really like to platinum this game, but I'm getting very annoyed at it forgetting stats. I didn't care about losing count of my headshots since I already had the 250 trophy, but losing kill counts on guns or run-and-gunner kinda stuff is annoying as shit. I don't want to have to keep grinding just because the game is buggy. If I lost the kill count for like the shitty GAU machine gun or something, I'd have to quit and sell the game.
 

Cudder

Member
I'd really like to platinum this game, but I'm getting very annoyed at it forgetting stats. I didn't care about losing count of my headshots since I already had the 250 trophy, but losing kill counts on guns or run-and-gunner kinda stuff is annoying as shit. I don't want to have to keep grinding just because the game is buggy. If I lost the kill count for like the shitty GAU machine gun or something, I'd have to quit and sell the game.
Sony Bend have stated on Twitter that they would fix it in their "next patch", but that was over a month ago. :(
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
You know...I popped this in again today and it looks MUCH better than I remember. I last played it at launch when I was playing NGS. And NGS is native res. So I think the comparison made it look uglier than I remember. It's WOW for a handheld! Can't believe.
 

Grinchy

Banned
Sony Bend have stated on Twitter that they would fix it in their "next patch", but that was over a month ago. :(

Yeah I saw something about that. It's not a huge problem if you are going for some of the trophies in one run, but it's still annoying. Starting at 0 SAS-12 kills, for example, just because the counter reset, is kinda dismaying.

Oh well. I had a lot of fun with the game. I beat it on Hard the first time through and played some crushing. I guess I've just had my fill. It's going on Amazon and I'll put the money towards Unit 13.
 
Chapter 22, when you're manning a turret as
Sully
climbs up to where you are. How the fuck do you beat this on Crushing? I just can't do it, and I'm not shitty at games. He bites it every time. Segments like this that require crazy-fast reflexes really showcase the massive input lag in the game. [Finally got past the turret part. Took forever. On the upside, having to do it so many times in a row actually got me the Survivor trophy :lol]

Edit: The weapon kill counters, is there a way to check where you're at?
 
Hate to double post, but oh man, the alternate cutscene on crushing!

That was hilarious! I wish the other games did this, too. I bet this is hardly the first on-set prank they had done.

The QTE fights on crushing can choke on a dick, though.
 

Ezi0

Member
Update 1.02 is out now. Stats being reset have been fixed and network features are no longer disabled whilst playing. There are other fixes too.
 
Does difficulty have any effect on how frequently bounties drop?

I'm pushing forward since I only have the bounty sets left but this is normally the kind of platinum I don't bother with. It should never devolve into senseless grinding/farming.
 

dallow_bg

nods at old men
Update 1.02 is out now. Stats being reset have been fixed and network features are no longer disabled whilst playing. There are other fixes too.
Wow, should have been there from the start. Now I can party chat with my friend.
 
I got my Vita last friday and I still don't have a real vita game yet. I'm going to get this first most likely. I am one of the biggest UC fans but I'm shocked I wasn't as pumped for this.
 

Massa

Member
Does difficulty have any effect on how frequently bounties drop?

I'm pushing forward since I only have the bounty sets left but this is normally the kind of platinum I don't bother with. It should never devolve into senseless grinding/farming.

Bend said it did but that was not the case in my experience, playing it on Crushing wasn't helping things go any faster. I ended up grinding on normal so I could use auto-aim, specially useful in sniping sections. That made things go a lot faster.

I hope they fixed this in the patch, the drop rate was way too low in the game.
 

Cudder

Member
Update 1.02 is out now. Stats being reset have been fixed and network features are no longer disabled whilst playing. There are other fixes too.
YES. i will now continue my quest for platinum! I took a long hiatus from the game because the stats resetting peeved me off so much. In that period the only thing i was doing was checking near for bounties.
 

yencid

Member
Ok so i bought the game earlier today and my impressions so far, this game is fucking pretty! oh and the shooting with the sixaxis is amazing.
 
This is a textbook example of the way to not do trophies. It should never boil down to an unfun grind or literally "farming" for kills. This is such bullshit.

I've been at the turret in chapter 17 trying for the five rare Cadiz bounties I'm missing. I've played for a half hour now and killed what must have been hundreds of bad guys, not one drop. Coming very close to saying screw it. Only thing keeping me going is that I'm only missing like 2-5 bounties for each one, but clearly, being so close means absolutely shit.
 

Cudder

Member
This is a textbook example of the way to not do trophies. It should never boil down to an unfun grind or literally "farming" for kills. This is such bullshit.

I've been at the turret in chapter 17 trying for the five rare Cadiz bounties I'm missing. I've played for a half hour now and killed what must have been hundreds of bad guys, not one drop. Coming very close to saying screw it. Only thing keeping me going is that I'm only missing like 2-5 bounties for each one, but clearly, being so close means absolutely shit.

Try near, mate.
 
Top Bottom