TNR has been running for 15 months now, and with 21 posts under my belt I think it is finally time to reveal which titles have impacted my collective experience with the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 gaming consoles. With rumors of new generations of consoles floating around the ether, it seems only fair to summarize TNR's experience with the current generation of consoles that have provided so many hours of gaming bliss. Please keep in mind that this is the work of one man with a passion for gaming and is therefore simply a list of my personal favorites from different genres on the PS3 and XBox 360 consoles. Today's Installment covers TNR's #1 favorite action titles from the PS3.
Favorite Action/Adventure Game (PS3): Uncharted 2: Among Theives
Why Uncharted 2? The answer is simple, yet broad. Uncharted 2 is a title that does an excellent job of blending storytelling with compelling game play while offering a level replay value that keeps players coming back to the title for multiple plays through the campaign. The art is really in the way that Naughty Dog studios blends humor and action into their games. In many ways, the original Uncharted and its sequel challenged the way that storytelling games would be presented on current-gen consoles. Pre-rendered cut-scenes had already been replaced by game engine driven cinematics that could pump out equally stunning visuals graphically, but what Naughty Dog took things a step further by delivering in game nuance that made character interactions feel more organic. Nathan Drake, the franchise protagonist, doesn't simply move through environments, he is a part of the environment. Every obstacle and passageway makes his character model respond and move in a way that makes his presence there believeable. If a passageway is narrow, Drake steps sideways to fit the gap. If a ceiling is low, Drake crouches to accomodate. All of these interactions are done without special command inputs from the player, but rather through a proximity control system that the game engine implements itself. Furthermore, none of these adjustments interferes with the way the player accesses the game at any given time.
Dialogue also has a lot to do with the believeability of the game. Everything the characters in the Uncharted games say to each other is acted out in recording studios where the voice actors were interacting in real time with each other. As a result, we get dialogue that feels natural and appropriate as opposed to canned and scripted. The implementation of the dialogue in game also feels organic as a result of being placed naturally through physical game play. Cut scenes don't steal all of the glory in this department. Drake and friends quip back and forth as they climb ledges, fight foes, and explore an environments just as real people would, and although the humor is plentiful, it never feels over the top or irritating.
Overall, what makes Uncharted 2 my favorite PS3 action game is the fact that it takes all of the showcase elements mentioned earlier and combines them with puzzle solving, shooting, exploration and skill elements that all work solidly together. That combined with a treasure hunting mechanic creates such a well rounded experience that I keep coming back to this title again and again. The original Uncharted does all of these things well also, but it's sequel just seems to push the envelope in terms of polish a bit more. I can't wait for Uncharted 3 so I can experience this series from beginning to end again.
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