Every once in a while something bubbles up to the surface to remind me why I got a PlayStation 3
It's simple really, I got it for the games, but more importantly, for a core set of games. I like many, like to dabble in the murder/death/kill! of that classic espionage, stealth, classic Metal Gear! Which is hands down, in the Top 10 big hitters to step up to the PlayStation Plate with a tree trunk for a bat. For me the, the little golden egg, the favorite, the one game, that everyone has, that's your reason for playing on the system of your choice. On the Xbox it's Halo, and Mass Effect. On the PlayStation, it's the greatest of the greats, the Uncharted Series. [Jeez, Fox, tell'em how you really feel.]
Uncharted sets itself apart on three levels. #1 Starting of on what is truly important to this industry, Gameplay, and Uncharted breezes through it's "Platformer" / 3rd person, cover-to-cover based combat like Naughty Dog was born to make games. [Oh... wait, Naughty Dog WAS born to make games...]
Reason, "Num-bah" 2! Characters. You've got a dynamic duo, [No! Not Batman! Although it would be... ah never mind, they'd never go for it.] Nate Drake and his oldest friend Sully, then there's Elena, who makes this cast a crowd. A clever, super fun crowd with a snarky sense of humor and a relate-able nature. Top all that off with, supporting cast and compelling antagonist with all their little henchmen who live for you to punch them in their dumb, pudgy little faces. And now you've got yourself and block buster cast.
[Rounding off this trifecta of digital goodness with!!!! Wait for it... wait for.... iiiitttt!]
Point! #3 The Cinematic and the Score. Naughty Dog works harder than most developers. I'm not saying the battle hardened Rock Star and Bungie Studios, to name two, aren't working just as hard. [But you'll notice that I said most, not all, and I just listed three developers, so stop nit picking, let me finish!]
Rock Star's "L.A. Noire" with their phenomenal face capturing technique that will allow the player to gauge whether a not the character in story is lying based on expression ALONE!
And Bungie's Mo-Cap cut scenes that build in the fluidity we just haven't grasped int the video game world before.
Naughty Dog comes at playing out their story like your favorite TV show does. They spend more time on the set, with their actors than anybody else. They're out there, for 18 hr days, cutting 2 to 4 scenes with all that realism right there! They beat out both the physical performance and the dialog in one fantastic swoop. [They feel that capturing the audio during a live acted scene builds the performances into a more real zone.]
Couple these three points and what you have, Sir, is one top notch game that sets the stage for the rest of the gameing world. It's step up or step aside these days. If you're not pumping out that new hotness, you're not gonna last. Games are more akin to Movies than they every were before, and now days, they're a formidable opponent in the Media department. I have a link submitted below, it's some of the greatest stuff. It's 10 minutes of behind the scenes Mo-Cappy goodness. You'll get to watch first hand as a full fledged cut scene is fleshed out right before your eyeballs in all it's splendor. [Now stop reading all of my yammer'n and watch it! You won't regret it.]
[Uncharted McLinkey]----->
Uncharted 3 Mo-Cap Behind the Scenes
OK folks, that be all! G'night!
-Fox
