Uncharted 3, what more can you say about the Uncharted franchise. If you hadn't already played the other two games, go ahead and do so and you'll more than likely be satisfied. What some people have dubbed a more male and wise cracking version of Lara Croft, Nathan Drake has had his fair share of run in's with all sorts of wacky treasure-hunting, vengence-loving, train-exploding baddies, but for the multiplayer portion of the game, let's just say it's a lot of fun and barely any disappointment.

Unlike the BF3 Beta, from some weeks ago, this was not an open beta, as I was given the code by Dan Hardcastle creator of the website Nerd3.  He put the code up on his Twitter feed and I grabbed it in a heartbeat. I was lucky and instead of being an immense douche and going nananana I got to play Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta, I thought I'd share some thoughts on the experience and hopefully help gauge your experience in getting Uncharted 3 when it comes out in November.

I'm greeted with a machine gun half submurged in the sand and sand being softly blown across the desert landscape. The music is beautiful and swells as I start the game. I can't try out Single Player or Co-Op for obvious reasons in this 3GB Demo. I go straight into Multiplayer, the backgrounds and menu set up is common, but stylised with a rotating ring when it starts loading. I decide to go straight into the Multiplayer which needs a bit of time...hence the loading ring...precious.

After connecting it Syncs the level data, which takes a while and is no real problem when you have internet as bad as it is in Australia. Once connected I have to read a goddamn User Agreement and then watch a guy run behind it. I notice a beautiful European City sitting behind the agreement and I just have to click Accept just to see it, which as I do I notice a sniper rifle and shotgun leaning against a wall.


It turns out once I've clicked it, there stands a fairly tough looking guy, very similar to a slimmed down version of Left 4 Dead 2's Coach. I'm informed that I'm Welcome to the Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Multiplayer and that I can now enter my Profile. What profile?! What is this, who am I?!

Anyway, I enter my profile and I see a small box showing off Uncharted TV and I'm mezmerised, however upon putting it to fullscreen I notice the YouTube logo in the corner and realize I'm wasting even more internets...despite how cool all those videos really look, showing off some great sequences such as Nathan stealth killing and some scene where a car crashes into a waterfall in a factory...yeah....


So I notice I have 10 grand and that my next rank up is 1300XP, so I'm assuming this has a very similar structure to CoD Blops in it's approach to multiplayer. I go into profile and it tells me about my character, appearance and...Emblem...very CoD Blops-y. In here, I  can change my load out and I notice some "Boosters" not unlike Perks and also my long weapon, All the guns are customizable including things such as clip size, how fast you reload and your accuracy when you fire just all over the place like a tool behind cover....also known as Blindfire Accuracy.

As I'm going through the load out customs I hear people getting shot off screen so I don't bother with the rest, except for a small gaze into character and I just keep going with generic custom hero, but I could have bought Drake apparently. There are also Elena, Victor, Chloe and Redshirt Drake, which if you're a Trekkie, you will probably laugh...then I saw something called Villain appareance which you can choose either a custom villain, or a few other characters from the series who have been not so good and/or generic.


I was quite intrigued but didn't really bother. The customization goes into the usual stuff but when you go into customizing with clothes...you have to buy them too. It's really weird, it's like buying a douchebag you don't like, a shirt. The voices however are free and not exactly as cool as Saints Row 3. I'd love a tough meat head Vinnie Jones kinda guy with a british or girl's voice.  Another thing I don't understand, and maybe it's cause I can't take proper crticism, is the choice of Taunt...again these you also have to pay for and it's a blow to to the system for me.


There's also a way to play the game Split Screen and online which I thought was awesome, a Community look where you can see other matches, tutorial videos and where you place on the board. So after all that customising and annoyance, I finally get into the game and I can choose Team DM, Plunder, Team Objective, Three Team DM, Free for All and Hardcore, I decide to go with Free For All, see how I fare.


Finding a game is easy and even if it's not you can actually go on Facebook and see who's online, if your profile and PSN account are linked and who can you annoy while you play a game. I don't imagine it has been integrated and my Facebook and PSN accounts are not linked so I don't bother. 


Grenades will have you temporarily injured and I take that chance with every person I see when I might die. The screen goes a bit grey when you're being shot at and then when you're in dire straits it'll go really grey and dark, but you have regnerating health, so it's kinda okay.


The climbing mechanisms in the game are incredible as I see people leaping from the second story and take guys down I climb on the roof of a truck slide through an open hole in the side of a building and take down three guys just standing around. Then I see an icon for an open treasure box, I run to it and are stopped by two guys before I press Triangle and grab some XP and cash. I slide past one and accidentally press Square doing a Melee attack and it's awesome, I knock him out whilst his mate shoots the hell out of me...not ideal, but still fantastic.


You can actually slide to cover and even duck behind big cover and it's great and instinctive. When you make a run for it, the perspective changes but never complicates things. Voting commences for the next map and it's cool as we vote for Syria or Desert Village. I decide to be a dick and go against the strain, but Syria it is. I notice its Last Chance to Customise and I decide to look over the tips and profile and yeah, you can spend the money you just got from your treasure hunting.


The second round a fare a lot better but eventually leave the match to try out a new type of game set. Taking a break while trying to write and aim, I get my neck snapped and it's freeflowing and quick and awesome. I'm sure it happened a lot more I would get a bit pissed off, but then I realise I can do the same thing...just not sure how...


Despite my connection, the gameplay never ever lags. It's never a pain in the ass and it all looks great even when there is a small connection break, it flashes a highly stylised image of a loosened cord, but then I jump right back in the game and take down a guy climbing on a ledge...I take it as a karmic kill, the game awards me $100 for being lucky, about the same, I guess.

I finish my game and I go back to the menu where Plunder intrigues me...then takes a while to find some players. It's a bit worrying after having a good experience with Free for All. I rationalise that a lot more people would be playing Free for All - even in a Beta and just wait it out, look up some other stuff online, brag about having the BEta, etc. I apparently find a full set of players but it won't load. I back out of the game and then back in again. I decide to give up and try again later. 

Team Objective is a lot easier to find people and I am thrown into a game and this time as the joining game counts down I'm joined by team members. They just un-casually stroll by and stand around me. It's a humourous site to see. The Team Objective is treasure hunting and holding idols for long periods of time. The logo of a Heart or what may or may not be knuckle dusters are a nice littel touch. The game is a lot more frantic . I grab the Idol at one point and it has some real weight to it. You can shoot while holding it, but don't even think of climbing a goddamn thing! You toss it away, I actually saw a few players toss it far and watch other players scramble for it and take them out, in an interesting kind of tactic.

The next thing I know it's DeathMatch, I don't encounter a soul but see bullets flying around me and our team wins, I shrug. Next it's Marked Man, one of my favourite multplayer types...unfortunately I'm the VIP and I get taken out in over a minute. Heroes win the match 3 to 1 and I love the smell of victory in the morning, a bit like Bacon and Pancakes with syrup all over it....Also I level up to Level 4 and decide to redo my load out.


I notice by this time how well balanced the game is for time and weaponry. The ultimate weapon in the game is doing a beatdown whenever necessary and it's a good equaliser. 
The Desert Level gets hit with a gigantic sand storm that is actually more fun than annoying and adds to the atmosphere. I actually upgrade during the storm whilst the music swells and I feel accomplished before being sniped out by a guy.


I'm at Level 5 by the time I get to "Three Team DM" and it's another long wait and by long it takes less than a minute because I'm an impatient asshat who writes reviews while he games. I decide to not bother changing my load out but I do purchase a new "Booster", Daredevil, just to see how it plays out. The 3 Team DM is 6 players each playing a co-op esque experienceThe level is all rooftops and parkouring around a broken hotel. It is just amazing and works beautifully with the surroundings.


You can zipline down, take a leap go into a building climb out of one and take out some enemies before grappling to a ledge and surprising another. I try a second round as I check my 10 grand and notice everyone who isn't on my team is a level 35...I hope for the best as they jibber and jabber on their Blue Tooth headsets. I brace myself for the map (different from before) and this is where I finally learn taunts and what they do...coz I'm an idiot. I do have to say that when you have to respawn, you often have two choices, respawning from your spawn point or on a team member. Unfortunatlely for the latter, you will need to make sure they're not in combat when you do so.


Next level I try out is Facility. A frosty landscape with submurged and dead vessels that were once aquatic beasts but now lie silent in this frozen graveyard. The look is fantastic and by this point I think I'm ready to head off to Team Deathmatch. The game type is fun but really only good if you've got a good co-op player. I'm not saying it was any of my partner's faults in the game, but my own sensibilities would have been better if I was playing with a bro or someone I had communication with.


Team DM is another one that takes a while but when you get in, it is beyond worth it. I've understood what was happening before when they switched up the gameplay types. here it's defined as power play and it really plays with the dynamic of both sides. So if your team is losing a power play can really turn it around for you and if you're bored of just running and shooting a whole new system being in place can really liven things up.


Finally, Hardcore mode focuses on fast gameplay and really intense one on one combat. I don't know if it was just the server or the players I was with but we always seemed to go for tighter maps and it was really fun. Really difficult but really fun. I only had two rounds of this before I felt like I needed to finish writing this and do some other work.


Am I missing someone, oh yeah, Plunder...well...I got in. It's another team game but why it's not apart of Team Objective becomes quite apparent fast. Plunder is all about the money. You can find riot shields on the battlefield and take out as many people on the other team and do it as quickly as possible...wait...that kinda sounds a bit like Team Objective...and it kind of is. For anyone who has played the game or the Beta can tell me what Plunder is, I'd appreciate it immensely.


So yeah, despite the fact I haven't played Uncharted 2 or it's beta I've felt an overall satisfying experience. Of course apart of that is in the fact I didn't have to pay for it, I had good team mates and that I'm more less easily satisfied when it comes to multiplayer with team based objectives...anyway, the game comes out in less than a fortnight and I hope it's single player is as good as it's multiplayer.

Harrison E is contemplating how bad he wants BF3, Arkham City OR Uncharted 3 now...or just go and be a treasure hunter and get all three.

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