Uncharted 3 is alot of fun. but it isn’t nearly what Uncharted 2 or even Uncharted 1 was. it obviously does alot of things well, but there is just something… off… about the pacing of the game.
UC3 pacing…
[details=Spoiler] usually uncharted is paced pretty well. you have sections where you fight, then you have sections where you platform, then you have sections where you explore. you space them out so one or the other doesn’t get boring, and you bring people to a crescendo, then take them down a bit so they can breathe and take in the experience. in the end, the user never feels overwhelmed because you have these slow sections that break up the game.
so you have this section of the game where you solve puzzles with elena and sully, then shit hits the fan and you get ambushed at the bottom of the well. then you go through an acid trip. then you have a chase scene. then you get kidnapped by pirates. then you escape from pirates. then you board the pirates ship. then the ship sinks. then you are hijacking a plane. then the plane blows up in mid-air. WHERE’S THE PACING??? you go through 4 different locales, and there isn’t a single area to stop and take in what happened because they are throwing everything they can at you.
not that some of these sections aren’t fun. the chase scene is hype, the sinking boat is a good mind fuck, and there are some good challenges along the way. but the only slow parts you get during that time are cutscenes, and they usually aren’t that slow at all.
after getting through the desert (which was really slow, but welcome at this point) i felt tired. spent. some of the fights were harder than expected and in general there were some frustrating sections. but after completing a hard fight or platforming puzzle, you never get a chance to reflect on what you had accomplished, so there isn’t any self gratification for completing it. bam, you’re right into the next heart racer before you even remembered what you did. its all a blur.
maybe they expected the stealth sections to be the slow parts, but those can be even more stressful than the all out gun fights. maybe the platforming parts are supposed to be the slow parts, but they started integrating full on shooting segments and movie-esque scripted scenarios that never allow you to let your guard down and enjoy these sections.
i still really, really enjoy the game. but it needs some consistency with how its paced. i want to enjoy it more, but bad pacing can burn you out. and that was very much the case with me. in sections, it felt like it need to cram as much action as it could. there needs to be a balance when it comes to action, and there is too much action in the game, honestly.[/details]