Platinum Reflection - Uncharted 3 - A better game than I remembered

[DarthMagnus0605]

 

Hi trophy hunters. With the release of Uncharted: the Nathan Drake Collection on PS+ I took the opportunity to go back and finish my journey to get the platinum for each of the games. I had already gotten the platinum for Uncharted 1 but was only halfway through Uncharted 2 before I fell off and went to play other games, most notably Uncharted 4. I finished getting the Platinum in Uncharted 2 and sat down this month to work on getting the Platinum for Uncharted 3. I wanted to offer some reflective thoughts on the third installment in the game and also shamelessly plug my Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/DarthMagnus0605) as this was my first attempt to chronicle my journey in getting the Platinum in this game and I wanted to experiment with making youtube videos on Platinum/Trophy hunting as a passion project. I would love it if people would check it out and offer feedback on what they liked and didn’t like. 

 

I played Uncharted 3 back when it first came out on PS3 and I remember enjoying the journey but being slightly disappointed. It felt too similar to Uncharted 2 and I didn’t feel like it did enough to push the series forward in meaningful ways. Therefore I was slightly nervous that my Platinum playthrough for this game would evoke the same dissapointment as before. I was happy to find out that this game has aged very well for me and is a much better experience today than it was back then. Some of the complaints I had when the game first came out were still there but I felt less pressured this time to compare it to the previous game and as a result I had way more fun. The globetrotting journey was still enjoyable and the dynamic between Drake and Sully was still emotionally resonant. The spectacle moments like the plane sequence or cruise ship are still thrilling to play through and Chapter 18 remains one of the most memorable sequences in the entire franchise. Overall I am very glad I had the chance to go back and play this game.

 

The platinum trophy journey was fairly similar to the last 2 uncharted games and overall it did not change much of my opinion of the game. I think that Crushing difficulty was just balanced enough to feel challenging but still fair. The collectible hunt was simple enough and I got most of my trophies on the main campaign and only had a few weapon-related kill trophies to mop up. Overall this was an enjoyable Platinum hunt.

 

• Favorite trophy to earn: Riot Rocker - I loved some of the animations in this game and the one where Nathan runs over a riot shield enemy just to snap his neck from the back is such a baller move it was easily my favorite trophy to earn.
• Least favorite trophy to earn: Reload Master - On the surface this seemed like such an easy trophy but there were so many instances where I just wasn’t paying attention and accidentaly went through my whole clip and had to start over. My safest way of getting the trophy ended up being in chapter 8 when you get the sniper rifle. I used it on 4 of the guards and kept reloading the checkpoint until it popped. Not fun at all

 

What are your thoughts on this game and what were your favorite and least favorite moments when working towards the platinum?

[Conor]

When I first tried to play it, it didnt grab me. Maybe I was too fresh from U2 so it felt too samey. I let it sit for a few months then came back to it, loved it and went straight through for the platinum. The game really does repeat a lot of beats from the first two games though, it's better than the first game but U2 was so much better still.

[Grample_Gust]

first game i ever played on the PS3 and still my favorite of the original trilogy, its only when u crank the difficulty to brutal where i think the other games are objectively better to play

[DarthMagnus0605]

20 hours ago, Grample_Gust said:

first game i ever played on the PS3 and still my favorite of the original trilogy, its only when u crank the difficulty to brutal where i think the other games are objectively better to play

 

Yeah I really want to try Brutal just to be able to 100% the game but every time i look at a video on it I get more turned off to the idea. It just seems like it would suck the fun out of the game and not worth the effort. Crushing was just right in terms of difficulty balance

[Grample_Gust]

4 hours ago, DarthMagnus0605 said:

 

Yeah I really want to try Brutal just to be able to 100% the game but every time i look at a video on it I get more turned off to the idea. It just seems like it would suck the fun out of the game and not worth the effort. Crushing was just right in terms of difficulty balance

bro i literally just completed brutal yesterday night and youre absolutely right, you couldnt pay me to sit thru it again

[Asmund]

Felt like it was lacking. This past week or so has been my first time playing the Uncharted games, Uncharted 1 was a long time coming and I really got to experience what I had been missing, I enjoyed it. Uncharted 2 refined the gameplay IMO and everything felt streamlined to a degree, probably my favorite of the series thus far. Given that a 100% is 3 playthroughs you really have to enjoy the game to do it, especially in a day or 2 like I did for each game. Bringing us to Uncharted 3, things felt like they were a tad clunkier, aiming wasn't as accurate and I really disliked the movements (Nate was running with a stick up his butt the entire game),and about half way through I was like oh god I have to do this 2 more times . I didn't hate it, but I also did not love it like the previous two. Which I think that is my biggest point, by the 3rd playthrough of 1 I was kinda like okkkkk I'm ready to play a different game now, The 3rd playthrough of 2 I was kinda sad to say goodbye to the game. Then there's 3 which I was meh'd out during the 1st playthrough, Brutal was like pulling nails, and I've taken the time to type all this here before doing the last run for speed run THAT'S how much I'm dreading it.

 

One thing I appreciated as someone playing it 3 times back to back with little to no breaks was that Crushing and Brutal on 3 were not even close to as hard as 1 & 2 were. In those games there were levels that a short scene could play (such as a box falling over) then as soon as it ended bang headshot you're dead with almost no time to move, you had to practically reload the checkpoint till the AI missed his shot. Uncharted 3 seemed to have some type of damage throttling system where you didn't take as much damage in certain areas or after certain events for a brief moment. (Which was a blessing). Although to be fair playing each game in the series one after the next with very little downtime probably helps accustom you to the difficulty curve.

 

Just did my crushing and brutal runs......now off to the kill me now speed run (not hard, just tired of playing this game).

[kaltezhan]

Been playing the Collection non stop for the past three weeks. Just beat 3 on Crushing, and I think I liked it better than A Thiefs End. Chapter 17 is pure bliss, and I felt 3 was a huge leap from 2. Loved the way this series evolved. I think 3 also has a better pacing than 2, with Talbot being the main weakness of the game.

I was originally planning on playing each entry with a month break from another, but when I finished Drake's Fortune, I just wanted more. Loved the way each game felt it's own thing, even with 3+ playthroughs required to 100%. Naughty Dog really outdid themselves, and on my terms, Drake's Deception beats The Last of Us as the best looking game on PS3.

 

Still working on my speedrun and brutal on Drake's Deception, while also trying not to screw Reload Master for the fourth time. If I could rank them, I'd go with:
1. Deception

2. Lost Legacy

3. Among Thieves

4. Thief's End (Gotta give a bonus for Rafe as best villain. None of the others had this "competition among thieves" vibe)

5. Fortune

 

Not ready to throw this series under the carpet, need a young Sully spin-off.

Edited February 14, 2020 by kaltezhan