• 

  Hands On: Uncharted 3 Multiplayer (PS3)

  Nachiket 'therapist' Mhatre, Jul 04, 2011 2200 hrs IST

  Looks promising.

  

Page 1 - Customisation, Weapons & Power-Ups Page 2 - Maps & Power Play

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)
Release Date: 1st November, 2011
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Genre: Action-Adventure


Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception may be a long way from its November release date, but we managed to get access to the closed multiplayer beta over the weekend. The beta was restricted solely to Infamous 2 owners. However, as of today, it is available to to anyone with a PSN account. The multiplayer modes include the classic PvP deathmatch dubbed Free for All, in addition to Team Deathmatch, Three Team Deathmatch, Hardcore, and Co-Op Arena. In Team Deathmatch, players are split into teams battling each other for frags, while Three Team Deathmatch does the same with the anarchy spread over three teams. This makes for intense battles, especially when all three teams converge in an area. Hardcore mode is Free For All with all power-ups and perks taken out of the equation. This distills the multiplayer experience down to skill. The Co-Op Arena is a survival mode that pits you and two of your buddies against never-ending waves of baddies; much like the Horde mode from Gears of War. The multiplayer beta continues till 13th July, so get cracking on the 1.6 GB download. The developer Naughty Dog has promised two additional multiplayer modes - Co-op Hunter and Co-op Adventure, in addition to a new Yemen map, which will be added on 9th July.

Customisation is a welcome addition to Uncharted 3.

Hello, Customisation!
Logging into the multiplayer mode presents an embedded video player called Uncharted TV. At the moment, it's populated with multiplayer introduction videos and game promo material, but that will soon make way for kill-of-the-week videos and such, reminiscent of a similar implementation in Call of Duty multiplayer. While the second Uncharted had a plain vanilla multiplayer mode, Naughty Dog has finally brought customisation to the franchise. Killing enemies in myriad ways earns players medals and money, which can then be spent on various unlocks and modifications.

You can change the appearance of your multiplayer avatar with fully customisable clothing, headgear, and a unique way to express yourself with DIY emblems, which should lead to much hilarity considering the creativity of the online community. The mods go beyond mere eye candy. The game allows you to increase weapon clip sizes, add better scopes, and increase the speed, accuracy, and damage of your weapons. Some of these mods can be purchased outright, but the better ones need unlocking. Racking up kills earns you medals and treasures, which are vital to level up your character. The higher the level of your character, the better the power-ups, perks, and weapon mods get.

Earn medals and money to unlock weapon mods.

Weapons & Power-Ups
The game offers four weapon slots. The first two slots account for a primary weapon \ sidearm combo, while two other slots house Boosters - Uncharted's version of the perk system. These power-ups boost player attributes or add some form of lethality for the duration of the round, for a cost. I never found myself buying a single Booster, as the cost was too steep for what was offered. The last slot lets you select Medal Kickbacks, which is akin to the generic killstreak. It becomes deployable as soon as you collect the requisite number of medals. Unlike Boosters, Medal Kickbacks deliver uber-cool powers, which include instant RPG spawns, grenades that transform into cluster bombs, never having to reload, and one that even lets you turn into a swarm of spiders.

Page 1 - Customisation, Weapons & Power-Ups Page 2 - Maps & Power Play

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