Uncharted Golden Abyss Thoughts

[substantial_snake]

Warning: Spoilers Inbound

So I just finished the big Vita launch title and have to say that the general 7s I see it getting are fair.

There are only two sections of the game that really really pissed me off. The first was the mudslide scene where you had to use tilt to control drake through a series of rapids. My general dislike of tilt controls was just compounded by not having an alternative like nearly everything else in the game. I died on that thing unfairly so many times in that last stretch of left rock, right rock, left rock, right rock that I really wanted to just turn the game off.

The other section was the climatic ending boss fights with both the General and Dante. Instead of having an epic boss battle or even just an impressive cut scene the boss fight instead is a series of quick time style swipe gestures. This nearly drove me crazy because not only was it disappointing but it was just boring because instead of watching the action or performing it your waiting for the next swipe gesture to appear on the screen. In addition they aren't just a short sequence, they each last for a least a couple of minutes a piece and you only have two chances to mess up (on hard difficulty). Overall really disappointing and frustrating if you manage to mess up.

Other then those very frustrating things I really enjoyed it. The music and visuals were great as expected. The traditional shooting controls could of been tighter (like Unit 13) but were still good enough to pull off many many headshots through out the game and you can use the tilt controls to augment your accuracy. I am not a fan of that with normal shooting but for very minute adjustments sniping it worked very well. They also integrated several basic functions like pick-up weapon, grenade, etc. into the front touch screen and I found them to work very well too.

The game has a lot of several decent puzzles and I actually liked how they integrated the touch screen with making charcoal rubbings and cleaning objects off. There are also just tons and tons of things to collect if you like exploring each 'stage" of the game with different sets of rubbings to collect into mini puzzles, random significant items, and a photo mini game. I thought the story was decent and was actually pleased that they chose not to include a monster-of-the-week in the final chapters of the game. The idea that this lost city of gold was radioactive was interesting and something I didn't see coming as the "useless treasure" reason, however everything else was pretty predicable as in the other uncharted games.

The only other negatives I have about the game are that they felt the need to put swipe controls into a lot of basic simple things without an alternative. Things in the PS3 versions of the series like helping someone up a ladder or getting through a door area now "SWIPE UP TO ACTIVATE THIS" and it got old really really fast. The new characters are lacking as well. The random in-action witty dialog between Drake and his partners IMO is pretty bland between him and the new cast with most of it between him and Chase being forgettable and between he and Dante entirely forgettable. I managed to get a smile out of his and Sully's banter but only two thirds into the game does he make an appearance.

TL/DR

Pros:
-Music and Visuals are great.
-Very true to the series
-Tons of more things to collect, more exploration emphasized
-Majority of alternative controls still have "regular" solid alternatives

Cons:
-Dialog for new characters is sub par
-Ending boss battles are disappointing
-Mandatory swipe controls for things that don't need it

Meh:
-Overuse of the "VITA can do this!" (subjective)
-Low replay value unless you like collecting everything

Overall I want to see another Bend Studio Uncharted game, just without all of the "MOMMY! MOMMY! LOOK AT WHAT I CAN DO!" crap that they threw into the game. If they do produce another one down the road after the "LOOK! SWIPE!" factor has worn off I think it can be a truly great entry to the series instead of just a good one.

[gepeto]

I admire anyone who can complete a handheld game. When I was young I use to be commited like that probably because it was all I could afford but now I get to distracted.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I've not finished it yet but I'm finding the treasure hunting/photo taking to be surprisingly entertaining aspects of the game. Since the game isn't as long as the console entries in the series I'm hoping to 100% the hidden treasures, photos, and other assorted side-goals.

[dairugger]

I admire anyone who can complete a handheld game. When I was young I use to be commited like that probably because it was all I could afford but now I get to distracted.

from my experience with the psp and ds, handheld games play just like their console bretherin. the days of stripped down gameboy games is over. :-)

[Oobgarm]

I bought it with the intention of playing it, but ended up returning it. Didn't think the slightly average scores justified the $50.

Closer inspection brought me to the conclusion that it is a fancy tech demo wrapped up in an Uncharted skin.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Hmmph.

As I progress through the game (slowly due to my compulsion to get all the treasures, photos and secrets on each chapter) I'm finding that almost everything that every reviewer cites as an extreme negative is an aspect of the game that I'm particularly enjoying.

Also, I'm wondering if anybody who has a problem with the aiming turned off the tilt controls for aiming and lowered the analog sensitivity to about 20%. Once you do that it's really no different than any of the console Uncharted games.

It may not be the epic experience that Uncharted 2 or 3 are from a storytelling perspective, but it's still a showcase of a game on a portable system in the same way that the God of War games were on PSP. All the rubbing and dusting aside, it hits all the action and story beats that an Uncharted game needs to. It's pretty close to a shorter version of Uncharted 1 IMO.

Though, I can agree that the $50 cost of entry is a bit much. No shame in waiting for this to go on sale or be a greatest hits.

[Gamereviewgod]

Also, I'm wondering if anybody who has a problem with the aiming turned off the tilt controls for aiming and lowered the analog sensitivity to about 20%. Once you do that it's really no different than any of the console Uncharted games.

I did both and still didn't find a sweet spot. Very floaty. I eventually turned on auto aim which was the only solution I could find. That said, I actually enjoyed the motion controls, especially with the sniper rifle. In general practice though, it was annoying.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I did both and still didn't find a sweet spot. Very floaty. I eventually turned on auto aim which was the only solution I could find. That said, I actually enjoyed the motion controls, especially with the sniper rifle. In general practice though, it was annoying.

Ah. Yeah, a bit floaty, but that's probably compensation for the teensy analog's dead-zone. Though I hear Unit 13 has great aiming.

[dairugger]

Hmmph.

As I progress through the game (slowly due to my compulsion to get all the treasures, photos and secrets on each chapter) I'm finding that almost everything that every reviewer cites as an extreme negative is an aspect of the game that I'm particularly enjoying.

Also, I'm wondering if anybody who has a problem with the aiming turned off the tilt controls for aiming and lowered the analog sensitivity to about 20%. Once you do that it's really no different than any of the console Uncharted games.

It may not be the epic experience that Uncharted 2 or 3 are from a storytelling perspective, but it's still a showcase of a game on a portable system in the same way that the God of War games were on PSP. All the rubbing and dusting aside, it hits all the action and story beats that an Uncharted game needs to. It's pretty close to a shorter version of Uncharted 1 IMO.

Though, I can agree that the $50 cost of entry is a bit much. No shame in waiting for this to go on sale or be a greatest hits.

You too?? I thought i was the only one whos been having a blast with uncharted. Ive only played 5 minutes of the first one but so far im having a blast!

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

You too?? I thought i was the only one whos been having a blast with uncharted. Ive only played 5 minutes of the first one but so far im having a blast!

Yeah ... I mean, I totally get the "average" review scores considering that this is an entry in an existing franchise that doesn't completely re-invent or dramatically innovate, but I've seen a lot of people completely writing the game off because of those scores or because of all the touch-screen "tasks", which ARE plentiful but I find myself really having a lot of fun with.

IMO, If anything I think it's a really solid launch lineup entry, a very decent Uncharted game (considering it wasn't produced by Naughty Dog) and it's laying some foundation for a more complex sequel, which is all but inevitable.

[substantial_snake]

I think its unfair for people to dismiss the game for getting mostly 7 and 8ish level review scores. Its still a really fun game with a lot to offer there are just a few things that hold it back from being a 9ish game. I would rant about reviewers artificially creating a 5-10 rating system out of a percived 1-10 system but since people seem to really buy into it I can't really blame just them.

[kupomogli]

Uncharted Golden Abyss may very well be a 7.5/10, but with how the rating system is now, people look at any of these review sites that rate nothing below a 6/10 and then it looks like an extremely low score.

One thing is these same review sites praise some garbage launch titles on the 360, PS3, Wii, and 3DS because there aren't any other games on the consoles and their review policy is to review the games based on games they've played on that system alone, so some early launch titles that weren't very good got some fairly high ratings. Yet with Uncharted on the Vita, these same sites policies suddenly changed and they're comparing these games to other games this gen. This as well is unfair. If you're going to blow review scores out of proportion and give other games an unfair advantage, why does the policy suddenly change and the newest game in a certain series gets bashed for not being as good as Uncharted 2 and 3.

Uncharted Golden Abyss, atleast if legitimate review sites are anything to go by, is worse than Ridge Racer 7 and much worse than Ridge Racer for the PSP. Highly unlikely. It only proves that these "legitimate" review sites are shit when there review policies change from game to game.

Many reviews in many of these same sites mention how they mark some games down for being worse by having similarities to the previous title, yet the next Call of Duty always gets in the 90s despite being the exact same game just about. IGN is especially a piece of shit site, with many notable reviews that will make you question their business ethics. Being a fan of the Yakuza series, I would say that their review of Yakuza 3 is pretty overrated. I love the Yakuza games, but 8.5 is a bit much. The editor who reviewed Yakuza 3 mentioned how much he enjoyed Yakuza 3, and gave it an 8.5/10. It's overrated, but cool, loved the game. Then Yakuza 4, with four characters, a better storyline, and overall more to the game and he slams the game in the review, not marking it down just a little, but hitting it with a 6.5. The exact same reviewer. Even though the world is the same, how the hell can you go from an 8.5 to a 6.5 with how much more Yakuza 4 has to offer? You'd assume from the review scores that Yakuza 4 is a worse game, but it's not worse, it just looks that way due to IGNs, and many other review sites, unprofessionalism.

[Bojay1997]

Uncharted Golden Abyss may very well be a 7.5/10, but with how the rating system is now, people look at any of these review sites that rate nothing below a 6/10 and then it looks like an extremely low score.

One thing is these same review sites praise some garbage launch titles on the 360, PS3, Wii, and 3DS because there aren't any other games on the consoles and their review policy is to review the games based on games they've played on that system alone, so some early launch titles that weren't very good got some fairly high ratings. Yet with Uncharted on the Vita, these same sites policies suddenly changed and they're comparing these games to other games this gen. This as well is unfair. If you're going to blow review scores out of proportion and give other games an unfair advantage, why does the policy suddenly change and the newest game in a certain series gets bashed for not being as good as Uncharted 2 and 3.

Uncharted Golden Abyss, atleast if legitimate review sites are anything to go by, is worse than Ridge Racer 7 and much worse than Ridge Racer for the PSP. Highly unlikely. It only proves that these "legitimate" review sites are shit when there review policies change from game to game.

Many reviews in many of these same sites mention how they mark some games down for being worse by having similarities to the previous title, yet the next Call of Duty always gets in the 90s despite being the exact same game just about. IGN is especially a piece of shit site, with many notable reviews that will make you question their business ethics. Being a fan of the Yakuza series, I would say that their review of Yakuza 3 is pretty overrated. I love the Yakuza games, but 8.5 is a bit much. The editor who reviewed Yakuza 3 mentioned how much he enjoyed Yakuza 3, and gave it an 8.5/10. It's overrated, but cool, loved the game. Then Yakuza 4, with four characters, a better storyline, and overall more to the game and he slams the game in the review, not marking it down just a little, but hitting it with a 6.5. The exact same reviewer. Even though the world is the same, how the hell can you go from an 8.5 to a 6.5 with how much more Yakuza 4 has to offer? You'd assume from the review scores that Yakuza 4 is a worse game, but it's not worse, it just looks that way due to IGNs, and many other review sites, unprofessionalism.

The problem with your analysis is that Sony has hyped the Vita as something that's almost as powerful as a current gen console (it may actually be more powerful than the Wii, it's hard to really compare apples to apples given the different architectures) and decided to price the game at just $10 less than a AAA game on the 360 and PS3. As such, there is undoubtedly going to be a very high level of scrutiny of the game, especially given its beloved heritage. Having said that, I think it's a pretty average game for a handheld. It's certainly not up to the standards of the console games which is unfortunate seeing as how the Vita should be capable of creating something up to those standards based on how the game looks and plays in the really good sections. I found myself getting bored pretty quickly and I can't for the life of me figure out why the whole touch interaction was added. It literally contributes nothing to the gameplay and it sure isn't fun.

With general regard to your points about reviews and reviewers, yes, there is undoubtedly inconsistency and all sorts of factors like pressure from publishers and even a lack of professionalism out there. Of course, in this media climate, I think that's pretty ubiquitous across all sorts of journalism and reviewing. Until it gets to the point that professionally trained journalists are making decent money for legitimate media outlets reviewing games, you're always going to have a lack of standards and consistency. The very fact that the major newspapers generally only have one main reviewer for restaurants, for films, etc...makes consistency much less of an issue. Game websites and magazines generally have dozens of reviewers, most of whom are freelancers without actual journalism training or experence. Ultimately, you just have to do your homework and find reviewers you can trust and even then sometimes you have to make up your own mind by taking a gamble.

[kupomogli]

Alright, so I beat Golden Abyss.

As for the storyline, I liked it. It was a little faulty at parts, but for the most part, it was about as good as the original. All the characters were likeable allies and villains, and even if the storyline was terrible, the long stretch of conversations when traveling with Sully would have made it completely worth it. No matter what the game, Sully easily comes out as my favorite character.

The touch screen portions were hit and miss. After I figured you didn't have to do them in the areas that they were located, they become much less of an inconvenience. When it wants you to swipe down the screen, a quick swipe on the bottom left next to the left analog is all that is needed. Same thing with other directions. The only times I really needed to do use the larger portion of the touch screen was when the large S like one came on the screen as it sometimes failed doing it on the bottom screen. Where the touch screen missed for me though, is when reloading and throwing a grenade. More often than not, I had to hit the reload option multiple times before Nate would react to it, and the same thing whenever I was aiming to toss a quick grenade. As an extra button the touch screen did work great as I never had a problem picking up a treasure I was over, or anything like that, but for some reason it just didn't want to do my reload and grenade toss function when I wanted it to, but whether that's the game or me, who knows.

Now one thing about the game is that the game starts slow, but the gameplay is just as good as any other Uncharted game. Like others have said, it has some deadzone, but it's a very small amount. I've seen other people mention they need to change the aim speed lower, but I've left it at the standard speed because anything lower feels too slow. I really have no problem with pulling off quick sniper shots with the analog or taking out waves of enemies. The combat was well done, and also the melee was easy to use even with the new touch function, as just like previously, a quick directional swipe in the bottom left corner did the job well.

Now what did get to be a bit much with the touch screen features was the amount of charcoal rubbins, especially at the end. I was not only doing quicktime events to save myself from falling in a pit, but charcoal rubbing after charcoal rubbing. It broke up the action and was pretty annoying. You could always not bother going for the extras, or if you complete all the extras then it won't be required to search or do those rubbings again. So a second play through would be much better than the first I'm sure.

As a rating of 7.5/10, I'd say that's fair as I'd probably give it a 3.5/5 or 4/5,, although when professional review sites blow reviews out of proportion, this 7.5 should be much higher to be balanced in comparison to their other exaggerated review scores. Anyways, great game, and if you're a fan of Uncharted, it's worth owning. If you're still holding back on purchasing the game because it's $50, once you do buy it you'll see that it's worth that price.