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In the early days of the PS3s life, owners of the system didnt have much to grab at for original content, or more accurately content in general. So when a game like Uncharted: Drakes Fortune was announced, I gave a sigh of apathy. I didnt like the Tomb Raider series and this new franchise seemed to be a copy paste of it with less boobs. But with nothing better on the horizon, I lethargically reserved the game just so Id have something on the console. What I received was a fast paced 3rd person shooter with excellent characters, superb voice acting, and some of the best storytelling Ive ever seen in a game. On top of all that, the game was blast to play. This caused me to jump on getting Uncharted 2: Among Thieves without even a second thought. Not only did I receive what I got from the first, they did an even better job with it. So one year later, here we are again with another of Nathan Drakes adventures in......

UNCHARTED 3: DRAKES DECEPTION: (PS3)

The game starts off with our now iconic protagonist, Nathan Drake, walking with old sidekick Sully to what appears to be a seedy bar to make an exchange. A well dressed British man named Talbot opens a case to unveil a buttload of money and in exchange he is handed the ring that hangs from Drakes neck. As the British man authenticates the ring Drake inspects the money.? We find that the ring is legit but the money is not. They try to take the ring back and bar room brawl breaks out where you then take control of the game. You find out that the ring belonged to Francis Drake, and it works as a key to a decoder which will unveil the secrets connecting Francis Drake to Lawrence of Arabia, and why his voyage took a six month detour. The goal is made that you are trying to find the "Atlantis of the Sands" and a valuables it holds.

Marlowe rubbing salt in the wounds sustained from the bar fight.

The gun combat feels the same yet different. Functionally, the buttons and engine are the same as before. If you played either of the other two games nothing about the game will seem foreign to you.  Shoulder up with the L1 button, Fire with R1, Reload R2.  Its the same run and gun, cover based 3rd person shooter that has worked in so many over these games before. Yet as I played through the game something just didnt feel right.  As I would play through the game it dawned on me that I would have to hit them with an pretty large amount of bullets before the enemy would drop. On more than one occasion I would land what I could clearly see was a well placed head shot and yet the enemy would still not fall. Sometimes it would take 2 or 3 shots to the head before some enemies dropped. The other big thing that bothered me is that the movement controls did not feel very tight this time around. Several times I would try to run my way for cover only have to Drake bobble step right into a wall or miss my turn completely because he was doing some over the top stagger animation. I would try to move from ledge to ledge while hanging but Id really need to shove on the controller to get him to put his stupid hand up so he would make the right jump instead of just jumping in place. Some other glitchy things kinda bothered me too. There would be an occasional instance where I would be playing the game and then the music would just cut at random, then seconds later would continue on. There were jarring and was surprised to have that happen. Naughty Dog usually polished the hell out of the game.

Aside from perhaps Killer Instinct, a fighting game I have always been pretty proud about being good in was Marvel vs Capcom 2. I played the game constantly in the arcade (remember what those were?) and Ive whipped many a chump out of their hard earned quarters with the surprisingly simple Ryu, Akuma, Morrigan combo. So I was pretty excited for Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of two Worlds and purchased it in kind. But if there is anything Capcom loves to do, its to rehash the shit out of a game theyre released instead of just making a new one. And MVC3 was no exception. I said I wasnt going to buy this, but a combo of peer pressure and trade value drove me to update to....

ULTIMATE MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3: (XB360/PS3)

There really isnt much variance in the play modes of the game. You have your standard arcade mode, where you just play 8 or 9 fights to the last boss. You have a training mode to play around in and a mission mode to try to learn specific combos. When you beat the game you unlock the ending and soundtrack to the character you won with. But unlike the original MVC3, there are no characters to unlock. I personally have never been a fan of this because it gives the player very little incentive to play by them self they do not have anything to earn by doing it. Then we have the online mode, its basically the same as the Verses mode you can play with a friend at home, but with more lag, people interrupting your arcade mode,  and people quitting if you are too good.

The last thing I guess I should address is the characters as well. On the Marvel side they added: Nova, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Fist, Hawkeye, Dr. Strange, and Ghost Rider. I have heard of 2 or 3 of these guys tops. None of them really made me go ape shit to play as any of them and Ive yet to use them for any major length of time. On the Capcom side they added: Strider, Firebrand, Phoenix Wright, Frank West, The Nemesis, and Virgil. Now this line up was pretty stoke about since only one of them Im pretty unfamiliar with and i never used  anyways (Strider).  While I love the addition of these characters, some of them just dont make sense to use. Phoenix Wright is nothing short of hilarious because none of his attacks are actually attacks. He has a very short range and requires you finding 3 pieces of evidence and hitting them with an objection before you really unlock some of his bigger moves. Frank West, the character I wanted most, as lots of different moves that change as he levels during the match, but you have to hit the camera snap at the right moments to go up a level and for me its been pretty difficult to hit. People like Firebrand, Nemesis and Virgil mesh with this game perfectly though, and combo together very well.

Virgil may be a bad ass, but I call bullshit: Nobody messes the Nemesis up.

Its difficult to rate a game like this because I begin to question their relevance. With online gaming taking a front seat these days in the development of gaming, the one on one fighters seem like a natural fit. But when I play the game online, it doesnt feel as satisfying. I dont get any real enjoyment out of seeing a number next to me name informing me that theres about 1.8 million other assholes who are better than me at the game. It pretty much feels like I am playing the game in the single player mode. Less so in fact because at least in single player mode I can unlock an ending when I win 8 times, I dont get lag from the arcade mode, or have people drop out of the game just as I am about to win. But just as I go to say that you probably could skip out on getting a game like this, I go to a fight night with some friends where we are all playing in the same room. Now the games are tense, heart rate jumps up. I can hear cheering or AWWWS when close match finishes. WAY more fun that playing the game solo. This is why they make games like these, the are intended to be played in a group thats what makes them fun.

But in this same fight night, I realized something. There are two types of people who play games like this. People like me, who find some characters they like learn some core moves and develop a strategy. Plays the game, has fun with it, and generally enjoys it. Then there is the "Other guy". You know that guy. Has one character he never deviates from. Learns their entire move set. Learns everyone Elses move set. Knows you are going to throw that Hadouken and is going roll forward MP at the 5th frame of the animation which will counter your move, bounce you up and then allow him to string together an air juggle that will deplete an entire life bar. We did a tournament at the fight night and a lot of the games were very close. But this one guy would just participate on another level. I refuse to use the word play. Because that kind of person doesnt play the game, they study it, make it a chore. The execute the game. Personally, I think if you are playing the game that way then you are missing the whole point. Unless you are professional or competitive gamer, youre just a prick to everyone else you are playing with.

I suppose I could give the game a recommendation if you are a fan of fighting games, fan of the series, or just have a number of people over to game on a fairly frequent basis. The fights are fast, flashy, and easy to pick up and play. Its a fairly competent fighting game and it definitely works in a groups setting but unless you are one of "those guys" I cant imagine you will keep playing it after a few weeks. I just rather that Capcom would have waited another few months and put all the characters in the first time instead of charging me an extra 40 bucks for it.

Pricks.