I finished Uncharted 3 yesterday and I thought it was an amazing experience, but it still had many obstacles in its way to achieving what the designers wanted - a truly cinematic experience that was interactive.
Mainly, my criticism was that the combat was taking me out of the story. All throughout the game you encounter waves and waves of enemies to shoot and there was no way for these parts to feel like they served a greater purpose to the story rather than just being the "combat" part of the game.
The platforming, the chases and the puzzles succeeded in this aspect though and are integrated into the narrative very well. Also, if we are going to dissect the literary value of the game, I should point out that Uncharted shares the same problem that was all throughout Heavy Rain - relying too much on coincidences and random encounters to drive the game forward rather than actual cause and effect. There's a new character who appears towards the end of Uncharted 3 who just comes out of no where and while that's forgivable, it's a pretty hokey way to segueway from one sequence to the next.
Also, to be a little selfish - I wish there was more interactivity in the game's ending. Specifically,
Spoiler:I would have liked the option to choose to save Marlowe or to let her sink into the quicksand
.
Otherwise, this game is really satisfying and just writing about it has made me want to play it again. The characters, the score and the action are some of the best elements you'll experience this generation. It makes me excited for the new Tomb Raider.
