UNCHARTED @lj.com

Setting our expectations about what a story is going to be is important to storytelling. The Uncharted series sometimes fails to meet the expectations that it establishes for its players.

An implicit promise of storytelling is the concept that the beginning of the story sets up the expectations of the audience with regards to tone, basic concept, and generally the broad strokes of the areas that that story will and will not cover. It’s not so much a rule rather than just how things work. It’s why a creator spends so much time with the beginning of a work over the middle. First impressions matter because it tells so much of what is yet to come. It tells us what to expect and puts us in the right frame of mind for what is to come. Works that betray such a promise feel shoddy, unfocused, or an overall mess. Sometimes without anything being technically wrong with anything that comes afterwards.


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Author's Disclaimer: I bring you a very interesting read for people who might not have gotten what Naughty Dog did with Uncharted 3. It's also a very strong reason as to why I love this game so much.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was, to put it mildly, pretty well-received. Less known for innovating and more known for wrapping all the elements of its gameplay and narrative into a sleek package, the title proved that on a purely technical level, being a master of all trades isn’t quite as important as bringing gameplay and narrative together in a seamless fashion. It was flawed, to be sure, but an impressive accomplishment.

So Naughty Dog had their work cut out for them with Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. It was a game with enough pre-release hype that it felt like the months leading up to Metal Gear Solid 2 all over again. Drake’s Deception couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. To many, it did. To others, not so much. Naughty Dog’s ability to tell a story while seamlessly weaving it in and out of gameplay is still unparalleled. But the toned down story of Drake’s Deception itself meant that series-defining traits stood at odds with the story that needed to be told, versus the story that the some of its audience expected.

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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has been well-received in all quarters. Well, except for by Xbox 360 owners eager to pee on any PS3 exclusive that comes along, no matter how good it may be. But it seems not everyone is so enamored with some aspects of the game, with a possible backlash beginning with a rant about the lackluster storyline.

Uncharted 2 is currently sat at number two on the Metacritic chart for PS3 games with a score of 96 percent. It’s only being beaten by GTA IV, making it the top PS3 exclusive. The visuals and gameplay are nigh-on perfect, of that there is no doubt. But is all this goodness rendered pointless by a generic and disappointing narrative?

Dual Shockers believes so, calling out Uncharted 2 for its story and ending, both of which left the writer feeling disillusioned.

Does Gary Marston have a point? Is the storyline the one aspect of Uncharted 2 that fails to deliver? In a word, no. At least not in my personal opinion. Sure, it may be very reminiscent of countless other adventure books, films, and games, but show me a truly original concept in this day and age and I’ll give you a peanut. They’re very few and far between.

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