Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta Impressions

Before you take into account the contents of this (or any) multiplayer impression, know that since the beta launched just a few days ago everyone is still in the honeymoon stage. That’s to say that any opinion is a little bit more favorable that usual as those nasty exploits and glitches haven’t surfaced yet. That being said, it is my opinion that if this beta is any indication, Uncharted 3’s multiplayer is shaping up to be the one of the best multiplayer experiences of this year.

It all starts with you customizing your style of play. When you boot up the beta for the first time, you are taken to the customization options before you are allowed to join a match. Customization is a huge part of Uncharted 3 multiplayer and the beta really flaunts the goods. Uncharted 3 allows for more than just customizing weapon loadouts and mods, boosters (essentially perks like in the Call of Duty series), and kickbacks (boosts after attaining a certain number of kills). You can customize your own hero and villain avatar from a mind boggling amount of choices. What to dress up Nathan Drake in a green French sweater with sunglasses and beach sandals? Go ahead. The options are just as deep to when you do what I did and customize you own character from a list of presets. After finding the right jeans to go with you speed reloading pistol and extended magazine AK-47, its time for the carnage.

With a current offering of two maps and standard Free-for-All and Team Deathmatch variants, the beta’s playlist isn’t exactly unique. What makes the multiplayer such a joy to play, then, is the way the verticality and traversal of the single-player is beautifully implemented. Maps are multi-tiered with fully scalable surfaces, and it’s these acrobatics that can turn a standard Team Deathmatch into something all its own. Naughty Dog is also trying to translate the cinematic experience of the single player into its multiplayer. The only example of this so far is the map Airstrip where the hero team spawns inside a massive cargo plane attempting takeoff, and the villain team spawns on fast moving trucks. If you spawn on the villain team, your objective (remember, this is a standard Team Deathmatch game) is to jump from truck to truck and fight your way into the cargo plane. If you are on the hero team, keep the villains at bay until take off. After this sequence, both teams meet up in a traditional multiplayer map setting. The takeoff sequence is quite a sight to behold as the sense of speed is incredible. It doesn’t last particularly long, though, witch is actually a good thing as it presents one of the biggest imbalances to the game so far. Basically, if you are on the villain team, your team had better have its stuff together or else the match is too easily lost. Villains are at a huge disadvantage as the have to contend with traversing from truck to truck (from which you can fall and die) while the team in the plane only has to lock down two small side entrances and the main entrance. Unless the hero team is grossly incompetent, they can easily rack up the kills and have a comfy 10-15 kill lead before the sequence is done and the teams meet up in the hangars. Even in beta form, decisions like this (choosing style over balancing) that have me fearing Uncharted 3’s multiplayer will have great potential to be abandoned early in favor of games like Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3. I just hope Naughty Dog finds some way to balance this out, because not event the power plays are enough. What is a power play you ask?  Power plays in Uncharted 3 are minute long boosts that the loosing team can use to give them a fighting chance. These include (in this order) the winning team having a VIP whose death counts as more than 1 point, being able to see the gamertags of enemies wherever they are in the map, and finally double damage to all of your weapons.

The last piece of the beta experience is the co-op mode, a really awesome co-op mode; the thought of it has me agonizing that I have to write this impression instead of playing it right now. Playable on both beta maps, the co-op experience has 3 players carrying out dynamically changing objectives. These range from surviving a wave if enemies, to maintaining control of a territory where you kills only count if your team is in the territory, and moving a treasure from one side of the map to the other. What makes the co-op so great is the high level of dependence that all the players have on each other. If you’re acting like lone wolf, or a team-killing jerk, defeat is inevitable. If you’re communicating and making a real effort to watch each others back, the co-op shines like the jewel it is. I haven’t had this much fun in co-op since Gears of War 2’s Horde mode, my favorite co-op mode ever.

So there you have it, the rundown on everything in the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta. Remember that all copies of Infamous 2 come with an early access beta code, and all PlayStation Plus members can get in early as well; early access starting on June 28^th and regular access on July 5^th. Also keep in mind that this is a beta, an unfinished version of the final product, so don’t judge the minor bouts of texture pop-in too harshly. Naughty Dog has also confirmed that more modes and other goodies will be added as the beta continues up until it’s scheduled ending on July 14^th. If you don’t have a copy of Infamous 2 or a Playstation Plus membership, here is an early access code for two lucky readers.

MQPH-L7NT-GDTG
CC22-TGNP-36AQ

Enjoy!

Music Credits: Uncharted 3 “Eldorado Megamix” by DJ Shadow