Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The game I have chosen for my 2nd review is a game millions were waiting on. Uncharted 2 is one of those titles that when heard, spoken, turns heads and opens ears. The 1st Uncharted was one of the 1st games I played for the PS3 and I must say it was a really good game, fun factor was off the meter, controls were good and the graphics were great and the story was very interesting. How could the title get any better?

Well the creators at Naughty Dog have pulled of this enormous feat. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is absolutely one of the best looking games out right now. Also being rated Teen means many from young and old can enjoy and be amazed by the brilliance that is Uncharted 2. Everything about this game is good from the controls all the way to the voice acting. First, lets talk about the controls. When you first put the controller in your hand and play the game it feels like instinct. Shooting, aiming, ducking, bending, melee attacks all feels natural, your fingers never fumble over themselves when engaged in those gunfights.

When it comes to your basic platforming skills jumping, hanging, running etc. the controls response is excellent in such situations. Drake’s jumping ability is incredible, almost super human like. You will come across many points in the game where the jump ahead looks impossible, but relax ye of little faith; Drake is the man for the job.

As you play through Uncharted 2 it almost feels like going on a vacation. There are many astonishing, vibrant, breathtaking environments to feast your eyes upon. Snowy mountains are beautiful and refreshing, looks so real you almost feel a cool mountain breeze. Swampy, wet rain forest will leave you hot, sweaty, and stanky … yes, stanky. Lush, gorgeous, green jungles teaming with animal life, if you pay attention you may witness it. Water that looks so real and wet, that if you take a dip you will feel rejuvenated and Irish spring clean. Deep, dark, cramped caves to freezing, bone chilling, icy caves that sparkle and glisten as if inside a glacier.

You will encounter many baddies in these environments, whom want nothing else but your bullet-riddled, beaten, broken corpse at their feet. How you approach these goons is up to you most of the time. Will you run and gun, be a stealthy messenger of death, or will you strategize and flank your opponent? There are a few situations where you must think on your toes inside a collapsing building, jumping from truck to truck on a snowy path, dodging bullets from helicopters that pursue you like a starving vulture. Are you skilled enough to make it through this perilous journey and survive the unknown?

The voice acting and the scriptwriters did a great job. Funny moments are always golden, and they never seemed watered down or slapped together. The music sets the mood and adds more to the Uncharted experience. What I like about the music is that its not constantly playing. It plays at the right moments, whether it’s a gunfight or first visiting a new area. The sounds, like running waterfalls, rain hitting the ground, the birds singing in the trees, even the howling of a cave it all sounds lifelike and very real. The camera angles are good for the most part. Some of the angles can really get heart pumping like when you are climbing along a cliff. All of a sudden the angle will point straight down from over your head, and all you see is a death trap 1000 feet drop, oh and by the way, its an icy cliff … take your time butterfingers.

Once your all finished up with the story mode try your luck and skills on Uncharted 2’s multiplayer. You can battle against other people and friends in King of The Kill to show whose top dog. If you would rather go on a shooting rampage, try Death Match and turn your enemies chest to mud with a blast from a SAS-12. There are plenty more multiplayer modes to keep you busy for a good amount of time. There’s also a three player co-op where you and friends can take on the computer AI in a few different situations. This game lasted me a week and could have lasted longer due to multiplayer, but I just rented it. The story mode can last anywhere from 15 hours to 4 days depending on what difficulty level you play on and also depending on if you’re a casual or hardcore gamer.

Now that I have mentioned most of all the good of Uncharted 2 let’s talk about the bad and the bullshit. First, the few things that can leave you upset, the bad. I did say the game looks great which it really does, but it can cause a little problem sometimes. As strange as it sounds, the game looks so good that you can get stuck due to trying to figure you where to go next.

I know “WTF you mean Murk?” Let me explain. Take for example your running along doing your thing, murkin’ everyone in your path and you come to what looks like a dead end. You look up, down, left, right but see no way to proceed. Well Naughty Dog did such a great job on the graphic details that the way to go blends in so good you over look it sometimes. So say at that dead end I was talking about there may be ledges on the wall that blend in if you don’t pay attention. This doesn’t happen a lot thankfully, but it can be slightly aggravating.

Another thing that is slightly frustrating is there is no sprint button for those fast getaways. Drake does run sometimes but it seems like when you really need to do some ass saving running, Drake wants to jog, yes jog. “Don’t mind the hot lead flying at you Drake, I only have to f***ing try again if you die.” The only reason I don’t complain a lot about dying a lot is because you get lots of checkpoints and the game autosaves.

Now time for the bullshit, which I saved for last. The one thing that pissed me off most as well as pissed off the Murk CCS squad was a bastard AI we call “grabby guys”. You will encounter these cheap, cheating bastards in the multiplayer co-op modes. While going to war against the AI with 2 of your friends things get intense. Waves upon waves of goons will come at you sometimes from every angle, as you get really into it palms sweating, heart pumping, a focused stare without blinking, you really feel like your pulling off an impossible task. Then out of nowhere something snatches you up from behind and your prompted to mash triangle as fast as you can. No matter how fast you mash triangle it will not work, only a friend can save your tail by punching the grabby guy off you. Unfortunately, on many occasions me and my 2 friends ended up getting grabbed at the same time, no matter where we were on the map, the grabby guys always get behind at least one of us. There is no escaping these cheap bastards and that my friend is the biggest bullshit of all.

Other than the bad and the bullshit you may come upon a few minor glitches, which I will put in my Beware of Glitch section. One glitch I will inform you about in this review is a stealth glitch. Now I made a vid for this glitch but its only 1 vid. What happens is sometimes when your being sneaky, you can take out foes by snapping their necks. The PS3 AI glitches out and cease to do what it was normally doing. Let me explain ….

Say you sneak up on a guy leaning on a crate. You snatch him up, pull him over the crate, and snap his neck, done, without making a sound. You then proceed 30 yards to your left, as you lean against the building you see and slide along the wall to the corner. You peek around the corner and see 2 guys. One walking in your direction, but the other guy is about 50 yards away from the guy coming at you. The guy “50 yards” away is walking left to right taking a 3 second pause before he turns and walks right to left. Ok so you figure if you grab the guy coming at you that the “50 yard away guy” will not notice. Well, you’re right. You grab the guy coming at you and slam his head into the building and he is done. The “50 yard away guy” didn’t see because he is not shooting, but he no longer is walking in his pattern, WTF? Well the way he is facing will surely get you spotted but it’s the only way to go to get near him. Therefore, being sneaky is over. Thankfully this doesn’t happen a lot and the little man in your head doesn’t bounce around.

All of this being said Uncharted 2 is one for your collection whether you’re a casual or hardcore gamer. I am not saying this game is perfect, to me no game is simply because all games can be frustrating and have flaws. I would say this is a game very close to 5 stars; in my eyes it’s a 4 ½ out of 5 stars must have. If you can’t afford this game right now, at least rent it and enjoy the goodness that is Uncharted 2. I will also included below some snapshots of this game to entice you more into playing.

Remember, Murk CCS is not here to offend you, but here to inform you.

CurtisMurk is one of the top 50 to platinum the following games:

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Prototype: #28 ;
Wolverine: #41

FALLOUT 3 DLC FOR PS3

I have picked Fallout 3 and its new DLC’s (expansions) on the PS3 for my first review. It’s been a long one-year wait for PS3 owners to be able to indulge in these 5 expansions for Fallout 3, but has that wait been worth it? Has Bethesda delivered the goods? The answer in my opinion; big yes and little no. Before I go any further explain my conclusion, I want to describe the game setting to the very unfortunate few whom haven’t experienced the greatness that is Fallout 3.

It’s a creepy, desolate, bleak place to be. Now imagine this, being born and growing up as a child not knowing of the outside world, but only knowing a handful of people, whom you are constantly around because you live inside a vault that’s built in a mountain. All you know of is your family and friends. Then one day everything as you know it changes, and you have to venture into this huge unexplored world in pursuit of a family member. Will you know how to survive in this unknown world? Will you be a savior to the last remaining lost souls of mankind or will you be a devil taking what you want, laying waste to all who oppose you? The choice is yours, what will you do?

Being rated M Fallout 3 is not for children or the faint of heart.  Unthinkable choices must be made while playing in the world of fallout 3. How you approach those are up to you. You also can adjust the difficulty in game which is great if you get in a jam. Plus, you are able to save your game anywhere, anytime, manually or use auto-save. These are the kinds of things that make playing the game comfortable.

Fallout 3’s graphics are in 720dpi and they good, not great, but good. It is a huge game and to look as good as it does is amazing, in that sense.  You will spend countless hours in front of your TV when Fallout 3 is in your PS3. The game can last a week to a month to possibly longer, depending on how you play it. Stick to the story and its over in a matter of days Best thing to do is everything you can find to get your grubby virtual hands on. While playing Fallout 3 you may notice hour fly by before you even blink.

The controls are fairly simple so that anyone can play with ease. You can pick a first-person or third-person view. For the best experience use the first-person view. Trust me I am sure most that have played would agree. You can rely on your own aim or use an option called V.A.T.S. to pick a body part to shoot.

There are plenty of weapons to choose from like sniper rifles to shotguns (my favorite) and even laser guns or if you like it up close and personal use a melee weapon like an axe, sword, bats and more.

Due to all of the unseen to explore from office buildings to robot factories and much more, scavenging from such places is a must in order to survive this harsh and unforgiving world. Navigating this huge game is not to difficult due to map markers which point the way of your quests, objectives and other various information on your compass. If your wanting to make a fast trip you can fast travel to previously visited locations.

In all honesty the game is nearly perfect. A few things can sour the experience and leave a bad taste in your mouth. The games biggest and ugliest problems are that it freezes up and lags a lot. I cannot stress enough how many times I have been deep into a quest and out of no where BOOM!!! The game locks up and I lose thirty minutes or sometimes an hours worth of gameplay. So please do yourself a life saving favor; remember to SAVE often. Besides that, fighting can get tedious at times. Also I would have really enjoyed a co-op to be able to share the greatness of Fallout 3 with a friend, but that’s just my opinion.

Now for the explanation of my answer to the question: Did Bethesda deliver the goods concerning the DLCs. It was a very long year of waiting on the DLCs to be made for and released on the PS3. All the delays and not knowing for sure when the DLC was going to be released was driving gamers insane. Now that I have played all of the DLCs, I can say it was mostly worth the wait. I will discuss each add-on from worst to best.

MOTHERSHIP ZETA

The DLC I picked as the worst was Mothership Zeta. I had very high hopes for this DLC, but Mothership Zeta gave me a black eye from a sneaky sucker punch. First, lets talk about what’s really good about Mothership Zeta (MZ). There are very sweet alien weapons to be had. For example, there is an alien type shotgun that turns your foes into a pile of steaming dust. There is also a very unique type of armor that you will find only on this DLC.

You will enjoy the change of scenery, wandering the hallways of a UFO. Murking all the little green big-headed aliens that try to take you down along your way. Now for the bad points with MZ. The biggest problem to me was the glitches in it. As soon as you start the beginning of MZ, BOOM! It locks up and there is a little person in your head screaming bloody murder. Turns out you have to clean off unneeded save data and reload to try again. Many people suffered from this glitch and nearly went insane.  There’s also one more glitch that can stop process in the game. It doesn’t lock up, but you can’t proceed through the level anymore. So here’s a hint to avoid it: Make sure to accept a back-up partner. Also, out of all the DLCs, MZ froze and locked up the most, so make sure to save your progress often, Fighting hordes of aliens gets very tedious very fast. Sometimes it seems like the green men wont stop coming until you rip out your hair. There is no way to get around fighting them due to the DLC being linear. You may see a different path to choose, but 8 times out of 10 it ends up at the same place as the other paths.

The reason I haven’t mentioned the story of MZ is because it just plain sucks. Mothership Zeta sadly ended up being a big Mother Dudder.

OPERATION ANCHORAGE

Moving on to the 2^nd of the worst DLCs, Operation Anchorage (OA). There is not a lot wrong with it but there is hardly anything great about it. The deal is OA is a game inside a game. It’s a computer simulation program to train soldiers. In case a dangerous adversary attacks Anchorage. There is just one huge catch; die in the simulation and you die in Fallout. The purpose for completing the simulation, I’m not going to mention. Sorry, but can’t give everything away in case someone reading this doesn’t have the game yet. When you see the snowy mountains of Anchorage it pleases the eyes. Almost makes you want to bite into a York peppermint patty and yodel. Unfortunately, the crisp freshness of that patty fades quickly and you get a sore throat. Being linear is what kill the freshness. You may be able to pick which areas you go to first, but that’s only locations of main objectives. I’m certain I am not the only one that wanted to explore those snowy mountains, jumping cliff to cliff, seeing how high I can climb. Maybe even see a Yeti but no, nothing. Just straight up “go here” “do that” and your done. The life span of OA is very short and the only things worthwhile are new weapons and special armor. Trust me the new gun and armor will put a smile on your face.

BROKEN STEEL

Next up is Broken Steel (BS). I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this. The reasons I put Broken Steel in the middle of my line up is sensible. There are lots to like about Broken Steel. Of course new weapons are always a good thing. Who wouldn’t love melting the flesh off of your nemesis and hearing it sizzle like bacon.  You will smile with your new flamethrower in hand as you watch the dancing flames. New heavy armor is available, whether it be found or looted from a body. New super powered baddies to shoot it out with and hopefully survive. Broken Steel has 3 main quests, which take place on the outskirts of the wastelands. So no new exciting scenery to grace the eyes. But it makes up for it with 3 new side quests on top of the 3 main quests. I was very pleased with how long Broken Steels lasted. Depending on how much you play, it can last 5 – 10 hours. Also I only experienced one major freeze up. Reason for that, a lot was going at once. The little rampaging man in my head was ok with that. All in all Broken Steel is good, not great.

THE PITT

The second best DLC is The Pitt. Before I played it I heard a lot of bad things surrounding The Pitt. Although The Pitt has flaws, it is still one of the better DLCs. The story of The Pitt is dark and twisted at its core.  You will have to make one of the most unthinkable choices encountered in Fallout. The sky of The Pitt is a dark stained orange-red. It has the ability to give the sense of dread. The city is run down and the water is beyond toxic. The locals are dirty, sweaty, miserable sacks of skin. The Pitt is truly a hell within Fallout. There is lots of new armor to receive as well as a few new weapons. The Pitt can last a day or two, due to items called Ingots. There are a 100 of these Ingots, if you find all 100 you receive a special new murderous gun. These Ingots really can extend the length of The Pitt. You can hunt them down on your own, although most will prefer to use Youtube as a guide. Whichever you choose you will enjoy roaming through The Pitt. Beware The Pitt, something nasty could be lurking in the shadows with eyes set on you; Happy Hunting.

Sadly, The Pitt does suffer from a glitch that really has no solution. There is a side quest where you must fine a certain “Wildman” for a ragged out woman. When you arrive where this “Wildman” is supposed to be, but WTF, he is not there. Seems he somehow sinks into the ground and can’t be found. I have looked into this and some people have been lucky enough to find the “Wildman” but sadly I’m not one of those people. So please beware of this glitch and don’t get your hopes up when looking for that “Wildman”.

POINT LOOKOUT

Finally we come to the best DLC of all, Point Lookout (PL). When your eyes feast upon Point Lookout, its like stepping out of vault 101 all over again.  You’re blown away by the vastness of the swampy, murky landscape before your eyes. There’s a lot to see and do in this strange new hillbilly infested wasteland. You can disrespect the dead and rob graves, to reap the benefits of which you have no right to. If that’s not your style, then how about making home-made moonshine.

Even try your hand at surviving a ghoul arena onslaught. You can survive the goodness of Point Lookout if you take your time. Just be careful venturing through this creepy and mystic terrain, something like dolls hanging from trees can take your attention just long enough for Big Bubba to get you from behind. Point Lookout biggest downfall is it lags and freezes A LOT . Some places in Point Lookout are hotspots for these horrid mishaps. For example, when shopping at Panda’s Shop I had 5 freeze ups occur. At Marguerite’s house you will surely have really bad lagging and sometime freeze ups. It also happens in random spots, so please remember to save often.

All together the five DLCs were worth the wait.  Anyone reading this without owning the game do yourself a huge favor go pick up Fallout 3 ASAP. Make sure to get Fallout Game of The Year edition if you want the best deal, because all five DLCs are already on it. Missing out on the greatness that is Fallout 3 should be a felony crime. Do not cheat yourself of this most pleasurable experience. I recommend playing the DLCs  in the order of my review for the best results.

I hope you have enjoyed my very first review. There’s more coming soon, games like Wet, Batman, Demon’s Souls and much more.

Murk CCS, not here to offend you, but here to inform you.