What was the point of the part in Uncharted 3 when Drake was on a cruise ship?

Uzumaki Goku · Dec 28, 2019

If you've been following me, I've been going through the entire Uncharted series (working on the Uncharted 2 video now) and I've recorded 3 in advance. Basically, I call it the "filler ship" because the whole sequence has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, it's basically just something the developers threw in there because they really wanted the set piece, I even watched the Behind the Scenes, they were really proud of this sequence, basically Nate is looking for Sully and the whole plot gets sidetracked so they could do this, then after Nate gets off and goes back to Elena, the main plot picks right back up and pretends the whole underwater boat thing never happened.

Uncharted 3.... doesn't do as good of a job at tying in its set pieces into the plot like Uncharted 1 and 2 did unfortunately. It's basically a bunch of random events and they hoped a plot would follow.

Ricky_R · Dec 28, 2019

Rough bridge between set-pieces.

They wrote set-pieces first and then wrote the story and characters around them. They did the same in Uncharted 2 though and it worked nicely.

RecRoulette · Dec 28, 2019

To set up the Marco Polo joke

Fezan · Dec 28, 2019

To show awsome setpiece along with physics system

Flandy · Dec 28, 2019

Uzumaki Goku said:
It's basically a bunch of random events and they hoped a plot would follow.

That's exactly what it is. They thought of the set pieces first before writing the plot iirc. They also did it with 1 and 2 I think?

Meg Cherry · Dec 28, 2019

Uncharted 3 as a whole is basically just a series of E3 tech demos that have about half a narrative stringing it all together.

TheMoon · Dec 28, 2019

to show off the engine's water tech.

there was a video where they made a big deal about the realistic calculations of how everything was affected.

CharlesAznable · Dec 28, 2019

I remember thinking the same thing when I first played it. Litterally that entire section of the game was completely pointless from a plot perspective.

Deleted member 10795 · Dec 28, 2019

I think there's a strong argument for Uncharted 3 being a legitimately bad game, so this doesn't feel out of the ordinary.

Filler sections, meandering plot, badly designed combat sections, poor pacing, cheap encounters.. yeah. It looks incredible but that's it.

Acquiescence · Dec 28, 2019

It's the best action set-piece in the whole series, that's the point.

Tiny Chihuahueño · Dec 28, 2019

He's there because he was kidnapped by that pirate guy and he's trying to find his way out of there. At least that's what I remember.

Meg Cherry · Dec 28, 2019

Honolulu Blue said:
I think there's a strong argument for Uncharted 3 being a legitimately bad game, so this doesn't feel out of the ordinary.

Filler sections, meandering plot, badly designed combat sections, poor pacing, cheap encounters.. yeah. It looks incredible but that's it.

Both 1 and 3 are legitimately bad games.

2 and 4 are great enough to make up for it.

Conciliator · Dec 28, 2019

They definitely play pretty loose with the plot and pacing in Uncharted 3. 2 and 4 are better in this regard imo

F4r0_Atak · Dec 28, 2019

He was looking for Sully while trying to escape from the pirates pursuing him. It's not a filler.

Deleted member 59109 · Dec 28, 2019

It was just a cool setpiece, it isn't that relevant story wise

Richietto · Dec 28, 2019

To show off that sick ass set piece. Shit was ace.

Uzumaki Goku · Dec 28, 2019

Ricky_R said:
Rough bridge between set-pieces.

They wrote set-pieces first and then wrote the story and characters around them. They did the same in Uncharted 2 though and it worked nicely.

Uncharted 2 it felt more natural. Like it flowed better from point to point.

Alienous · Dec 28, 2019

I remember some interview (it could be the BTS you mentioned) where they were talking about the work done on the technology for the swaying of objects and water on the boat. There was also talk about how they didn't have the time to refine the story fully.

So I think it was that they had developed technology for a boat set-piece and didn't have the time to elegantly integrate it into the story.

Ascenion · Dec 28, 2019

Pretty sure there was an interview with Hennig where she said they wanted set pieces that could challenge them as designers first and then designed the rest of the game around that. Part of the reason I don't fuck with ND games. That design philosophy has A LOT of problems I can't reconcile. A game should be fun above all else.

Deleted member 59519 · Dec 28, 2019

Uzumaki Goku said:
it's basically just something the developers threw in there because they really wanted the set piece

bingo

F4r0_Atak · Dec 28, 2019

Mushroomer25 said:
Both 1 and 3 are legitimately bad games.

2 and 4 are great enough to make up for it.

No. Not even close. They are a product of their time. There were worse games released in their respective years that were much more critically acclaimed. Skyrim is one of them. :/

TheBaldwin · Dec 28, 2019

Honolulu Blue said:
I think there's a strong argument for Uncharted 3 being a legitimately bad game, so this doesn't feel out of the ordinary.

Filler sections, meandering plot, badly designed combat sections, poor pacing, cheap encounters.. yeah. It looks incredible but that's it.

Mushroomer25 said:
Both 1 and 3 are legitimately bad games.

2 and 4 are great enough to make up for it.

after replaying them all, I still think 3 is my favourite, easily.

ThisIsBlitz21 · Dec 28, 2019

While Uncharted 3 wasnt that special, the ship setpiece was the best thing in that game, so it would be worse without it.

Jawmuncher · Dec 28, 2019

To waste our time

Ricky_R · Dec 28, 2019

Ascenion said:
Pretty sure there was an interview with Hennig where she said they wanted set pieces that could challenge them as designers first and then designed the rest of the game around that. Part of the reason I don't fuck with ND games. That design philosophy has A LOT of problems I can't reconcile. A game should be fun above all else.

Thankfully ND games are pretty fun. Also, aside from Uncharted 3, no other game of theirs has such a specific issue about a set-piece feeling as forced as the cruise making the game feel a bit disjointed.

F4r0_Atak · Dec 28, 2019

Ascenion said:
Pretty sure there was an interview with Hennig where she said they wanted set pieces that could challenge them as designers first and then designed the rest of the game around that. Part of the reason I don't fuck with ND games. That design philosophy has A LOT of problems I can't reconcile. A game should be fun above all else.

That's a concept I can't agree with. I rather have the game be interesting than fun. Fun games are not always interesting. They don't leave that much of an impression either after a long period of time. RDR2 for example, is not a game that is fun to play. It is immersive, interesting or even impressive at times, but too restrictive on so many fronts gameplay-wise. It is chore to play, but we keep going because something is pulling us in and it's certainly not the gameplay. :/

Devil May Cry V or Ratchet & Clank are examples of fun games, but they are not the kind of games I would see people replay endlessly or at least multiple times.

CaptainKashup · Dec 28, 2019

Amy Henning straight up said that they did the set-pieces before having any written story elements. They just stitched together a dumb story afterward, that's why Uncharted 3 is the weakest of the serie.

-shadow- · Dec 28, 2019

Because they couldn't think of another way to fit it in, so they forced it in. Seemed pretty obvious it was a matter of tech over design. But it's still some fun honestly.

TheBaldwin said:
after replaying them all, I still think 3 is my favourite, easily.

The fact 3 doesn't rely on, yet another, zombie(ish) virus/mutation helped so much. I really liked the ambiguity of what was in the treasure and the city completely self destroying because if a crazy fever dream.

TheBaldwin · Dec 28, 2019

-shadow- said:
Because they couldn't think of another way to fit it in, so they forced it in. Seemed pretty obvious it was a matter of tech over design. But it's still some fun honestly.

The fact 3 doesn't rely on, yet another, zombie(ish) virus/mutation helped so much. I really liked the ambiguity of what was in the treasure and the city completely self destroying because if a crazy fever dream.

Yeah, plus the enemies who appear as part of the fever dream are atleast a bit more interesting

for me it's pretty simple why 3 is my favourite. I love the banter between Nate, Sully, Cutter, Chloe and elena and has a great mix of puzzles, combat, and easily the best set pieces. It also has a more charasmatic villain and is easily the most stunning game in terms of landscapes, even though U4 hasthe best graphical appeal.

4 has the best story, but it's quiet moments drag on too long and uncharted 2 is just a bit too tame

psynergyadept · Dec 28, 2019

I use to think 3 was bad until I played it again via the Nathan Drake collection; shit was dope! On par with 2 imo. It just takes longer to build up; once you land in Syria it gets good.

F4r0_Atak · Dec 28, 2019

CaptainKashup said:
Amy Henning straight up said that they did the set-pieces before having any written story elements. They just stitched together a dumb story afterward, that's why Uncharted 3 is the weakest of the serie.

Have you played Golden Abyss? 🤔

Keldroc · Dec 28, 2019

Like the train sequence in 2, the cruise ship sequence in 3 is the first thing they started on and the last thing they finished. It was the central setpiece of the game. My guess on why it feels so narratively separate from the rest of the game is that the story changed substantially during production but so much work had already gone into the cruise ship sequence that they couldn't justify cutting it or changing it, so it just had to be in there whether it made sense or not.

F4r0_Atak · Dec 28, 2019

-shadow- said:
Because they couldn't think of another way to fit it in, so they forced it in. Seemed pretty obvious it was a matter of tech over design. But it's still some fun honestly.

The fact 3 doesn't rely on, yet another, zombie(ish) virus/mutation helped so much. I really liked the ambiguity of what was in the treasure and the city completely self destroying because if a crazy fever dream.

The city did self destroy though, that happened for real (in the story). The only illusion were demonic teleporting enemies.

F4r0_Atak · Dec 28, 2019

Keldroc said:
Like the train sequence in 2, the cruise ship sequence in 3 is the first thing they started on and the last thing they finished. It was the central setpiece of the game. My guess on why it feels so narratively separate from the rest of the game is that the story changed substantially during production but so much work had already gone into the cruise ship sequence that they couldn't justify cutting it or changing it, so it just had to be in there whether it made sense or not.

How does it not make sense? Drake thought the pirates had Sully hencewhy he went on the boat.

Ascenion · Dec 28, 2019

Ricky_R said:
Thankfully ND games are pretty fun. Also, aside from Uncharted 3, no other game of theirs has such a specific issue about a set-piece feeling as forced as the cruise making the game feel a bit disjointed.

The crazier thing is she clearly had to be mulling over Uncharted 4's story. So if you'd already built that ship and water why not go with the pirate story? Why build a massive water based set piece for a desert game? Makes no sense.

F4r0_Atak said:
That's a concept I can't agree with. I rather have the game be interesting than fun. Fun games are not always interesting. They don't leave that much of an impression either after a long period of time. RDR2 for example, is not a game that is fun to play. It is immersive, interesting or even impressive at times, but too restrictive on so many fronts gameplay-wise. It is chore to play, but we keep going because something is pulling us in and it's certainly not the gameplay. :/

Devil May Cry V or Ratchet & Clank are examples of fun games, but they are not the kind of games I would see people replay endlessly or at least multiple times.

If it's not fun to play I can't engage with it. I drop games quick if they aren't fun (FFXIV).
RDR2 was fun for me luckily, but I love westerns and cowboys. Ratchet and Clank is pretty damn close to my GOTG because of how fun it was. Sometimes mindless is the best. I don't replay things like TLOU or Uncharted because once is enough, I've seen it all.

Blade24070 · Dec 28, 2019

Honolulu Blue said:
I think there's a strong argument for Uncharted 3 being a legitimately bad game, so this doesn't feel out of the ordinary.

Filler sections, meandering plot, badly designed combat sections, poor pacing, cheap encounters.. yeah. It looks incredible but that's it.

It's the worst in the series by far. The issues you mentioned plus the horrific input lag before they patched it made the game nigh unplayable.

ClickyCal' · Dec 28, 2019

3 is not bad in any way. I didn't play it before the patch, but the other issues are legit criticisms. Still not enough all to be bad though. The set pieces are disjointed, but all really good. There are aspects of a good story in there and nate and sully's relationship is good.

Ohri-Jin · Dec 28, 2019

Tiny Chihuahueño said:
He's there because he was kidnapped by that pirate guy and he's trying to find his way out of there. At least that's what I remember.

That is exactly the same thing I am remembering lol. Huge ass containers, climbing and getting your ass outta there.

Ohri-Jin · Dec 28, 2019

Ascenion said:
The crazier thing is she clearly had to be mulling over Uncharted 4's story. So if you'd already built that ship and water why not go with the pirate story? Why build a massive water based set piece for a desert game? Makes no sense.

If it's not fun to play I can't engage with it. I drop games quick if they aren't fun (FFXIV).
RDR2 was fun for me luckily, but I love westerns and cowboys. Ratchet and Clank is pretty damn close to my GOTG because of how fun it was. Sometimes mindless is the best. I don't replay things like TLOU or Uncharted because once is enough, I've seen it all.

FFXIV not fun? Pffffff

ZSJ · Dec 28, 2019

Ohri-Jin said:
FFXIV not fun? Pffffff

Dude the quests in main story scenario are literally just warping places and talking through boring dialogue at the waking sands. The shit is basically video game nyquill

Lokimaster · Dec 28, 2019

Uncharted 3 felt like they had set pieces they wanted to do, and just threw them into the game/ Its like they built the story around the set pieces. lol I still loved it tho

Y2Kev · Dec 28, 2019

Isn't it just sully gets kidnapped, nate looks for sully, nate gets kidnapped, wakes up on boat?

-shadow- · Dec 28, 2019

TheBaldwin said:
Yeah, plus the enemies who appear as part of the fever dream are atleast a bit more interesting

for me it's pretty simple why 3 is my favourite. I love the banter between Nate, Sully, Cutter, Chloe and elena and has a great mix of puzzles, combat, and easily the best set pieces. It also has a more charasmatic villain and is easily the most stunning game in terms of landscapes, even though U4 hasthe best graphical appeal.

4 has the best story, but it's quiet moments drag on too long and uncharted 2 is just a bit too tame

Lord, the villains in the first two were generic and even more generic somehow. Katherine was the type of person you wanted to jump into the game for and strangle her. What a complete and utter bitch she was. I loved to hate that character so much.

F4r0_Atak said:
The city did self destroy though, that happened for real (in the story). The only illusion were demonic teleporting enemies.

I know, but the reason behind the fact it happened is what I liked so much. There were no zombies or a juice that made you super strong and with prolonged exposure into, yet another, zombie-like creature. Just people going crazy and utterly destroying themselves and the city because they're driven mad because of hallucinations. It's in part why I really like the story of Golden Abyss, the actual reveal is not that insane or super natural.

Ohri-Jin · Dec 28, 2019

ZSJ said:
Dude the quests in main story scenario are literally just warping places and talking through boring dialogue at the waking sands. The shit is basically video game nyquill

I used to play FFXIV till Heaven's Ward.
You can dissect the game in several ways:

Story campaign
Gameplay
Classes etc.

but what is the point of that. Game is super succesful and yeah not everyone is gonna like it, but to say it is not fun in general period just like that is dumb to say lol.

Game is so much fun because you can do so much in that game that people are willing to fork up 12 bucks a month for uno game.

Dabi3 · Dec 28, 2019

Mushroomer25 said:
Both 1 and 3 are legitimately bad games.

2 and 4 are great enough to make up for it.

Terrible take. 1 was great for the time, 3 just gets a bad rep because its a follow-up to 2 and more of the same.

Gouf · Dec 28, 2019

F4r0_Atak said:
Devil May Cry V or Ratchet & Clank are examples of fun games, but they are not the kind of games I would see people replay endlessly or at least multiple times.

What exactly do you mean? Those are super replayable games that tons of people go back to because they facilitate playing the game like that, and it's fun to do so. DMC in particular is a game that encourages multiple playthroughs simply because there is a lot of things to experiment with and get better at. The short length of most Ratchet and Clank games makes them great to replay on higher difficulties and the like. This post is kind of baffling, honestly.

saenima · Dec 28, 2019

Awesomeness

TheSpaceBetween · Dec 28, 2019

A damn good time.

F4r0_Atak · Dec 28, 2019

Ascenion said:
The crazier thing is she clearly had to be mulling over Uncharted 4's story. So if you'd already built that ship and water why not go with the pirate story? Why build a massive water based set piece for a desert game? Makes no sense.

If it's not fun to play I can't engage with it. I drop games quick if they aren't fun (FFXIV).
RDR2 was fun for me luckily, but I love westerns and cowboys. Ratchet and Clank is pretty damn close to my GOTG because of how fun it was. Sometimes mindless is the best. I don't replay things like TLOU or Uncharted because once is enough, I've seen it all.

On that I agree with you. Immersion comes in different forms depending on the person I guess. You, it's just mindless fun. Me, it's the storytelling. Did you enjoy Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War and/or Spider-Man by any chance? Were they fun for games to you (I am not trying to be condescending, just curious)? 🤔 To me, I believe a balance between the two is always the best. 😏

Ascenion · Dec 28, 2019

Ohri-Jin said:
FFXIV not fun? Pffffff

FFXIV is a chore. I subbed to it for 3 years and only managed to finish ARR. It has at best never been fun to play for me, at worst like pulling teeth. I've been struggling to finish heavensward's story since 2015 and I just gave up. I actively don't care. I hear friends talk about ShadowBringers and how awesome it is and all and I'm just like....fuck that. I'm not going to struggle through 2 expansion to see a story that probably isn't even all that good. I can't do MMOs anymore.

What was the point of the part in Uncharted 3 when Drake was on a cruise ship?

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