The team here at Indiannoob is pretty diverse. I am an ardent Sony fan, Pratyush is a PC gamer, Tanmay loves his Xbox and Siddhartha is a Nintendo guy. So its pretty natural, when some of us don’t agree with each other. Normally, it all blows over (like the time when we had to choose our GOTY 2015), but sometimes someone says something, that you need to bring your troll blades out. 2 members of our team, did just that, when one of the called Uncharted the worst game he has ever played.
P.S. Names have been changed to protect both of them from spammers.
P.P.S. You can check out the iPhone style conversation using the slideshow below. Or if you prefer the old-school text scroll. Its here too.
(Nathan): Have you ever played Uncharted?
(Geralt): I have already said that I did, on my friend’s PS3.
(N): How much of the game have you played?
(G): 3-6 hours somewhere in the middle.
One ship scene.
One alleyway of some sort.
(N): And you commented that was the worse game you ever played?
(G): That was like way back when I was in 7th Grade.
Mechanically yeah. The shooting was very clunky.
Why what’s up?
(N): Nothing I felt your comments are not as educated as they should be sometimes.
(G): I have reasons.
(N): Playing a game for 3 hours can tell you that game is not for you. But not whether its the worst game you have ever played.
(G): Yes i know. Well mechanically speaking many games are out there. I look for gameplay in all games. That way Skyrim is the worst open world game I’ve played. But what uncharted did was mix my most unwanted things, clunky shooting and linear pathways.
How is that uneducated?
(N): Because your opinion of the game is based on a very slim slice of the game. Not enough to form a proper opinion.
And also you are not a fan of the genre.
Plus since you don’t own the platform it drives your opinion away from the general consensus.
So it plays up psychologically in your head.
(G): That may probably be the case, but on the ps3 I did like Resistance and Killzone
(N):See. It would be like someone who has never played on PC. Playing AOE for the first time and calling that the control scheme was too detailed and elaborate to understand.
My point is my first reaction to you calling Uncharted bad knowing that you are primarily a PC gamer and the knowledge that you wrote some stuff which does not put Uncharted in good light.
Makes that opinion loose value.
(G): Hmm……
(N): And my personal opinion and experience tells me there are worse games than Uncharted out there.
I mean like hands down.
(G): Probably so…… but as a gamer who strives for something new always, I think I’m justifying my opinion
(N): Nope.
(G): Yes
(N): Its a shock opinion made to garner attention.
And while you are totally entitled to it.
I can’t respect it.
So next time you write something like that you need to think how others would look at it.
(G): Hmm…..
It’s not for garnering attention.
I would give uncharted 1 a hands down solid 7-8 but the same thing again and again and again…. no to that. Two of the major aspects: gameplay and an open playable world were not good enough in my opinion. And the developers themselves have mentioned, they base the story around set pieces. I cannot get myself to justify that
See I have reasons
(N): No. You do not understand.
You played Uncharted and did not like it. I can believe
But it was the worst game you have ever played. Dude really???
(G): I don’t think I have stopped playing a game within an hour. Ever.
(N): For eg. You love the Witcher. If someone said he didn’t like it.It’s cool.
But is it the worse game they have ever played. Really?
(G): People have said so, but when I ask them to justify that opinion. They can’t.
(N): Dude if you go through the comment on your last Witcher article. There are some valid points there in that article.On N4G
(G): I know but then how did they like Skyrim for the same reasons they hated Witcher
(N): They didn’t Skyrim doesn’t have level caps.
(G): I’ve also read. Combat. Seriously, it’s better than Skyrim where the combat was literally like a kid swinging toy light saber
(N): But it’s combat isn’t as varied and diverse as Skyrim.Nor is it as easy to pick up as Skyrim. And people were totally right in pointing that out.
(G): Yeah, Skyrim had variety, but then they made it jack of all arts.At least Witcher has a very deep combat system. And you unlock new styles as you go down a skill tree. Unlike Skyrim where any skill tree addition only increases duration or quantity.
(N): Witcher 3 only allows swords. 😉
(G): Also Dark Souls 2 isn’t easy either.
(N): True and there are people who don’t like Dark Souls because of that.But no one calls it the worse game they have ever played.
(G): Will you believe me if I tell you that people at my college do say that.Partially because of the bad graphics as well.
(N): True. But aren’t you better than that?I mean was Uncharted really worse than AC Unity and Syndicate?
(G): Overall I’ll prefer an open world, so yeah. I actually played Unity for 8-10 hours before putting it down.
(N): But what of the technical problems. The issues with graphics. The too much to do and map is filled with soo much stuff I am going to faint.
(G): Well, I play open world RPGs so too many things is not a problem. Technical problems, I do agree, but for me it didn’t happen much. Even with Batman Arkham Knight, the bugs were not as serious as people were talking about. For me, I guess the lower end hardware of mine didn’t have the power to render bugs XD.
I understand man. It’s like comparing oranges and apples. Like you have an office. So you don’t want to come home and play a game that is 100 hours long. A more linear game does the trick of being short as well as gives you a thrill
(N): Ha ha funny you should say that especially when I have Witcher 3 completed. 60+ hours in Diablo 3
(G): But then have you played DS?
(N): Yup either the first one or the 2nd. It was a long time back.
(G): That is a game that requires a lot of dedication. That’s what I meant by 100 hours
(N): Dude this is not about taste. See. I will try to put it differently.
(G): Well, taste matters a lot
(N): It Does. But It’s about being balanced in your opinion.
(G): Well, if all games were to come out like DS from here on, would you be able to give a balanced opinion? I have already had enough of linearity with COD games. I have already had a lot of QTEs in thousands of games. I have already had my share of solving simple (And complicated puzzles) in games (The Talos Principle).
(N): Are you done. Can I get a word in?
(G): Yes yes
(N): What I am trying to say is. When you review a game. You look at various aspects yes.Gameplay, Graphics, Story?
(G): Totally
(N): And the final score is based on that and your taste?
(G): The experience, yes
(N): So overall having considered all that Uncharted 2 scores the lowest among all the video games you have ever played? Can you honestly say that?
(G): Gameplay, the biggest aspect. As you said 3 hours is enough to judge a game. And I found the gameplay quite absent
(N): You didn’t answer the question. Yes or no. Everything included. Gameplay, graphics, story, taste
(G): And honestly, I felt a bit a like a funnel transferring milk from a larger bottle to a smaller bottle. It was like the game was trying to push me out to the next area.
Where is the fun in that?
I like exploring itsy bitsy corners.
Story, I have played only a bit, so I can’t comment.
And graphics, yeah overall the graphics were good.
(N): You can answer in Yes or No anytime you are done.
(G): OK. Then it’ll be a mixed bag.
If I were to see a guy playing the game at full throttle I would I will enjoy with a basket of pops
But I can’t play it for more than an hour or so at a strecth.
So I guess yes.
(N): Good keep that in mind. How long it took you to justify Uncharted as the worst game ever. And put in the same amount of effort Everytime you comment or write. Think not only as the hurt gamer. But also in a wider sense.
(G): Well……. If someone asks me to justify it, I could go on. But then again. There are haters of almost every game.
I don’t have anything against Uncharted
(N): Dude. All you have done for the past hour is defend your decision with nothing but your personal preference. Everything boils down to that for you. And it’s not a good scale.
(G): OK, can you justify the game mechanics?
(N): Sure.
I think they are well implemented than say AC. Where I can basically go anywhere but to my destination.
(G): Well there is only one place to go. Compare it with something with it’s own genre. Where the paths are linear. Like Max Payne or Tomb Raider. Something similar.
(N): The game doesn’t hold my hand but provides me with a path to always move in the fight direction. Max Payne had hundereds of doors that open into nothing but wardrobes and stationary.
(G): That’s cool, it gives us exploration depth. At least not every path is the correct path.
(N): Not if it doesn’t get you anything.In Uncharted each time move. I am moving towards an objective.
(G): Yeah, and there is nothing else
(N): But that’s what the game wants you to do. So you need to think how well the game does it.
(G): Hmm…..Well I can make platforms and give scenarios and then restrict the player with walls.
(N): But does Uncharted use invisible walls or un-jumpable obstacles. No. Uncharted does nothing of that kind and still manages to push you in the right direction.That’s smart level design.
(G): It’s an action adventure about treasure hunting. Treasure hunting seriously isn’t a genre where such linearity makes sense. And I agree that the visuals may be outstanding, but how does that give you a treasure hunters feeling.
(N): You seem to confuse Adventure with RPG. RPG focus on exploration and immersion. Adventure on the other hand are like Hollywood Blockbusters. Tailor-made experiences set in a beautiful world.
(G): The Beautiful world. Another thing I have a beef with. They show you a glimpse of a beautiful world and set you out in a small part of it.
(N): And in return you get a very low number of bugs you need to deal with. Because the path is set, so its more polished.
(G): Oh there are many bugs in U4, as per the videos I saw
(N): Not bugs gameplay used in custom ways.
(G): I dunno how to define Nate as seemingly doing something over Sam’s back
(N): I saw that video too. Didn’t look like a bug to me.
If that is a bug so is tea-bagging in HALO, which is basically just crouching and standing.
(G): Feels very weird though
(N): And funny
(G): OK. I’,m not saying that it has many bugs
(N): Yes becaus it doesn’t
(G): But how do you justify the grappling hook? And the grenade return mechanic absent from U4?
(N): A mechanic absent is not a bug.
(G): I’m talking about game mechanics in general. They conveniently added a grappling hook. Which story wise makes no sense because there was non in the first three parts. And seriously the game makes you wanna do stuff, the way it wants you to.
(N): Why does it make “No sense”. You mean to say that Nathan might not have used the hook during any of his adventures that were not in a game.
(G): The game review by XO.TV mentioned that in a puzzle when he pointed at a right right object, the AI told that it was wrong and then it went through all other objects in the room and in end came back to the right object. How is that justified? This is bad level designing.
(N): The same way the horse bug in Witcher 3 is justified. Its a video game, there maybe bugs. But in case of Uncharted there are few and none of them are game breaking. How is this bad level design? Because it never happened to me. Nor to many other gamers playing it. So it was obviously something happening to a select few.
(G): But who knows what many people might have experienced
(N): You should know this by now. Negative feedback are the fastest and the loudest to reach the internet.
(G): See as a gamer, I don’t expect sequels that have the same thing over and over again. I stopped playing AC from 3 and then regained it for a bit on Unity and didn’t look at Syndicate at all.
Same goes for GTA. I played Vice City and SA and skipped 4.
Because there was always something new in these games.
Is there anything new in U4 from U3 except the grappling hook?
(N): A new story
(G): Story of a generic villain whom your brother was indebted to?
(N): Ohh you mean the stories of Avengers 1 and 2 were vastly different.
(G): Meh! I didn’t like Avengers 2 anyways.
(N): Regardless. All stories follow a structure. And Uncharted 4 does the same. But what also matters is that how that new story is told, and how is it different from the ones already told. Uncharted 4 does a great job at at that.
(G): Anyways. Enemy spawing is another aspect that is totally out of place for all the games in the genre so that I can’t comment on
(N): As much as I would like to argue that. Lets move on.I wanted to use this opportunity to explain to you. That being in the position of a game critic. You need to think about more than what you actually like.
(G): I understand that being a critic is tough. But then every critic has his own opinion.
(N): True. for eg. I hater RTS.
(G): Then if you are given an RTS, you would of course bash it.
I understand
(N): No I won’t
That’s what I mean. Because as a gamer. I would know what that game is doing well and what it’s not.
(G): Those who like to have a more casual experience and a shorter one will bash DS and Witcher.
But then again they are not the best judge, are they?
(N): Exactly someone who just puts his preference over everything else is not a good judge.
I hate RTS. But i can see why the new tile system in Civilization is a game changer.
I mean to say how the new Civilization is better gameplay wise than most RTS.
Because I see why a fan of RTS would appreciate that change.
And that is how games should be judged.
(G): Ohk…..
(N): A Uncharted is not meant for a Witcher fan and vice versa. But if the fan plays it. Then it’s the game’s responsibility to keep him interested. But its also the critic’s responsibility to appreciate something which he is not a fan of.
(G): OK. That kinda makes sense. Now can I get back to playing Witcher 3?
(N): Sure
Of course no debate is ever over. Which side are you on. Let us know in the comments.