out in my headstraights by appointment only

In real life, I have the hand to eye coordination of a sock puppet. But when I sat down to play one of this year’s most anticipated games Uncharted 3 on the Playstation 3, I was swinging around, rolling behind cover, and leaping of chandeliers. Of course I was in control of Nathan Drake, the dashing yet reclusive hero of the Uncharted series who was born for adventure. And with the game being playable for the first time at GAMES11, I decided to sit down for a little sneak peek of the game.

The first level that I loaded up saw our hero trapped in a rather derelict building, looking for a way out. After shimmying across a ledge and leaping from a chandelier, I was spotted by some thugs who thought that it would be a great idea to set the whole building on fire to cover up some shady operations that had gone wrong. Marvelous. So with the flames growing higher, I bolted and swung my way across the various gaps in the crumbling floor to try and find an exit. The Playstation 3 had no trouble at all rendering the complex shadows brought about by the flames, and every single frame was smooth and lag-free. The franchise is known for its superb graphics, and this level was certainly no exception.

I then moved on to a level called “Cruise Ship” which as the name suggests, was set on a cruise ship that was caught in a horrible storm. Lightning flashed across the deck, curtains of rain pelted the ship, and Nathan swaggered in the dark as he fought to see where he was going. After I found my way inside the ship’s opulent ballroom, I had to take out a few guards which was a cakewalk for our seasoned marksman. Making my way down to the cargo hold to look for clues, I was ambushed by a mob which again was easy to pick off. Unfortunately Drake has a penchant for not doing things the easy way, and thanks to an exploding container and a car, I managed to blow an alarmingly large hole in the ship’s hull. So rather than stand around and welcome in gallons of water, I had to make my way back up to the main deck and find a way to escape. Note of course, that the ship by this time was beginning to sink at a rather precariously level, which made the gameplay even more interesting. And by that I mean that it’s almost impossible to play this level without tilting your head.

I did have a chance to briefly dabble in a local multiplayer game, but when you’re the only one running around shooting at absolutely nothing, it takes away all the fun. Though I must admit that it was very cool when the entire level was engulfed in a sandstorm making visibility almost impossible.

Uncharted 3 looks beautiful, and plays as fluidly as ever. Drake certainly has plenty to uncover in his latest adventure, and I’m sure that fans can’t wait to get their hands on this game.

Make sure you check out Uncharted 3 from Naughty Dog studios, exclusively at GAMES11.