Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Not Possible Without Online Pass
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The reasoning, Uncharted 3 director Justin Richmond gave TheSixthAxis in an interview, is because of bandwidth costs, and all the content packed into the game’s multiplayer. Content which Richmond says is unlike anything in the industry. “We’re giving out a huge amount of content, and part of the reason for the online pass is that when that stuff goes online, it isn’t free. We have to pay for servers and all this different stuff to maintain it, and so at some point, you know, games have to make money.” Richmond also goes on to say that besides bandwidth, all the content took lots of time and money to make. Now, I agree that games have to make money. Something that Uncharted 3 will do since the Uncharted franchise is popular and really, really good. There’s also the fact that numbered entries into a series tend to sell better than the previous copies (probably because people bough the previous games used, loved them, then buy the next one new. Just food for thought). If being one of the best-selling franchise on the PS3 still doesn’t help you pay the bills, then perhaps you should simply not put in such a financially straining feature. And I’ve actually played the Uncharted 3 multiplayer thanks to Subway (eat fresh!), and I can completely refute his claims that the multiplayer and all the content is unlike anything else in the industry. The multiplayer, while fun, isn’t that special. While certainly not being of “throw-away” quality, it certainly isn’t as great or unique as he believes it is. Via – Game Politics |
I agree that the competitive multiplayer isn’t too different than any of the other FPS clones out there. However, I think Uncharted really shines in the coop multiplayer modes and I think a lot of people are going to miss out on that experience. It’s very disappointing seeing them adopt the awful 10 pass, especially since UC3’s already pre-sold a boat load of games. If they’re that broke, they should just completely sell out and start advertising restaurants on the character’s shirts and hats.
That said, Uncharted is still awesome.
“If they’re that broke, they should just completely sell out and start advertising restaurants on the character’s shirts and hats.”
Eat fresh!
Haven’t played the multiplayer, but am currently playing Uncharted 2 single-player and am boggled it got the plurality of GOTY awards.
I mean, if they gave awards purely on technical execution, I’d understand – the game certainly had the best “sets” of any game that year. But even ignoring the mind-boggling plot holes/ludonarrative dissonance, it just feels so…fakesy to me. It’s like it’s trying to have this enormous attention to detail but not giving a shit about the big picture. Not a bad game, but I’ll be honest, I’ve been slightly bored throughout and am only finishing it because its painless and I keep expecting it to get better.
Well, like anything, there’s a lot of personal preference when it comes to games. I really enjoyed it but I can see where you might find the story to be a little weak. I think the game excels at “changing things up” by transitioning from platforming to shooting to puzzle solving pretty well. Also the cinematic feel of a lot of the action sequences is something that Naughty Dog seems to do better than most. I’ll warn you in advance, the boss fight is not that great so temper your expectations.
I’m gonna say this right now: there may be good reasons for the online pass system, but bandwidth isn’t one of them. It was a legitamite excuse 15 years ago when Ultima Online launched. Today, bandwidth is super-cheap, and there is no way a given user will ever come close to racking up $10 in costs (there are numbers on this: look up how much of a typical MMORPG’s fees go to bandwidth. It’s not much, which is why WOW is basically criminal).