I've replayed the first three Uncharted games via the HD collection! I didn't make any notes on Uncharted or Uncharted 2, and then I unexpectedly scribbled down a load of rambling while playing Uncharted 3.

Actually, I did make one note on Uncharted 2: Lazarević's 'how many men have you killed just today?' is really disconcerting, because it makes it clear that the gunfights aren't just a gameplay conceit. Nate is canonically killing hundreds of people per excursion. Don't try to bring the gameplay mechanics into the cutscenes, Lazarević; Nate's character only works if we can pretend he isn't a mass murderer!

In Uncharted 3's flashback to how Nate and Sully met, I'd forgotten that Sully buys a beer for himself and a soft drink for teen Nate and then has to rescue his beer when Nate reaches for it. Delightful. I love these characters so much.



A nice little touch: if you just dodge Cutter's attacks when he's drugged and don't actually hit him, Nate will say things like 'I don't want to hit you' and 'I'm not going to fight you, Charlie.'

I also love that, after trying and failing to drag Cutter away from Nate, Sully pulls out his gun with the full intention of shooting him. Cutter's an ally, but Sully will always choose Nate without hesitation.

Sully picks up on the fact that Elena's still wearing her ring and tells Nate at the first opportunity! I just like that Sully's invested in Nate and Elena's relationship. (As he should be. Nate/Elena remains one of my favourite pairings of all time.)

It's really nice to have sequences where Nate, Sully and Elena are all travelling and working together. The three of them have a great dynamic, and I feel we don't see enough of it.

Back when I first started playing the Uncharted series, I really didn't like Sully; it took until Uncharted 3 for his character to click for me. I'm glad I warmed to him in the end.

Oh, look, Marlowe is telling Nate about all the dirt she's dug up on his family and DOESN'T MENTION A BROTHER BECAUSE NATE IS AN ONLY GODDAMN CHILD

(I'm enjoying this Uncharted replay, but I genuinely might stop after Uncharted 3 rather than moving on to 4 because I dislike the 'Nate has a brother who's NEVER BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE' retcon so much.)

Marlowe trying to make Nate doubt Sully is absolutely pointless - Nate's loyalty runs far too deep - but I do like her asking, 'Did he save you from that life, or did he just doom you to this one?' Sully didn't actively go 'let's screw this kid up', and he genuinely loves Nate, but you could definitely argue that he screwed Nate up in some ways regardless.

(I also like Marlowe observing that Nate gets off on danger at the beginning of the game. The Uncharted series doesn't generally have the most memorable antagonists, other than Nadine, but Marlowe has her moments.)

I love Nate's expression when Rameses cuts into his 'look, you can torture me all you want—' with 'Okay.'

I still love how Nate is constantly, desperately talking to himself when he's alone and scared.

You know, Nate, you could hug Sully when you're reunited after believing him to be dead. Just a thought.

I wonder what the relationship between Talbot and Marlowe was. Talbot's reaction to her death makes me think it wasn't just business. Was she his Sully?

I love that Nate can't handle Sully's sincerity and immediately tries to deflect with his 'you're not proposing, are you?' joke. This game is so good for the Nate-and-Sully relationship.

Uncharted 3 is a bit of a mess in terms of plot and themes; if the entire theme of your game is 'Nate, your recklessness is going to get people you care about killed', and Nate keeps being reckless, the fact that everyone survives seems to undermine the message a little. (Although I can't say I'm sorry that the inch-thick foreshadowing of Sully's death turned out to be a false alarm.)

For character moments, though, it might be the best in the series. That achingly vulnerable moment where Nate is resting on Elena's lap, half-drowned and exhausted, still gets me straight in the heart.

I also really love the hand-to-hand combat system in Uncharted 3. It's so satisfying! Gameplay-wise, Uncharted 3 is probably my favourite in the series, and it doesn't hurt that I can play it more as a beat-'em-up than as a third-person shooter.

It certainly has my favourite final battle in the series, both gameplay-wise (it's the least frustrating, whereas the final battle against Lazarević is unbearable) and aesthetically (yes, please throw Nate into vicious physical fights, that's what I'm here for).



Nate goes through a lot in these games, and it is great. Die Hard and Uncharted appeal to me in similar ways; they both go 'hey, want to watch this fictional character suffer a lot of fear and pain?', a question to which my answer is almost always 'yes'.

Things constantly break while Nate is climbing them, seemingly just for the purpose of slamming him into walls or floors! There's that sequence where Nate is wandering alone in the desert, lost and increasingly delirious! Nate stranded in the Himalayas, simultaneously bleeding and freezing to death! Nate in the lost city, hallucinating and terrified! These games know what I like.

I mean, I also enjoy the character interactions and scenery. I'd probably like these games even if they didn't put Nate through hell. But it certainly doesn't hurt. (Or at least it doesn't hurt me.)

(EDIT: Apparently I finished replaying Uncharted 3 on the game's tenth anniversary! I didn't plan that at all, but I'm sort of delighted.)