Words by Andrew Perry

ultiplayer betas seem to be the norm these days for the more popular titles and the latest to hit the PS3 is no exception. Uncharted 3 from devs Naughty Dog gives those lucky enough to receive codes a chance to sample some of the multiplayer mayhem over two maps and see what changes have been made.

Gone are the days when achievements and trophies kept people playing online and now it’s all about perks and unlocks thanks to Modern Warfare. Its ‘dangling carrot’ features of powerful weapons and subtle advantages are all just out of grasp and Naughty Dog seem to have got the unlocking right. The question is how will they fare in the retail game when experienced players face off against newcomers. Well first, let’s get into the matchmaking.

Jumping into matchmaking mode gives you the usual choices of Team Deathmatch, Free for All, Co-op etc and then randomly selects up to another 9 players (except Co-op which is 3 player only). The only problem I experienced with this is there doesn’t seem to be any system in place that pairs teams up with similar skill levels. On my first game, since I was a Level 1, I was paired up with a few people who were around level 10, but the entire opposing team was made up of Level 25+ players, which was a bit daunting to say the least. No surprises that we got owned then.

Luckily the map was very enjoyable to play. In fact, I would go as far as to say the first half of the battle was one of the most original ideas I had seen in awhile. Picture this. A cargo plane with its rear platform down, about half a dozen flatbed trucks speeding down the runway (driven by AI) all shuffling closer to the platform and side door, one team trying to defend the plane while the other team is trying to get off the trucks and take over the plane before the time runs out. It’s something we’ve seen so many times in a variety of movies and in Uncharted 3, it works extremely well. The second half of the level is a deathmatch in part of an airport and logistics terminal, which is filled with tonnes of cover, nooks and crannies.

The second map available in the demo is a  run down Chateau which shares both a lot of closed environments as well as an open area outside the front and back of the building. Regardless of the closed environments you never actually feel trapped. There are no dead ends and there is a battle always just around the corner. In case there is not, the game throws in a wildcard by opening a treasure chest that will give one lucky player a treasure. Because there is a massive list of treasures available to unlock, these welcome chests have the potential to host a showdown between teams as some lucky player fights his way to the chest.

The unlocks in the game vary from the usual clothing items to guns, perks as well as bonus features for weapons and boosters. There are chances to earn unlocks in every game from so many ways, whether you level up and gradually unlock new features or if you use the cash to purchase ‘boosters’ which can be used only for that round. These boosters can give a very high advantage to the team, but since they cost cash earned ingame from multikills, headshots, distance run etc, it will be up to the player to decide whether it’s beneficial for a short time boost, or purchase a perk for your weapon which is permanent. Obviously the more skilled you get over the duration of the multiplayer, the more times you’ll purchase the boosters since most, if not all other features will eventually be purchased.  The question will remain though is that over the long term, how much advantage will a team made up of high level characters have over a team of mid level characters. Hopefully the matchmaking in the future sorts this out to help balance the game.

Co-op in Uncharted 3 is a little different from the previous game from what I’ve experienced so far. Three players fight off wave after wave of enemies over the course of a certain amount of rounds and each player has a certain amount of lives. Unlike Uncharted 2 which seemed to have co-op maps based over levels within the single player game, this feels more like a standoff, very similar to Horde mode in Gears of War.

Although there doesn’t seem to be anything really original in the unlocks and perk side of things, the gameplay and levels remain top notch from the small amount I’ve experienced. It just remains to be seen whether Naughty Dog can keep up the variety in multiplayer maps to keep the game fresh and enjoyable. Time will tell, the full game is due out in November.