Hands On: Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta

Uncharted 3 may be a while away but developer Naughty Dog have been kind enough to let us sample a taste of things to come via a Multiplayer only beta. This Beta was initially available to PlayStation Plus members as well as people who purchased inFamous 2 (which by the way is totally worth picking up) but now is open to all PSN members.

This being a MP only beta is all about competitive play and in case you missed out on the mayhem in 2009 (which is when Uncharted 2 was released), here’s the ultra quick version. Picture a more balanced Call of Duty with all its perks and Killstreak rewards enhanced by gorgeous visuals and third person action and you’ll begin to understand what multiplayer in an Uncharted game is like.

Get to the cho... err plane now?

It’s been a while since I’ve played UC2’s MP so I was extremely rusty at first. Kept meleeing people when I wanted to reload, forgot how to take cover and died – A LOT! Since this was a beta, the game didn’t bother with any sort of tutorial so I had to check out the control scheme in the main menu itself. After a few rounds of being slaughtered mercilessly, however, it did sort of come back to me but even then, I never got frustrated as the game has a new mechanic called Powerplay that actually gives the losing team a chance to catch up. This could result in double damage being dealt out or the ability to see enemy markers all over the map. It’s a very helpful mechanic that tends to balance gameplay giving the losing team a fighting chance.

In the beta you have a bunch of modes to choose from such as Team Deathmatch, Team Objective, Free For All, Hardcore, and Co-Op Arena. Unlike the Hardcore mode found in games like CoD or Battlefield, the one in this game is a bit lenient so you’ll still see your crosshair but stuff like Boosters and Kickbacks will be turned off.

Drake brings the pain

Boosters are the game’s equivalent of perks, small tweaks that can improve your game so you can sprint more, respawn faster and so on. I personally wasn’t too impressed with the Boosters available in the beta and I felt I could get by without them just fine. Instead I spent my hard earned money on Kickbacks, the game’s equivalent of a Killstreak reward but only instead of tracking your kills, it tracks the medals you earn. Some of these medals are of the simple ‘shoot three guys in a row’ variety while the others require situational kills like killing a dude scaling a wall or extracting revenge on the player that killed you. And once you rack up the required amount of medals, you can immediately activate your Kickback turning the tides of war in your favor. Think about it; you’re going up against multiple opponents and BAM!, you trigger your rocket launcher kickback that bestows upon you – you got it – a freaking rocket launcher. Or how about transforming into a swarm of spiders capable of engulfing your enemies. Gross but incredibly cool.