Wed, Jun 29, 2011 | 14:35 BST
Impressions – Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta goes live
Despite a rocky start, the multiplayer beta for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is in full swing. Johnny Cullen takes a look at the taster: HD video and details on maps and modes inside.
Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta
Runs till July 13 and caps out at level 25.
Two maps – Airfield and Chateau.
Five modes: Team Deathmatch, Free for All, Three Team Deathmatch, Hardcore and Co-Op Arena.
Four powerplays: Marked Man, Cursed, Exposed and Double Damage.
Full game out for PS3 in early September.
As I do have to work a day-job at somepoint, I had only time to try three game modes in the beta: Co-Op Arena, Three Team Deathmatch and the main TDM itself.
In total, there are five modes in the beta: Team Deathmatch, Free for All, Three Team Deathmatch, Hardcore – where there are no perks such as boosters or medal kickbacks – and Co-Op Arena.
Think of Co-Op Arena as Uncharted’s Horde. Three players team up to defeat wave after wave of oncoming enemies, with random objectives added in for good measure.
Team Deathmatch is team deathmatch: kill the shit out of everyone on the opposite side. Random powerplays pop up throughout the match. First to 50 points wins.
Three Team Deathmatch is the one that stood out. You, a buddy – in my case, that buddy happens to be Pat – and four other players are split into three teams of two. First one to score 20 wins the game. We did amazingly well in our game, as you’ll see in the embedded video.
HD video from the beta
These videos show off three modes – Team Deathmatch, Three Team Deathmatch and Free For All.
Sucking aside, I can honestly see myself coming back to TTDM more often, both in the beta and the full game.
Maps only consist of the Chateau area we saw just after the game’s unveil last December, and Airstrip, which sees one team on the back of several trucks while the other on a cargo plane, before switching to a main complex when the plane takes off.
This is shaping up to be Naughty Dog’s best attempt at multiplay yet. Now there just needs to be an easing of the beta’s traffic and it’s shooty fun for everyone.
Update 1.01 released after heavy launch traffic load
Naughty Dog’s released update 1.01 for the game, according to president Christophe Balestra.
It follows the taster’s release on the US and European PS Stores last night, with access only possible if you’re a PS Plus sub or if you bought a copy of inFamous 2. It’ll be 1627Mb to download.
The beta will be fully opened up on July 4 for all PSN members. It’ll end on July 13.
The new update comes after a massive amount of traffic was looking to try the beta last night, effectively crashing it. Naughty Dog was immediately aware of the problem, and said to expect a resolution shortly. This is, obviously, that solution.
Problems with frame rate and freezing are proving trickier, with Naughty Dog tweeting that the inconsistency of the issues is making things difficult.
Participating in the beta unlocks the following rewards, as listed on Shack:
- Download the UNCHARTED 3 Beta and receive the exclusive UNCHARTED 3 PSN Beta Tester Avatar
- Complete 10 matches in every mode of Competitive Multiplayer and receive the Exclusive Beta Decal Pack 1
- Complete 5 matches in every mode of Co-operative Multiplayer and receive the Exclusive Beta Decal Pack 2
- Complete 4 Treasure Sets and receive the Treasure Hunter’s Starter Pack
- Rank up to level 25 in the Beta and receive a handsome reward of in-game cash on day one!
See more details on what to expect from the beta here.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is out on November 1 for PlayStation 3 in the US.
[Original story and impressions by Johnny Cullen, contributions by Brenna Hillier]
34 
Posted in: Action, Featured Story, PS3, PSN, Sony
Tags: beta, naughty dog, uncharted 3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
34 comments
#1
Noodlemanny
28/06/11, 10:16 pm
12 minutes to post this thing. Not bad, damn sight better than I could do. Anyway thanks for the reminder, I shall go and do some downloading.
#2
Patrick Garratt
28/06/11, 10:24 pm
Sorting this now.
#3
Peetry
28/06/11, 10:27 pm
My PSN friends are trembling at my incredible download speeds bwaahaha
Update: Can’t get on atm, error in initialisation. But remember everyone this is a Beta so no angry faces
#4
Noodlemanny
28/06/11, 10:30 pm
Sorting what now?
#5
Gama_888
28/06/11, 10:34 pm
DLing, seems cheap that i didnt even need my infamous 2 download key :-/
But im looking forward to it, I normally try to avoid Beta’s as they tend to put me off the final game some times. but theres no way im missing Uc3 anyway.
#6
Patrick Garratt
28/06/11, 10:39 pm
@4 – Downloading it. It’s my way of saying that.
#7
Noodlemanny
28/06/11, 10:50 pm
@6 Oh, mind if I try it out?
#8
Gekidami
28/06/11, 10:51 pm
Its surprisingly small.
#9
Noodlemanny
28/06/11, 10:57 pm
I would make an innuendo but I’ll simply say that its taking my PS3 long enough.
#10
Johnny Cullen
29/06/11, 11:01 am
I’ve added some impressions. They’re not properly in-depth, but it should be enough to give you some idea of what to expect from the beta.
#11
Patrick Garratt
29/06/11, 12:17 pm
Three Team Deathmatch is definitely the best mode I played. As I said in the other thread, though, the whole thing does feel really dark. I’ll give it another shot later.
#12
mingtons ghost
29/06/11, 12:43 pm
It’s borked. It try’s to update to version 1.01 but just keeps resetting my ps3 with three loud beeps. Fuck it I’m gonna go play with the traffic instead
#13
Schindet Nemo
29/06/11, 12:59 pm
@12 I had that problem with Uncharted 2. When you’re on the black patch notification screen, wait 5 mins until the HDD LED stops blinking before pressing ok.
#14
reask
29/06/11, 1:27 pm
Classic stuff as always Pat.
You’re nearly as bad as I was at 2.
Downloading now so hopefully give it a try.
#15
reask
29/06/11, 1:29 pm
I find the tps ones harder than fps.
Not sure why really.
#16
Ryzilient
29/06/11, 2:09 pm
That patch was meant to fix the ‘Error initializing session manager’ bug, right? Well can someone explain to me while I’m still getting it and haven’t been able to play since I first customized my character?
#17
lexph3re
29/06/11, 2:29 pm
if its shutting your system down press o at the first download que then it’ll go in game. it will sign you in then start the download again. then it will work. it happened to me 3 times I did a five minute search on the internet and found that work around.
#18
spiderLAW
29/06/11, 2:30 pm
i thought it was awesome. Although, the graphics arent as polished as UC2. Hopefully thats only because it is a beta.
#19
Mike
29/06/11, 2:40 pm
So basically, again, due to the network not being able to handle demand, it’s not running very well. Same with the MGS4 Online beta.
Awful, really. Surely they know how many people are getting the beta, have anticipated it getting rammed from the first moment, and catered for this?
Or is that somehow unreasonable?
#20
Gekidami
29/06/11, 2:43 pm
…I’ve been pretty much playing it all day without any connection problems or lag.
#21
Detale
29/06/11, 2:49 pm
Downloaded it this morning before I left for work, looking forward to having a crack at it later tonight.
#22
reask
29/06/11, 2:55 pm
@20
I played my first game earlier and it was just over and it said you have been disconnected from psn.
My ps3 froze and I had to knock it off manually which I dont like doing.
The nd forums seem to be full of the same complaints so I guess you are one of the lucky ones.
Gonna try another game now to see was it only a glitch and will report back.
EDIT.
Getting error initialising session manager message now.
Same shit with kz3 a few months back so I reckon I will give it a miss for a few days until its sorted.
#23
G1GAHURTZ
29/06/11, 3:25 pm
WOW, PAT!
YOUR AIM IS BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!
Sorry, but that 2nd vid was pure comedy. I don’t know if I can bring myself to watch the rest…
#24
Patrick Garratt
29/06/11, 3:57 pm
I like the way I start by just running forwards straight off a cliff.
#25
Len
29/06/11, 4:07 pm
Hope the update sorts it out a bit. I could get in to games last night but then then would literally go through a few fps if lucky then freeze.
#26
reask
29/06/11, 4:10 pm
Just played a few games there now with no problems at all so happy days.
@ Giga
Its pretty hard to get the kill in I have to say.
Not sure if its the tps thing but it just seems harder than cod or kz type games.
Just my take mind you as I was pretty average to say the least in the few games I played.
It doesn’t feel much different than 2 for me although I only spent a short time with the multi on that.
Good solid game overall though and I would imagine with practice it would be a blast.
You just don’t know where the enemy is going to spring from.
#27
DrDamn
29/06/11, 4:29 pm
@24
Whilst ignoring the treasure chest – or maybe you were distracted by it?
#28
G1GAHURTZ
29/06/11, 5:11 pm
@ reask:
Nah, I was just talking about aiming.
Without wanting to highlight Pat’s amazing headshot precision skills again, let’s just say there seemed to be a distinct lack of auto-aim going on from what I saw…
#29
lexph3re
29/06/11, 5:35 pm
Betas great played about 10 games, its still flawed(it wouldn’t be a beta if it wasn’t )because after a few games my ps3 froze. Sent error report in to sony so hope naughty dog gets it. Co-op arena is the shart gonna try hardcore when I get home tonight also cool to see splitscreen online play as well
#30
Patrick Garratt
29/06/11, 5:37 pm
Both Johnny and I got kick messages for team-killing, and I’m pretty sure my aim wasn’t that bad.
#31
Gekidami
29/06/11, 6:03 pm
Throwing grenades around like mad men, i presume.
#32
G1GAHURTZ
29/06/11, 6:03 pm
LOL!
#33
Len
29/06/11, 6:43 pm
@Pat: I got that as well last night after getting in to a game and not being able to move. Nice…
#34
spiderLAW
29/06/11, 7:27 pm
I only got to play a few rounds myself. It seems to be pretty solid but it has Beta written all over it. Funky things going on with menus, transition videos, aiming and graphics. I was #1 in 7 of the 9 rounds i played and to me it just felt unpolished overall.