E3 2011: Uncharted 3 and the leaky cruise ship

After PlayStation honcho Jack Tretton apologized and modeled some self-depreciating humor towards the PSN outage at the Sony PlayStation press conference, he quickly turned his attention to showcase arguably the PS3's hotly anticipated Uncharted 3. Naughty Dog reps took the stage to demo the further adventures of Drake and showcased some mighty fine cinematic gameplay.

Drake began this section on a weather-rocked cruise liner. As rain battered the cruise ship, waves moved the ship back and forth causing Drake himself to sway and try and steady himself in his animations. He made his way off the deck and into the ballroom, complete with gigantic, swaying chandeliers. Drake stealthily took out a guard by sneaking up behind him and delivering an elbow to the throat. We saw another awesome takedown maneuver when Drake hid around a corner, waited for a baddie to stroll by, then grabbed him and using his own momentum, swung the guy head first into the wall.

Eventually, Drake made his way to the storage area of the cruise ship, housing containers and vehicles. After hitting a dead end, Drake was ambushed by his enemies. This section of the demo showcased more melee and shooting gameplay, with Drake taking cover and shooting down enemies perched above him. Suddenly, the boat tipped, sending a car crashing into the side, exploding and filling the ship with water in real-time.

The demoers had to clear the area quickly as water rapidly filled the storage area, eventually tipping the ship to its side and sending Drake underwater. We saw a number of underwater bits with Drake swimming through the tipped ship and inadvertently causing water to spring from the ship's doors. Drake finally made his way into a dry room, when the water pushed through and chased him once more.

After the demo, Naughty Dog presented a cinematic trailer, which focuses a little more on the plot and why Drake needs to go to Arabia. Past friends from the series make a return, which makes us all choked up for the right reasons.

One last little odd bit; Naughty Dog mentioned that in October, players will be able to unlock the full multiplayer game of Uncharted 3 before the game's official release through a promotion with Subway. Yes, Subway the sandwich makers. No other details were given, but color us curious.

Uncharted 3 adventures onto the PS3 on November 11. Check back for more details as they come.

June 6, 2011