UNCHARTED 3: Naughty Dog Talks Multiplayer

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UNCHARTED 3: Naughty Dog Talks Multiplayer

By now you’ve probably read the full details of what you’ll get with UNCHARTED 3’s upcoming multiplayer beta. Now, in our new video interview, Naughty Dog’s top developers reveal just how deep this rabbit hole goes. At a glance, UNCHARTED 3’s most obvious multiplayer enhancement lies in its sweeping character customization options in the form of weapon loadouts, gun mods and a wide selection of ability-enhancing Boosters. You’ll be able to modify your character’s appearance in almost every way, whether you want to slap some aviators on Nathan Drake or cobble together a custom hero or villain from scratch. “There are hundreds and hundreds of parts and every part has a customizable color,” Game Director Justin Richmond tells us. “You can look the way you want to look. We want it to feel personal.”

“Personal” is a theme that permeates every yawning nook and cavernous cranny of UNCHARTED 3’s redesigned multiplayer experience. Underneath the ultra-polished shooting mechanics and well-balanced arsenal of weapons lies a social media platform that is positively thrumming with potential. With UNCHARTED 3, community is finally a two-way street: You can tap into your Facebook friend list to recruit a Buddy, then fight by his side while earning rewards for coordinated kills — with a bonus for landing the obligatory post-kill high-five. Afterwards, you can upload your favorite video clips to Facebook and YouTube for sharing. Or, if you prefer, you can watch streaming community clips via UNCHARTED TV while you wait for the next match to begin.

You’ll get your hands on UNCHARTED 3’s new multiplayer modes when the beta begins on June 28th for PlayStation Plus subscribers and owners of specially marked copies of inFAMOUS 2; full access follows on July 5th for all PSN users. Watch the video and read on for more excerpts from our interview with Game Director Justin Richmond and Game Designer Roger Cogburn. And chime in with any questions in the comments!

Uncharted 3: airstrip approachUncharted 3: airstrip jump

You’ve already contributed to UNCHARTED 3’s multiplayer mode by playing The Lab.

“We’ve been running The Lab sessions for UNCHARTED 2,” UNCHARTED 3 Game Director Justin Richmond explained, “and we used that feedback to help design UNCHARTED 3.” With The Lab, Naughty Dog’s designers experimented with new modes using UNCHARTED 2’s sizeable multiplayer audience. “Plunder Pistols ended up being super popular,” Richmond said, “We knew it was fun internally, but being able to test it with the fans in The Lab verified that we thought was cool. We want to do even more of that with UNCHARTED 3. We have the ability to get feedback from the fans, and we want to maintain that dialog.”

UNCHARTED 3’s 3D technique paved the way for split-screen multiplayer support.

“There are a number of ways to implement 3D; some are more ‘fake’ than others,” Richmond explained. “We committed to using 3D early on, and we wanted to do it as real as possible because it allowed for splitscreen. 3D and splitscreen are kind of the same thing because the game is basically rendering each frame twice. As soon as we figured out how to do that with 3D, we knew we could handle splitscreen. Now, I am grossly oversimplifying that — the programmers would kill me for saying it was that easy! But basically, our 3D implementation allowed for splitscreen support.”

Uncharted 3: airport hanger drake

UNCHARTED 3’s splitscreen multiplayer enables dual PSN logins.
“You don’t have to be on some guest account,” Richmond said. “You and your friend can sit down in splitscreen and level up both of your characters. We support two different PSN ID logins.”

The dynamic multiplayer events were inspired by UNCHARTED 2.

“UNCHARTED 2’s Trainwreck multiplayer level that had an event where a cargo train fell down and revealed an RPG,” Game Designer Robert Cogburn explained. “We were surprised by how that resonated with people, so with UNCHARTED 3 we decided to swing for the fences and go as epic as we can.” Every level includes some sort of dynamic event: Airstrip’s opening truck chase ends in a finale at the airport; Chateau’s spreading fire slowly consumes the central floor and reveals a new area and weapons.

You’ll collect random loot in order to unlock new gear.

Fallen foes will occasionally drop randomized Treasures, and you’ll want to collect every piece you find. “The Treasures add a bit of an RPG element,” Cogburn said. “Every Treasure piece has a varying level of scarcity, and they fit into sets. Once a set is fully completed, you’ll earn an item: a gun, a custom part, an emblem, and so on.” What’s more, if you’re battling with a buddy, he or she can run over and grab Treasure for you. “We can update the Treasures dynamically, too,” Cogburn teased, “so we can add more later if we want to.”

You’re no longer helpless while climbing.

Back in UNCHARTED 2’s multiplayer, climbing left you high and dry — especially if you encountered another enemy. “It came down to who could hit the ground first and get his gun out,” Richmond said. “It kind of sucked — you could only climb or drop down.” Not so with UNCHARTED 3. “Now it’s more like a chess match. Should I edge over and try to kick him? Should I drop? Should I climb? If I do, will the other guy pull me down? It adds an extra dimension to the combat.”

Uncharted 3: chateau gas mask

UNCHARTED TV support supports uploads and downloads for YouTube and Facebook.

Plenty of games enable you to capture multiplayer footage and show it to your friends, but UNCHARTED 3 is transforming its multiplayer component into a full-blown video publishing platform. “We can not only upload your video clips to YouTube and Facebook, we can stream videos into the engine,” Richmond said. That means you’ll be able to watch Clips of the Week and community clips while you wait for that next multiplayer level to start. “And we will constantly update that content,” Richmond promised.

UNCHARTED 3 will give high-level players much, much more do.

“With UNCHARTED 2, high-level players would hit a point where they didn’t have anything to spend money on,” Cogburn said. “UNCHARTED 3 is much deeper.” Boosters, which enhance player abilities, can now be leveled up with use. And if the competition gets really tough, you can even buy pricey-but-potent Paid Boosters to temporarily even the odds. “The ranking system plays into that because the higher your rank, the more Paid Boosters will appear. It’s a far more interesting ranking system than in UNCHARTED 2.”

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200 Comments

28 Author Replies

  • I WANT TO KILL EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD
    Keep on and on baby…

  • @LuiguiPR :
    Only lies? I don’t get it, the date they said for the PS Store was May 31 one month ago, they never changes that date before that’s the first time, and it’s a possible extention of 3 days at most since the new date is friday the 3rd, 3 more days than what they announced a month ago for an operation that big. Sony don’t have jsut one or two servers and 2-3 lines of code to change…it’s A LOT of work that they’re doing right now for all of us.

  • I want the Ps Store online
    Sony is a LIE

  • @37 (SmooshyKing):
    Yes, the online supports splitscreen for most of the modes (except free-for-all wich is anyway something I don’t want in my Uncharted multiplayer experience because the game is all about team-play), so, yeo, you can play with a friend on the same PS3 in an online match, comp or coop and gain “exp” and unlocks stuff for your character! : ) Nice eh?? : )

  • So, It’s too early this question, but Mr Sid Shuman, do you think that Uncharted 4 will be on the Next PS Console ?

  • Since the PSN store has been down are you guys going to extend the U3: Drakes Decepcion beta

  • @47 (mDmola):
    I agree with most or your post about the blance of the game. But for the “Retaliation” booster, I think it’s not that bad. You’ll spawn with a power weapon only if you were killed by one and the ammos will probably be limited so you’ll be able to do just 1 or 2 kills with it. If its like U2, power weapons are not too frequent and don’t reappear immediately after it was taken by a player so…but I see what you mean.

    Let’s hope they’ll put a classic/hardore mode in it without boosters and medal kickbacks for when we want to play a game based on skills only! : )

  • HEY !!!! WHERE IS THE PSN STORE ????????????????

    WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU ???????????????????

  • @49 (MarinoBrea):
    I’m mostly fine with Powerplays because as you say it’s one minute only and it gives double money to the winning team as a compensation so they balanced it. But the boosters and weapons upgrades. the one named “Call Out” that I mentionned in my post is a weapon upgrade that let you see the others justelike SA in U2, and it doesn’t even take one of your 2 boosters slots because its a weapon upgrade…I hope I missed something and it’s more limited that I think…but yes, let’s not judge too much before the beta, you’re right. : ) It’s just that I liked so much U2 competitive multi. I’m all for changes in my sequels and I know ND always goes the extra mile and add things, I’m fine with that even if it’s changes the gameplay a lot, as long as it’s not removing the “fair” aspect of Uncharted Comp. Multi compared to a game like, by example, COD, and all the online games that are copying it now…sadly.

    • I suspect there’s another Booster that nullifies that effect, though I haven’t personally seen it.

  • @floppy72:
    Don’t spam theards with non-topic posts. there is a blog post about the PS STore right here before this post about Uncharted, go read it please.

  • @29 dude read the freaking blog posts. its up this week. aside from that, i should play the first 2

  • Absolutely one word… [ E P I C ]

  • The Fall can’t come any sooner.

  • Just one question, is the single player bigger and better from the last one in true sequel fashion? That’s what I pay admission for!

  • Skrillex is an interesting choice. A good one though! Looking forward to playing the beta.

  • Part 1:
    Naughty Dog, I really respect all you guys, BUT,

    Your guys’ definition of multiplayer Balance is just. If I’m off the wall with this, Please I would love a mp designer to tell me where this is all balanced..

    First, boosters; From my experiance, every game that has all these boosters/perks/enhancements they all are unbalanced fundementally and jsut not fun and arcadey. I really don’t see why you guys think they fit into Uncharted. You give Better abilities to More experianced/better players?? In reality, your Boosters are the CHEATS from skill based and balanced multiplayer games of the past. SA is a wallhack that breaks the game because it is a cheat, same goes with pretty much all the other boosters. I don’t want to play with these cheap boosts in my abilities I want to play Uncharted like SP, SKILL VS. SKILL.

  • Part 2:
    I’m not even mentioning the leveling boosters, or the fact that the playing field is already unfair from the start when boosters and their specific ‘counters’ are held off until you reach a high level. If your game philosphy is like Chess, a balanced game where whoever utilizes all the available options to them best wins, and both sides are equal except in skill and stategy then I’d be onboard. But, it seems you’re just throwing all the cheats of yesteryear in the bag and throwing careful design and balancing out the window. Its just not fun.

  • Part 3:
    Powerplays; In Killzone 2, I love this gamemode. Both sides are treated equally and each side gets a chance at this specific gameplay challenge. But this? Why must you try to stomp on the better players and artificially raise lesser players when more skilled players should be the ones who wins 9 times out of 10. This is not balance or skill vs. skill. Keep these events but give them to both sides equally, and focus on matching players of similar skills instead of ranking number for a balanced competitive game.

  • Part 4:
    Kickbacks; Why are you so Intent on copying Call of Duty? You say you try to standout in the multiplayer crowd, then you go and add all the unbalanced crap from those arcadey games! Nobody wanted skillstreaks or kickbacks in Uncharted. You give players who are better even a bigger advantage? Why? They are already owning.. How is that skill vs. skill? You guys already standout in your core gameplay, The SINGLE PLAYER gameplay. Focus on that, all the skills from SP just get them in MP and have everyone on a level playing field, and that will be fun, just like SP.

  • Part 5:
    Gun mods; Even when you got all these unbalanced boosters, and kickbacks and powerplays, you guys decide to add weapon enhancements too? What ever happened to careful weapon balance by a dev? Where every weapon had a benefit and a weakness and a strength in a certain scenario? Thats game design. But this? Adding more ammo or faster reloading or better sights or no recoil, just ruins all the work put into that weapon balance. I really want to know your game philosophy on this because it seems this new age of MP ‘balance’ is ridiculous.

  • Part 6:
    I’m glad David Jaffe with Twisted Metal and Dylan Jobe of Warhawk still understand game design and balance, because you guys don’t. Uncharted is my favourite franchise, and I want to best for it, but MP wise, your following the wrong people. Focus on your core gameplay; guplay, hand to hand, climbing and mobility and map design. Thats where you stand out and NOT with perk/boosters/cheats or killstreaks/kickbacks…

  • i love uncharted,

  • The graphics look good, but I would like to see better lighting like in Crysis 2.

  • Still havent played the 1 and 2 ( i know i live under a boulder) but definetly will before this comes out, looks like a sick game.

    @LuigiPR why have you not gone to Xfail already? You are a troll and a disgrace to the PSN community…..nobody loves you GO AWAY.

  • Hey, since everyone will be having free psplus will everyone get it? Or is the beta coming out after everyone’s free psplus expires?

  • @JoeDuke4:
    Sadly, I agree with all your posts, as you can see by reading mines in this threads. That’s sadden me because Uncharted is REALLY an AWESOME game, gameplay-wise and graphics-wise. It’s the best engine tou there IMO for a third persone action-adventure-shooter (lol) and all the things we can do in-game are insane and fun as hell! If the competitive side of the game turns as we and a lot of other people think it will so far by reading these posts, then, I’ll play the Single Player and Coop wich will be a lot of fun, but will not play much competitive multi in U3. It’s a shame because I player it a lot in U2.

    I really hope that this tendency in online games of having players that all have a different set of ability and have better weapons if they played more will stop soon…it can be ok in games that aims for a younger audience maybe but…even there, this audience will grow playin videogames and become tired of this way of onlin gaming quickly…

  • look this game 1 2

  • The cut scenes will get boring in multilayer. Honestly I don’t really see a difference between this and u2 multilayer just new modes…

    • The cut scenes are very short, just a few seconds, and they don’t interfere with the pacing whatsoever from what I played.

  • Cant wait, Uncharted has been a good friend since part one.

    Speaking of the first Uncharted, I think its time that we revisit the supernatural enemies from the first game.

    Maybe make a coop mode where we survive against them, or an online mode where one person starts as them, then when you catch someone they become one too! last “person” wins.

    Hey have you guys considered adding dual view to this game?

    It lets 2 players play on one screen, and each player gets a full screen!!!!

    You have 3D, and split screen, so you can do dual view!!!! Come on and be the first game to do this please!!!!

    And seeings how Drake is kinda like Indiana Jones, perhaps he should have a bull whip for close encounters???

    Lastly if you guys want to throw all types of boosters out there to help people own newbs, I would hope the games will be ranked to prevent level 2’s from facing level 20’s.
    Give the option to have boosterless games, or at least to remove the really cheater ones.

    Cant wait!!!!!!!

  • What’s this about killstreak rewards? I can’t stand MW2 for this very reason. I already suck at it, let’s make it worse by giving my enemy a predator and a harrier so that I die right when I spawn and continue dying over and over. It’s just no fun.

  • I really like the Uncharted series but W T F is with everybody doing multiplayer??!! Leave some games single/co-op and put more into that.

  • I can’t wait till the beta, let alone the game’s release in November. This game is going to be SICK!

  • Epic Epic Epic Epic!! This game is very cool! :X

  • I hope the single player is also amazing like uncharted 2!

  • But no dedicated servers…..it’s like you have this amazing multiplayer but don’t care if it is somewhat or mostly ruined by lag. I get more lag in Uncharted 2 than I do in even Call of Duty, and Uncharted 3 has the same P2P system. In my mind this game will never be a 10, it’s a 9.5 because there will be lag. Call me whatever but this is really the only thing I want for Uncharted 3, that the game has dedicated servers. But we won’t be getting that….

  • Lets see whether UC3 will live upto the Expectations of EPIC …

    But UC2 is Awesome !

  • @akab211:
    Sure it’ll be, it’s the trademark of ND! : ) They just assume we all know it’ll be superb already and they’re probably right! : ))

    @Basindo:
    Lag is easy to “hide” in FPS, the actions are limited and the game just make the character walk ahead (by example) when there is lag so the other players don’t know there is lag, they just see a guy going forward.
    Dedicated servers are not really better than P2P in all situation, the netcode is more important than the dedicated servers and ND surely improved it for U3.

  • Loved all the amazing info. You guys need to get a demo in 3d going at best buy or something that will really sell the 3d!! I don’t know why Sony doesn’t demo all there 3d games in the retail store.

  • I seriously can’t wait for this game.. “It’s not just awesome, it’s epic” <— HELL yeah it is.
    I wonder how the random treasure works, it would be cool if it added some sort of puzzle aspect to it.
    You get pieces and clues, and you have to solve this puzzle by adding the pieces together…
    (Most likely It might end up just being collect all 10 pieces from "this" particular treasure, and once you get all pieces you unlock the item)

    Keep up the good work Naughtydog, and thank you for adding multi-PSN I've been looking forward to this feature for a very very very long time…. I can't thank you enough…

    • Think collectible loot in games like Diablo II or WoW — fallen enemies may drop a treasure of varying rarity. Collect all the treasures in a set and you’ll unlock a new item or feature.

  • Can’t wait. Blow us away with E3 single player footage!

  • Is there a list available anywhere of games that support dual PSN logins?

    I’m new the PS3 (came over from Xbox) and was very disappointed to find this out when I bought Modnation Racers. I don’t know why this isn’t mandatory on PS3… It’s something that I never even though would be an issue when switching from Xbox to PS3.

    If there isn’t a list, does Mortal Kombat and You Don’t Know Jack support dual PSN logins? I want to buy them, but it will be a deal breaker if they don’t support it.

  • keep up the good work D cant wait for u3

  • I can not wait to get uncharted 3!!!1 i have uncharted 1 and 2 already and their both awesome, can’t wait to see what they meant by “You can look the way you want to look. We want it to feel personal.”

    btw add me on psn if you play uncharted 2 multiplayer and like uncharted 3

  • This is going to be crazy!!! Naughtydog and Sony rock!! NaughtyDog, you all are such an inspiration! Makes me feel like a kid back in the day when I was first introduced to the Playstation1! Its cool the we have great people like you all on this earth ^_^

    UC3, day1 purchase, hands down!

  • wow i cant wait. i was one of the ” lucky dogs” who got the 160g ps3 systm with uncharted1 for aroun $600. about 3 months before the huge price drop. no regrets except about where i bought it.

  • Truly impressive, sadly for Zipper though, it looks like I’ll be putting Socom 4 down for Uncharted 3’s multiplayer.

    Maybe Naughty Dog’s Multiplayer team should take over the Socom franchise.

  • ONE QUESTION: IS UNCHARTED 3 MOVE COMPATIBLE?????

    • There are no plans to implement PlayStation Move support; the game was in development prior to the introduction of Move and Naughty Dog’s process is to build a game from the ground-up using new tech.

  • Will the beta included with Infamous 2 require the infamous 2 disc, or can I just give it to a friend that actually would try uncharted’s multiplayer.

    I mostly ask because uncharted isn’t special to me and I really wouldn’t want to support the game if I can avoid it, but if I can’t avoid it, then I would hope someone gets the chance to enjoy it.

  • totally agree with JoeDuke4

    Sid you should be taking notes!

  • i don’t know why people are complaining about the boosters and such the beta is not out yet…how can you judge without playing it….i think it was a really cool idea to put it in the game. I guess that’s why there’s a beta. I’m sure if is really a problem for some ND could easily resolve it by giving us the choice to make our on custom match, whether to have or not have boosters/perks/enhancements . That way those who are seeking only skill vs skill (JoeDuke4) can play the game without complaints.

    On another note..how about the more important aspect of the game…how long is the campaign going to be? Hopefully is long the longer it takes to beat the game the better…at least for me. I wouldn’t want my couch co-op experience playing with my family to be too short. Other than that..Can’t wait for the game :D

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