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

  • Again, some of you show why PS3 has the worst gaming community in history, with little to no comprehension skills, especially LuiguiPR. It’s really not possible to miss the post about the store on the front page, do I have to assume the lot of you have no home training.

    PS3, it only does false entitlement syndrome.

  • The reply to @48 makes a good point, SA (situational awareness) did hinder camping. However, I literally played Uncharted 2 up to level 50 just so I could get the Evasion counter for SA, as I was sick of campers waiting around corners with SA and shotguns. SA stops camping? More like it encourages it. “Now I can camp and I can see everyone before they see me, especially since I’m the only person at level 48 in the whole map.” If you include SA, Evasion better be a level 1 booster and SA should be a level 2 booster. Brand new players shouldn’t be subjected to cheap boosters as soon as they start playing, and not even be able to use the same booster or counter it with evasion. Simply put, being killed by SA multiple times when you just bought the game is a nice way to turn off people from buying DLC.

    I hope you guys are doing a lot of internal testing to make sure nobody gets discouraged, as I want a thriving UC3 community just like you!

  • ^above you clearly are mistaken, this isn’t Activison

    @sid are you going to be at E3?

  • sony is makin me not even enjoy playing my favorite game without my map packs………

  • Oh, continued from my @152 comment, didn’t realize I was addressing Sid and not Arne here. I guess my big thing about SA may fall on deaf ears. And I realized your remark about camping was referring to the new features and not the SA booster.

  • Sorry you guys at ND had to deal with the store insanity too.

    Uncharted is one of the few Third Person Shooters I love. Glad to hear this news.

  • add me if you like uncharted 2 multiplayer and are gonna get uncharted 3

  • Sin Shuman thanks for the reply
    Is that I mad because I have a Uncharted 2 game of the year code and it says it expires at 2010 and I just wasted over $40 dollars and because of the Store I dond know if it works
    Some one know about this????

  • @ 152 like Ive said i havent played the mp on this games yet, but am curious what the fuss is about with the SA. is it like a uav and shows dots on the map or is it like some have said a wall hack? can you see them through walls or just on the mini map?

  • Can you play split-screen co-op?

  • @158 I purchased Dragon Age..the first one and it had dlc on it that expired almost a year before I bought it. It still worked for me though no problems..id say your probably safe m8.

  • I am not a fan of TPS online games (Warhawk being the example due to the vehicles) and I never got into U2’s online MP, so I will probably try out U3’s online to see what it’s like. Although depending on how good Resistance 3 and Twisted metal turn out, I may be busy with other online titles to care about U3’s online.

  • but that was before all this network stuff surfaced

  • it has been 41 days since i could play with my map packs and you offer some 3 year old games you should be offering brand new games credit to our accounts and brought our downloads up last week…. i despise SONY more than any company ive ever known and you did it all to your self………

  • ded_in_the_water

    I eagerly await the release of this game! I like the style of the MP, it at least appears to be much different than the MP for shooters now. This will hopefully be an improvement to U2’s MP, and I love the multiplayer for U2 a lot anyway.

    Keep up the good work, Naughty Dog! I’ve been a fan since the first Crash Bandicoot and will continue to enjoy the games you create!

  • good stuff :D

  • 161@ thanks for that answer. Why expire codes if you buy them??

  • im ready for the hate……camping is a legit strategy!!!! you wouldn’t hate if it wasn’t effective…….

  • Uncharted 2 was cool …i cant wait 4 this :D :D :D

  • can’t wait all though i’m going to be in Orlando when it comes out but the psn store isn’t back and tommorrow it’s june so anybody please send feedback

  • How can you rate this post with less than 5 stars? This game is going to be awesome.

  • Simply cannot wait to get my hands on it.
    Does the real deal carry U2 DLC over?

  • @166 Id guess a marketing sceam

  • @167 stragically placed. as some of my clan m8’s call it..some people cant handle that they cant allways win being rambo :). if i wanna run around in a fishboel I’ll play games like cod is I want to strategically plant my but..I play bc2 :)

  • This really is going to be amazing, isn’t it?!?! What with Portal 2 and LA Noire already vying for Game of the Year (at least in my head) and U3 and Batman: Arkham City to come, not to mention the NGP (possibly) releasing at years end, it’s a very good time to be a gamer.

    Also: I went into Gamestop in Woodland Hills, CA yesterday (my local branch) and guess who was in there, chatting with the staff and doing some shopping?

    Nolan North! No lie!!!!

  • fish bowl..jesh I need to read before I post.

  • Awesome, the MP sounds better and better, but I would like to hear more on the SP of the game since that’s what made us fans of the Uncharted series, the MP in Uncharted 2 is fun, but the single player is the one that truly shines. I expect a new demo at E3 right? :D I would also like to hear about the co-op.

  • YYYES!!! “Uncharted TV” sounds terrific! Uploads galore will have the internet in a choke hold! We’re all looking forward to UC3, for sure!

  • so the cinematic events in uncharted 3 multiplayer are similar to the ones in killzone 3?

  • go uncharted 3
    and@ LuiguiPr stop trolling other than that yay

  • Are we going to see some PS hero skins? like oh I don’t know Cole, Nathan Hale, ……….Jak?

  • Oh man oh man!

  • I’m so getting this game

  • Hopefully this “balance” system plays out right, invisibility, sa for the whole team, traitor skin, really? All those with squads beware: this game is gona b super noob friendly Lmao Damn that’s gonna sylver ass…..if u cant play, don’t bother trying (the beta will tell u) if u can dnt b a noob waiting for power plays my thoughts, no sa and no dti because I dnt need nothing to help me find opponents, and I don’t need help shooting ima vet ul see

  • I JUST WANT ONLINE CO-OP WITH THE STORY MODE….NOW THAT WOULD BE EPIC!!! THIS GAME SHOULDVE HAD THIS FEATURE SINCE DAY ONE…DRAKE SHOULDNT BE THE ONLY CHARACTER PLAYABLE..WE HAVE SULLY AND HIS GIRLFRIEND(s) …LOL. ALSO…THIS GAME SHOULD HAVE VEHICLES…TRUCKS AND TANKS AT DRAKES DISPOSAL IS EPICLY AWESOME! ESPECIALLY WITH THE BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS ND HAS TO OFFER :)

  • @nYcFrEeWiLL82

    Wrong game dude…

  • Yea baby, gona be tha bomb! Got my 3DTV primed and ready for this on day #1, come on November!

  • This is so worth waiting for.

  • @MarinoBrea…..its the RIGHT GAME…just a VERY HUGE MISSING GAME MODE! IF THIS GAME WOULD’VE HAD ONLINE CO-OP CAMPAIGN SINCE THE FIRST ONE WAS RELEASE IT WOULD’VE SOLD TREE TIMES AS MUCH IM PRETTY SURE. I DONT UNDERSTAND HOW GAME DEVELOPERS IGNORE THIS FEATURE …THIS IS THE REASON HALO AND GEARS ARE SO POPULAR OH AND PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY TWO GOOD EXCLUSIVE GAMES ON THE OTHER SYSTEM :P – BUT YEAH..SONY WE NEED MORE ONLINE CO-OP CAMPAIGN GAMES..SERIOUSLY! AND NOT SPLIT SCREEN – I HATE SPLIT SCREEN…MY 52″HDTV SCREEN IS TOO GORGEOUS TO PLAY WITH ONLY HALF THE SCREEN! >:P…….UNCHARTED WOULDVE BIN A PERFECT FIT FOR THIS FEATURE..BUT I GUESS I CAN WAIT TILL PART 4…AND STARHAWK…WHICH I HOPE AND PRAY HAS THIS FEATURE …HAVING TO WAIT A YEAR TO PLAY IT IS KILLING ME THOUGH ..SMH –

  • are you guys going to do a dual pack of Uncharted 1 and 2, because i never played them. i think people would enjoy it

  • and also maybe a collection of the jak and daxter games? featuring trophies

  • I am so looking forward to playing this game!

  • naughty dog i am so disipointed in you. your open early acxess BETA code did not work and i need you guys to send me a message to my PS3 mail and send me a new BETA code that acually works, THANK YOU

  • In UC3 will we be able to play against our party members or are we still stuck on the same team? I’m all for team work but it would be fun to shoot at our friends.

  • AttheMALL… are you kidding me? You still understand when the beta starts?

  • @AttheMALL .. beta only tatts on the 28th for those infamous 2 buyers the codes only become usable on the 28th

  • i’ve got the free month of playstation plus and i have 2 questions about the beta

    1. If my free month runs out will i still be able to play the beta?
    2. Do playstation plus members require codes to access it?

  • okay ignore what i just put up there, i already found the answer :)

  • i tried to search for the beta in ps store on date:28.6.11 but i didnt find it??????

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