ET 15 Assignment 01: Game Level Critique

My favorite game level is Chapter 15: Sink or Swim in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. It is completely bonkers, and even when I’ve played it through and know what’s coming, it is still just so exciting.

U3: Drake’s Deception is an action-adventure platforming game, but what sets it and the Uncharted series apart for me are the focus on solid storytelling and character development. The game plays like an Indiana Jones movie.

Chapter 15: Sink or Swim takes place on a massive cruise liner commandeered by Rameses. Our hero, Nathan Drake, has followed the pirate Rameses to this ship in the middle of the ocean in order to rescue his kidnapped friend and partner, Victor Sullivan. He finds that he’s walked into a trap and the level begins in a cargo hold, where Nate is surrounded by various gunmen. Water is pouring in through a hole in the ship’s hull.

As Nate shoots his opponents, water continues pouring in, and the ship begins listing, until it finally turns 90º, dumping Nate into the water and turning everything from this point forward on its side. This disorienting gravity shift combined with the increasing threat of the floodwaters pushes this level forward with an exhilarating momentum. I’ve never played anything like it.

Also, it's gorgeous.

Nate traverses along hallways, climbing vertically what used to be horizontal, and leaping upward through doorways, releasing the occasional tidal wave and triggering close escape runs. He rides an elevator horizontally, breaking through its glass walls and falling onto a massive chandelier in the ships multi-story ballroom. The former-ceiling-now-side-wall is made of glass, of course, because it is holding back millions of tons of sea water, and oh, there’s a crack in it. After Nate makes his way down to the new floor, survives the chandelier falling around his shoulders, and reaches a relatively stable-looking hallway, Rameses returns and shoots the glass wall, dumping in a horrifying amount of sea water. WHEEE! Nate manages to escape by the skin of his teeth and leaps out into the ocean, before washing up ashore sometime later, ending the level.

Concept art demonstrating the new remodel

The first section of this level is 3rd person shooter, then the focus shifts to platforming acrobatics and interacting with the environment through interactive cutscenes, swimming through submerged areas to find an escape, and running from tidal waves.

Because Nate doesn’t find Sullivan on the ship, and still wants to go looking after the cruise ship ordeal, this level really emphasizes his commitment to helping his friend. His own mortality isn’t enough to stop him. A recurring theme throughout the game is the question of whether the risks Nate faces are worth the rewards, and after surviving this cruise ship ordeal, it seems like a valid concern!

The art direction in this series, the adventure and exploration, the death-defying platforming, and mostly, Nathan Drake himself, are what I love so much about these games. This particular level has such a cinematic feel, and the novelty and cleverness in the design of a rotated, sinking world are what stood out to me. After finishing the game, when other friends would play, the cruise ship is the first thing I ask about. It is just. So. COOL.

Part 1

Part 2