To begin with, let me preface this by saying that I am a true die hard fan of First person shooters, or anything where i can take out my angst on 12 year-olds without a court appearance. I’ve been a fan of Mr. Drake since always and admire what Naughty Dog has brought to table as far as innovation and unprecedented gameplay.

That being said, my overall reaction to Uncharted free to play was excitement and anticipation, now the arena was to be flooded with new players and combined with an interactive gameplay style that is unmatched in the FPS world. Having spent a majority of my time with the COD series and more recently the BF series, I was hungry for something different, and Uncharted offered the competition and mash up style of COD but with the potential for depth that the BF series offered. I eagerly downloaded the free content and waited as the updates installed and the game began to load.

It all went downhill from there.

To begin, every time a match play style is selected (team deathmatch, capture the flag etc.) there is a 30 to 45 second commercial (sponsored by YouTube and showcasing another PS3 game) that you are forced to watch while the game loads. I have no problem with this as I often find myself watching the commercial YouTube selects for me instead of furiously clicking “skip this ad”. Likewise, I applaud the maneuver to make the game “free to play”. The problem lies with factors that are uncontrollable to the user. Network error kicked you from the game? Congratulations, you get to watch another 45 second video, this can get annoying quick as with the speed of game loads these days.The feeling that a game is just waiting for the commercial to end is like watching football teams standing in the middle of the field while the commercials on TV end for the 3 million people watching on TV.

Why should the fans have to suffer at this cost?

To start, there is nothing to work with as far as tutorial, and knowing my way around menu optimization and loadouts gave me no help trying to maneuver the crazy menu options for loadouts that could instantly suck the money from my character. Instead, you are thrust into the game as if you’ve been playing the series since it’s inception – which is fine for me because I’m a huge Uncharted series fan. This doesn’t bode well for the new users out there that the “free to play” download is meant to attract

Gameplay is great however, the characters move fluidly through the game and after getting bashed in for a few rounds, I found myself leveling up to steadily as new comers slowly trickled in, giving me something to chase as I ran from those who’ve been playing forever and know which perks to purchase. I only played a few different maps as the voting system tended to keep things pretty consistent, which robs the player of the diversity the maps have to offer, but allows for finding nooks and great pick off spots that once got you.

[review pros=”

• Great world maps with intense interactive ledges, fluid movement and fun quick atmosphere.
• Extensive load outs, allowing for crazy customization and personalized perks.
• Fun quick matches with ever changing team assignments and interesting mid game ‘power plays’.
• Great ‘3rd’ person adaptation into multiplayer arena which I admit is no easy task to accomplish and still allow for ‘competitive’ game play.

” cons=”

• Endless commercial watching, we get it, there’s a new god of war game coming out. I don’t need to see it every time I get kicked from a game.
• Extensive loadouts, (not a typo) allowing for crazy customization that drain the hard earned cash you fought for against level 48 players…quickly.
• Matches can be too lopsided and end quickly sometimes, before any real team swing/momentum can be established.
• Fluid movement is hindered by preset moves that can leave you vulnerable while furiously taping to stop hanging from ledges and climbing ladders.
• In dire need of streamlining multiplayer aspects and overall updates to improve gameplay, like matchmaking.

” score=”70″]

This review was based on the PS3 version of Uncharted 3 [Free To Play] provided by Naughty Dog.