Note: This review only covers the single player ‘story’ mode of Uncharted 3. Minor story spoilers follow.

“Admit it, you love all this as much as I do.”

Nathan Drake is back. The third installment in Naughty Dog and Sony’s Uncharted series is titled “Drake’s Deception” but its as much about finding the truth for the characters as anything else.

The opening scene isn’t quite the bizarre event that the train wreck in Uncharted 2 was, but it will get you back in the action quickly. Nate and his partner Victor Sullivan are in London, trading Sir Francis Drake’s ring for a briefcase full of cash when the whole deal goes bad. You’ll end up in a bar fight, which will allow you to control the series’ new overhauled fighting system. Now an elaborate mix of punches, counters, and throws with detailed animations to enjoy with each hit, this is a satisfying way to start up since I don’t think the gun play is Uncharted’s strong suit. [Read the rest of this entry…]

Playstation just shared a few minutes of the production of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. If you haven’t seen stuff like this before, its very interesting. The voice actors for Nate, Sully, and others are also filmed and motion captured to provide the actual movement for their in-game characters.

Note: the embedded video has lots of footage of Uncharted 3, but youtube’s frustrating thumbnail system only allowed my mug peering over a steering wheel to be the still image before you hit play.

Sony and Naughty Dog have stepped up their promotion of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception to a new level. In events held at movie theaters in 5 cities, they held multiplayer tournaments, showed new single player events, and had developers on hand to answer fan questions.

I attended the Oct 19 event at Tysons Corner (just outside of Washington DC) and got hands on time with the game and captured several minutes of the open theater game play. As you’ll be able to tell from the video above, 20 Playstation 3 systems were set up at the base of the screen, with one console showing on the big screen above. The audience was established into 5 man teams who would compete in a multiplayer tournament on several of the new areas in Uncharted 3.

Between rounds they would raffle off prizes includingautographed posters, Uncharted 3 Collectors edition, and a limited edition Uncharted Dual Shock controller. Two artists from Naughty Dog were on hand to answer questions about the development and inspiration for the game as well. Gameplay went late into the night and ended with the premier of a new trailer for the game, which is included at the end of the above video!