Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception has quickly become one of the most successful titles of 2011, selling 3.8 million copies on launch day alone. However, despite rave reviews across the board (read our Uncharted 3 review), one aspect of the game has been especially bothersome to certain gamers - gunplay aim settings.
While problems with the game's aiming have gone somewhat unnoticed by many players, there's definitely a vocal group who were not only disappointed by the combat but also felt that the shooting mechanics entirely disrupted the Uncharted 3 experience. As a result, Naughty Dog has pushed out a patch that should help satisfy affected players - while allowing unaffected gamers to keep playing with their current aiming set-up.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception patch version 1.02 is now live for players to install and features a number of fixes, tweaks to multiplayer, and added gameplay features. That said, no doubt the biggest incentive, for anyone who was actively waiting for patch 1.02, will be the new "Alternate Aim Settings." While the current aim settings will remain the default, more particular gamers will now have added aim options to help custom-fit their experience.
Of course, not everyone is happy - as the official announcement over at Naughty Dog's site is already getting flooded with frustrated fans who either: a) don't think the alternate aim settings fixed the underlying problem or b) didn't want Naughty Dog messing with the settings in the first place.
As mentioned, the developer didn't just tweak the aim setting options - as there were a number of potentially controversial changes to multiplayer as well. Here's the full list of Uncharted 3 1.02 changes.
Single Player
General
- Movie cutscene viewer added (in the Bonuses menu, Single-Player only)
Technical
- Fixed the missing Motion Blur effects (for Single Player only)
- “Alternate Aim Settings” added to the Options menu under Camera options (for Single Player only)
Multiplayer
General
- Settings bug fixed: all controls being set to flipped mode setting will no longer change all controls back to default
Gameplay
- Medal streaks won’t reset if the host migrates to another user
- Blindfire targeting adjusted so that opposing players past a certain vertical angle above and below won’t be hit.
- Allow grenade throw while scoped
- Tuned Pull Down range from 1.5 meters to 2.0 meters
- Lowered the player running speed when players run ‘n gun by approximately 15%
- Slightly increased the turn radius of run ‘n gun
- Slightly decreased the turning speed during Sprint
Technical
- Fixed an infrequent hunter spawning issue in Hunter Arena when the match round switches
- Fixed several cinema crashes
- Locked fast-forwarding on convoy sequence in Airstrip TDM and train sequence on London Underground TDM to 3x maximum in Cinema Mode
- Fixed certain cameras in Kick Offs and Pull Downs
- Fixed a late join skin bug with locked content
- Fixed a split-screen Buddy treasure pickup bug
- Fixed duplicate medal problem causing bad tabulation of a few medals to the player’s career stats
User Interface
- Objective points now show up in the player’s Competitive statistics tab instead of the Cooperative statistics tab
- Added a Facebook Sign Out option
- Added the Add Friend functionality in the Facebook tab
- Fixed voice icon for mics not appearing in Matchmaking lobby
- Adding missing weapon stats tracking for certain weapons that were not being recorded to the player stats
- Fix for not displaying the entire Online ID within the “Players” column of any leaderboard.
- Fix for a user having an online ID containing fifteen or more characters created in uppercase format and actively using a voice comm device.
Server
- Matchmaking now waits for double the number of players in the biggest party in the room to be present before starting a game (to prevent parties from being split frequently)
- Players no longer able to join party that is already in Matchmaking
Complaints have to be especially frustrating this round for Naughty Dog - as the developer directly asserts that "a lot of [player] feedback went into making this patch happen." Will the fan-favorite developer ever be able to balance their hardcore base along with increasingly passionate casual gamers and new PS3 players they've picked up in recent years?
That said, despite offering breathtaking cinematic experiences and entertaining characters, the Uncharted series has never featured particularly tight controls or silky-smooth gunplay, and with the latest installment, it's even more apparent that the team prioritizes the overall experience over combat mechanics.
As a result, it's difficult to imagine that this is the last time we're going to hear complaints about Uncharted gunplay - since shooting mechanics are not likely to get a dramatic overhaul in the Vita title, Uncharted: Golden Abyss or the inevitable Uncharted 4. In the case of Uncharted, for better or for worse, it's clear that Sony is more interested in pushing the cinematic experience video games can offer - and are not out to create a textbook third person shooter offering - a choice that plenty of gamers will likely continue to support with their wallets.
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Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is out now exclusively for the PS3
Source: Naughty Dog