So my Urban Planning and Design class is using WordPress, and what’s a better time to go ahead and dive right back into this meme.
And if you’ve wandered in from my class, lordy lord, don’t go through my post history. All you’ll find is a whole lot of high school angst.
Author’s note: Sorry this came a week late. I’ve been real busy in college. And let’s be honest, who’s really reading this?
I’m a sucker for FPS and open worlds. So what got me to play a story-based third person shooter? BECAUSE NAUGHTY DOG MAKES THE BEST OF THOSE.
It’s been many years since I started the Uncharted series. It all begin at GameStop, where Uncharted 2 was in the demo console they had in the store (back when they still put out the full game in their demo consoles, nostalgiaaa). I instantly fell for this game, with it’s adventure, movie-like action sequences. I mean, I was climbing a train that was dangling off the side of a cliff. Naughty Dog seriously knows how to start their games.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the latest and last installation of the Uncharted series. The story is this: Nathan Drake, our protagonist of the series, has retired from his life of treasure hunting, which for some reason has left him fortuneless (which is ironic, since the first game is literally called “Drake’s Fortune”). He now works for a marine salvage company, where he puts some of his treasure hunting skills to a practical use. Nathan has visibly aged from the last game, now 39, and has settled down with Elena Fisher, his love interest in the first two games, and then his estranged wife in the third. The two lived in New Orleans, trying to lead normal lives. Nathan keeps souvenirs of his past adventures, and while he gave up the treasure hunting life, it’s obvious he still misses his old ways.
Everything changes when his brother Sam shows up at his office at the pier one night. 15 years back, Sam was wounded and presumed dead while hunting for Henry Avery’s, famous pirate king, long lost pirate utopia. Sam convinces Nate that they must continue their search for Henry Avery’s lost city of Libertalia. However, an old partner of theirs, Rafe, is also searching for it as well, and the difference is, he has a private army. Enlisting the help of their old pal Sully, they race against Rafe and time to reach Libertalia. And long story short, [SPOILER] the story ends the same way every Uncharted ends, with Nate barely surviving the adventure, another lost city is destroyed, and he still has no fortune.
What makes this Uncharted so much different is the fact that we know this will be Nathan’s last ride. His obvious aging, the fact he retired from adventuring, and the whole plot setup how Elena wanted them to have a normal life signaled that Uncharted was wrapping up. And Naughty Dog couldn’t have delivered a better ending. After the adventure was over, the game shifted to a mini-game of Crash Bandicoot, which was played in the beginning of the game, when Nathan attempted to beat Elena in a glimpse of their new, average, everyday lives. However, when the mini-game was finished, it panned out to not Nathan and Elena, but a young girl with her dog. One who was obviously Nathan’s child.
To see the offspring of a character you’ve grown so much with is truly an amazing feeling. The Drake legacy, just thrown into your face. It was a lot to take in at once. The epilogue continues to young Cassie Drake exploring her house, a nice beach house that also extended to another house next door (seems like Nathan found his fortune after all). Various things in the environment wrapped up things in the series, such as a letter from Sam and Sully telling their adventures together and their plans to visit the Drakes. The final send-off of the series, however, was when Cassie discovers Nathan’s closet full of items from his adventuring days, including artifacts from the last four games, his signature shoulder holster, and countless pictures of his expeditions. Nathan and Elena suddenly return home, and it was quite shocking to see them. About 15 years have passed, and Nathan and Elena have very visibly aged, both well into their 50s. And while the mortality of our cherished characters is made very clear, the peaceful, tropical beach and the large property comforts us that they have finally found a life that they enjoy.
Of course, one could only imagine how the rest of the story goes. God save whoever would have the guys to date Cassie. Her parents have literally killed more people than even military special forces.
Gameplay for Uncharted has been very similar to past games, with most mechanics of the series continuing in the new game. Combat is a very essential part of the game, with it being mostly unavoidable. Climbing about still remains the primary way of travel in game, and it’s surprising how much upper body strength the characters posses. However, some new things have been added into the game. Vehicles play a much large role in Uncharted 4, with one level being so expansive that it requires the protagonists to drive around in a jeep. A high speed car chase results in Nathan jumping from car to car, taking out enemies like he’s a damn action hero (oh wait). Some other new features added to Uncharted would be the grappling hook and the piton. The grappling hook, while present in some parts of the older Uncharted games, never had the importance it has in A Thief’s End. Used in several different chapters, it’ll have varying use, from swinging across ravines to latching onto boxes in unaccessable areas. The piton is also a key aspect in exploring the environment, allowing players to latch onto weathered walls. In essence, it’s just another handhold, created to spice up the game slightly. However, one of the most dynamic additions to the game is the introduction of destructible cover. A lot of previously static and solid cover has become permeable, making firefights much more difficult. No longer can you be able to turn a firefight into a long battle, picking off enemies slowly. Enemies will now destroy the cover you are hiding behind and pick you off easily if you do not keep moving.
True to the franchise, Uncharted 4 based it’s game heavily on exploring your environment to complete a puzzle or take out your enemies. Whether it be a busy Madagascar market or quiet Scottish ruins, each encounter will leave you on edge, trying to take out your enemies quickly, and sometimes, quietly. Open combat has become a LOT harder in the new Uncharted, with the newly improved enemy AIs able to coordinate attacks on you. Stay in one place too long, and you can be sure a grenade will be sent your way. As a result, going in guns blazing is definitely not the best choice sometimes. The weapon selection in Uncharted is expansive, maybe even overdone. Many tiers of weapons will be found through out the game, starting with cheap, low tier weapons such as small caliber handguns and rudimentary automatics, to high-end mil-spec weaponry. Drake is only human (a very skilled and athletic one, but a human no less), and can carry a primary and a secondary weapon. Much more detail has gone into the weapons, as they are no longer just attached to Drake’s back, but rather slung by a visible sling. These small details, as well as the astounding combat system, is truly what proved that not every multiple installment game is complete trash.
And what’s an artifact-searching adventure game without cryptic messages and puzzles? Just like the other games in the franchise, Uncharted 4 has a plethora of puzzles, each challenging but not mind-boggling. What’s even more impressive is how intricate each one is. Each time you run into a puzzle, it’s almost always more complicated than the last. Not to mention that for half of the puzzles, you’re forced to navigate the environment due to the decay the puzzles over time. It creates a unique experience that allows Uncharted to challenge both your combat skills and intellect.
JUDGEMENT OF HALROLD
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has stolen my heart. By far, it’s one of the best, if not THE best story campaign I have ever played. The character development, the story, the gameplay, the beautiful ending, it’s superseded what I expected of this magnificent game. While the story has it’s holes in it (why didn’t Nate go back later on for the treasure? It wasn’t like vaporized) and had it’s share of bugs and glitches (for the love of God let me climb this wall normally), Naughty Dog has yet again astonished us with a masterpiece, something that should truly be written down in gaming history. Solid 9/10.
Sorry, won’t be posting this Friday’s review. I’ll try to get it up as soon as I can!
It’s been too long! I lost my interest in writing gaming reviews, mostly because basically no one reads them, but I now that I’m in college, I’ve find that I have SO MUCH TIME to do pointless crap! So I’m rebooting Halrold’s Party! I’m going to try to do a video game review the second Friday of every month, so be sure to check tomorrow for a new review!
I’ll also try to keep posting other video game content, but for now, I’m gonna only promise Friday Reviews! Thanks for whoever still reads this shitty blog!
P.S. Also, new logo, thanks to my friend Shmarah~
-halrold
I mean, this blog post is more for me and less an actually post. Reasons I took a break from the blog was because in junior year I fell into a bout of depression and even after getting back on my feet, I didn’t really have a compelling urge to write.
I’ll try to start again, but…it just feels so pointless, with practically a non-existent video game community…
Nuff said.
Well, I had a more normal Valentine’s day this year. I’m single, viciously wasting my time, and wondering what I could have been. Guess life’s give and take. But it doesn’t matter. A true gamer doesn’t need a girlfriend to be happy! Gaming is our lover!
…
Who am I kidding? That’s the biggest bullshit if I’ve heard.
Honestly, I’m pretty satisfied right now, and also there’s basically no one else I really like. I mean, I live in a town where our high school is only 600 people so there’s not much variety. Also, I’ve discovered that maintaining a friendship with Christine kinda satisfy my need for a relationship somehow, it’s pretty werid. Speaking of Christine, I got her a little card for Valentine’s day about friendship, and pretty much summed up this year’s Valentine’s day.
Emma, my ex-girlfriend? is in Canada, kinda ironic since it seems like she’s as far from me as possible. Life’s werid.
I don’t know what love is. Maybe I’ll find out later, when I level up…
Happy Valentine’s Day! Stay safe!
WOW. A day late. But better late than never. Right? Right??
…
Wow. Tough crowd.
So this is another sociology post and its about society.
Yeah I know right?
I believe that our runs on a constant conflict theory. Conflict theory is a sociological theory that the elite controls the poor and weak. Honestly, I can’t see our world being anything but in conflict. I mean, look at our own society. Politicians generally come from middle to upper class families, and campaigning is almost a competition on who has the most money to spend. Even globally it isn’t much better. All the rich, 1st world countries dominate the world while everyone else scrapes around to survive. When I read The Poisonwood Bible over the summer, I found a whole new perspective on our society. America, not wanting the world to grow in any other way but it’s own, staged an overthrowing of the newly independent government in Congo. They blamed communism, and people back at home approved of it. Doesn’t this sound like what we did in Iraq?
Another interesting point is the Milgram experiment. For anyone who’s actually reading this just for a kick (who get’s a kick from reading a high schooler’s homework?), the Milgram experiment was essentially a big troll. The experiment coordinator directs a “teacher” to ask questions to a “student”. If the “student” gets the question wrong, then they get a small electrically shock. For each question wrong, the shock becomes stronger and stronger. The “teacher” is told that the experiment is about whether pain can help people learn better. However, this is just a ruse. The true purpose it to see how much and how far a person will go listening to authority to hurt someone. The “student” was in on the experiment and never got hurt. However, the “teachers” were the ones being hurt, mentally. I personally thought that while controversial, the Milgram experiment was invaluable to our understanding of ourselves. While we may be uncomfortable with harming other people or listening to orders we feel are wrong, most of the time we will continue listen to the authority figure that commands us to do it, even if there is no real consequences to refusing to do so. It is quite horrifying to know that while we may feel at unease doing something the authority tells us to do, we will probably still bend to the authority’s orders and continue to do whatever they want us to do.
One of the biggest problem we have in our world today is greed. It doesn’t matter what is for, whether it be for money, power, or anything else. All humans are naturally selfish and greedy, and because of these traits humans have a difficult time working with each other sometimes. These problems aren’t easily remedied. The last major time people attempted to rid the world of greed, communism engulfed several countries and countless millions of people died in the ensuring decades. Honestly, only complete social reform would start changing the world. If every family and every school in the world began reinforcing selflessness and genuine altruism.
I turned on this show in hopes of it being a decent season.
I am satisfied.
They’re still able to make very diverse characters, and plus the fact that they finally added an Asian competitor really help boost my like for the show.
Basically, after the last season, which blew up the previous island, the competition moved to a new island. 16 new contestants will compete for $1,000,000. Each episode one contestant will be eliminated from the game.
Aside from the actual challenges, a lot of things happen on the side, like plots, friendships, relationships, backstabbing, everything, concurring with the name, “Total Drama”.
Now, the relationships have always intrigued me (seeing how some would call me a “hopeless romantic”), but one relationship this season really hit home.
—If you do plan on watching the show, you should stop reading now.——
Remember the whole Asian competitor? Yeah, so her name is Sky, and she’s ironically played by a Russian. She’s highly competitive, and is also an awesome athlete. Being one of the “power players”, she finds herself making it to the finals.
Now, her counterpart (and by that I mean her romantic counterpart), Dave, he’s almost an opposite. He’s a very “pampered” boy, wearing polo shirts and being insanely obsessed with germs. He’s pretty thin and unbuilt, but he has a pretty determined mind.
As the season went on, Dave began developed rather “strong” feelings for Sky. It becomes mutual attraction, but Sky is hesitant because of her competitive spirit. They nearly kiss at least 5 times in just one episode. Their attraction grew stronger and stronger, but both of their flaws hold them back, plus another competitor kept cockblocking them.
Eventually, she was transferred to the other team, and she was able to forget about Dave. Dave didn’t take it well. Dave even helped Sky not get attacked during one of the challenges. But at the urging of her teammates, she backstabbed him. Even though it was a cartoon, I could feel his pain.
Later, as the teams were broken up altogether, Dave tried to win Sky back by proving himself a man. She doesn’t take it well, and rejects him in front of everyone and as a result, he falls onto the ground in an emotional puddle.
Well, I never thought I could relate to a cartoon. At the end of the challenge, Sky was about to be eliminated, but Dave voted for himself and spared Sky from elimination. When he is about to leave, he looks back to ask Sky to contact him after the challenge is over, but she’s not there and he leaves thinking she completely forgot about him.
Fast forward to the finale, where the finalists randomly select their partners. The other finalist got his athletic girlfriend, while Sky got Dave on the first spin. She is disappointed, seeing how Dave lacked skills basically in anything. She spins again and gets Dave again. She is now forced to partner with Dave.
Dave tries to make things up with her, and it’s revealed to him that Sky did not want him as a teammate. Sky needed him to focus for her to win the million dollars, so she kisses him and agrees on going on a date with him. However, as the episode continues, it’s revealed that she has a boyfriend back home, and that just ended it for Dave.
Sky doesn’t win the million and never reconciles with Dave. The official ending concludes with a bitter Dave being attacked alone on the island.
I was very moved by their story when Dave got shot down by Sky and eventually voting himself off instead of staying. I teared up at the end, and I found myself sympathizing with Dave. Watching that episode brought back the painful memories of being rejected and all the mixed signals that were so difficult to understand.
Even though my story ended with nothing happening with me, I had hoped that Sky and Dave would re-conciliate at the finale. My hopes began fading as I read the description of the episode:
“Shawn pairs up with Jasmine, while Sky is stuck with Dave.”
The beginning is bittersweet, with Sky seemingly flirting with Dave so he would be cooperative. Later on, it seems that they earnestly are working together. But as Sky’s relationship is revealed, everything changes. Sky claims that she wanted to break up with her boyfriend, but didn’t get the chance. Dave reached his limit, completely against Sky at this point. Although Jasmine (the partner for the other finalist) also felt betrayed, she still cared for her counterpart (again, romantic). It ends with Shawn (the other finalist) winning the million and splitting it with Jasmine and Sky accepting defeat. But Dave is still bitter and is left behind.
Now that was a horrible ending for me. Just horrible.
Maybe there is no hope after all.
I’m gonna try to hunt down the alternate ending, which is made for every season of Total Drama Island. Maybe if Sky wins, things change.
Even if it is in a parallel universe, I want to see Dave win.
I think that will help me sleep better.
I’d like to apologize for the lack of posts lately. The unavailability of stable internet, life events, and general procrastination has barred me from making “wholehearted” posts.
I don’t wish to fill your feed with three sentence posts, and I seem to have lack my constructive posts lately, but no worries, my posts will begin again shortly.
Obviously, you pressed that “follow” button for a reason, and I ain’t about to let anyone on the interweb down now.
Have a pleasant day/night/life.
Halrold's Party 