7.5/10 (1st 6.5; 2nd 8.5)
Pros:
-The visuals have continued to improve with each installment. There were plenty of moments of cinematic awe. The monumental sand dunes of the Rub al' Khali come to mind.
-The upgraded hand-to-hand combat. The opening bar fight in the London Pub was a highlight as well as the rumble in the marketplace in Yemen (even if that kind of felt like Indiana Jones dropped into Matrix 2 fighting a dozen nameless suits)
-More mission variety which cut down on the egregious amount of shooting a bit. In this area it might be an improvement from last 2.
-The flashback sequence with young Nate and young(er) Sully
Cons:
-Besides the Nate-Sully relationship, none of the other relationships get much development. The one that is especially under-baked is the Nate and Elena relationship. Granted they could be going for a "show don't tell" effect, but it feels more under-written, as if they didn't know how to explain the only hinted at relationship difficulties without even with giving one sentence as to what happened in their relationship. It makes the ending with the rings feel unearned.
-Copy+paste formula 3 games in a row now. Each game ending with finally discovering the hidden city, turns out it's cursed, there are supernatural demon creatures of some sort inside, and then the city is destroyed leaving no trace behind. I hope the 4th game breaks this and does something totally different.
-Again, the shooting. It's fine, but still too much of it and in random places, although slightly reined in from last game. Nate at least makes a joke about it here and there, but it's still absurd. For example, when the cruise ship is sinking to the bottom of the ocean, there are still guys just waiting around to shoot at him. Seriously? Why not just make that a race against the clock level while Nate tries to find his way off the ship. Speaking of the ship...
-So many unbelievable bail outs. Don't get me wrong, the other games were guilty of this too like Nate bleeding and freezing to death while dangling off a cliff in the Himalayas but then still going Rambo against mobs of enemies. This game just had too many moments like this, whether it was clutching a single plank of wood during a sea storm and miraculously washing ashore where he needs to be or spending multiple days in the desert with no water and then still being able to do a solo Black Hawk Down through the streets of a deserted village.
Pros:
-The visuals have continued to improve with each installment. There were plenty of moments of cinematic awe. The monumental sand dunes of the Rub al' Khali come to mind.
-The upgraded hand-to-hand combat. The opening bar fight in the London Pub was a highlight as well as the rumble in the marketplace in Yemen (even if that kind of felt like Indiana Jones dropped into Matrix 2 fighting a dozen nameless suits)
-More mission variety which cut down on the egregious amount of shooting a bit. In this area it might be an improvement from last 2.
-The flashback sequence with young Nate and young(er) Sully
Cons:
-Besides the Nate-Sully relationship, none of the other relationships get much development. The one that is especially under-baked is the Nate and Elena relationship. Granted they could be going for a "show don't tell" effect, but it feels more under-written, as if they didn't know how to explain the only hinted at relationship difficulties without even with giving one sentence as to what happened in their relationship. It makes the ending with the rings feel unearned.
-Copy+paste formula 3 games in a row now. Each game ending with finally discovering the hidden city, turns out it's cursed, there are supernatural demon creatures of some sort inside, and then the city is destroyed leaving no trace behind. I hope the 4th game breaks this and does something totally different.
-Again, the shooting. It's fine, but still too much of it and in random places, although slightly reined in from last game. Nate at least makes a joke about it here and there, but it's still absurd. For example, when the cruise ship is sinking to the bottom of the ocean, there are still guys just waiting around to shoot at him. Seriously? Why not just make that a race against the clock level while Nate tries to find his way off the ship. Speaking of the ship...
-So many unbelievable bail outs. Don't get me wrong, the other games were guilty of this too like Nate bleeding and freezing to death while dangling off a cliff in the Himalayas but then still going Rambo against mobs of enemies. This game just had too many moments like this, whether it was clutching a single plank of wood during a sea storm and miraculously washing ashore where he needs to be or spending multiple days in the desert with no water and then still being able to do a solo Black Hawk Down through the streets of a deserted village.