Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Is it possible to have your expectations raised too high? Uncharted 2: Among Thieves delivered a monumental leap over the first game in the series, and it might be easy to fall into the trap of assuming the same advancements would take place in every subsequent release. If that's your state of mind going into Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, you might walk away slightly disappointed. But that's not a fair response. Though the third entry in this treasure-hunting franchise offers a similar experience to its revered predecessor, it's no less magical. Just about every element showcases the care and craftsmanship you would expect from the series. Combat is even more versatile than in previous entries, combining incredible shooting encounters with advanced hand-to-hand takedowns set in lavishly designed areas. When you need a break from the taxing physical endeavors, thoughtful puzzles allow you to explore your more contemplative side. And these two elements are punctuated by exhilarating set-piece events that leave you gasping. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is another superb entry in Nathan Drake's ongoing quest to find the world's many lost treasures.
Once again, Nathan Drake is in search of lost treasure in a mysterious land. The story encompasses many of the same tropes from previous games--deception, twists, camaraderie--though the nuts and bolts of the plot have never been one of Uncharted's strong points. Rather, it's the realistic portrayal of characters--their lively back-and-forth discussions and snide jokes--that give you a reason to care about the tale. Drake, Sully, and the supporting cast sport detailed animation that makes them almost look real, and their playful dialogue further cements this image. Tempers flare, threats are made, and you can feel the tension during heated moments. But these lifelong friends always make up, and it's their believable relationships that make it so easy to become invested in their struggles.

When you picture Uncharted, you may think of plundering ancient tombs or throwing as many grenades as you can manage in bombastic sequences. But the opening of Drake's Deception eschews the larger-than-life action the series is known for in favor of an old-fashioned bar brawl. This is where the new animations that have been incorporated into fisticuffs are apparent as you wrestle with a platoon of aggressive men in a confined place. Shoving a burly dude into the bar while you pummel his face or grabbing a stray bottle to crash over someone's head conjures images of Patrick Swayze handling business in Road House, and the controls are precise enough to make it possible to manage an approaching group without getting your face beaten. Ultimately, these instances where you're forced to take matters into your own hands are the weakest aspect of the game because your freedom is so limited, but that's not to say they're boring. There's a satisfying rhythm to throwing fists while avoiding counters, and you have enough flexibility to move around that you don't feel like you're just performing mindless quick-time events.
As much fun as it may be to bash in a man's head with a wooden chair, it can't match the thrill of beating a man with your fists when he's sporting an assault rifle. There are segments where you have to fistfight in Drake's Deception, but there are other times when you're in a battle for your life and you can use any weapon you want to stay alive. Thanks to the incredibly impactful animations of a hand-to-hand assault, it's fun to put aside the bullets and explosives to focus on getting your hands dirty instead. Being sneaky certainly helps. Snapping a man's neck before he can turn around or just shoving someone clear off a building is immensely rewarding. But there are other times when stealth doesn't work, and you find yourself grappling, feinting, and punching below the belt, while bullets fly and enemies scream death threats at you. Particular animations make these encounters a special treat. You may grasp the barrel of your gun and swing at someone's head with a metal uppercut or elbow a foe in the neck like a wrestler suffering from roid rage, and it's hard to contain your joyous laugh. There are times when you run out of bullets and fighting with your fists is the only way to go. Once you finish off your foe, a slow motion moment in which Drake snatches your enemy's discarded gun in midair adds a fitting end to the fight.

Of course, you don't have to go toe-to-toe if you'd rather not. The beauty of Uncharted's combat is that you can dispatch foes in a variety of ways, and all of them feel incredibly empowering. The key is the expertly designed levels. Drake's Deception is a cover-based, third-person shooter; thus, chest-high walls populate many of your encounters. But those familiar structures aren't used as a crutch here. Verticality gives you the option to climb around like a gun-toting monkey if you prefer, getting the drop on lackadaisical foes. If a man with a rocket launcher is forcing you to hunker behind a piece of debris, fear not; you can smoothly leap from cover, shimmy up a nearby wall, and sprint pell-mell across a rooftop. Grab a sniper rifle on the way if you want to handle him from afar or a shotgun if you'd like to pop him right in the head. Toss grenades at the group of enemies hiding by that well, man the turret once you finish off its previous operator, or sprint past everyone until you make it to the door that marks your safety. Versatile level design lets you choose how to go about killing your pesky foes in Drake's Deception, and rock-solid controls ensure every action you want to perform can be pulled off without any hesitation.
If you're feeling sluggish and just want to use your gun for a while, doing so is a perfectly valid alternative to the high-flying adventuring. The mechanics in Drake's Deception have been refined even further from the previous game. No matter which gun you grab, you can target weak points with ease, and enemies recoil when you prick their flesh with searing-hot bullets. Drake's Deception offers so many different ways to take down foes that you might think it falls into the camp of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But that's not true at all. If you take things slowly--crouch behind cover only risking your neck when the opportunity presents itself--you have just as much of a chance to succeed as someone who makes use of Drake's agility. And you can have just as much fun, too. The weapons are a blast to use. Landing a headshot from across the map with a sniper rifle is eminently satisfying, as is taking out a gunner with a sure blast from a shotgun. You can easily keep an enemy off balance with a fast-shooting assault rifle or knock a grenade right out of someone's hand with a steady pistol. Ample ammunition lets you focus on the fun of firing rather than scrounging for extra bullets, so you can stick with your favorite weapon if you want or mix things up after every fight.

Read More:
http://asia.gamespot.com/uncharted-3-drakes-deception/reviews/uncharted-3-drakes-deception-review-6341906?tag=summary%3Bread-review&page=2

5 ways to ignite your PC's performance without spending a cent

Is your PC slowing down? Or maybe it crashing more and more, Well if that's the case it just might because your PC is suffering old age! Yes that's right just like people PCs suffer from the aging process too.

But there's good news

But unlike people you can actually turn back the aging process and bring your beloved PC back to life. All it takes is a couple of easy to follow tips to ignite your PC's performance to full speed again.

Just follow these easy to follow steps:

System configuration utility
Even when your computer's sat there doing nothing it could be running at least 50 programs! These are programs that a munching away at your poor old CPU and not to mention having a right good go at your memory as well. The reason for this is because over time the more stuff you install the more crap that builds up and even if you don't even use that program, there's a damn good chance that it's running in the background.

To see what I mean hit CTRL +ALT + DELETE then press the processes tab. It will show you how many processes that are running in the background.

1. To solve this little dilemma just go the Start or Run for XP owners, and type MSCONFIG.

2. The System configuration will appear and from in there go to the STARTUP tab.

3. Once you've selected the STARTUP tab you'll be presented all the programs that are running in the background of your PC. What I would recommend is turning everything off apart from your anti virus.

If you do see anything what you do want on for example MSN massager by all means keep it on but the more you have running in the background the more it'll sap your PC's performance and will also affect you're your Boot times as well.

System configuration utility part 2
Now still hanging around in the System Configuration Utility, go to the second tab called SERVICES and go to and untick the HIDE ALL MICROSOFT SERVICES. We've got to do this (unless you're a bit more experienced) because if you go and turn one of Microsoft's services you could just mess your entire PC up and we don't want that do we.

Once you've unticked the box you should be just left with all the non Microsoft services.

once again I would recommend to turn them all off but the anti viruses services. Once you've decided what and what not gets the chop click apply and you're done.

Performance Options
Depending on which OS (operating system) your using, this could make or brake it. If your using Windows Vista? I would recommend turning some the visual effects of especially on the lower end systems. However if your using XP, the performance will be less impressive but I believe every ounce of performance is crucial. Besides, you won't even notice half of these switched of anyway.

Now as much as I would love to tell you how to get to these options, the ways to get there are very different when compared to Vista and XP. So a way around this (and probably a cop out as well) I'll just tell the vista owners to type in PERFORMANCE into the search bar, select PERFORMANCE INFORMATION AND TOOLS and click ADJUST VISUAL EFFECTS and you'll find your way there.

For XP owners read on:

1. Go to Start, Control Panel and select PERFORMANCE AND MAINTENANCE.

2. Then ADJUST VISUAL EFFECTS you should find yourself there.

Now I would recommend turning them all off barring the last one. The last one keeps the modern Windows feel which I personally like but hay, everyone's different.

Uninstalling
A fast Hardrive is a empty hardrive. So if you've got an hardrive full to the brim, delete the programs and games you don't need to speed up your Hardrive and watch those boot times fly!

Tip: If you're a gamer (like me) What you can do is save the save game file and uninstall the full game. This way you can get the wanted gigs of space back but not lose your place on Crysis. Cool eh.

Defragging
Now there's hundreds of other tips I wanted to share with you but I wanted to keep this article as short as possible to prevent you been bord to death. but the ver last thing I would do to my PC once I finish optimizing it is to defrag it.

Now your probably thinking that yes I already know that James. But what I would recommend doing is using a different defragger especially if your using the dreaded Vista defragged.

Now as you've probably gathered, I can't stand Vista's defragger, I think it's actually a step backwards, not a step forward. But what really annoys me about it is that you have no idea how long it will takes and how defragmented your hardrive is.

But don't worry, because I'm going to show you to download a much better one that Vista's own shoddy attempt. Auslogics Disk defragger is its name and I think you'll find it quick and easy to use and it seems to do quite a good job as well.

And another thing.. It's completely free to download as well. Just Google "Auslogics Disk defragger" and you should find it in no time.