l0thar

I just had a similar issue, though not exactly. This is for the 360 version, in case that makes a difference. When I reached the camp the Headsman and the guard were just standing there. Neither attacked the other. I initiated a conversation with the Headsman and we began fighting, but after I did enough damage to kill him he turned neutral again and just kept telling me that he had marked me for his next duel and that I was supposed to take the first shot. I was then unable to attack him at all. The way I was finally able to resolve this was to initiate the fight, then just run up the hill from the camp. After moving just about to bend in the path the guard ran up and started fighting the Headsman. The Headsman killed the guard and then I was able to beat him and get the next part of the quest to trigger.

I didn't have any issues with the Apotyre family mine quests. Those all completed just fine for me. I did have one where I thought I had killed everyone, but there was a wolf that was part of the family apparently. What happens in Apotyre stays in Apotyre!

@DarthOrange said:

I thought the game was a little tired, but never inferior to the previous 2. Maybe you just got tired of what is basically the same thing for three games back to back?

@l0thar said:

I purchased my PS3 last fall, mainly for the Uncharted series because of all the great things that I had heard. I have played them all within the past 6 months, so my recollection is pretty fresh, and it has given me the opportunity to really see the progress they've made with the series. I enjoyed the first one, but by the end I was annoyed with the combat. For some reason Naughty Dog thinks that interesting and engaging combat means that guys can take 10 bullets to the head and still keep coming. The entire section leading to the church was frustratingly horrible. I overlooked that though because the story was decent, the locations were interesting, and the puzzles were fun.

That being said I felt they really nailed it with Uncharted 2. That remains one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had. I felt they really got the balance between interesting and fun combat, traversal sequences, and engaging puzzles. The combat was fun, not frustrating... at least not until you reached Shambala and the bullet sponges showed up in force. The last hour of that game was where it went down a peg for me, but I still absolutely loved the game overall. I loved the game for the character interactions, and the closing scene was fantastic. It left me with very high expectations for the third one.

What happened to your Uncharted 1 & 2 trophies? Did you create a new PSN account just to play Heavy Rain and Uncharted 3?

I bought my PS3 after the fallout from the Sony hack, so I didn't want to create a PSN account until I felt it was needed. I thought my trophies would just move over once I created the account, but I discovered that wasn't true unfortunately.

@GetEveryone: Or the "Drake comes around a corner/looks over a ledge and gets grabbed/punched by someone". Happens far too often.

Uncharted 3 is a pretty fine looking game... when you have 3 seconds to take it all in before having to spend yet another 20 minutes fighting wave after wave of the same 4 minions who expertly flank you in an areas with barely sufficient cover. Every fight can basically be broken down into the same thing:

• 1st wave: normal dudes who go down pretty easily. There might be a better gun in the mix somewhere. They all seem to have infinite grenades.
• 2nd wave: Bullet sponges. At least two heavily armored dudes with shotguns plus some easy minions for flavor. If you're lucky there will be a grenadier or a sniper or two... just to make it fun.
• 3rd wave: A little bit of everything... especially bullet sponges. A rocket launcher or two, at least 2 snipers, a heavily armored dude, a riot shield guy, maybe a mounted turret. Keeps things interesting.

Seriously, this is how it's been the entire game. Every fight feels exactly the same. I dread finding an open-ish space because I know I'm going to have to slog through another hordes mode. Even in the quasi-stealth sections you know someone is going to spot either you or a body since you can't hide them. As soon the alarm goes up everyone in the world will know exactly where you are and how best to flank you. Oh, and you can't stealth kill armored guys. You'll just run up and punch them in the back... because that's effective.

I purchased my PS3 last fall, mainly for the Uncharted series because of all the great things that I had heard. I have played them all within the past 6 months, so my recollection is pretty fresh, and it has given me the opportunity to really see the progress they've made with the series. I enjoyed the first one, but by the end I was annoyed with the combat. For some reason Naughty Dog thinks that interesting and engaging combat means that guys can take 10 bullets to the head and still keep coming. The entire section leading to the church was frustratingly horrible. I overlooked that though because the story was decent, the locations were interesting, and the puzzles were fun.

That being said I felt they really nailed it with Uncharted 2. That remains one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had. I felt they really got the balance between interesting and fun combat, traversal sequences, and engaging puzzles. The combat was fun, not frustrating... at least not until you reached Shambala and the bullet sponges showed up in force. The last hour of that game was where it went down a peg for me, but I still absolutely loved the game overall. I loved the game for the character interactions, and the closing scene was fantastic. It left me with very high expectations for the third one.

Uncharted 3 has been a huge disappointment for me so far. I've finally reached "The Atlantis of the Sands", and just when I thought I had seen the worst the boring and frustrating combat had to offer, now I get fight wave after wave of Ghost Rider wannabes who can take multiple rocket/grenade blasts, can teleport right next to you, can fire magic grenades that can't be thrown back, and required multiple head-shots to kill. This wouldn't be so bad if there were areas of better cover where I could take a few seconds to get health back, but there aren't. Trying to keep these guys from flanking you is an exercise in futility. They teleport right next to you, and even unloading clip after clip of shots right into their faces doesn't seem to be enough to stop these guys before they have killed you. It's more than a little frustrating.

The biggest letdown of this game for me is how they seemed to have lessened what I thought were the best parts of the first two games: the story, the characters, the traversal elements and the puzzles, and only seem to have increased what I have always felt was the worst parts of them: the combat. Sure, the melee combat is more involved, but it's only helpful when there isn't a room full of guys with automatic weapons shooting you in the back while you're playing a repetitive, predictable melee mini-game. Also, the PS3 controller does not handle precision targeting well. Trying to nudge the crosshairs in any direction is painful mini-game in and of itself. I don't know if it's the actual controller or the software interfacing with it, but it's bad. The 360 controller is much better suited for this kind of thing. Then there are the sections where the environment is moving, which makes it even more difficult to target things with any precision. Not enjoyable.

I definitely feel that the combat in Uncharted 3 is its weakest component. There is also just too much of it. Every 10 steps Drake takes seem to lead him into yet another open area filled to the brim with uninteresting minions who just soak up bullets. It got old in the first hour of the game, and it hasn't gotten any better since. Uncharted 3 is a big step backwards in terms of the combat in the series.

You're the man Steve. You will be missed.