Uncharted 2 is a Bit Rubbish in Standard Def
As something of an early Christmas present to myself I bought Uncharted 2. It arrive a few hours ago and I’ve been Nathan-Drakeing it around since. I am disappointed to say the least. The mountains of hype accompanying this title and my discovery of its pseudo-incompatibility with 480p has left me more than a little annoyed to have spent so much money on it.
Without HD (I assume, I’ve not played it in HD and nobody who has shares my complaints) all the detail you need to play the game is simply missing. I played Uncharted on an SD TV and don’t remember having any of these problems, which is why it has been all the more surprising.
One of the earliest challenges you are faced with is simply climbing. This is the tutorial part of the very first level. You should be able to clearly see all the handholds that Drake can cling onto as he ascends. Due to a lower resolution and a washing out of all the colours, an annoying number of ledges become undefined to a useless degree. I died at least twice during the tutorial when I jumped into nothing.
This inability to spot the ledges I’m meant to climb on continues in every level I have so far played. Worse, those ledges I’m not allowed to climb on look just the same. Why? I have no idea, I can’t see well enough.
The stealth element, quite prevalent in one early mission, becomes a joke in SD. The guards I am trying to get around wear white shirts so you can spot them, this is great. But there’s not enough detail on the character models for me to see which way they are facing until I’m too close, this is less great.
If they see you being sneaky directly in front of them, an alarm is triggered and it’s game over, restart the level please. Not being able to tell the direction my adversary is facing is, as you can guess, utterly ridicules considering that’s quite an important part.
After some trial, error and memorising positions I was able to move on to a new broken challenge: the tracing of a red wire to find a switch box to deactivate an alarm. Simple enough, in HD. But, thanks to the power of the cathode ray, that thin red line becomes invisible on SD when you’re more than about five meters away. It took me several minutes at one point to realise I had stopped tracing the red wire and was just tracing a shadow on a wall. Surly the developers test for basic things like this?
Helping the situation become even worse is the terrible colour range on show. First we get a washed out pale blue snowy bit, then a washed out grey bit, then we mix things up with a washed out green and brown level or two. TV’s like the one I’m using don’t exactly perform well with this quantity of bland, even with the brightness set on maximum.
So we have washed out, already blurry details. How could this get harder? How about an aiming reticule that you can’t change, that’s tiny, semi-transparent and becomes invisible if you focus on something even remotely patterned? Yeah, that should do the trick.
The story, acting, music etc. is all fine and good, but that’s not really what I care about first and foremost with my games; I want to be able to play them. HD TV’s, regardless of what people say, are expensive and are not that common. Making your game HD only is just a bad move. Would adding the extra options (like changing the reticule to be usable) really take that much time?
Humbug.
Yeah, it’s frustrating how some games are HD or bust. I mean sure, pretty much all you can buy these days are at least 720p tvs, but a lot of people are otherwise quite happy with their tube boxes and can’t really buy a new one on a whim like that.
I think the game I noticed this most with was Assassins Creed. My first playthrough was on 19″ CRT, not small by any means, and had distinct trouble reading a lot of the text. It also applied to Crackdown where you could barely make out enemies or orbs from a certain distance.
Citation required but I remember somewhere quoting that only half of gamers were HDTV owners so you’d think this stuff was still a priority. Granted it doesn’t affect Wii owners but it’s still a relevant issue.
Things must have changed pretty dramatically since I was a console games tester. This was PS2/Xbox 1 era, but EA had us testing on 13″ television sets. I’m sure they’ve got better displays now, but it’s a shock to know that it’s so unplayable on a standard display.
That’s lazy of them. From what you’re saying it seems like they didn’t even bother to test if the game is playable on SD televisions.
@Callik: The reference you’re thinking of is here.
I finished uncharted 2 on my regular SD TV (which is by no means the best SD TV you can find) and the game looked amazing. I played it on the HD TV in the living room and was completely blown away. So imo, either there is something wrong with your SD TV or you simply set your standards too high.
Standard Def PAL or NTSC?
SD is dead no matter the format, but it could be a factor.
@JeffH: As I’m in the UK it’s PAL.
@gildartz: oh, the game looks stunning with its epic vistas and such. I just found it near impossible to see the small details, which is what the rant is about. The lack of detail caused the gameplay to suffer for me.
sure the detail isn’t as amazing as on a HDTV but surely it can’t be that bad that it affects the gameplay? I can see the ledges perfectly fine on the SDTV. How big is this SDTV that we’re talking about?
Is this article a joke? I recently have bought a new HDTV and play uncharted 2 on it and it looks amazing, but before that i played it on a SD tv and it still looks amazing. It’s still detailed and it is still playable, i could always see the ledges and the game was never unplayable in SD. If i was you i would check your TV or your eyesight.
Who the hell plays on SDTV anymore? These are made for HDTVs so get with it, or you are missing out. This is the most pointless and lame article on the web…
Stop being a cheapskate. Buy an HDTV and stop your stupid crying. No excuses. You can get a 32″ 1080p HDTV for almost nothing. Even 40″ TVs are getting cheap. Nobody cares what Uncharted looks like in SDTV.
ummm dude I think you just have a shitty ass TV or ps3 or something because my friend came to my house last night after he bought Unchated 2 and he brought over a tiny ass tv thats old as fuckkkkkk and has no HD at all. It even has a VCR slot in it, yet the quality was still very superb…
i have a SD tv and the quality is fine,nothing like you are making it out to be. im using 26inch crt its like 15 years old. my friends have hdtvs and i think they are rubbish, the normal picture quality on av SUCKS, its like its raining on the screen. all blurry and smudgy
sti=op being so cheap and buy urself a good HD tv or use ur parents come on be serious technology is moving in great leaps and bounds and we all need to do the same to go along with it. Stop crying like a little grl and making stupid articles lets be serious!!!!!! and get use to it bcus soon 3D gaming will be the new craze and u wont be playing that on your cheap ass TV
The idiots who are saying buy an HDTV are missing the point. I also didn’t have any problem playing the game at 480p. Looked like crap and the text wasn’t really readable compared to 720p or 1080p, but for me on my CRT TV display it was perfectly playable.
Your a lame shut up dude seriously go cry somewhere else fruitcake lol
@chulonyc: *you’re
You are playing SD on a large HD tv…WHY THE HELL?
Of course 480p blown up on a 1080p native set will look like trash. Think about it, the Tv has 1080 x 1920 pixels and you are using 20% of the pixels and then blowing it up to fit the full screen. When played in SD on an SD set you will enjoy it. If you play on an HD set buy the HDMI cables dummy!
What a waste of an article. Also to the poster above about EA testing. First this is not an Ea game at all lol, but EA uses 37″ Sony Bravia’s in thier QA rooms. I’ve tested Dead Space, NHL 09/10, NCAA 09, NBA Live 09/10, Fifa 09/10, Army of Two.
I think you should check your sharpness settings. I played Uncharted 2 on a 23″ SDTV and it looked fine; About a million times better than that screenshot and nowhere near unplayable. :/
OK! You suck! NO HDMI at this time, only $3 on Amazon.com. Don’t complain about Uncharted 2, because you DO NOT HAVE HDMI.
As my TV has one scart input and one aerial input, I hardly think an HDMI cable will help.
No offence, but dude, seriously sd is only for ps2,wii etc.
This game in HD is better looking then any game i’ve seen and i’ve been to crysis and back:)
Go grad yourself a nice HDTV and plug the HDMI into the back.
And finally ENJOY!
That explains this:
Michael Pachter, industry analyst for NPD, told Critical Gamer:
“Sales of Uncharted 2 fell precipitously in November, and other than pressure from Call of Duty, it’s really hard to fathom why. I’m sure that the game will get a boost from winning the VGA’s Game of the Year, but it’s only sold 650,000 in the U.S. so far, which is really shocking given its review scores. I expect God of War 3 to perform better, but am troubled by the relatively lackluster sales of Uncharted 2.
This is a worrying trend for Sony, as titles exclusive to the PS3 just don’t seem to shift in the quantity the quality of the game suggests should be the case. It happened with Killzone 2 and now Uncharted 2. If the same fate befalls the two system sellers due in 2010, God of War 3 and Gran Turismo 5, then I can’t see where Sony could go from there.”
650,000 units is nothing given the tremendous investment that went into producing the game. You can find a few Xbox Live Arcade games that have sold that much…
I got an SDTV and not HDTV, I can see EVERYTHING clearly, your TV is probably an LDTV, even my LDTV is PS3 Clear! YOU MUST HAVE A RUBBISH TV! I got an SDTV and LDTV both about 34″ if your TV’s small, then I understand the problem, if it’s big, WAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT?!?!?
@ScottyGrayskull: You can’t really be serious. Why in the heck would some one go out and get a next gen system, a great next gen game and then complain because it doesn’t look great in standard def. Here is a quick fix, go and get a darn wii instead and get rid of the awesomeness that is the PS3. Either that or find something else to complain about. This whole complaint is just lame. I am going to go and order a cheese burger now with no bun and complain about how my hands get all greasy from touching the meat. VERY LAME!!!
@killinrod: Yeah, I’m agree with you. Just get a HD TV + HDMI, after that can you continue complaining???? HELL NO!
Sorry, but spending hundreds of pounds that I can’t afford (in the real world I need to pay for travel, food and rent to name but a few) to be able to enjoy an 8 hour game a bit better because it was designed for the minority of gamers with HD TVs is not a sensible option.
@wardrox: If you say so, THEN DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT UNCHARTED 2 no more! Just because you don’t want to buy a HDTV & a HDMI, and you complain about The Best Graphic Game of 2009, NONSENSE!
@Haseo: Not being funny, but you came to my website here.
Telling me to not complain when you chose to come here, read what I wrote (on Christmas eve) then complain to me about it and tell me I shouldn’t have written it is a touch hypercritical to say the least.
You’re right but NOW U should read all the comments and then COUNT WITH YOUR FINGERS: HOW MANY PEOPLE AGREE WITH YOUR TOPIC about UNCHARTED 2?
@Haseo: Sure.
Everybody agrees (who didn’t come from the PS3 section on N4G).
@wardox: no it is not sensible to buy a hdtv for just 1 game, but in the long run it is a pretty nice investment. it’s not just for one game, it’s for all HD content. Besides, nowadays, you can get a good 19″HDTV for £160-£200 and a full HD 32″ for just above £300. If you could afford to get the ps3 to play it on, surely you can save a bit for a HDTV XD
@gildartz: Well, things for me get more complex; I alrwady have an HD monitor that I use for my PC and 360 (The PS3 has shitty broken DRM so doesn’t work with it). In a few weeks I’ll be going to the USA for 3 months (there’s an HD TV there), and after that, if I’m still in the UK, my income will be very limited. £200 may not seem like a lot, but that’s a months rent and well out of my budget.
However, I am planning on taking my PS3 state-side to see Uncharted 2 in sexy 1080, at least for a few months.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE DIFFERS FROM YOURS SLIGHTLY, THUS YOU ARE WRONG, YOU TWAT.
Wow wardrox, you apparently touched a nerve or two with this piece. :P
The joys of social news sites (aka: the toilet of the internet’s toilet). ;)
are you serious? Dude…you are saying things without using your brain…first of all, buy a freaking HDTV before you play any of these games…stop crying about the graphic when its your TV you idiot…..really…you are lack of intelligent right now..
What’s rubbish is this article. LOL If you had a real point with this, you wouldn’t have had to just show a photoshopped to look bad pic, you could have just shown how the game actually looks on a SDTV. But you didn’t. This is just a BS article to try to get people who havn’t upgraded to HD to avoid Uncharted 2, which would be a mistake on their part. The game looks great in SD. I played it on a 27 inch Sony Trinitron from 1990, going through S-Video and it was the best looking thing I’ve ever seen on that TV’s screen. Obviously it’s not as amazing looking as it is in HD, but in no way does any PS3 game look “bad” in SD. This article is nothing but propaganda and dis-information. For shame.
get a better tv, i used a sdtv and it looked fine.
Oh the joys of getting PS3 fanboys from N4G to comment on your website. Good article dude, don’t own a PS3 but I’ve experienced problems like that before I picked up an HDTV. Stupid developers being cheapskates :\.
um dude just get a new std def tv cause mine is std and um its running like a pro no rubbish thing or anything.probably must be your tv busting out or something cause believe it or not “THIS IS THE FIRST ARTICLE THAT I HAVE HEARD THIS LOL”
This all seems a little harsh to me. I have gamed on a SDTV all my life and still think Uncharted 2 is an amazing looking game, and I am able to play it just as good as anyone else.
I guess this is why they call you negative gamer…
Buy a good 32″ HD tv for 300 USD or Euros.
Its an investment so its not expensive.
Hmm…after awakening from my five day cyrogenic sleep it seems that the human race has turned into moraless bigots who suddenly become defensive and verbally abusive when somebody with a differing opinion challenges them…I truly am not clever enough to finish this paragraph intelligently, so perhaps…well who the fuck am I kidding, none of you could either.
just one question.
WTF is the point of owning a ps3 without a HD TV.
dont blame the developers because you dont have a HD TV.
hell a friend of mine got a samsung 32 inch full 1080P LCD TV for christmas, his parents showed me where they got it
600AUD.
dam im spewing, i spent 1700 bucks on my sony 32 inch and thats only 720P.
owning a ps3 with a SD TV is as useful as owning a wii with a home cinema projector.
@joepenn18: I couldn’t have said it any better :D
O.k so let me get this straight, YOU HAVE A PS3 SO YOU MUST HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR A HD TV !!!, This article is pointless the whole idea of owning a PS3 is for the blu-ray movies and High-def games, so why would you buy one if you can only afford a CRT TV. HD TV is now the norm as almost every single channel is broadcast at 1080i. And why are you bashing Uncharted ???, isnt this the same for almost every HD game. Your living in the dark ages with a piece of technology your not even using to its full potential !.
Get in the right century pal, coz if your playing a ps3 on a SDTV, you are stupid. If you cant afford one, then why did you get a PS3 ? Sell ya PS3, get a decent tv, then get another PS3 to play it on when ya can afford it. in the meantime go to school and learn some shit.
Damn, what’s this garbage?
HD TV are expensive?? Wow, i’ve seen HD TV/Monitor with a price lower than euros 200. If that’s expensive, then stick with your hamsters working TV.
go play wii on your sd tv or connect your ps3 to a pc monitor or you bought a ps3 buy a freakin hdtv to play a game that its ment to be showcasing all the technology its like me wanting to play doom 1 on a geforce gtx 280 or crysis 2 on a voodoo 2 video card .Can you catch my drift there budy stop bashing the game and start complaining about the lack of textures and antialiasing on halo odst xbot
dude i have played it on a sd tv and yea it doesnt look as good as hd but i was still able to see most of the details with little problem and the game still looked pretty amazing u most jus have a 1960′s tv or somethin a common sd tv should have no problem displaying uncharted2 of course it wont look as good as an hd tv but still u shouldnt have these problems that ur having unless ur tv is from the stone age
Well get your hands in your pocket and splash out on a new TV, you cheap whining cunt…FFS!
This comments section makes me weep for humanity.
Well, I didn’t play Uncharted 2 in SD, but the predesessor looked really great on a “normal” TV – it had great antialiasing that way. BETTER than in 720p!
Okay… Wow. I can’t believe some of the idiots on the internet.
In all honesty, this will be the first time I ever take the time to reply on a rant on someones personal blog. I read things like this all the time, but when I finally took the time to read ALL of the stupid replies (of which there were many), I had to say something and put in my two cents. Hopefully someone with some sense will read this small rant of mine. The replies I’ve seen here are absolutely outrageous and were made (mostly) by people who have no idea what they’re talking about – at least it seems this way from my perspective.
For those telling Wardrox to buy an HDTV with an HDMI cable, and to stop complaining: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! Just because he has a PS3, and a standard def television, AND he has already stated that he cannot justify a purchase of an HDTV for 8 hours of enjoyment on a video game due to the fact it’s not worth his money is NOT AN ISSUE. Whether an HDTV be $1000, $500, or even $250, he doesn’t think it’s justifiable. Just because he has a PS3 and Uncharted 2 does not necessarily mean he has the cash to throw around on a TV set of which in his own opinion he does not find justified. So a new TV is not in the equation for this gentlemen.
A PS3 game does not look proper on his current television. Is this the developers fault? Maybe. His TV? Maybe. My personal issue with this small page on the internet is the amount of shit you are giving Wardrox for posting about his issue. Like he’s already said in one of his very own comments, you’ve all come to HIS website. He has the freedom of speech to say whatever he wants on the internet, and he’s even putting money out of his own wallet to put it here. “…What the fuck?”, some of you might think, “This guy puts his money out to have his website online? With the money he puts into this every year he could have an HDTV and Uncharted 2 looking AMAZING!!!”. Now, for Wardrox, this is what he likes to do; post blogs on the internet of his own experiences. Not put money forth into buying a new TV. Shocking, I’m sure to some of you, but that’s how it is. Stop giving this guy shit. You came to his site, and sure, you’re allowed to put forth your opinion. But please, for the sake of everyone else who might read your comments, put some thought and validity into your reply before you hit the “Submit Comment” button instead of just spouting random bullshit at Wardrox and the rest of his readers.
As another commenter posted, about only half of people with next gen consoles play on an HDTV. Roughly 50%. Do you imbeciles replying understand that figure? While you may be playing on an HDTV, that doesn’t mean the next person you meet online will be too; in fact there’s a 50/50 chance they won’t. DO YOU GET IT? Hell, HDTVs are still expensive in my eyes too, maybe not to you, but to me they are. As an 18 year old college student with only a part time job that pays me less than $10.00 (Canadian) per hour, getting about 15 hours a week, I still think anything over $150 is expensive. Wardrox may be in my position, he may not; regardless a lot of people are. I myself own a next gen console and an HDTV, but I did save up and find the purchases both justifiable for me. And you know what? I had my console for about 3 years on an SDTV before I moved to an HDTV just a few months ago. So get off of Wardrox’s balls. If you were thrown into a Walmart, Target, Best Buy, or any other store, would you honestly have 500-1500 dollars ready to drop on a TV right then and there at any given time of your life “Just because”…? I highly doubt it. However, some of you I’m sure will read this and reply back to me telling me to shut up anyways so I might as well quit bitching now as well.
Wardrox, I’m very sorry to hear about your problem my friend. Something like this sounds like the fault of the developers of the game. Have you had troubles like this on any other games? If not, we can probably pinpoint the issue to them. Anyways, keep doing what you’re doing, and don’t take what the retards say personally. Like I said, they’re retarded making blind comments and obviously not thinking that someone with a brain will read them let alone rebut against them. It seems that only a few of the people replying to your post may agree with what I’ve written here, or at least with my general view on your problem…Which in my opinion is a sad thing to see from our fellow gamers.
Peace out,
Alex
Wow. Some people are butt hurt.
The man couldn’t see the ledges in his game very well.
Decided to talk about his day on his blog.
Get over it. Wow.
This is the best comment thread ever, and I love you all.
Yeah, I couldn’t play Viva Pinata because I was on a SD TV. The text was unreadable. I cried.
@Alex: Firstly, I very much appreciate your comment, it gives me hope :)
Secondly, The way the comments are set up, and the way this whole site is set up, morons who comment can be easily ignored. I wrote this article for the readers here, for a christmas eve post. But, complaining about N4G (which brought traffic, and some smart people here) would be silly.
With the HD issues, I lived in a house for two years with HD TVs, it’ onyl now I’ve graduated and am staying with my parents (because I’m off to America in a couple of weeks) that I’m using their old SD. I still use my 360 in HD as it works with a standard VGA monitor.
This problem does happen with quite a few games, and it’s always the games that boasts the best graphics. This TV is a bit on the crappy side, but if it’s unsuitable then the game shouldn’t say it supports it imho.
Solution, buy an HD TV and stop blaming one game in particular when pretty much every current game sucks in SD. Also, proof check your writing, a few blunders here and there.
you do know you can get VGA or DVI to HDMI connectors dont ya?
if you have a HD PC monitor that does not have a HDMI slot, just buy a adapter, plug the HDMI cable into the adapter, and PS3, than the monitor into the other end of the adapter.
simple, no?
@name: that doesn’t work with the PS3s gimped DRM. Trust me, I’ve tried.
Look mate, just get a HDMI for your HDTV.
Lol, there are still suckers playing on sdtv’s?!!! That’s your bad, not the game’s!
I re-iterate…you’re a cunt!
I’m assuming you’re british (as i) get down to smack (sorry cash) converters, and buy one! I’m in no means rich or privileged, but seriously, come on mate, you cant stretch to a 19″ HDTV? they’re less than a hundred quid…this seems like an anti ps3 jibe than anything else (ooh my 360 plays through my monitor) as i said before, get your hands in you pocket, you whinning bitch (and go out less)
cunt…
Have you considered buying a cheap pc monitor, a set of VGA leads and a set of pc pc speakers? I appreciate you dont want to spend a whole load of cash on a HD tv, I too feel its a major purchase and is only worth doing when you can afford a good one to last many years. But truthfully you can buy a 2nd hand monitor for buttons and you would have a much better experience with your console.
@Hoppy: I spent a fair amount of money and time trying to get my monitor to work with it. Sadly, Sony decided to put a specific type of crappy broken DRM on the HDMI output, so I can only get either SD VGA, or nothing. Hence me only being able to use my 360 with my PC monitor.
What I see our fellow commenters experiencing right now: [removed - good god you did not need to link to that]
:( But i said!
@joepenn18: you did, but you missed the space between the URL and the (NSFW). I spent a couple of seconds sorting that out, then clicked on it only to have that image burned into my eyes.
I do appreciate the effort, but I also appreciate not having that image flash before my eyes :)
Yea I noticed that after I submitted it and I went to correct myself only to see that you had tarnished it.
This comment thread is a sight to behold; not bad for a personal blog.
It is a bit amusing how many people have just flat out told you to stfu – I wonder if they are the company payroll or if they are just a bit hurt to hear that their favorite game is “fail” on what is supposed to be supported hardware.
My own personal opinion (as a software developer) is that this is the developer’s fault. Development and testing was most likely performed using only the newest hardware – additional testing would have caught and corrected this issue. Unfortunately the bottom line is often put first – that’s right, software quality issues are the result of keeping unrealistic schedules and budgets.
Hate to be pedantic but ‘Surly the developers test for basic things like this?’ should be Surely not Surly :P
Good article, I picked up my 28″ 1080p LCDTV for about £300 and I also have Sky+ HD and it REALLY was worth it :P
jojo shut up u sound butt hurt please ppl need to get with technology and how fast it advances and stop freaking whining already!!!!!! stop being cheap idiots!! “oh im a software developer” who cares bozo. When i bought my ps3 i bought a 47 inch 1080 p lg and surround sound system just bcus i knew in order to enjoy my ps3 i had to buy the best with the best anything else would be uncivilized lol.
First off, all the little spoiled rich 13-year olds who keep saying “ZomG stfu go buy HD nao kthxbai” need to realize that when you reach a certain age, you’ll probably be struggling to pay the bills and manage your actual life. I don’t have the time nor the money to just go out and buy an HDTV right now. I want one, but right now, it’s just gonna have to wait. There are *tons* of other people out there who are in the same boat as me, so I suggest you commoners exit that little bubble you live in.
I’m playing the game on a 27′ set right now. I haven’t had trouble looking at ledges or anything. There’s one part in the game when you have to look at Drake’s journal to solve a puzzle. I couldn’t make out any of his scribble-scratch handwriting and doodles, so I had to go on friggin’ youtube to look at a video walkthrough of the damn puzzle.
It’s a shame that most devs don’t really give a damn about SD, but it’s also bad when you realize there’s a glaring difference between 640×480/720×480 (SD) and 1280×720 (HD) on a TV.
@chulonyc: What are you, dumb? You’re uncivilized to be as close-minded as you are, but it’s kinda obvious your IQ is pretty low anyway, so I can’t expect much.
I don’t know how you expect just anyone to have enough money to spend on nothing but hedonistic pleasures, but you can kick rocks and get bent for thinking everyone’s a spoiled rich suburban kid like you.
For all of you who keep saying just go buy an HDTV: SHUT THE FUCK UP ASSHOLES!! Not Anyone has the money to buy a fucking HDTV when you have to pay the motherfucking bills and rent!! You may have the money to go out and buy an HDTV but not everyone is like you,GROW UP AND STOP BASHING HIM JUST FOR POSTING HIS COMPLAINT ASSHOLES!!!
You sound a bit homoish why dont you take the dildo out ur ass and get over urself
@chulonyc:
I’m glad I was right and you acknowledged it by responding with random third-grade level e-insults, commoner.
How odd.
I was playing this on a near 20 year old television and never experienced a single problem of this sort.