Naughty Dog responds to complaints of changes to shooting mechanics in Uncharted 3

Responding to recent criticisms of Uncharted 3’s new founded shooting mechanics and gun play, Naughty Dog has posted an in-depth explanation of why the changes were made, on the company’s official blog.

“First off, the guns fire in a completely different way in Uncharted 2 compared to what you're experiencing now in Uncharted 3,” said Game Director Justin Richmond. “Keep that in mind, as it affects your perception of gun combat as a whole since it's very easy to want to compare the two sets of mechanics between the two games.”

Richmond then goes on to explain the physics of why the gunplay feels different, by saying that “In Uncharted 2 the bullets would leave the barrel at a pre-set deviation when you were aimed in. What this means is that the bullets would not fire straight out of the barrel all the time -- they could come out at an angle. Therefore, you could have a target clearly in the reticle and still miss it by a wide margin. This was frustrating, because it was difficult to tell why you were missing a target.” 

“As a result, we wanted to be sure you had a better grasp of whether you were hitting or missing a target. In Uncharted 3 the bullets now fire straight out of the barrel 100% of the time. However, we have recoil -- where the reticle moves/bounces as you fire. Therefore, it is easier to tell if you are missing or hitting a target. Now it is much more obvious when you are hitting or missing based on the reticle itself.”

For a more in depth description of the changes, and an overview of the gunplay in multiplayer, visit Naughty Dog’s official blog. All we know is the new shooting mechanics didn’t stop us from loving the game.