E3 2011: Uncharted 3 has the best water ever…and more

Sony’s E3 press conference may have opened with the anticipated grovelling to the fans after the devastating PlayStation Network outage but it was quickly followed with what every journo in the LA auditorium was really waiting for.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has been outed for sometime but very little of the campaign has actually been seen thus far. So seeing Nathan on the deck of a luxury cruise liner in choppy seas and driving rain is a cinematic sight for sore eyes.

The demo had our hero staggering about, jumping down to the lower deck and entering the main hall with two massive swinging chandeliers listing from left to right as the boat rocks. Dotted around this grand room are henchmen that Nathan disposes of stealthy and in familiar form. The takedown animation doesn’t change as our hero makes his way through exquisitely lit corridors and into the cargo bay. This is where the action starts in the showcased level. Bullets and grenades begin to fly as the bad guys are aware of Drake’s presence.

A car rolls past as the ship tilts and explodes against the hull blasting a hole right through it inviting thousands of gallons of seawater to spill in. Fighting around the approaching H2O it soon becomes too much and the boat tips on it’s side with eye-’watering’ results.

Plunged into the water below as the boat turns through 90 degrees Drake is held underwater for a few brief moments. As if the flooding water wasn’t gorgeous enough, the foaming depths of ocean look cold and hostile but foamy and light; almost tangible. There’s been some wicked examples of the wet stuff in games of late but Uncharted 3really seems to pull off this notoriously difficult element really fluidly.

But it’s not just the water that us scrapping our jaws off our keyboards. The trademark untouchable production values make every surface texture as rich and full-bodied as anything we’ve ever seen. This is true Uncharted and we can’t wait to see more of it as the release date looms large.

As a curious little bonus players in the US are going to get to play the competitive multiplayer modes of Uncharted 3 sooner rather than later if they are frequenters of the Subway fast food chain. Details aren’t crystal yet but we’re sure it will involve some token and promotional code redeeming system. Here’s hoping out Meatball Marinara’s dish up that treat for players in the UK too.

No word as yet but so impressed were we with the Uncharted: Eye of Indra motion comics we’re holding out for a second animated storybook series to promote Uncharted 3.