The only mainline Uncharted game I hadn't played until recently!

I can see why it's a divisive entry. The plot is kind of a mess and some of the combat sequences near the end of the game severely overstay their welcome.

But man, it is STILL so breathtaking to play through some of these sequences. Escaping the burning mansion, the sinking ship, the plane crash, and the horseback chase sequence are all stunning moments that perfectly describe what makes Uncharted special and still worth playing all these years later.

Also, everything with Sully is genuinely touching and is almost the sole reason this chapter in the story matters.

In one of the behind-the-scenes featurettes they talk about their creative process. Basically, they explain how they came up with ideas about cool set peace scenarios first and then they tried to build a game around those scenarios. That's exactly what it felt like and I don't mean it as praise. Uncharted 3, to me, is a bunch of, admittedly, really cool and technically impressive set peaces, held together by a somewhat disjointed plot. The pirate section is the perfect example. Very neat concept, fun to play and a technical showcase, but it comes completely out of left field and feels tacked-on story-wise. The game lacks the cohesion of the second installment, which makes it less enjoyable overall, even though many of the individual elements are objectively improved.

I read online that the actor who plays Cutter had to leave the project early due to his schedule, which lead to the story being rewritten last minute. Maybe it would have turned out better, if it hadn't been for that. Maybe not. Either way, Uncharted 3 is still lots of fun - it's just not as good as Uncharted 2.