Uncharted 3 Explorer’s Edition Unboxing

This week is turning out to be one of the best of all time with the release of Uncharted 3. And today, we’re going to take a look at the collector’s edition for UK, Europe and Australia, which is the Explorer Edition.

The Explorer’s Edition Includes:

• The Uncharted 3 Special Edition, which comes in a case styled like Nate’s journal
• Wearable Replicas of Nathan Drake’s Buckle and Ring with Necklace Strap
• Nathan Drake statue by SlideShow Collectables
• Traveling Chest Packaging
• Uncharted 3 Lenticular decal

You also get a ton of DLC which gives you early access to the following in game content:

• Regeneration Booster
• Cash Multiplier
• London Drake skin
• Pirate AK47
• Uppercut taunt
• Special Edition Decals pack
• Callout mod for AK47
• Clip size mod for Para-9
• Clip size mod for G-MAL
• Carpet bomb kickback
• Creepy Crawler kickback

 

The outer cardboard box comes with a plastic window so you can see the wooden chest inside. The back pretty much contains the same art and info as the regular version of the game.

 

Wooden Traveller’s Box

The wooden chest sits straight inside the box with no extra padding or anything.

 

Which is okay, because the chest itself is pretty damn sturdy. Though the entire box is made out of wood, the artwork itself has a semi gloss finish to it.

 

 

Now to open up this bad boy. The chest is secured by the latch on the front as well as the two straps. The straps themselves don’t do anything, rather there are buttons which the straps connect to.

 

Inside the chest. Not included are cursed idols with mutagenic mummy dust. Once you clear out all the stuff there’s enough space inside to store 19 PS3 games or Blu-rays.

 

Special Edition

 

The Special Edition which comes with the Explorer Edition is identical to the ones which you can buy off the shelf in the stores. It comes with a protective plastic sleeve which has the game info on the back.

 

Speaking of which, the Special Edition is styled to look like Drake’s journal inside. There are about 5 ‘pages’ of random stuff inside, which you can find images of in the gallery below. One of the pages is thicker than the others and is actually a ‘pocket’, which is where the game disc sits. On the very last page there’s another pocket where the DLC cards and the manual sit.

 

3D Lenticular Decal

The 3D decal is nothing special, but yes, it is actually a sticker, so now you can ruin a wall or piece or furniture with this splendid piece of art. You’re shooting the wrong way Drake!

 

Belt Buckle

 

The buckle is made out of steel and has a nice weight to it. It’s made well enough to be able to really use as a belt buckle if you choose to. And yes it’s actually upside down in the picture above.

 

Francis Drake’s ring

 

The ring on the other hand does feel a bit cheap. It styled to be exactly the same as Sir Francis Drake’s ring from the game, including the engraving on the inside and outside, but doesn’t feel very durable.

 

Nathan Drake Statue

 

And finally, we get to the last item in the Explorer’s Edition, which is the statue of Nathan Drake by Slideshow Collectibles. It’s made out of a hard PVC and comes with a stand with a peg that you insert into his left foot to connect them, and also a little KAL-7 which you have to put into his right hand. The scarf and bullet belt aren’t molded as part of the body and can move independently.

While the statue is pretty well detailed, there are two major problems. There is a massive seam line where his left arm joins to the body, and it’s pretty damn obvious when you look at it up close. The other main problem, is of course, the face, which I feel hasn’t captured the look of Drake at all. Funnily enough though, if you could put a fedora on him, I think that he would make a pretty good Indy. You can find more images of the statue in the gallery below.

 

Final thoughts

Not counting the Special Edition stuff, I feel that the main selling points of the Explorer Edition, being the Drake statue and the chest kinda missed the mark, especially for it’s price. You do get alot of in-game DLC though, but they are mainly early unlocks (except for the pirate AK47), which is made worse by the fact that anyone who played the Subway Beta would probably have unlocked them prior to the official release date anyway. I kinda wish that Naughty Dog could’ve put just one more item in, like an artbook or a soundtrack or something.

That’s it for the Explorer Edition but be sure to check out the unboxing for the US Collector’s Edition!