AC

Virtual leading man Nathan Drake has been in some tough spots before: a sea-pirate ambush in his 2007 PlayStation 3 debut, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and a cliffhanging train wreck in 2009's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, to name a couple. This time around his latest star vehicle, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, which hits stores Tuesday, is flanked by two heavily armed game heavyweights, Battlefield 3, just out, and next week's Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. In the fantasy world, "he would snap both of their necks," jokes Amy Hennig, creative director at Naughty Dog, the studio that developed the Uncharted games. In reality, Uncharted 3 has to duke it out at retail with an unprecedented surplus of high-quality recent releases, including Batman: Arkham City and id Software's Rage. And more are on the way, including a new version of the fantasy role-playing Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim; the action-packed Assassin's Creed Revelations; and the long-awaited Legend of Zelda...