Uncharted 3's only major crime was that it tried to follow up on Uncharted 2, when Naughty Dog had already accomplished everything that could be achieved with that formula and cast. If they had released it after Uncharted 1, it probably would have still won all the awards that Uncharted 2 did.

I agree the pacing is the real difference though and it's telling that the gameplay director went on to make The Last of Us after shipping Uncharted 2, along with other important leads. Now that those folks are behind the wheel again with Uncharted 4, not to mention Corinne Yu as technology officer, I can't imagine how good Uncharted 4 is going to be.

The Vita installment was also really well done, I definitely put it above the first game and maybe even the third.