Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Naughty Dog’s PS3 debut, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is an Indiana Jones inspired, action-adventure game played out through a mixture of Gears of War’s cover dependent shooting gameplay and the Tomb Raider series platforming elements. The player guides protagonist Nathan Drake (think Ash from the Evil Dead and Army of Darkness movies) as he climbs and swings through the world and solves puzzles while at the same time utilizing cover to take out enemies. This mishmash of gameplay comes together harmoniously and is joined by a cast of believable and interesting characters set in a story that, while not unique or inspired, is told extremely well.

Gameplay - 9

If Tomb Raider and Gears of War ever had a baby then Uncharted would be the result. It uses GoW’s cover system, over the shoulder aiming, and blind fire mechanics while also making them easier to use because actions for taking cover and hurdling over objects are assigned to separate buttons instead of GoW’s multi-tasking single button. This means that you will never perform an unintended action. Furthermore, Uncharted would make Daddy Gears proud for including a simple but effective melee combat system.

On mother’s side of the gene pool Uncharted features environmental careening that’d make a monkey blush. Nate climbs, swings, and shimmies through obstacles fluidly and at a breakneck speed that helps keep the platforming sections from becoming stale.

The only small chink is that sometimes it can be hard to determine what objects can be interacted with. In particular, usable ledges inside structures tend to blend in a bit too well with non-interactive environments visually and can lead to a few deaths since the player may not know for certain what can be interacted with. The only way to find out would be through trial and error . These situations don’t occur that often, though, and abundantly scattered checkpoints keep this from being more than mere annoyance.

Visuals - 10

Hands down, Uncharted is the best looking game on the PS3. With realistic water effects, subtle lighting that pierces through trees and underground openings, and unsurpassed facial and body animation this game has to be seen in motion to be truly appreciated.

Leaves sway in the wind and foliage shakes and bends when a character moves through it. Characters clothes look wet after emerging from rivers, pools, and ponds. Scrapes and bruises accumulated throughout the game look real and add a layer of fragility to the characters.

Every single aesthetic in this game is beautiful but doesn’t hinder gameplay as the framerate never dips below 30 frames per second. Even with all this eye candy and performance, Uncharted only has one, initial load screen to sit through as the different cutscenes and chapters stream flawlessly off the disc.

Sound - 8

Tribal instruments accompany classical ones and blend well together. The music works hand in hand with the visuals, giving gamers a sense of awe and wonder. While playing, though, it does take backseat to the graphics and gameplay.

Voice over on the other hand is brilliantly pulled off and matches the high watermark set by the visuals. Voices fit the game’s various characters well and are executed with surgical precision as each and every single line is delivered with perfect timing and is chock full of just the right amount of emotion.

Longevity - 7 (Decent single player length packed with a good amount of worthwhile unlockables.)

While a rigidly linear game Uncharted does have extra incentives for replay aside from just being fun to play. Naughty Dog included its own achievement-inspired checklist to the game by giving players points for beating it on different difficulties, killing a number of enemies with different weapons, finding ancient artifacts, etc.

Improving one’s gamerscore opens up unlockables such as behind the scenes footage, different outfits for characters, different player skins, weapons, and cheats such as one shot kills. While the more significant unlockables require a high gamerscore, Uncharted’s achievements never seem unfair or impossible and can be all accumulated after a few playthroughs. Add these with a game that’s 10 or so hours long and no one should feel shortchanged with it.

Learning Curve - 10 (Easy)

With responsive controls, game hints, and a helpful tutorial even the uninitiated will be shooting, swinging, and jumping almost immediately. Uncharted eases players into its gameplay mechanics methodically and evenly. Rarely will the player feel left behind or overwhelmed by the games challenges.