Munkeh111

User Score
9.5

Presentation - 10
Gameplay - 9.0
Value - 8.5

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune places the player as Nathan Drake, the desecendent of Sir Francis Drake, and a treasure hunter. The tale takes Drake from the Amazon, so a long lost island in the search of Drake's treasure.

The story and storytelling are definitely some of the highlights of the game. Though it is a mostly simple tale of treasure hunting, with a major twist that I will leave as a surprise, it is the characters that are so strong. Nathan Drake (Nate) is was designed to be an everyman, he is no superhero getting all his jumps perfectly and not quite Jack Bauer when it comes to shooting people, but he does feel human. Though he can still jump too far, his nervous ramblings as you play the game bring him to life and by the end of the game you will really feel attached to him, despite him seeming like a jerk at the start. Your co-stars, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan are also great characters and while you do play much of the second half of the game with Elena, there is not quite the same attachment to them. Eddie Raja, Gabriel Roman, and Navarro are also excellent villians, and they really bring the story to life.

As with every Naughty Dog game, the presentation is spectacular. The water in particular is incredible, I for one spend about 20 minutes marvelling at in the first stream I came across, noticing how only the bottom of his jeans get wet when he walks through it.... They there are one or two issues with slow loading textures, it looks magnificent, and stands up to anything released so far on the PlayStation 3, and in my view is the best looking console game. The cut-scenes too are magnificent and while they are rendered in game, they use better textures to ensure better quality. Naughty Dog used motion capture to make the cut scenes, and as a result they look fantastic, and really help bring the game to life.

One extra special thing to mention is that other than the initial load, there are no loading times, and no installs. Though this does cause tiny issues with 1 or 2 late loading textures, this is certainly something to be lauded, and a shame that not many other developers can follow Naughty Dog's example.

Gameplay is said to made up of three things, shooting, traversal and melee, but in my experience it is the gunplay that dominates. It takes a similar shape to Gears of War, with you and your enemy taking cover behind conveniently placed waist high blocks, and then poking out to shoot at each other. Controls are tight, and while the actual targetting may be considered to be slightly floaty it just takes a little getting used to. There is some destructable cover, but these are clearly marked, and though they do add to the game, I feel it could have been made a little more organic, so there aren't so clearly defined indestructable cover and destructable cover. Through the game you get 1 pistol and 1 larger weapon. Though many complained this was not enough in Killzone 2, in Uncharted, 1 pistol shot to the head will kill anyone, and it is more effective than most of the larger weapons throughout the game, meaning there are little problems on that front. The grenades rely on SIXAXIS tilting to aim, which I feel works quite well, but it can be disabled and you can use the right analogue stick instead. The gunplay does change slightly half way through, with the introduction of the more heavily armed mercenaries, but the real change comes in the 17th chapter of the game. Though I will leave out specifics, it does radically change the way that you play, and as well as serving as a plot twist, it does a good job of chaning things half way through. One criticism would be over the use of multiple waves of enemies that can make locations feel stale, but it is a minor point. Overall, the gunplay sides of things work very well, and the cover mechanics are certainly as good, if not better than Gears of War.

There are several vehicle levels, with you taking control of a conveniently placed jet ski, and gunning from the back of jeep. I felt they were slightly underused, but fun sections nevertheless, and a good way of changing the pace.

Melee combat is utilised far less often that gunplay, but is good nonetheless. Using square and triangle to attack, there are only 2 combos, one of which gives 2x the amount of ammo, so the system is not particularily deep but it is satisfying as the game slows down so that you can truly see the effects of your punch. There is also a neck brake if you can sneak up behind an enemy, but there are only about 3 times this happens in the entire game.

Traversal is also a major part of the game, but it does feel distinctly seperate from the shooting. 99% of the time you move into place by traversal, then enter the "arena" and fight waves of goons, then moving to some more traversal. There are places where there are traps in the field, but this is underutilised. Most of this type of gameplay just has Nate jumping between platforms, balancing on logs (SIXAXIS) and just generally clambering around. The animations which hold it in place are the best I have seen, which certainly helps, and it is generally well paced and enjoyable. There are also some puzzles in the game, but they are too simple, and easily solved by using Drake's diary.

One thing that Uncharted has been criticised for is a short campaign. It can be finished in 6-8 hours, and indeed one of my recent playthroughs I finished it in under 5 hours. However, the game was created before the implimentation of the trophy system, but with it in mind, so Naughty Dog created its own in game rewards system. By completing what would become the trophys, you get points allowing you to access new content (much in the same way that Precusor eggs did in Jak 2 and 3). These include new costumes, weapon select, developer interviews and of course super slow mode. This added content gives plenty of extra incentive to go back and play the game, as of course to the trophies. This goes some way to make up for the short campaign, and while the 4 difficulty settings also encourage multiple playthroughs, some may be left wanting more for their money, but I for one feel that the story would have suffered if stretched for longer, which would have damaged to game more than an extra hour of gameplay in playthrough would have helped.

The trophies are known as being some of the easiest to get on the PS3, but getting the platinum is certainly fun. To get all the trophies, you will need to play the game on the hardest difficulty, collect all the treasures, and do a few other minor things, but none of them are frustrating, and it certainly adds longevity to the game.

Overall, I think Uncharted is one of the best games on the PS3. It is a game that is far more than the sum of its parts. It brings together great gunplay and traversal, and thanks to the magnificent presentation, the overall package is fantastic. There are still one or two minor issues, such as too much focus on shooting rather than traversal and the plot twist is controversial, but this is must have game for all PS3 owners.