Uncharted Review
Ok, I just want to get this out of the way right now, I hate Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. You read that right, I hate Uncharted, why? It is because that any other 3rd person action/adventure game that I play, will be ruined because of the bar set by the boys and girls over at Naughty Dog. This is Uncharted for the PS3. The game takes you on an adventure where you command the role of Nate, a semi-rugged everyman who also happens to be a full-time treasure hunter with the shooting skills of a U.S. Marine, the agility of a certain prince of Persia and the hair style that would make Ryan Seacrest proud (Seriously, his hair stays perfect throughout the entire game!). Nate believes himself to be the descendant of the legendary explorer Sir Frances Drake and is on his way to try to find the city of El Dorado which is said to have untold amounts of gold brought in by Spanish settlers. Of course Nate could not do it alone and tagging along is Nate's longtime friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan, and the spunky journalist Elena Fisher who is paying for the trip to El Dorado in exchange for documenting the whole trip. I won't give any more story points away but let's just say things don't go all peachy in finding this gold and the gold itself isn't quite what Nate had expected.
The graphics which are nothing short of elegant and this goes for the level of detail in this game as well, from the lush, bright, beautiful jungle, to the dark, dilapidated underground ruins you will be exploring, every area is alive. On one occasion, I ran Nate underneath some water and when he got out, I was able to see Nate's clothes were actually soaked! It is the little things like this that make you feel the developers were really paying close attention to detail. The animations also make the characters more life-like, as you will see Nate stumbling every now and again as well as walk a little slower when he's navigating some more treacherous terrain. What makes this game also visually appealing is what it does not show. Aside from switching weapons and picking up ammo, the lack of any sort of HUD allows you to enjoy the scenery wherever you are. You don't even have a health bar, unlike some other (female) raider of tombs, just find cover until the black and white screen goes colorful again and voila! You are good to go. That might seem too forgiving to some, but this game is anything but a walk in the park. Don't get me wrong, the controls in this game are very good and most important of all, smooth. The Gears of War-style firefights you will get into can get pretty intense (especially with the enemies absorbing a puzzling amount of lead before they go down), warranting an effort to master.
The storyline is also good and it is told well by the cinematics which are nicely paced throughout the game. The voice acting is
If the game does suffer any flaws, the Sea-Doo sections while short, nonetheless kind of suck as you are required to drive and shoot at the same time, the explosive barrels are littered throughout the game ad-nauseum and the final boss battle is sort of lame. Those are nitpicks in my opinion and as result won't tarnish your overall enjoyment of the game.
With it's pristine visuals and art style, spot on controls, good story, and overall polish, all in all Uncharted: Drake's fortune is a gem that every PS3 owner should not be without.
