Uncharted: Drake's Awesome.
Well I don't really know how to structure this review and can't be bothered attempting any act of literary genius so I'll structure it into sections. Fun and original.
GRAPHICS
We all know the visual presentation Naughty Dog granted us with Uncharted is impressive. The graphics and overall presentation in this game seriously kicks arse Famous among PS3 owners for finally giving them their own game to brag about and inFamous (oooh, see what I did there?) among X360 owners for giving the PS3 a game that actually looks outstanding. This games graphics really did cause quite a stir among some forum communities but I really don't give a shit about that. It really was awe inspiring to fire up Uncharted for the first time and digest its awesomeness. The jungles looked amazing, the caves and tombs looked amazing and, the water... Yes the water! The water was outstanding, and the fact that Drake isn't blessed with god-like water repellant made the water in this game look and feel even better. With all that being said, the visuals in this game aren't perfect, but what games graphics are? I've read quite a bit about texture pop-in. Truthfully, I noticed this twice. I'm currently on my third play through of this game so that makes my two texture pop-in experiences even less significant.
My only real problem with the graphics are the explosions. They look odd, or, they look cool, they're just small and, shit. I don't know. Play the game, you'll know what I mean.
SOUND
Sound, in the few reviews I've written sound is always the weakest part. I honestly don't know what to write.
Explosions sound good
Guns sound good
People sound good
Ambient sound is good
Music is good
That's basically any sound section on my reviews with a few fancy words thrown in to make me look smart. I'm not lucky enough to have a behemoth 7.1 sound system or any fancy audio weaponary beyond my trusty ol' 2.1 Creative I-Trigue 3400s. These are the speakers my PS3 outputs its sound through, and playing through Uncharted everything sounded all sweet 'n' dandy to me.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay in Uncharted combines Tomb Raider type puzzle and adventuring with cover and shoot gameplay that is often coupled with Gears of War. This works for me and a lot of other people. Some others say that the game doesn't flow too well. I can see what they mean and I agree to an extent. The gameplay does shift from puzzle to shooting the whole way through and it makes it more obvious than some would like. But, most games with this type of gameplay are like this. I recently played through Tomb Raider Anniversary and while the game is focused more heavily on the puzzle aspects, the enemies do come in waves and the gameplay does make obvious swaps, just not as frequently as Uncharted. This does not break the game or wreck it. Far from it, Uncharted is still a highly enjoyable game with its flaws just like any other.
Naughty Dog made the wise move of including something more addictive than methamphetamine in this game and it has kept me coming back. They included treasures! Yes! Treasure in an adventure game! The thing with this treasure is that the more you collect, the more you unlock and yes, there is a lot to unlock. So get hunting.
They've also included another handful of methamphetamine with X360 type achievments and now, PS3 like trophies with little in-game challenges. Reminiscent of those found in Resistance: FoM. Completing these challenges also unlocks stuff. More stuff. With the addition of all this extra stuff to do Naughty Dog have made this games re-play value huge and with Trophies due for this game via a patch in mid August it will bring another fistfull of Uncharted methamphetamine for all us Uncharted fans out there.
TILT?
Tilt... What the fuck is tilt?
OVERALL
Overall Uncharted kicks arse. If you own a PS3 and don't have this game you are probably allergic to pure awesome on a disc. BUY IT NOW.
