reviews

Game: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Genre: Adventure
Platform: PlayStation 3

As some of you may know, I am a fairly recent PS3 owner. After having some apprehensions, I impulsively decided to plunk down a few hundred dollars anyway and took home my big, shiny black box only a little over a month ago. Since then, despite feeling that the system had a lot of promise, I’ve still been a little wary about that money I spent. Did I make the right choice? Should I have waited? Finally, something has come along to fortify my decision. That something is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

The new Naughty Dog release is first and foremost an adventure game, and can most easily be described as the love child of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. Everything about it just feels completely epic: the environments are gorgeous, the music is wonderful, the characters are well-designed, the voice-acting is great, the story will suck you in, and the action will have you on the edge of your seat. I was hooked from the start.

The game follows Nathan Drake, a world-class treasure hunter and descendant of the great explorer Sir Francis Drake. A clue found in Francis’s empty and waterlogged coffin marks the beginning of Nathan’s adventure, in which his somewhat sleazy and very debt-ridden friend Sullie and spunky newswoman Elena accompany him. Together, Nathan and his comrades search for fortune, but encounter a whole lot more along the way.

The story sounds very basic, but gets much deeper as the game goes on. It’s accompanied by well-written dialogue and intelligent voice-acting, both of which are things that are not seen often enough in video games. The characters are great; one of my favorite things about wandering the island with Elena was that even though she’s a non-playable character, she’s actually useful. Instead of standing around, waiting to be protected from the nasty pirates, she’ll take cover along with you and help you out. And damn, she knows how to fire a gun.

Every environment in this game is breathtaking. There were times where I wanted to stop just to look around at how beautiful everything was. It’s clear that Uncharted pushes the graphical power of the PS3 to the limits. The environments are very interactive, and you’ll use them to make your way around or take cover. There are also some puzzle elements, most of which can be solved by taking a look at Francis’s diary. These are a nice addition to the game as well, and give it a little something extra.

Most of the fighting in the game is done with modern-day pirates, who are on Drake’s trail and want the treasure as much as he does. Both third-person gun fights and hand-to-hand combat can be used to fight off wave after wave of enemies. The only real problem I had with this was constantly running out of ammo when multiple rounds of pirates came after me; the ammunition goes pretty fast and the enemies seem endless at some points. It can be a little frustrating when you’re hiding out weaponless and wondering what the hell to do next as the latest series of pirates advances on you. Also, sneak attacks are virtually non-existent in this game. If you try to sneak up on an enemy, it’s more than likely he will not only spot you, but alert ten or fifteen of his friends of your presence. After attempting this a couple of times, I gave up on being at all stealthy.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this game is that there are a lot of little extras that just make you want to play it more. The game awards “medals”, which are similar to the 360’s achievements, for certain accomplishments. I’ve always felt that achievements help to extend the replay value of games, and medals work the same way. In addition, there are 60 treasures (plus one super secret one) throughout the game to collect, some of which are better hidden than others. These goodies unlock things like new outfits and unlimited ammo, which totally makes them worth finding.

Extending the replay value of Uncharted is a necessary thing, because the story is only about eight hours long. That seems a little short in my book. Luckily, if you start a new game, you get to hang on to the treasures you already have, and I really believe you’ll still be having fun as you play it through a second time. There are also four difficulties, so starting again on a harder level could mean a whole different game.

It’s not perfect, but Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is the closet thing to perfection we have yet to see on the PS3. Despite some small issues, this is still one of the best games I’ve played this year, and really makes me happy to be a PS3 owner. I knew that this game would be a step in the right direction, but I was still blown away by the finished product. This is definitely a must-have for all PS3 owners.

Share this article: