Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Reviews

The start of an excellent franchise. This game in particular introduces you to characters you'll grow to love with a cinematic story kind of like a better version of National Treasure. Gamplay is awesome, levels are fun, and it has an impressive replay value.

Equal parts Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, and National Treasure, with dialogue that seems written by Joss Whedon. You control snarky Nathan Drake as he chases down a lost treasure of unimaginable power. Strange and exotic locations, a non-stop, adrenaline-fueled thrill-ride.

To many, the PS3 may not be host to a huge amount of exclusive gaming gems, although with the likes of Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance: Fall of Man, Heavenly Sword, Everybody’s Golf World Tour, Buzz Quiz TV, Valkyria Chronicles and LittleBigPlanet (not forgetting the likes of Super Stardust, Pixel Junk Monsters, and WipEout HD on the PSN), it still boasts a decent amount of shiny gems. I also recently discovered Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, another Sony exclusive that makes the system worthy of attention.
Nathan Drake, treasure hunter and the sarcastic protagonist of the game, believes himself to be a direct descendant of the Elizabethan era’s English hero, Sir Francis Drake. Following his real life death in 1595, Sir Francis’ coffin was cast away at sea, and in the game, thanks to some helpful coordinates engraved on a ring, Nathan Drake recovers this coffin. Inside the coffin is not the fleshless bones of the popular historical figure, but a mere diary with clues to the whereabouts of El Dorado. Nathan, accompanied by his friend Victor Sullivan (Sully to his mates) and potential love interest Elena Fisher, set out towards a forgotten island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in search of the secrets of the city of gold. The story is witty and the characters are charismatic, helped somewhat by not only the excellent voice work but also by the stunning motion capture.
The entire game feels as if money has been well spent in the areas that matter most. The visuals are still some of the best to be found and really show off the powerful innards of Sony’s third console, and all this without the entire machine melting in front of your eyes. The animations of both hero and enemy are as silky smooth as you could possibly find on a game today, enemies stumble when shot and jump back to avoid gunfire, although, fittingly enough, it’s Nathan himself who is the real star. This modern day treasure hunters animations are beautifully fluid, everthing from his running, his brutal hand-to-hand moves, and his deadly leaping about makes for a fantastically organic experience, it all transitions very smoothly as well, making the game such a delight to play. The sunny jungle environments are also very nice and after taking a dip in the water, soggy clothes look as convincing as soggy clothes (surely you didn‘t expect me to say a soggy teabag?).
To best describe Uncharted would to say it’s a little like Tomb Raider, although it’s definitely more Marcus Fenix than it is Lara Croft. Like Gears of War, the focus of the game is definitely keeping your head down and your gun loaded, making use of cover and popping out and returning fire at your smart, constantly moving enemies.
The cover system is more basic than Gears of War as you can’t point and advance to forward cover, although you can still roll from cover to cover and jump over it and move forward that way, whilst blind fire is also an option if you feel the need to sit tight in your current position (when lead is flying everywhere it comes as an easy recommendation).
When you’re not hugging an object or wall (that may or may not be the safety from bullets that you always seem to be seeking), it’s also possible to fire from the hip (assisted by auto aim), and to take enemies down by hitting them in the mouth with your fists. The latter is as basic as you would expect, simple three hit combos and nice skull cracking animations, rendering your enemies as harmless as any coma victim. The trade off for meeting the enemy head on is the reward of more ammo, always a good reason to put someone in a coma for.
It’s not all shooting though, Nathan also has an obvious enthusiasm for jumping large gaps and pretending he’s as invincible as Indiana Jones (well, the boulder dodging, whip wielding and hat wearing archaeologist has survived four films, so he must be doing something right). Jumping is achieved with little real effort as Nathan often feels as if he is on a wire that, like in the movies, has been digitally removed, as a result it regularly feels as if he is being gently guided to near-safety, much like Prince of Persia and the more recent Tomb Raider games. The only real challenge comes in the form of ledges that are just too weak for grabbing, crumbling between your fingers and more a less warning you to jump to the next ledge if you want to avoid becoming a crumpled heap and a failed treasure hunter that no one will remember. This automated jumping may be a problem to some, although I think it keeps the game moving along at a steady pace and as it looks so lovely and natural, it’s never any less than fun as well.
A smattering of vehicle sections are also featured, but the included jet-ski portions aren’t really that memorable, with an on-rails vehicle section fairing better.
Then there’s the puzzles, which pop up infrequently and their solutions are nearly always obvious. In a nice touch, Sir Francis Drake’s diary is often used for puzzle solving, although there’s no page turning or anything like that so the solution is always right there in front of you, which could be a problem for those who really like testing their brain power. There’s a helpful hint system as well, if you’re stuck as to where to head next or for certain puzzles, but it can also be completely ignored.
A downer to some will be the length of the game, averaging around 8 hours. Those who warm to the entire experience will surely return to find all the treasure and to earn the achievement-like medals (a patch has also added trophies which are earned at the same time of each medal), which unlocks bonus content (a better reward than a mere number that idiots brag about and cheat to earn). The game is certainly re-playable then, and would be even without these collectibles and rewards.
If it’s the way that Nathan moves or the manner in which progression is made, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is one of the smoothest gameplay experiences I have ever had the pleasure of playing. As the game is now in Sony’s budget Platinum range, if you’re an action adventure fan and you missed it first time around, this time there’s simply no excuse for you to let it pass you by.

This was a good game, but nowhere near as good as assassin's creed

excellent game - needs more shooting action - I believe the second one has this alongside an online experience - so all told number 2 should be perfect.

At the launch of the PS3 many of the games that came out for the system were either also on the Xbox 360 or not that good. That was until Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was released that the PS3 finally had a must have title.

Uncharted stars Nathan Drake, supposed direct reletive to Sir Francis Drake, who is in search of Sir Francis Drake's lost tresure and prove that he faked his death to keep it a secrect.
The story in Uncharted is very engaging and very well written in that if it were to be made into a real life movie that critics would call it a modern day Indiana Jones with well rounded characters, lush settings and a twist that the end, while some what predictable, is very fulfilling and leaves players wanting more from Nathan and his crew.
Gameplay is a mix of both adventure ruin crawling, which is really fun even if the whole game is very liener and pointed out by lighter colored objects, and cover based 3rd person shooting that is pretty easy to understand after a couple minutes but can be a little furistating sometimes because of too many enemies and some collision detection problems.
Graphically the game is still stunning even after two since its release. Most of the game is set in a tropical island with tropic jungle, Spanish and ancient civilization ruins, and even a secrect underground German submarine base which are all textured to such detail that the game feels alive. Also the water effects are really great that when Nathan gets wet that he looks as if he was really wet, abet for a short time.
Musically the game is on par with every other adventure game but adds elememts of tribial sounds that fit tropical setting.

Overall the game is a wonderful treat to play, a must own game for any PS3 owner, and will leave players wanting more.

If I ever needed a reason to buy a PlayStation 3 it was certainly the prospect of playing system exclusive Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The Xbox 360 has its two highly popular cover-shooters in Gears of War and Gears of War 2, both of which changed the cosmetic make-up of third-person action games and how we play them. Uncharted - developer Naughty Dog's first foray into cover-shooter territory - isn't just a game trading in tight corridors for expansive, open environments and an intuitive cover system, it's just as much Tomb Raider as it is the aforementioned Gears... and then some.

The last time I scored a game perfectly was last year's Grand Theft Auto IV. I was absolutely floored by Rockstar's masterpiece. I couldn't pull myself away from the Television long enough to even write a decent review on it. I played it, completed it, and then completed it again a couple of months later. Not only did I love it, but I bragged up the game to just about every person in existence that was willing to listen. But what does GTA IV have to do with Uncharted? Quite a bit. Uncharted is one of the few games I have actually considered, let alone gave, a perfect score to. Not only does that mean it is pure gaming excellence, but that it stands in a league all its own amongst increasingly heavy competition.

I'll admit to being a fan of both puzzle-solving titles and platformers (attribute that to my love of old school Sierra point-and-click adventures as well as NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis games). That right there will determine your relationship with Uncharted. Sure, there are healthy amounts of action interspersed throughout as the gun battles are plentiful. But I find half the attraction I have with the game to be figuring out which way to go, how to get there, and how to maneuver around to it. The puzzles aren't "stagnant," either; Quick Time sequences are present and - whether you love them or hate them - they work extremely well within the context of the game. The interaction is flawlessly presented and it lends to Uncharted a truly immersive quality.

As for those "non-stagnant" puzzles I mentioned; most of them require dangling from ledges, swinging from vines, or finding rather linear, but oh-so-satisfying & quite treacherous paths around blocked obstacles or long drops. They usual entail a successive series of jumps, big leaps, and shimmies that the engine manages to never muck up with poor camera angles or lackluster collision detection. To spice things up a bit, Uncharted throws in ledges or pieces of various platforms that tend to crumble or give way under the weight of the player character (Nathan Drake), forcing the gamer to make a split-second decision to either jump to the next available ledge or, consequently, fall to their death.

These sequences not only get the adrenaline pumping but are, in fact, the most intriguing part of the game. One of these early types of sequences sees the player being put in complete control of Nate as he dashes his way across an elongated series of collapsing wooden planks to an uncomfortably distant exit. Naughty Dog has handled these impressively cinematic scenarios with so much panache that, instead of becoming maddeningly difficult, they are an absolute blast to play through. Each permeates feelings of satisfaction rather than frustration, and I began looking forward to going through these sequences more than anything else the game tossed my way.

Coupled with the fantastic cover-based game play, Uncharted is so much more than the Tomb Raider or Gears of War rip-off it first appears to be. The cover system works the same as Gears, though there are more cover opportunities, as well as more things to do within cover. Nate can turn corners while "dug in" and, like Gears, jump from one piece of cover to the next if they are adjacent. As a slight downside, weapon variants are a bit scarce. It gets old real quick having to dispose of enemies with the same types of weaponry.

Perhaps that is needless nitpicking, because the core combat throughout Uncharted remains satisfying. Enemies get thrown back by grenades, sail through the air when hit by shotgun fire, and will fall from high-reaching cliffs when defeated. Hand-to-hand combat is also something that has been incorporated. Combos are started by pressing Square next to an enemy and can be followed up by combinations of the Square and Triangle buttons for brutal hand-to-hand attacks. Not particularly the most refined aspect of the game, however, is the rather unintelligent enemy AI. Their cover patterns seem to be scripted and there were many times I caught them charging right at my incoming fire. Sufficient enough, yes, but the lackluster AI is clearly not up to task with the pristine craftsmanship often encompassing it.

Running on PlayStation 3 hardware has also given Uncharted an advantage in terms of meatier content and some of the most stunning graphics I have ever seen. Cut-scenes, however entertaining they may be, do tend to drone on a bit too long, but in hindsight you can thank the PS3's Blu-ray technology for allowing that kind of lengthy content to make it into a game with visuals this stunning. The aforementioned cut-scenes look absolutely gorgeous and feature some of the most fluid character movements I have ever seen in a console game. In-game visuals are of the same quality with plenty of subtle details; like Nathan's clothes appearing drenched and dripping wet after exiting any large body of water. The physics are also of note, as Nate and the various NPC movements have been mapped perfectly. A simple in-game task such as running down a flight of stairs looks incredible thanks to the propietary engine/physics the fine folks at Naughty Dog cooked up. Shading is top-notch, lighting is a feast for the eyes, and water texture is a real visual treat.

A game as good, as technically superior, and as downright fun as this is very rare these days. With that said, I have no choice but to award it a very deserving five stars; a 10 out of 10. If it isn't the beautiful graphics, it's the over-the-top, cinematic game play and Hollywood quality voice acting. If it isn't that, it's got to be the fact that Naughty Dog has developed a game that tries it's hand at being a third-person shooter, a puzzle-solver, and a platformer, and nails all three flawlessly. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune truly is one of the great PS3 exclusives that is an absolute must-buy.

Uncharted: Drake's Engine is what would come out of a love affair between Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and that muscled dude (who cares what his name is) from Gears of War. It's perhaps a bit easy to call Uncharted a combination of these two games, and it's certainly more than that, but the game doesn't make a secret of its inspirations. Thankfully, it only steals from the best, and therefor, Uncharted is one hell of a ride, although a short one.

The game receives its own face through the main character, Nate, whom at first seems a little bland, but in the following hours, through impressive voice acting, becomes your everyday guy who you really want to help out with. And he needs all the help he can get: he's on an island looking for a long lost treasure by his great grandfather, only there are others looking for it as well...

In the game, you either jump from place to place or you're hiding behind rocks while shooting down bad guys. The fact that this rarely bores means that the two gameplay styles are perfectly used next to each other. There are some niggles. For example; some platforms and vines you can climb on, others not, but you never really see the difference between them.

It's only a small problem, because most of the game you'll be enjoying yourself too much to care for such things. The game is a bit short, but I'd rather play a short but spectacular game instead of a long boring one. I'm sure you'll agree. For me Uncharted was one of the highlights of 2007 and one of the first reasons to be proud of my PlayStation 3.