A pure treasure

User Rating: 9 | Uncharted: Drake's Fortune PS3
Naughty Dog's first game for the ps3 may be different from its predecessors, but it's a gem of a game that surpasses anything on the console. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a story of a mysterious treasure on an uncharted island, and the treasure hunters who seek it. First off, Uncharted mixes several gameplay elements such as platforming, shooting, and puzzle solving. What you end up with is a game that will keep you interested and on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. The game's action, platforming, and storytelling are broken up so that you are never doing the same thing for too long, one minute you could be taking cover in an intense gun fight, the next you could be swinging from a ledge or shedding more light on the story. They make it so that there is always a reason to keep continuing the game.
The game's crisp colorful graphics really push the ps3 to its full potential, you will see lush jungles, creepy ruins, and deep dark caverns in amazing detail. There are a bunch of environments you will discover as you progress trough the game, the only thing that keep the graphics from being perfect is the reused enemy models and some pixel grain due to the shear detail put into the graphics. The sound is also equally stunning with nice ambient music and sounds, as well as the excellent voice acting. Cutscenes seem like they came directly from a Hollywood blockbuster, the plot and characters show signs that they were possibly created based on past films such a Indiana Jones, in fact the story is so well told that it makes you wonder why this wasn't a movie.
The combat is perfect in many aspects. It has a near flawless cover system with a nice mix of guns, a nice little melee combo system, and some unexpected run and gun. There are also some vehicle combat and rail shooting sequences to mix it up a bit. The platforming is nicely done, but it is not that challenging and most of the time it is just used for puzzle solving rather then actual platforming. The game should last about 8 to 10 hours. There are 60 hidden pieces of treasure and challenges to complete which unlock a few bonuses, there isn't much reason to go for every last bonus feature, but they are a nice addition. The one thing this game lacks is multiplayer, sure the game has some moderately high replay value, but a multiplayer option would be great for a game like this.
So overall Uncharted: Drakes Fortune as a fantastic game that any gamer with a ps3 should try out. Sure it lacks multiplayer, and has some liner platforming, but instead it offers a great story, great gameplay and is a technical achievement. Uncharted is a pure treasure of a game.