A short game, with a big heart
You play as Nathan Drake, who is one of the most unique characters in video games. His light hearted take on a life threatning situation is nothing short of humourous, and oh ya, did I mention he can handle a pistol pretty well. The story of the game is well balanced, Nathan is the supposed descendent of the famed Sir Francis Drake, and after finding his diary with a little help from a TV host Elena, and his friend Sully, Drake begins his quest to find the famed treasure Sir Francis left behind. Early on in the game, you meet Navarro and Romen, who serve as the games antagonists. Throughout the course of the game, the story begins to unfold and it does a great job at keeping you on the edge of your seat. Although the story isnt Oscar worthy, it is up there with some of the great stories this generation, such as Halo 3, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Theft Auto 4.
To continue with the games presentation, we will now talk about the visuals in the game. Where to begin, I am writing this review April 2nd, 2009. The game was released in late 2007, and yet the game is still one of the best looking PS3 games, up there with Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. Lighting and textures are terrific, the sun comes through the trees and casts a shadow on the rocks and grass, and it is absolutely stunning. Early on in the game there is a scene where you can look out at the entire forest, and what you see is a beautiful forest that is photorealistic. A game that looks this good has to have some demerit to it, and those have to be the screen tearing and texture pop in. When I played the game, I noticed it a few times, but they werent frequent enought to stop me from playing. The presentation of Uncharted is absolutely outstanding, it's obvious that Naughty Dog knows exactly what they are doing.
The gameplay in the game is also top-notch. Think of it as a Gears of War meets Tomb Raider. All the things that made the gameplay in Gears of War fantastic are raised in this game. Gunplay is addictive fun, and the platforming sequences are easy and enjoyable. There isn't anything bad to say about the gameplay. The enimies are a different story. Fights just seem to drag on as they just keep on coming. When you think there done, more come, and when you finally are REALLY into it, ready to take down every pirate in the land, they stop. Overall this isn't too bad, and doesn't take away from the games fantastic gameplay.
One defining factor of the game is replay value. Although it doesn't have much, it does have enough to keep you playing at least 3 times. There are 60 treasures in the game that can be found, and for every 5 you recieve a bronze trophy, and finally a silver for finding them all. You can find all 60 treasures on your first playthrough if you have a keen eye, or a knack for looking at walkthroughs, but the game also has other rewards, like getting a certain number headshots, certain number of kills with a certain weapon and pulling off the brutal combo a certain number of times. These unlock trophies to add to your collection.
Uncharted is a short game, clocking in at around 12 hours if you play it on the normal difficulty. But the pace never lets up. The game is almost like a summer blockbuster action movie. Your also in for at least 4-5 hours of laughter. To add more incentive to play it again, you can play on hard and crushing mode, which are a little harder and will add more time to the game. Finishing the game on these difficulties are your source for gold trophies, so the incentive to play again is there, and its unavoidable, as the experience is so great that you just want to play it again.
Lastly, the sound in the game is top notch. The musical score is fantastic as it truly gives the game a mood fit for an action/romance movie. Voice acting is also great, as the performance for Nathan Drake, as I said before, is humourous and fantastic. Other characters like Elena, Navarro, Sully and Roman are also treated to amazing voice actors. Music this good is rarely seen in games. In my lifetime, the only time I have seen music this good is in Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4, Final Fantasy series, and Halo 1-3, and those are all revoloutionary franchises.
Before I played Uncharted, I had doubts, in fact there were times when I just plain didn't even want to bother playing. But then I got it for Christmas, started playing it and haven't looked back. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is a game that PS3 owners MUST play. Period.
Story: 9.5
Graphics: 10
Gameplay: 9.5
Sound: 10
Replay Value: 9.0
Overall: 9.5