Uncharted: A Beautiful Disaster...well at least not for the most part.
Graphically the game is gorgeous; it's a real looker on the PS3. The animations for Drake are smooth and life-like, but the death animations are extremely over the top (I mean really ridiculous). Also this may just be a personal nit-pick, but the perfect puff of smoke after every explosion drives me crazy. Another thing I would like to know is how all these explosive barrels found their way into this world; it seems quite convenient. The game does look great as a whole and the later environments are really impressive, but as we all know graphics don't make a game; they are just a small part of the whole package. But damn if they don't look good!
The story may not be original, but that doesn't mean it's not good. This is a fantastic story with great and memorable characters. Nathan Drake is an extremely likable character with an "every man" personality. The supporting cast is all great as well. One disappointing thing about the story is that it goes into a very odd direction near the end; it just didn't work for me (no spoilers here). The sound is great and I never got tired of hearing Drake say, "Oh, **** every time a grenade was thrown at his feet. Honestly if I didn't love the story so much I don't think I'd actually want to play through the game. It's not that the game isn't fun, but the game-play doesn't quite match the story and overall presentation.
Sadly the bits between platforming and the story development aren't so tasty; like the delicious taste of a nice, toasty sausage. The platforming bits are fun; they are not overly complicated and not overly simple. They seemed to be just right, but the shooting in this game is plagued with problems. The game plays like a crappy version of Gears of War. There is way too much shooting for a game about treasure hunting and it just takes me out of the experience every time (and where do all these guys come from; is there are "generic bad guy" factory out there in the jungle?). The hit detection is slightly off as I find myself missing at times or a shot to the face not registering as a headshot. These issues wouldn't be much of a problem if you weren't thrown into fire-fights all the time.
I really wish that this weren't the case because I really want to love this game; I want to be able to call it a great game. These issues turn what could have been a great game into just a good game. Still I have to say I enjoyed myself overall and I would recommend this game to anyone who has a PS3. It's not a must-buy, but I have to say that it is a must-play.
Final Score: B