Uncharted is a game of archeology, expert treasure finding, and amazing adventure.
Wanting to be perfectly clear, I expected a lot from this game. There was a large amount of hype behind the game causing a substantial amount of doubt. However from the very start I found myself captivated by the games cleaver dialogue, substantial graphic quality and ease of adaptability.
One of the first things that I noticed about the game aside from the natural ease and familiarity of controls, was the well integrated tutorial. While any experienced player might still be nauseated at the idea of being forcibly subjected to that type of mundane ritual that happens at the start of any given game this run through of controls was not threatening; almost as though it maintained a type of respect of my skills as a gamer without assuming too much or too little.
The game then very quickly throws me into a type of dialogue that keeps me interested in what they want to say. Without attempting to discuss spoilers to the game, the basic goal of Drake is to take his merry band of treasure hunters on a search for Sir Francis Drake and El Dorado, this is in part due to his supposed lineage and his partner in crimes need for cash.
From this point you are then sent to an island where your tutorial continues for a few more controls before leaving you to wander the jungle alone. This for me is very important and I will explain why.
I find that it is all too easy for a particular story to insist on assigning you a bumbling or half competent companion to "guide" or "follow" or "assist" you through various trials that may be presented. This almost never happens in this game, and when you are assigned an NPC they have zero direct impact on what you are doing and you never find yourself relying on them for anything. They respect Drakes physical integrity and often point out that since they can't do what he does it is best that they stay behind, which again is the ideal in my mind.
However the game is not without its faults. I could explain that I find that the health regeneration mechanic despicable as well as mildly insulting given my history and gaming credentials. But since this is an "intended feature" as opposed to something that they didn't mean to have happen I will not mention it as a fault and simply make note here in this review that I am not a fan of that particular game mechanic. As far as my valid concerns and complaints about the game one of my major issues lies with the camera controls and how all too often it would frantically attempt to compensate for some oddity in terrain assuming that it was what I wanted. But ultimately all it did was impair my gameplay by removing me from the experience and forcing me to argue with the programs instinct and the direction, ultimately it would have been more beneficial to simply give me the ability to adjust the camera angle as needed.
Additionally, this was not the only instances where the controls did not seem to want to work in my favor. Often the controls would cause me to swing, skip, or even simply walk off of an intimidating height to my impending doom, I found that this happed far too frequently for it to simply be a coincidence.
My final frustration would be that often after gaining cover, or climbing somewhere that perhaps the game had not anticipated me to climb or wander to a point that may not have actually lead somewhere while attempting to treasure hunt, I found myself getting caught on random pieces of terrain. Locking Drake into one position that he was unable to move from, which would incidentally force me to restart my game hoping that my last save was not too far back from the bug out in question.
But even with these mild annoyances I still found that ultimately the gameplay mechanics in addition to the fantastic character dialogue, comparable graphics and a striking musical score provided a more than satisfactory gaming experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who had the means to play. Not taking the time to pick up and play Uncharted: Drakes Deception as a PlayStation owner is like living in a fantastic city and choosing to not visit a famous landmark. While yes you will live and could quite possibly enjoy your time a gamer without needing to experience it, as a gamer I feel that after playing this you will untimely feel emotionally richer as a gamer for it.