Don't believe the GameSpot review. Read this for why Uncharted: GA is much more than it's given credit for.
I personally have a completely different view on the new handheld gaming device. Whilst it's got a few rough edges, it's actually amazing and it's really annoying just how much people overlook the features. One of the best parts about the actual console, is the fact that it has a pretty decent line up of games already.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss is not the boring, repetitive, cliché filled standard actions adventure that GameSpot has led many to believe. I personally saw the review of this game and expected nothing of it, I believed it in fact - every word of it. I believed that I'd be bored. I believed that it wasn't up to scratch with standard console games. I believed that the flagship game available for the Vita was just an average low-end bargain bin shooter you'd pick up after a few years in no real hurry. I picked up my Vita two days ago for $300 with a 4GB memory stick and Uncharted. That's $150 off, so I wasn't expecting much if someone was selling their Vita already with a huge discount, in box, one week old.
Starting up the game I already saw hope. The lighting effects were actually amazing. The glow of the cotton on Drake's back as he stands under the soft lamp in a decrepit ruin started off the graphics aspect of the game nicely. Anti-aliasing was good enough for a handheld and the fluidity of the movement was honestly perfect.
I haven't yet completed the game but I'm very close to the end after seeing the total number of chapters and I think it's definite that I can say it's worth the money. This is much, much better than most of the action adventure games you'll find today and is almost on par with the PS3 versions of Uncharted, in some ways it could even surpass them as it's on a handheld device with extremely similar graphics (lower resolution and smaller screen makes it look much more textured and clear).
Here's an overview of what I think of the game:
-- Graphics --
Very, very good. As an original line-up game which didn't have much chance to test the hardware it would be running on during development, the graphics are outstanding. Soft glowing fabrics and luscious foliage bring this tropical adventure together. Believe the hype, the graphics of the Vita are all it was made out to be.
-- Gameplay --
If you like Uncharted on the consoles, you'll like this - it's that simple. It's the same game in a slightly smaller form with all of the features of the original. It's a full standalone adventure so if you're an avid fan of the series be sure to pick it up.
-- Controls --
This is where, if at all, the game is let down. Touch controls can't be turned off and must be used in some form to complete the game, they don't actually get in the way but having an option to use a thumbstick on the menus would have been nice. The main reason the controls are a bad aspect is because the game features VSync, or Vertical-Synchronization. This means that your aim is very slow compared to what you see, this will not bother people who do not know what VSync is as not everybody turns it off in games and is usually on by default on PC Games. It's just the difference between a headshot and missing completely that can be annoying, because the Vitas dual thumbsticks are amazing otherwise.
-- Value / Replayability --
It's an original line-up game so I didn't expect much in the way of game types or multiplayer, but the game probably doesn't have enough replay value to get you through it more than twice. You'll complete it on regular difficulty first and then maybe bring it up to the hardest, but past that there's not much to do at all really. There's no multiplayer and there's no extra modes to play on. If you're after a fun game to just pick up and play, this isn't for you, it requires you to follow the story for it to be interesting and isn't too friendly to just pick up and carry on.
Overall:
It's well worth the $35 that it costs in stores. It's a great game in its own right regardless of the Uncharted tag. Before this I didn't enjoy the Uncharted games at all but I saw so much potential in this game style on the Vita I just had to love it. It's the first shooter on the Vita and really shows what kind of games the Vita is capable of. I'm not looking forward to Call of Duty and Battlefield with the thumbsticks.