A commendable effort
Graphics
Not having played any of the console versions for a while, as soon as I saw the graphics on GA, I thought it was amazing. However, that opinion changed shortly afterwards when I started playing Uncharted 3 (currently sitting in my Pile of Shame). Compared to its console brethren, GA does leave a little to be desired but as portable action adventures go, its still quite impressive. However the environments don't seem to be as varied, it ranges from small tombs to jungles to larger tombs and that seems to be about it.
They have done a commendable job in transferring a game like UC to a small portable, a franchise that has set the bar in graphics and lighting effects.
While the environments don't seem to change much, the effects within these environments are still amazing. The lighting effects when a building is on fire, the light from a torch when you're in a dark tomb or the water effects when canoeing down a river. These are all pretty spectacular.
The only other gripe I have is with the enemies, as in there doesn't seem to be a large scope of them. There seems to be about 4 or 5 and they're all just copied and pasted into the various levels.
Sound
The dialogue is also something that the Uncharted franchise is known for. Having one of the most respected voice actors in gaming (Nolan North) at its finger tips and GA is one area that does seem to hold up. However the absence of his usual side-kick, Sully, for the majority of the game does seem to lower the quality of the banter, but not by much. Both Nathans new female side-kick and his male *ahem* friend do add something different to the mix and all gel quite nicely.
The music is good in this game, but I wouldn't say fantastic. There was one area when I was in a gunfight where the music gained quite a bit of tempo and psyched me up, which was great. But these moments didn't seem to be as frequent as UC3.
Nothing much else to add in this dept really, it's definitely solid and does add something to the game
Gameplay
If you know the Uncharted series then you know it's a game where "over-the-top action" doesn't cover it. There's gunfights, explosions, fires, collapsing buildings and tense moments on every level. However, Golden Abyss seems to be void of that over the top action that we've come to expect. To compare it to Uncharted 3, I did just one chapter of this on the weekend and there was more action and excitement in one chapter of UC3 than in about 20 chapters of GA. Although GA isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, it is still part of the Uncharted franchise and it lacks the major selling point of the series and that is action.
There are some really good gunfights, some good stealthy areas (although the low IQ of the AI does make stealth a whole lot easier), great puzzles and the added bonus of doing charcoal rubbings via the Vita's front and rear touch screen.
They did decide to incorporate quite a few touch controls as well as utilizing the gyroscope function for aiming and on the whole, I didn't mind them but I don't feel it enhanced the gaming experience overall. I found some to be just a little annoying. For example, using the machete to cut bamboo to get to areas or hidden treasures, sometimes it didn't even register the swipe.
The controls also seem to be a sticking point with me, in that they're not that responsive. In one area I had to run away from the bad guys while they were all perched along the riverside shooting at me. This highlighted the issue of the controls, whenever I jumped onto a ledge I had to press the X button a few times for it to register to lift myself up onto the ledge to continue running and as a result, I died a few times. If you die in any game and its down to the controls, this causes frustration.
I also noticed a bug that also frustrated me no end. In one area I had to go to many statues to get some rubbings and these were out of the way structures that involved searching and finding ways to get to them. The first frustration was when I completed it and the puzzle afterwards, but then I paused the game in the preceding cut-scene and had to end the game. I came back to it and I had to go through the entire statue rubbing stage again. I can understand if it was my fault when I ended the game when it hadn't saved properly but my anger grew when I got to the statues again and the rubbing appeared on the screen, all complete!! So it had registered that I had done it the first time, but not saved it. The second time happened on the same stage again. I was climbing and jumping my way to get the rubbings for a second time and I died…and I had to start it all again only to find that when I got to the statues, the rubbings had been done. So even though I knew when I got to the all of the statues the rubbings were done, I still had to go through the entire climbing stages to get to them in order for the rubbings to register! And then when I went to do the related puzzle afterwards, because I had done it before, it completed it straight away without my assistance. All of this added at least an hour to my game time and a hell of a lot of frustration.
Another bug happened after a gun fight, I had to give Sully a boost to get up a wall. This sounds easy, but when Sully couldn't stop running into a pole, I was stood there crouched down ready to give him a boost but he never came, so I had to restart it from the previous checkpoint.
Ok, so my rant is now over.
I guess the good thing about this game (yes there are good bits) is that besides from the above frustrations and obvious bugs, I still enjoyed playing it. The good definitely outweighed the bad. As I played this game exclusively on my commute to work, I found myself looking forward to getting on the train to continue the adventure, it did pull me in. I also found that it did start to pick up towards the last few chapters. There was a change of scenery (albeit it in a large tomb), some great firefights, platforming and puzzles and it was a tomb that gave a great sense of scale. Its just a shame there wasn't more action through-out the entire campaign.
Final Thoughts
I don't consider Uncharted: Golden Abyss to be a bad game at all, even with the bugs. Infact if it had any other name on the box it would be a great stand alone title. However, it does have a name that is synonymous with top shelf graphics, sound, storytelling, puzzles and over the top action and this game simply doesn't deliver in all of those areas. It is entertaining and I will probably go back through it and do it again (although that's mainly down to the fact that there is currently game drought on the Vita). It is a commendable effort and it has certainly given me hope that quality franchises like this can delivered onto the Vita. But this seems to follow in the footsteps of FIFA football, it's a game that lacks the heart and soul of its console counterpart and seemed rushed to boost the Vita launch line-up.