Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is the newest franchise from long time PlayStation developer Naughty Dog, famous for the Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter series. The game stars Nathan Drake in a quest to find treasure hidden by his ancestor Sir Francis Drake. Does the new franchise work? Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for the PS3:
Presentation and Graphics: Uncharted is one of the best looking games on the market. Period. The game’s environments are very highly detailed and truly immerse you in the gameplay experience. Character models look terrific and animations are very fluid. Walking around the interactive environment is a lot of fun. Brush past a plant and it will react and move with you. You really feel the great scale of your surroundings when needed, and the cramped places as well. Drake’s Fortune has a very cinematic feel, with great facial expressions that really make you sympathize with the characters. 5 of 5
Sound and Music: To go along with the amazing visuals, Uncharted features some of the best voice acting in a next-gen game. Each character has their own personality, which is very evident whenever you hear them speak. Sound effects in the jungle and inside caves are all meticulously detailed. The musical score fits in perfectly with the gameplay and enhances the mood. 5 of 5
Gameplay: Drake’s Fortune combines gameplay elements from both platforming titles and shooters into a amusing blend. You’ll run through the jungle, climbing over rocks, swinging on vines, and solving puzzles a-la games like Tomb Raider. At many a turn, you’ll encounter enemies, which brings in the shooting gameplay. You’ll have to utilize cover or quickly be taken out. The cover systems works great in most instances, but I found a couple areas were I couldn’t move from the left side to the right size of a wall without leaving cover. The AI in Uncharted is pretty good, as enemies will change positions to try and flank you and stop your quest. During the game, you’ll pick up various weapons. You start out with the standard pistol, but can pick enemy weapons such as AK-47’s and shotguns. Grenades are also part of the game, and can help to take down a group of enemies quickly. The shooting gameplay reminds me a lot of Gears of War. The various gameplay types work together very well. The game’s camera is good and nicely follows the action, but can be manually controlled if needed. 4.5 of 5
Lasting Appeal: Uncharted’s single player campaign should run anywhere from 12-16 hours, depending on your skill level. The game has a good amount of unlockable items which entice you to play through the game again. These include various clothing changes for the characters to documentary videos. All in all, you’ll want to give the game a second play-through. 4.25 of 5
Final Word: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is a must have title for the PS3. It’s the start of a great franchise that should continue on for years to come. With the amazing graphics, great voice-overs, and fun gameplay, this title will keep you amused for a good while this Holiday season.
Overall: 4.75 of 5
This game is fun to play and looks beautiful. Not only you do shooting from behind cover but there are various missions where u shoot from a jeep while it is driven and also driving a jet ski in the upstream of a river.
I’ve beaten the game in 15 hours on hard difficulty and found 43 treasures out of the 60. I’m playing the game again on the ambush difficulty and i’ve increased my treasures to 49, 11 to go
Yeah I don’t think I’d make it through on Ambush. Better you than me
Man, I love this game, just finished beating it for my second time. I found all but 8 treasures… guess I gotta play it again.