Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Review
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
By: Des Manttari
Editor-In-Chief
Phoenix Genesis
June 8, 2010
Game developer Naughty Dog has always produced a top-notch franchise for owners of Sony PlayStation consoles. Those who played the original PlayStation enjoyed the Crash Bandicoot platformer franchise. Who didn’t enjoy the orange quirky marsupial named Crash as he made his way through interesting levels. Then PlayStation 2 came out with the Jax and Daxter franchise. Taking a whole new direction with the launch of the PlayStation 3, Naughty Dog scrapped their lovable mascots for something a bit more adult with their launch title, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
Not forgetting their platformer roots, Uncharted has its fair share of platforming activities with climbing, jumping and leaping. This time though, instead of a colorful cartoon character, the player’s avatar is the motion captured character Nate Drake, the alleged direct descent of historical figure Sir Francis Drake. Although the player controls Drake, there are chances throughout the game for Drake to be accompanied by both a female and male sidekick.
There are now cinematic cutscenes and a nice simple adventure story to give a more realistic and interesting feel to the game. The story begins with Drake on a boat with his female companion, a news reporter, as he opens the empty coffin of his ancestor. Sir Francis Drake’s journal offers clues to the lost golden idol, El Dorado, which Drake covets. Along the way to El Dorado, Drake has an opportunity to do a little Lara Croft puzzle solving and treasure collecting, but the road to El Dorado has many unexpected surprises along the way. Sometimes, we get more than we ask for and the journey is the true reward, not the prize at the end. This is the case with Uncharted, not only making it a truly satisfying experience, but one ripe for a sequel.
There are 20 or so levels to this game, so gameplay length is satisfying. The levels themselves are immense and rich in detail and exploration value. There are tombs to raid, a U-Boat to explore, huge cliffs with raging waters to navigate, and castle walls to scale. Birds fly off and leaves rustle, giving a very real feel to the environment models. The music and sound effects perfectly fit the colorful and detailed environments. Not only is there a definite Tomb Raider feel to the game, the PlayStation 2 masterpiece Ico comes to mind in some of the environments. For those who enjoy the ABC television show Lost, the mysteries that unfold in this virtual island will delight the player.
In addition to the platformer and exploration aspects of the game, there are a few puzzles to solve. However, there could have been a bit more puzzle solving to add diversity to the game. Hopefully, we’ll see an improvement in this area of gameplay in the upcoming sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, slated for this fall. Running at 720p, the game looked simply spectacular in high definition and the sequel has jumped a few notches its its eye candy appeal.
No tomb raiding game is complete without enemies that attempt to thwart the hero at every turn of the race to El Dorado. Not only are their modern day pirates to fight off, but Resident Evil type creatures that debut later in the game. There are a plethora of weapons at Drake’s disposal, but the amount of ammunition and types of weapons vary throughout the game. At most, Drake can carry about 3 grenades and 2 different weapons. I tried to find a balance with a pistol or 9mm gun mixed with a semi-automatic weapon such as an AK-47 or a scoped weapon or shotgun. Depending on the situation and approach, different weapons have varying effectiveness. There is also hand-to-hand combat, useful in tight situations or when you run out of ammo.
The artificial intelligence is very well programmed in the game. Enemies will let each other and you know when you have run out of ammo, so be forewarned. Although ammo is plentiful, it is wise to conserve it at some points in the game. During certain levels, simply using the run-and-gun approach is not the smartest move as there are often hidden traps, explosive barrels, or cliffs that Drake can fall off. Rushing headlong into battle can lead to an ambush or make Drake a victim of sniper fire. I found that sometimes it was better to fall back at a safe distance and let the enemy come to him.
Travel is not limited to foot throughout the entirety of the game. There are several levels of river travel via a speedboat and one level with a well-armed jeep that added a bit of diversity and challenge to the game. Depending on the player’s expertise with these types of game, Naughty Dog offers several levels of gameplay from easy to normal to hard. Given the fact that this game has definite replay value, why not try playing at each setting?
Finally, Naughty Dog has added loads of bonus goodies to the game. There are different costumes and characters that can be unlocked as well as making of documentaries, motion capture scenes, and rewards for various types of gameplay. For example, rewards are given for accomplishing a certain amount of headshots with different weapons.
For those purchasing a PlayStation 3 160GB hard drive console, the game comes as part of the package. For the 80GB model, it does not, but you can pick the game up used for a bargain basement price. Given the fact that Uncharted 2 will probably be your next investment, I highly suggest picking this game up to familiarize yourself with this franchise. Overall, given that there was a bit too much gunplay and not enough puzzle solving, I give the game an 8.5 out of 10.
(c) 2010: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP
Feel free to link or print this; just include the SAVE SMC URL: http://savesmc.blogspot.com/
By: Des Manttari
Editor-In-Chief
Phoenix Genesis
June 8, 2010
Game developer Naughty Dog has always produced a top-notch franchise for owners of Sony PlayStation consoles. Those who played the original PlayStation enjoyed the Crash Bandicoot platformer franchise. Who didn’t enjoy the orange quirky marsupial named Crash as he made his way through interesting levels. Then PlayStation 2 came out with the Jax and Daxter franchise. Taking a whole new direction with the launch of the PlayStation 3, Naughty Dog scrapped their lovable mascots for something a bit more adult with their launch title, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
Not forgetting their platformer roots, Uncharted has its fair share of platforming activities with climbing, jumping and leaping. This time though, instead of a colorful cartoon character, the player’s avatar is the motion captured character Nate Drake, the alleged direct descent of historical figure Sir Francis Drake. Although the player controls Drake, there are chances throughout the game for Drake to be accompanied by both a female and male sidekick.
There are now cinematic cutscenes and a nice simple adventure story to give a more realistic and interesting feel to the game. The story begins with Drake on a boat with his female companion, a news reporter, as he opens the empty coffin of his ancestor. Sir Francis Drake’s journal offers clues to the lost golden idol, El Dorado, which Drake covets. Along the way to El Dorado, Drake has an opportunity to do a little Lara Croft puzzle solving and treasure collecting, but the road to El Dorado has many unexpected surprises along the way. Sometimes, we get more than we ask for and the journey is the true reward, not the prize at the end. This is the case with Uncharted, not only making it a truly satisfying experience, but one ripe for a sequel.
There are 20 or so levels to this game, so gameplay length is satisfying. The levels themselves are immense and rich in detail and exploration value. There are tombs to raid, a U-Boat to explore, huge cliffs with raging waters to navigate, and castle walls to scale. Birds fly off and leaves rustle, giving a very real feel to the environment models. The music and sound effects perfectly fit the colorful and detailed environments. Not only is there a definite Tomb Raider feel to the game, the PlayStation 2 masterpiece Ico comes to mind in some of the environments. For those who enjoy the ABC television show Lost, the mysteries that unfold in this virtual island will delight the player.
In addition to the platformer and exploration aspects of the game, there are a few puzzles to solve. However, there could have been a bit more puzzle solving to add diversity to the game. Hopefully, we’ll see an improvement in this area of gameplay in the upcoming sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, slated for this fall. Running at 720p, the game looked simply spectacular in high definition and the sequel has jumped a few notches its its eye candy appeal.
No tomb raiding game is complete without enemies that attempt to thwart the hero at every turn of the race to El Dorado. Not only are their modern day pirates to fight off, but Resident Evil type creatures that debut later in the game. There are a plethora of weapons at Drake’s disposal, but the amount of ammunition and types of weapons vary throughout the game. At most, Drake can carry about 3 grenades and 2 different weapons. I tried to find a balance with a pistol or 9mm gun mixed with a semi-automatic weapon such as an AK-47 or a scoped weapon or shotgun. Depending on the situation and approach, different weapons have varying effectiveness. There is also hand-to-hand combat, useful in tight situations or when you run out of ammo.
The artificial intelligence is very well programmed in the game. Enemies will let each other and you know when you have run out of ammo, so be forewarned. Although ammo is plentiful, it is wise to conserve it at some points in the game. During certain levels, simply using the run-and-gun approach is not the smartest move as there are often hidden traps, explosive barrels, or cliffs that Drake can fall off. Rushing headlong into battle can lead to an ambush or make Drake a victim of sniper fire. I found that sometimes it was better to fall back at a safe distance and let the enemy come to him.
Travel is not limited to foot throughout the entirety of the game. There are several levels of river travel via a speedboat and one level with a well-armed jeep that added a bit of diversity and challenge to the game. Depending on the player’s expertise with these types of game, Naughty Dog offers several levels of gameplay from easy to normal to hard. Given the fact that this game has definite replay value, why not try playing at each setting?
Finally, Naughty Dog has added loads of bonus goodies to the game. There are different costumes and characters that can be unlocked as well as making of documentaries, motion capture scenes, and rewards for various types of gameplay. For example, rewards are given for accomplishing a certain amount of headshots with different weapons.
For those purchasing a PlayStation 3 160GB hard drive console, the game comes as part of the package. For the 80GB model, it does not, but you can pick the game up used for a bargain basement price. Given the fact that Uncharted 2 will probably be your next investment, I highly suggest picking this game up to familiarize yourself with this franchise. Overall, given that there was a bit too much gunplay and not enough puzzle solving, I give the game an 8.5 out of 10.
(c) 2010: Phoenix Genesis/MBS LP
Feel free to link or print this; just include the SAVE SMC URL: http://savesmc.blogspot.com/
posted by phoenixgenesis @ 6/08/2010 11:49:00 PM
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