THE GOOD: EXCELLENT COVER SYSTEM THE BAD: ABSURD MOTION CONTROLS THE EXCITING: SONY’S FIRST DISC BASED GAME TO SUPPORT TROPIES
By Michael Wenzel
IV Leader Game Critic
From the creators of mega-hit series, Crash
Bandicoot, comes Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, an excellent game released on the
PlayStation 3 in December 2007.
The game places you as Nathan Drake, a proficient fortune
hunter who claims to be a direct descendant of the legendary treasure hunter,
Sir Francis Drake. Nathan Drake, however, is not your typical
machine-gun-toting, burly, action game hero, but instead a casual guy in a
t-shirt, jeans and a pair of ratty Chuck Taylors. His appearance makes you feel
like he is just an average Joe kind of guy that is trying to catch a break, and
his niche happens to be fortune hunting.
It is unique to have a character like Nathan because during
game play he will do things like stumble while running down decrepit caverns or
shoot blindly out of fear, just like a real person would. He also has some very
witty dialogue that does wonders for his characterization.
Your objective in the game is to find a grandeur treasure
using the notebook of Sir Francis Drake, but throw in a love interest, deception
and the undead, and you have got yourself a story.
Now, about the game play: the game transitions from
platforming elements to action parts seamlessly and has just the right balance.
During the action segments, the cover system is amazing! It is very much akin to
the cover system in Gears of War on the XBOX 360, which was flaunted as one its
major strengths.
While in cover, you can pop up to take a couple of shots at
the baddies or with a button press hop over the cover to move to the next
available spot. And move you will! Just about anything you can hide behind will
be chipped away by enemy gun fire, thus exposing part of you and forcing you to
move to another spot, or well, succumb to the effects of gunfire.
The aiming system is intelligent as well, and gives you a
great perspective while firing. The only real faulty part of the game would be
tossing grenades. In order to aim where to throw them, you have to tilt the
SIXAXIS controller, which makes for inaccurate aiming.
Overall, however, Uncharted is a great game with excellent
game play and few setbacks. In addition to this, with Sony’s new Trophy system
(much like XBOX 360 Achievements) in place in Uncharted via an online update
(free!), you’ve got no reason to not pick this one up and try your own hand at a
bit of fortune hunting.