American Ninja Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune ReviewA victim or champion of the hype machine? by Greg Miller November 13, 2007 - It's been a rough year for PlayStation 3 owners. Exclusives have been lost, a handful of titles have been bumped from the bottom line-bolstering holiday season, and Lair was Lair. With each disappointment, more and more fans have looked to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -- a title whose screenshots have been lauded for months -- to be the saving grace of Sony's 2007. But pinning so much on one title pretty much guarantees a letdown, doesn't it? Can Naughty Dog live up to more than a year of mouthwatering coverage and placate fans who forked over $600 to see stellar title after stellar title come out on non-PS3 platforms? Yes. Yes, it can. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is the most fun I've had in a videogame this year. Putting you in the shoes of Nathan Drake -- a worldly treasure hunter on the trail of something big -- Uncharted tosses players into a third-person action/adventure/platforming/shooting homage to the pulp-action movies of yesteryear. Nate takes on pirates, scales ancient walls, swings from jungle vines and solves puzzles using the most basic of clues on his path to unearthing the secrets of his ancestor Sir Francis Drake alongside his cigar-chomping buddy Sullie and newswoman Elena. Uncharted does what few titles manage -- it completely immerses you in its experience. From the moment the game begins with a sweeping camera move through the waters off Panama, a rich score and the words of Sir Francis Drake etched on screen, Uncharted will have you hooked. It'll maintain that hold with its story, style and gameplay. If the broad strokes of Drake's treasure hunting story sound hackneyed -- a tough female reporter who hates the hero at first slowly starts to dig him, the older partner's past catches up with him on the hunt of the century, etc. -- rest assured that the possible setback is blown out of the water by the superb dialogue and motion capture from the cast. A lot of times we as an industry like to wax on and on about how videogames rival movies, but rarely do we have an example as well done as Uncharted. Nate is funny as he laments over yet another wall he needs to scale, Sullie is loveable as he tells the same traveler's tales over and over, and Elena's fire for her story and give-and-take with Nate is endearing. When these characters interact and you watch their relationships grow, you feel like you're part of their circle. You feel like they're your friends. Hell, Naughty Dog even went the extra step and made Elena and Sullie non-playable characters that actually help you out. From the first time Elena and I got into it with a set of pirates, she was alongside our hero shooting the bad guys. Mind you, she wasn't softening them up for Drake and she wasn't hiding, she was shooting to death the guys I missed. When Sullie and I were investigating ancient ruins in the heart of the jungle, my former mentor was quick to pull chain levers to open doors for me as well as provide his lighter to enact certain puzzle pieces on our journey. Non-playable characters with spot-on AI is something we don't see enough of in games. Of course, you're not just sitting around watching Drake, Sullie and Elena's story unfold before you; you are playing it, and thankfully the mechanics here work just as well as the characterization. As you trudge deeper and deeper into the mythos of Sir Francis's series of clues, you're going to bring down more and more heat from pirates and sniper-rifle packing fools hired by Sullie's debtors. When you battle these foes, you'll need to make use of the cover provided by ceremonial pillars, crates and any other jungle spot you can slam your back against and pop out to shoot from. The general format for a battle starts with Drake huddled in one spot while the enemies attack -- he'll cringe and duck as the bullets rain down on his position -- and when the bad guys reload, Drake pops out to put a few pistol or shotgun rounds in them. The process repeats until the foes are dead. It might sound tedious, but Uncharted tries to shake it up by having enemies come at you from different levels and use different tactics. Some will hurl grenades to try and flush you out, others will flank you, and the big shirtless dudes don't mind running straight at you with their shotguns drawn. The constant variety keeps with the game's fast-paced style even when you're pinned down, and keeping that style consistent is one of the crowning achievements in Uncharted. Whereas lots of games try to have an exciting storyline and then get bogged down with making you nail the mundane, Uncharted gives you a breakneck story and doesn't ask you to sweat the small stuff. Look at Tomb Raider. If Lara taught us anything, it's that when exploring temples and other ancient hideaways there are going to be a ton of places you need to leap to, hang from and jump on. When taking Miss Croft through her missions, you have to maneuver her into the perfect position, leap at the perfect time and pray that everything goes right. If it doesn't, she'll fall to her death, you'll curse the heavens and the whole experience will repeat itself until you pass the part. That doesn't happen in Uncharted. Sure, there's a ton of ledge shimmying and leaping for Nathan, but our hero is a man who has one hell of a vertical. Although you'll be climbing all over this game, it's rare for you to die while making a move. Uncharted has this action-movie feel to it that could easily be derailed by having you get stuck trying to cross a gap for 10 minutes. The same can be said for the puzzle elements that are often times explained by a quick glance at Sir Francis's diary. Uncharted wants to be a fun, fast adventure. It doesn't want to become a chore. However, that run-and-gun focus might leave a few puzzle fanatics unsatisfied. My first trip through Nate's story took me a little more than eight hours to complete, and I was never stuck at any portion of the title. I mean, I died in a few firefights, but I never had that stalled moment of controller-flinging rage -- and that's a good thing in my opinion. Would I have liked the puzzles to be a bit harder and the game a bit longer? Of course, but the current length works because Uncharted is an adventure that's meant to be played more than once. There are four difficulties to master, 60 hidden treasures to find and 47 medals to unlock for things such as headshots, treasures found and more. These medals yield points, which can be used to unlock additional costumes, unlimited ammo and more in-game goodies. Some people are going to get tired of the constant stream of rebellious pirates because I know I found myself rolling my eyes when the umpteenth group attacked me. When you've dipped into the black-and-white screen of near death a few times and are running low on shotgun ammo, it's hard to keep your spirits up when the fourth wave of bad guys flood into an area. However, Naughty Dog should be applauded for their decision to stick with the bad guys because Uncharted does a 180 in the final chapters on everything you've known, and it's amazing. Without spoiling anything, the game teaches you to fight and investigate in a very specific manner with its early level hooligans and cover system. Toward the end -- once you've gotten supremely comfortable with the combat -- Naughty Dog flips the system and you've got to improvise. Still -- as awesome as the flip was -- I could've done with less pirates or a cornucopia of pirates. The point would've been the same, and one of the only dark spots on the game would be removed. Graphically, Uncharted's beautiful as you tear down trees with turrets, watch Nate's clothes saturate with lagoon water and the sun filter through the leaves, but there is a lot of texture pop-in on the jungle floor and treasures while aliasing on the walls and screen tearing are par for the course. It shouldn't take you out of the experience, but it is noticeable. Closing Comments Here's the thing about Uncharted, the final sum is far greater than the individual parts. Maybe you don't dig the combat or maybe the pop-in gets you down, but the overall package of an endearing story, outstanding score, great performances and fun gameplay should put this title on the top of your holiday wishlist. Say what you will about the PS3, but Uncharted isn't just a standout for Sony -- it's a standout for gaming as a whole. Score: 9.1!!!! :) Source: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/834/834931p1.html Video Review: http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/812/812550/vids_1.html I am buying this game day one :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn00pie Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm not. I'd rather buy NFS Pro Street. That's a real mans game. :p Jokes aside, Uncharted is one of the best demos available on the PSN store, with the exception of the Horse Racing game on the Japanese PSN store, thats #1. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanley porkchop Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Very nice, was not expecting that (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDQuiksilver Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 The demo is fun and challenging. Looks very nice too! Debating if I actually want to purchase the game or not... hm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sin-ergy Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Think I'll be picking this up instead of Assassin's creed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingers.t.beaver Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Eurogamer 9/10 The fact that Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has ended up so good has come as a real surprise, given that there was never any real 'buzz' around it leading up to its release. But, thinking about it, when has Naughty Dog ever let us down? Given a fresh platform and a new lease of life with a radically different style of game, it has carefully pieced together the best bits of all your favourite action adventures and come up with a fundamentally focused offering that's easily as good, if not better than any of them.By focusing on keeping things fun at all times, it might not be considered the most expansive or ambitious game out there. It doesn't have a free-form openworld, but this is proof - if it were needed - that making a linear action game is nothing to be sneered at. By starting with a great control and camera system, building on that with excellent combat and a wonderful spin on Ico's platform adventuring, and then topping it off with a decent storyline, Naughty Dog has cooked up one of the most relentlessly entertaining, fat-free games to emerge in ages. Topped off with the most stunning use of the PS3's underused technical prowess yet, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is, for my money, the first must-have PlayStation 3 title http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?artic...7533&page=3 Naughty dog to the rescue it is good to see some fantastic exclusives for the PS3 the run upo to christmas just got more expensive. Still not enough for me to buy a system but if it keeps on like this Sony may yet get my money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin001 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Think I'll be picking this up instead of Assassin's creed. Took the words out of my mouth, between this and AC......Uncharted wins for me! Still not completly sure about AC after hearin about a few problems with Ps3 version and the review Gametrailers did! As i said before i loved the demo for Uncharted and once i played it i knew i wanted the full game :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red. Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I cannot wait for the release. Too bad we in Europe have to wait for like an extra month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCheese Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I cannot wait for the release. Too bad we in Europe have to wait for like an extra month! We do?! That sucks :( oh well, got AC coming soon I guess, Just had COD4 which is stupidly amazing, for PC we have sim city as well This year is a damn good year to be a gamer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red. Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 We do?! That sucks :(oh well, got AC coming soon I guess, Just had COD4 which is stupidly amazing, for PC we have sim city as well This year is a damn good year to be a gamer. Yeah i think i heard something like that. Oh, and don't get me started on the new SimCity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted November 14, 2007 Subscriber² Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm gonna import this game off of ebay I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCheese Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Yeah i think i heard something like that. Oh, and don't get me started on the new SimCity... yeah we do :( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncharted:_Drake's_Fortune I remember it being Sony's excuse as well for not putting the demo on the EU store at the same time as the US store :( Don't they understand that not releasing worldwide just encourages imports, or worse piracy? Neither of which they are fond of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red. Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm gonna import this game off of ebay I think! Yeah i think i might do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soniqstylz Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 yeah we do :(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncharted:_Drake's_Fortune I remember it being Sony's excuse as well for not putting the demo on the EU store at the same time as the US store :( Don't they understand that not releasing worldwide just encourages imports, or worse piracy? Neither of which they are fond of. Honestly, how much piracy can you do with a Blu-Ray? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sin-ergy Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Honestly, how much piracy can you do with a Blu-Ray? lol not much. can you even played burned games on the ps3? doubtful. not without a modchip anyway, which as far as I know do not exist for the ps3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin001 Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Eurogamer 9/10http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?artic...7533&page=3 Naughty dog to the rescue it is good to see some fantastic exclusives for the PS3 the run upo to christmas just got more expensive. Still not enough for me to buy a system but if it keeps on like this Sony may yet get my money. Now that is a pretty amazin score, eurogamer are knw for there tough reviews...........those guys give Gears of War an 8/10 lol! Just hope Sony has some awesome adverts and hypin planned for Uncharted as they MS had for GoW and Halo3! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCheese Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Honestly, how much piracy can you do with a Blu-Ray? ok bad example but I meant that when things are delayed in other countries they often end up on the Internet. Just because BD piracy is small at the moment doesn't mean it won't happen eventually. Take US TV shows for a better example, They sometimes take 5/6 weeks to show here after the US so they end up on torrent sites pretty quickly. Same with any movie etc. I'm not saying this is something I do personally but leaving such a long gap between regions sucks, but at least we've got other titles to keep us busy for now :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
American Ninja Posted November 14, 2007 Author Share Posted November 14, 2007 Now that is a pretty amazin score, eurogamer are knw for there tough reviews...........those guys give Gears of War an 8/10 lol! Just hope Sony has some awesome adverts and hypin planned for Uncharted as they MS had for GoW and Halo3! They are planing a bunch of ads. They will be posting them on the Official Playstation Blog later this week: Hey everybody, I?m back again!I just wanted to drop everyone a quick note here five days before we launch Uncharted: Drake?s Fortune (a day earlier than expected even!). I also wanted to point out that our first review has posted with IGN, be sure to check it out. All of the Naughty Dogs couldn?t be more excited to see the game finally hit the shelves. The marketing machine is starting to move into high gear, so hopefully we?ll all start to see Nathan Drake plastered all around town. On the note of the marketing machine, check back with the blog later this week to catch a sneak peek of our TV spot. The response to the demo that we released last week has been outstanding. I?m really glad everybody?s enjoying it. And I hope I don?t come across as too conceited to say that the complete game is even better! We really tried to design Uncharted as a comprehensive package and it was challenging to select a slice of it that captures the huge variety of gameplay that we have in the game. In closing, I?d just like to say congratulations and thanks to everybody who had involvement in the creation of Uncharted: Drake?s Fortune. And that includes all of you on the forums who have been giving us encouragement and feedback along the way? believe it or not, we were listening, and many of your comments helped us make Uncharted a better game. Source: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/11/13/...e-first-review/:)url] :) Source: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightz Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Eurogamer 9/10http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?artic...7533&page=3 there's a quote in that review that will surely tick off some of the 360 supporters here ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
American Ninja Posted November 14, 2007 Author Share Posted November 14, 2007 there's a quote in that review that will surely tick off some of the 360 supporters here ;) yep lol :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Star Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 In truth, it may take years before rival brands find themselves with game engines as effortlessly capable as this one. Truly, Uncharted is the first game I've seen to date that makes me wonder if it could be done on the Xbox 360, and as a huge admirer of the software line-up on Microsoft's system, that's saying a lot. [And it's going to get us in trouble again. -Frowny Ed] How would that make people mad? Unless I am reading it another way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted November 15, 2007 Subscriber² Share Posted November 15, 2007 How would that make people mad? Unless I am reading it another way. Because it will spark the good ole "PS3 Hardware VS 360 Hardware" debate thats as successful as a carrot tied infront of a horse! :rofl: ^ Well that is quite successful if yer sitting in the cart, but if you're the horse it sucks :( As I said I'll be importing this. Am I squat waiting another month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerhkjp Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I can't wait for the game to come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fear-51 Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Anybody pick this up yet today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoL Veteran Posted November 16, 2007 Veteran Share Posted November 16, 2007 Anybody pick this up yet today? the release date is today?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts