Background:
Labbled as Sonys saviour of 07, this title had a lot resting on its shoulders. This was also Naughty Dogs first attempt with the PS3 hardware, and with a huge rep behind them with titles like the infamous Crash series aswell as Jak and Daxter there was a feel in the air that this could infact save Sonys backside from one of the worst years for the console gaming giant‘s history.
Story:
A 400-year-old clue in the coffin of Sir Francis Drake sets a modern-day fortune hunter on an exploration for the fabled treasure of El Dorado, leading to the discovery of a forgotten island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The search turns deadly when Nathan Drake becomes stranded on the island and hunted by mercenaries. Outnumbered and outgunned, Drake and his companions must fight to survive as they begin to unravel the terrible secrets hidden on the Island.
What no words can describe
Naughty Dog has a strong reputation for taking a number of PlayStation consoles to the limits and it looks like they have stuck to tradition this time round as well. If your familia with the first 3 Crash Bandicoots you will instantly recognize the bright colour pallate and the lush environments. This is a welcome change as of late. We have seen a lot of dark corridors in the last couple of graphical power houses. There is a number of words that can describe this games graphical flair and artistic direction, some of those are dazzling, divine, gorgeous, grand, magnificent, marvellous, pulchritudinous, (Yea you like that one, found it in the dictionary)…radiant, stunning sublime, superb, wonderful and last but not least beautiful. This is easily the most impressive looking game by a country mile on the PS3 to date and arguably on any console!
The water for one is without a doubt the best seen in a video game to date offcourse. The water in this game is just madness!!! The attention to detail is out of this world. You quickly sway one way and the water reacts accordingly, and moves with your body leaving ripples expanding from Drake. You decide to play silly buggers and shoot the water and well it will react as it does in real life when you shoot water, why you would do that, well that’s up to you but water will thinly splash up into the air. The water doesn’t stop there either. As you frolic about the water Drake will get drenched, this is normal in most games these days, however he only gets wet were the water makes contact, and then get this…… he slowly dries up when he’s open to the sun. Now you know you have a good game on your hands when so much effort and pain staking detail has been put into what is “just water.”
Water only makes up a small chunk of the game, so it was important for Naughty Dog to get all the other stuff right. And right they did. The lush, abundant environments really make for an immersive experience. Trees and the like will sway in the wind, and will differ from the different wind speeds. Long grass will be flattered as you show it the bottom of ya boot. Its all interactive and makes you fall even deeper into the game. Its not all lush green jungle environments, you will also be exploring dark and damp weathered ruins and caves, and these are just as impressive as the jungle. All textures have been perfectly rendered and the lighting effects are out of this world. This is one of the very few aspects that has been done realistically. There’s plenty of moments were you will just leave the game and admire the sheer awesomeness, such as standing on the peak of a debunked suberin, looking out into a large vista with the beautiful orange sunset, with a waterfall beneath your toes and lighting filtering through the trees, trust me it’s a sight to behold.
I said the lighting is one of the few aspects that has been done realistically. This is purely down the wonderful art direction of this title. It has been given a “real cartooned” look. So instead of mapping photographs to the character models, its all been done using paint brushes, which creates its very own unique style. This style suit’s the game itself down to a T, and it also helps the cut scenes which are as cinematic as ever. Animations are as smooth as a babies bottom. And with a genre mixing game like this it was vital they got the animation mingo jingo down as it could have been a stop start affair particularly with the plat forming facet. All Drakes imperfections have been captured brilliantly from swaying on the edge of a cliff with one hand to Drake simply tripping over himself. And the combat animations aren’t to bad either.
Sadly its not all happy flowers, as there is constant texture pop-in, sometimes you can barley notice it and some times its as blatant as an emo in a hippy van. Thankfully it doesn’t detract to much as you will be so immersed you wont notice half the time. Also the “real cartoon” look doesn’t help the explosion affects at all. And when you consider explosions are meant to be visually awesome they are rather dull, its almost just a big puff of dark smoke that disappears into the air. Cant really call a puff of smoke an explosion can you?
Sound of the islands
Uncharted has a cinematic feel to it like no other game before it and to help this along is the superb voice acting that has gone into this title. It doesn’t matter which character is speaking its all been done in convincing fashion. You will experience every single emotion from Drake as you go through the game, you will constantly hear him curse or grumble when he’s on the wrong side of a fire fight, and like wise celebrating when he’s just put hot lead through a pirate’s head.
To go with the fully interactive environments is some great environmental sounds. Sounds like birds tweeting, the cool shhhh of a waterfall, the peaceful noise of trees waving and brushing in the wind, and when in ruins or caves its all very airy as you would expect in an empty, dark, ancient, old, area. Maybe all this stuff may not be important but when you turn down the volume and have no sound its all very lame and then you start to appreciate what sound can do to a game.
As with the explosions in the visual state there hasn’t been much attention applied to the explosions sound wise either. All it is, is a bang and that its, no after sounds, or anything like that, and well ya just left unsatisfied. It also appears that the gun sounds haven’t been given that much spit and polish. To sum it up I would just say “generic” These are very minor whinges when you look at the game as a whole but when you hear the noise of Call of Duty you will know what your missing out on. Uncharted and the bongo sounds and orchestra pieces of music go together like a match made in heaven. The Bongo drums are used to great affect particularly as its a island setting and the orchestra pieces come back to the cinematic feel of the game.
Did you know?
Ten things you might not know about the explorer, adventurer, pirate, brigand - and rumoured relation of Nathan Drake, hero of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
1. A tough childhood: Born in England in 1540, Drake lived in a two-room cottage; the family lived in one room and the animals in the other.
2. Global traveller: Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in his ship the Golden Hind.
3. Massive bounty: King Philip II of Spain so hated Drake that he put a bounty worth $10 million on his head.
4. Cool candidate: Drake took the time to finish a game of bowls whilst Spain’s invasion Armada approached.
5. Cold feet: Drake is believed to be the first person to reach the Antarctic after a particularly bad storm blew his ship off course!
6. The bogey man: A feared pirate, Drake was known as El Dragón to the Spanish and his name is used to this day to scare naughty children!
7. A successful buccaneer: Drake’s most profitable naval haul included 80lb of gold, a golden crucifix, countless jewels, 13 chests full of royal plate and 26 tons of silver.
8. A drinker: When not at sea his local drinking haunt was The Ship Inn in Exeter, England.
9. One lead coffin: In 1596 Drake died of dysentery in the Caribbean and was buried at sea in a lead coffin.
10. Staple diet: Drake’s lasting contribution to Britain was the potato which he introduced in 1586
A little bit of this with a little bit of that please
Okay now I’m going to get you to think for a minute. I know it’s a thought hard to get around but its got to be done alright. Think Tomb Raider, not Lara Crofts boobs, but Tomb Raider the game. Now think of the movie National Treasure, nah scrap that, that film sucked….um think Indiana Jones, now add some pirates into the mix, unfortunately not the old school cool ones but the more pu$$y modern day ones. Now last of all, put Indiana Jones in Tomb Raiders game in place of Lara Croft, swap his whip for a gun and then you will have Uncharted in a nutshell, and that’s the review pretty much you can do the rest. No joax I’ll finish what I started.
Uncharted took up the challenge that many games have tried to do and failed miserably at. Yes they took up the suicide challenge of mixing genres into one genre of its on. We get the tense fights of a action third person shooter, mixed with some classic platforming, and then add some brain teasing puzzles and then we have Uncharted. If the developers aim with Uncharted was to make it a fast paced, cinematic, and fun well then they got a A+ in all those areas.
Back to that sentence. “Brain teasing puzzles” is a bit misleading unless your mentally dumb or handicapped, as the puzzles are anything but hard. You carry around a little journal which gives you the clues served on a plate. The platforming is quite fun and makes for a great distraction between regular fire fights. What helps make this as fun as it is, is the fact that you can be confident that if it looks jumpable it probably is, and as long as you run a reasonable line and at a steady pace you will make the jump. It will be a rare occasion when you get the feeling of trial by era which so many dedicated platforming games these days seems to have a problem with. The fire fights are where you will spend most of your time. I mean who woudda though that there were this many pirates, I was beginning to think they were extinct. The gun-play is helped from one of the better cover systems of late, all it takes is a simple tap o the circle button, and your out of harms way. Well that would be the case if the enemy wasn’t as dumb as they look. Enemies will constantly flank your position, and use cover to there advantage and its as if these guys have been to a Tom Brady coaching session as they are deadly with the nades. They also don’t like to be pimp slapped by a guy you tucks his shirt in at the front to show of his belt buckle. The combat cant be any simpler, all is required is a few well timed taps of the face buttons and you will turn all Jackie Chan on there sorry ar$e. You will also get the fat guy who just charges at you with a shotgun…..Now that’s funny right, a fat guy running. I know your laughing. These fire fights may become a little tedious to the end, when you have just popped of pirate number 10,987 as the enemies are all they same, the only thing that changes is there more powerful guns like AK’s and RPG’s.
If I finished the review here and now I think the score would be around an 8, but what lifts it to a 9 is this cinematic play I’ve been babbling on about throughout this whole review. Its amazing how film like this game actually is. Many games boast about there “Cinematic gameplay” but none come even close to Uncharted in this department. A few tips to developers who are looking to go for the cinematic approach, pay Naughty Dog to make the game for you. I have never played a game before were it felt so much like a block buster movie. Yes the sound and visuals help you get immersed but the fast paced action of the gameplay added with a good story and wonderful character development with great voice acting I may add, but its all this added together that makes Uncharted so exhilarating and just plain fun to play.
Face paced action gameplay is something Uncharted delivers in bucket loads. You will always be doing something, no matter the situation you are always aiming to complete something, wether that be killing of the next round of pirates, scaling an ancient ruin to get to the top, solving a puzzle, or just plain exploring. You will never find yourself stuck down doing nothing. Earlier I was talking about how the gun fights can get a bit tedious towards the end there. In a genius stroke the developers have added a few levels which include a jet ski or a jeep. These are by far the most exciting levels of the game and adds the real fun factor. These levels have been evenly placed throughout the game to make a much welcomed break from the gun fights. This is also were those Hollywood scenes come into play. Picture this you have just come to what appears to be a dead end. Beneath you is a 50 meter waterfall. You notice some conveniently place rocks and a broken bridge that leads across the waterfall. Your only chance to proceed is over these rocks. First things first, shimming across the cliff face while the rumble that’s holding you up starts to buckle, so you quickly jump to the first rock. Now you keep jumping from rock to rock, hanging on with one arm every time you misjudge a jump. Now to make things worse, it seems as though the pirates have been alerted to your presence and start to take fire from above. Now that that’s all over, you start to jump onto the last few rocks and a jeep pulls out on the road just above you. And as you would expect there’s pirates to be had here. You catch a quick glimpse at what appears to be a small gas tank. Your instant reaction to this is to shoot this, and what do ya know you’ve just blown up the jeep, and now the jeep hangs dangerously above your head. Within a matter of seconds the jeep starts to fall into the vicinity of your head, and with a quick enough reaction you will move out the way just in time to save your bacon, and your head. Now tell me that didn’t make you get up, go toilet and take a pi$$ because of the excitement.
Uncharted’s key feature when it comes to its lasting appeal is the X-BOX 360 like achievements, or skill points as they are called in this game. You are given a series of challenges in the pause manu to complete throughout the game. These include a certain number of headshots, getting a certain number of kills with different guns, killing many enemies with one explosion yadda yadda yadda. What also adds to the lasting appeal is the hidden medals that you must find to complete 100% These make a great addition to what could have turned into a once play through game. While the game is short, its not as short as all fan boys make it out to be. I finished it in about 15 hours and that was with every medal found but not all skill points completed. But for mine it’s the perfect length for a game such as this.
Gold at the end of the tunnel
In conclusion this is what all PS3 adapters have been waiting for, this is the jewel in the crown, the patty in the burger, this mince in the pie. Calling this game beautiful is like saying Brittany Spears needs help. Its that much of an understatement. Excellent voice acting and a suited score make this one of the truly spectacular looking games of all time. Throw on top of that some cinematic and FUN! gameplay and well we have the best PS3 exclusive title yet, and possibly one of the best games on any gaming platform. While it has a few minor things to iron out, there’s no doubting this is a master piece in its own right.
Sequel???
“Speaking with Jeux France, Naughty Dog has apparently confirmed that a sequel to the PS3-exclusive, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, is already in the works. In fact, the developers are already saying it’ll be better than the first game, but that’s what developers always say.” Add this quote with over a million sales since its November release and well im left with no option but tho believe we will certainly see a sequel to this great game. And while there isn’t a lot they can improve on, they can defiantly polish a few things to what is bound to be a great franchise.
Without giving to much away, the end was a bit iffy biffy and took a complete 180 degree turn on were the game was heading. For some it was a welcome change, and for others there were a lot of “WTF’”s posted on the web. So perhaps they need to re-think that and the story to everyone’s taste. I think the level design could be a bit more explorative as they were quite linear for a game were exploitation as a key feature. Have some more variety in enemies types oh and some more of those vehicle levels please. Some of the sound effects could also do with a bit of work. But for the most part keep it as it is.
November 19 marks 15 years since the release of the Uncharted game that started it all.
I hope they don’t make another until the end of the ps5 lifecycle…. Show us a better jungle
VGChartz's Issa Maki: "I finally have a proper designation akin to what I've always referred to internally as 'the line that must be crossed' or 'The Line', for short – ludonarrative dissonance – the separation from a video game's story in relation to its gameplay. Why isn't PETA all up in Mario's grill for jumping on turtles and killing fish, or charging Samus Aran with the extinction of the Metroid species? Ever notice how fire has that habit of making bosses in Resident Evil stronger? Read on my friend, for I endeavor to imbue you with the ability to engage in basic queries concerning the concept."
KeenGamer: "Which Uncharted game is the best? Uncharted is widely recognized as one of the most groundbreaking and consistently great franchises in gaming. For both long-time fans and newcomers to this action-adventure classic, here’s a ranking of the franchise’s four main games."
No Golden Abyss -_-, otherwise I agree with the order.
UC2: Best overall
UC4: Best graphics, best gameplay, best locations, best environements
UC3: Best set pieces IMO (the boat and desert fights will always be amazing)
UC1: A rough Draft of what was to come
UCGA: Basically UC1 on Vita
Great list and great article nicely writen and explained. Although for me personaly i would put Drakes Fortune above Drake’s Deception and Uncharted 4 is absolutely my favourite of the franchise and number 1 for me.
U2 is the only game playable on crushing without causing a great amount of frustration. Not to mention just how much influence it had that they redid some of U2s set pieces like the caravan twice, and armored truck chase in U4.
I'd rate it as the following.
1.) Uncharted 2
(Close to perfection of any game I've played in years. Single Player/Multiplayer/Co Op all amazing.)
2.) Uncharted 3
(On par with UC2 multiplayer/co op wise minus the kickbacks [aka killstreaks]. I really liked the Lawrence of Arabia story.)
3.) Uncharted 4
(Single player is amazing. Multiplayer was meh. Co Op had potential. Absolutely hated the health revive system it slowed down the game way too much. Always preferred the fast pace action of UC2/UC3. Made it way more fun that way. Recoil was too ridiculous that most people in lobbies would only do hip firing, using power weapons and using that OP grappling hook to melee people after dropping them. Nobody wanted to revive anyone.)
4.) Uncharted
(It's the first in the series so it's hard to judge. Though I loved the story.)
I agree here but it’s also a series you can play from front to back and truly enjoy. Story-wise, they are all great and flow so well. I wish they threw both Golden Abyss and Lost Legacy on this list. Lost Legacy is the best mechanically in my opinion. You can see it’s stepping stone framework for TLOUS2.
uncharted 2 is one of the few games that actually surpassed its pre-release hype.
I am a single player gamer...I barely ever touch a multiplayer component. The only exceptions over the years have been the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, TLOU factions, and the Uncharted 2 multiplayer. The Uncharted 2 multiplayer saw me spend more time playing it than all my other multiplayer experiences over the years combined. That game really was a masterpiece all around.
I agree completely, those are all stellar MP experiences, coming from another SP gamer who only occasionally gives MP some time.
Come to think of it, the step between Uncharted 1 and Uncharted 2 is huge. It goes from the weakest in the series to one of the best games ever made.
I think I'm going to play all of them again soon.
is multiplayer still up for the remastered trilogy? or did it never have UC2 mp?
*applause*