After months of Uncharted bombardment via the same annoying commercial on TV, I figured I’d give this game a shot, at the expense of anyone’s but my own.
The first thing you notice when you pop this game in are the beautiful graphics. Awesome cinematics, impressive in-game graphics, and realistic looking environments make this game one of the best looking games out there. Also it’s worth mentioning that the water effects in Uncharted are clearly the best across all consoles. The characters also look very good and the voice acting is done impeccably.
The sound in Uncharted Drake's Fortune is definitely is one of its weakness’. The actual soundtrack the game is decent enough for your run of the mill action/adventure game, but the some of the sound effect are a real let down. I have never heard a machine gun or a shotgun fired in real life, but I imagine they don’t have the high pitched, peeping sounds like they do in Uncharted. Compared to other shooting games of the day, this one sounds very, dare I say, ‘last gen’.
And since we’re on the topic of last gen, lets move on to gameplay. If you didn’t grow tired of treasure hunting in the ‘80’s, or after National Treasure, you’re sure to after playing through this game. And if the obvious similarities weren’t prevalent enough, the gameplay is eerily similar to games such as Tomb Raider, and Gears of War. The cover system used in Uncharted seems to be a carbon copy of that in the commercially successful Gears of War. While the puzzles and direct gameplay are very alike of that in Tomb Raider.
The visuals of this game are indeed beautiful, but they are hampered by the extreme lack of openness, and very linear style of play.
The story for Uncharted Drakes Fortune I’m sure was very captivating to the younger ones, but for me, is was too much of the same old. There really isn’t much to say here, but you will find similarities to all above mentioned forms of media when it comes to the storyline. From tropical Nazi’s to island-paradise zombie like creatures, for me it seemed like the old rehashed things all over again.
If you have read any of my other reviews - which can only be summed up in one word: super-tough - then you knew this part was coming.
The longevity of this game is perhaps its greatest weakness. Over the course of 3 months, I completed this game in an estimated time of 11 or 12 hours. I will never touch it again.
Uncharted Drakes Fortune is a singleplayer only game. It seems with so much else on their plate, Naughty Dog decided on only releasing their game half finished. Uncharted brought the end of 2007 and strong hope of complete games for 2008. I do not know when, but one day developers will break the lazy habit of singleplayer only games and give us games the complete experience.
And with no achievements comes, ‘treasures’. Treasures are placed throughout the game as a sort of Easter egg in hopes of prolonging the game. They’re an added plus, but not enough to risk the late fee.
