Game Review: Uncharted Drake's Fortune

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is everything that I wanted Romancing the Stone to be and more.

I originally intended to just play the first hour of the game and write a review about that hour; I figure the first hour is the most important part of a game as its what makes you either want to keep playing or turn it off. Needless to say the first hour had me hooked and I spend a good chunk of the last three days finishing this game.

The game puts you in the shoes of Nathan Drake, a sarcastic and surprisingly intelligent adventurer, and has you traversing islands, tombs and ancient towns in search of the city of El Dorado. Think Indiana Jones and and Brendan Fraiser in The Mummy with a little bit of Nicolas Cage's character from National Treasure. Drake is full of witty one liners and he's prone to action.

The game blends exploration, action, and story almost perfectly. Everything in the game seems necessarily to the story. The gun fights, the mountain climbing, and even the occasional jet ski driving all have a reason to be in the game.

The most brilliant part of Uncharted is the game's story telling. The story itself is sub par, most of the game is extremely predictable and the bits that aren't are way far out there. The game doesn't tell the story in long cut scenes but instead just gives you little bits and pieces as you play. This keeps you submerged in the world. The pacing is spot on giving you the right amount of information about the story at the right times to keep you wanting to know more.

The game is two years old by the graphics still look incredibly realistic. The greens of the forest all look great on a nice HDTV. The character animation is stunning and the controls and sound are spot on. Things like the occasional chirping bird puts you right into the tropical environment of the game.

No game is perfect. The melee attacks in the game are uncomfortable and at a later point in the game the plot takes a very science fiction twist that comes as quite a surprise, but as an experience there is nothing available that is better than what Uncharted brings to the table.