Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Review

The Playstation 3 has not gotten a lot of love lately. The system is suffering from the lack of exclusive titles. But it seems the clouds have parted and a gem of a game has revealed itself. That game is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

The graphics in this game are spectacular. You feel like you are in a jungle. The way light shines through the canopy overhead. Small things like taking a swim, and watching your clothing get soaking wet. When a gunshot pass by your character and he flinches.

The game has a few small problems. Drake seems to be floating over the surface of the world, not really running on it. Its really not very noticeable until someone else points it out to you. But that is a tiny gripe.

The story was very entertaining. The characters are likable and the voice acting is top notch. It does not suffer from the terrible voice acting of games from the original PS one era. You feel for the characters and I found that pushing me forward in the game. I wanted to get to the next part of the story.

Combat is more like Gears of War, and less like Tomb Raider. In fact the game is more like Gears than Tomb Raider period. In a way being a huge Tomb Raider fan, I was slightly disappointed. You have to use the cover system to survive. Because the enemies come in huge waves.

Most enemies take about 3 shots to kill. Unless you nail them with a head shot. You also have hand to hand moves but I rarely used them. In fact the hand to hand seemed to be less responsive. Especial when you try to the Square-Triangle-Square combos. It seemed I never could quite nail the triangle at the right time.

A few times in the game the action gets to chaotic. Enemies with Sniper Rifles who can shoot you across the map if you don't dodge when you seen the laser sights beam. And the grenade launching foes annoyed me too.

The games worst feature is the Jet Ski scenarios. There are only 2 in the game, but they do not flow well. You can either move the jet ski, or stop and shoot the enemies, but doing both is almost impossible.

Another thing that is more funny than annoying. You will find a place that “The pirates have no idea this is here”. Only to find the place swarming with them 5 minutes later. This happen constantly. Also what is with all the explosive barrels. I must have missed that part in history class that Pacific Island nations developed metal barrels loaded with explosives.

The game does have a twist near the end, I won't spoil it. But it changes the way you play the game.

All in all if you have a PS3 I highly recommend this game. It is a short game but there is a few reason to go back and play it again. (A medal system that is basically achievement points

I give it a 8.5 out of 10. And it is in my top five games of the year
Phil-n-Rob'd Moment: Running out of ammo in the middle of a huge firefight on several occasions.