Uncharted Drakes Fortune

A 400-year-old clue hidden in the coffin of Sir Francis Drake sets a modern day fortune hunter, Nathan Drake, on an expedition 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 he and his party become stranded on the island and hunted by modern day pirates. Outgunned and outnumbered, he must fight to survive as he begins to unravel the terrible secrets hidden on the island . . . Fight to survive with both gunplay and wild hand-to-hand combat Gorgeous and highly-realistic backgrounds and graphics

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Goofy controls
This could be a lot more fun if the physics engine provided better control of movements and aiming. I’ve aimed to jump straight ahead only to land off to the side of my target. The result is needless frustration and a poor experience. I have many other games, and this is easily the least desirable. I do NOT recommend this game.

4 Stars Still One Of The Best Playstation 3 Games
I love this game. The graphics are still some of the best on the ps3, the gameplay is fun and addictive, the difficulty is challenging but not frustrating, and the story line is engaging and keeps you thoroughly entertained throughout. One thing I really like about the game, and 3rd person action games in general, is the use of a really good cover system. A lot of games have actually borrowed this cover system after its release. The other great thing this game has going for it is the graphics. They really are stunning at times, especially when you’re platforming. If you have a ps3, this game should definitely be on your list of must-plays. Play it now, the sequel comes out this year!!!

5 Stars Beautiful action-adventure experience
Pros:

- Visually breathtaking

- Class-A voice-acting

- Great gameplay variety

- Interesting story

- Fun to play

Cons:

- Platforming is too easy

- A bit on the short side

- No co-op

Gameplay:

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is a third-person action adventure shooter set in an environment very similar to the Indiana Jones films. The main character, Drake, is a treasure hunter who goes on an expedition near the Amazon in search of treasure. On the road through the game, you will meet several very endearing characters such as Elena Fisher, the female protagonist and Eddy Raja, a very selfish treasure hunter who plays as an antagonist. The game features typical third-person shooter gameplay as well as one of the best cover systems we’ve seen. In essence, the game really feels like Tomb Raider meets Gears of War, but it really is a game of its own.

One of the most unforgettable gameplay elements of Uncharted are the platforming scenarios. Throughout the game, there will be obstacles which you will have to climb onto, as well as ropes to swing from and much more. The platforming is without a doubt some of the best platforming seen to date and feels polished to the brim. To top off the platforming and cover systems, there are also a few points in the game where you have the opportunity to try something new, such as riding a Jet-Ski. These several moments in the game really give the game variety and make the presentation that much better.

Controls:

Naughty Dog is known for making very polished action-adventure titles, and Uncharted is no different. Every element of the game feels right and whether you’re shooting from behind stone cover or climbing a 100-foot wall, everything feels and looks genuine. The cover system features both a pop-and-shoot mechanic as well as the ability to fire while staying behind the cover at the expense of accuracy. Both feel great and help make the long and challenging fighting sequences fun and enjoyable rather than an annoying obstacle. My only gripe is that the platforming elements of the game are too forgiving and provide very little challenge, if any.

Graphics:

Screenshots don’t do Uncharted justice. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is without a doubt the best-looking console game to date, and is remarkable in every way possible. The colors and vibrance of the dense tropical jungle environments are only surpassed to Crysis for the PC. The textures throughout the game are highly detailed and really help shape the mood for the chapter. The water in Uncharted is some of the best you’ll ever see, and seeing Drake get out of the water and soaked in the areas that were submerged is simply incredible. Not to mention that the character models and animations are remarkably detailed and help give life to the story. Perhaps the most remarkable accomplishment for Uncharted graphically is just how much it does for the platforming. The platforming in Uncharted is as simple as jumping from object to object, but the animation and visuals make it look so real that it’s almost hard to believe you’re playing a game at times.

Sound:

To start off, the voice acting is some of the best I’ve heard. Nolan North did a terrific job of giving life to the main character, Drake. Just about every character in the game is voiced by an established voice-actor and each do a great job of giving personality to these video game characters. The sound-effects are really fitting and really help make you feel like you’re in a deep jungle. Also, the music is brilliant and there are tracks for just about every moment throughout the journey. The main theme is easily one of my favorites of all time and together with the sound effects and voice-acting, really helps make the presentation come to life.

Replay Value:

Uncharted is a pretty short game and is usually beaten between 9-12 hours on the first run through. However, I can’t remember the last time I played a game that was enjoyable 100% of the time. This game really does a good job of entertaining you the whole way through, and while short, every second of every minute is fun. Also, Uncharted has dozens of unlockables which are earned through in-game achievements. These unlockables range from costumes to videos and visual filters. Along with the challenge of Playstation Network trophies and the Crushing difficulty mode, the game has a fair amount of replay value.

Rating:

Story: 8.5

Gameplay: 9.0

Graphics: 10.0

Controls: 9.5

Sound: 9.5

Replay Value: 8.0

Overall: 9.0

Own, Rent, Avoid:

Own: What the game lacks in length it more than makes up for in pound-for-pound entertainment. The sheer quality of the game is deserving of purchase, and the overall experience is simply unforgettable.

Last Thoughts:

Uncharted is simply a breathtaking game that really shows us how far heavy polish for a game goes. Every facet of the game is high in quality and the addition of unlockables really helps give the game the replay value it needs. Get it now.

4 Stars Really fun game!
This game was a lot of fun. It is actually a lot like watching a movie. The whole story is very interesting, the gameplay is pretty simple, yet very fun, and it’s relatively challenging. It’s the type of game that makes you really want to get back on the PS3 and finish it as soon as you can. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes adventure games. The only problem I had with the game was the camera angles. Sometimes they can be pretty annoying and cause you to jump of ledges when you don’t mean to. Otherwise, this game was one of the best that I’ve played in a while.

5 Stars THIS GAME WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!
I have been looking forward to this game for a long time and knew that it was going to be worth the wait. Well it definately was worth the wait. Put into a word i would describe it as Stunning.

Characters:

The main character is Called Nathan Drake (Nate to people who know him) who believes he is a descendant of Sir Francis Drake.

Elena Fisher is a reporter who is there to record what is potentially a great story. She comes in and out of the game as she splits away from Nathan in some parts of the game, otherwise she acts as a sidekick to Nathan.

Victor Sullivan ‘Sully’ is another main character but i wont go into to much detail incase i spoil something.

Plot:

Nathan believes that Sir Francis Drake faked his death in order to search for the treasure of El Dorado. Nathan uses a dairy that was written by Francis in order to help him to recover the lost treasure. But Nathan, Elena and sully are not alone as they come into contact with someone else who also wants to find the treasure. The game has a very good plot and it keeps to the same plot all the way through the game making it a consistent story teller.

Graphics:

Well what can i say.The graphics are phenomenal. It tops anything that the PS3 has produced so far. Every little detail has gone into making you think you are actually there searching for the treasure of El Dorado. The vegetation reacts to your movements, the wind etc. The shadows are very clear and accurate, with shadows on virtually everything which adds a good sense of depth. The sun and glare effects are spot on, for example when you come from a dark tunnel into the light it seems that everything has a bright glare. This then changes back into normal light. The water effects are almost as good as Bioshock, however i think that Naughty Dog has created water that reacts to movement (ripples) and seems to have more depth to it. One thing I can say is that sometimes there are slight screen tearing scenes and streaming texture pop-up issues, but these occur rarely and are unnoticeable as long as you don’t look for them.

Gameplay:

First of all there are 4 difficulty settings:

easy

normal

hard

Crushing (unlocked after completing on hard difficulty)

This game is HARD. I have nearly completed all of it on normal and some parts are quite tricky (and im used to playing gears of war as the duck and cover system is very similar). So for most people i would advise playing through the first time on normal, but if you want a real challenge, put it on HARD mode.

In terms of length it is not the longest of games. About 8-10 hours depending on the difficulty. There are 22 chapters in all of varying lengths. It took me 5 hours and 15 minutes to get to chapter 15 on normal difficulty.

The controls are easy to master but may take a bit of getting used to if you haven’t played many 3rd person duck and cover games (gears of war for example). The game features blindfiring over and around cover, this is useful when you are low on health. The game also features some hand to hand combat ( I would not recommend this unless it is the last/only enemy due to the fact that you still get shot to bits. To aim your weapon press L1 to shoot press R1, simple. To roll/stick to cover press o. To jump/ jump across ledges press x while running. To change weapon you use the D-pad. R2 is reload. The game is dualshock 3 enabled. The sixaxis control is used for grenades and balancing across logs (only used twice in the game). There are several parts in the game that feature driving a jet ski and other vehicles.

Weapons:

Don’t know all the specific names so this may not be too accurate:

Pistol

Ak-47

Frag Grenades

2 types of shotgun

grenade launcher

Desert eagle 5 handgun

Uzi type 9mm firing machine gun

Sniper rifle

There are more weapons but i can’t remember them all. You can only carry one small sidearm and one large gun. Also you can carry a maximum of 4 grenades. Overall a decent array of weapons.

Achievements/medal points:

Uncharted was really the first PS3 game to have real achievements. There are 1000 ‘medal points’ to get. These can be achieved by doing specific things, such as getting 100 headshots. Also there are 60 hidden treasures scattered around. These help the replayability factor.

Overall verdict:

9.5 Out of 10.

This game may be short but i can see myself playing through this more times. The game puts you in a virtual paradise that will truly show off the PS3′s true power (naughty dog say that they used 30-50% of the PS3′s CPU power = lots more potential). The story is gripping and really seems to involve you in a way that i can’t explain but you will just have to find out for yourself.

Are you ready for some treasure hunting, i know i am!

Thanks for reading,

MORPHEUS24-7

P.S: congratulations for reading all of my review!

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