Naughty Dog’s inaugural Playstation 3 effort, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune has been hotly anticipated as one of the pillars of Sony’s 2007 holiday lineup for the embattled system. The creators of Jak and Daxter continue their tradition of creating new franchises for new generations of Playstation hardware by putting forth one of the best titles of the year on any platform.
Uncharted combines intense cover-based combat with fluid platforming to create a gameplay experience that’s just plain fun. It also doesn’t hurt that the game boasts some of the greatest graphics in a video game this side of Crysis, along with a stellar presentation comparable to a summer blockbuster film. The game is definitely the best single-player game released on the Playstation 3 thus far and a good reason to “play b3yond.”
Last month I wrote my impressions on the demo version of the game put up last month, so I’m not going to rehash what I wrote there. Most of it applies to the full version, with a couple of exceptions I’ll get to later. Suffice to say, if you liked the demo, the game does not disappoint.
I’m going to withdraw my comparison of the game to Tomb Raider, because quite frankly, the game has little in common with Tomb Raider outside of a couple similar environments. In fact, Uncharted has more in common with Monolith’s horror title, F.E.A.R, if anything. Like in F.E.A.R, combat in Uncharted is best described as well-choreographed set pieces. You’re not going to get Zelda-ish memorable boss fights here. What you will get, though, is some of the best enemy AI in a shooter. Dudes in Uncharted will use everything within their disposal to make short work of you. They’ll flank you on both ends. They’ll flush you out of cover with well-timed grenade throws. That awesome feeling you get in most games when you toss a grenade juuuust over a wall to take out a bunch of poozers at once? Well, you’re about to feel what it’s like to be one of those poozers. Never before have I encountered an enemy AI that utilizes grenades as smartly as the one in Uncharted. It doesn’t get to the point where it feels cheap either. Enemies just manage to flip a well time pineapple to you right as you’re starting to feel comfy in your cover spot. They won’t put you under a frustrating torrent of grenade spam, causing you to yell fuckwords at your TV.
The pacing of the game is impeccable. Naughty Dog manages to perfectly interweave combat with platforming sequences such that you will never be bored of either. There’s also some vehicle combat sequences as well. Most notable is the Jeep chase sequence which is fucking awesome. I posit that a huge percentage of the nonbelievers will be converted once they play this chapter. It’s always awesome when a developer gets that the point of vehicle sequences is to unleash ridiculous destruction like James Bond does in each pre-credits vignette. I don’t want to worry about my gun overheating or running out of ammo that just gets in the way of me blowing shit up. Fortunately, the only thing you have to worry about in Uncharted’s vehicle sequences is finding bad guys to kill.
Platforming in the game doesn’t get terribly difficult. For talented gamers, it’s a cakewalk compared to some of the harder levels in Super Mario Galaxy or even Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. However, that’s not to say it’s a waste of time. It still feels very satisfying to complete the platforming sequences and Nate looks very cool while leaping and swinging from fines. The biggest problem I had was that it was sometimes hard to see where you are supposed to jump or grab onto next. This is due to the fact that Uncharted weaves its platforming into the architecture of the game environment, much like Assassin’s Creed.
The issues I had in the demo with the SIXAXIS controls are virtually nonexistent in the full game. I was pleased that you can now control grenade throws solely with the thumbsticks if you desire. Curiously, the only other use of the SIXAXIS motion controls is in the demo level when you are forced to balance on logs. Perhaps Naughty Dog saw the futility of tacking on motion controls just because they could.
Melee combat is still fairly worthless, compared to just plain shooting people. I got better at doing the “brutal combo” from the demo, but it really isn’t worth using in most cases. Having sacrificed “realism” for fun in the vehicle sequences, I’m puzzled as to why Naughty Dog didn’t simply incorporate some sort of one hit melee kill. It would have been infinitely more fun if I could kill dudes in one melee animation, maybe something like using the hidden blade in Assassin’s Creed. You wouldn’t be able to use melee attacks exclusively because most combat sequences pit you against a multitude of guys all gunning for you. Charging headlong in most combat situations would spell certain death.
The weapons in Uncharted are not very memorable as the game progresses. Once I got over how awesome the pistol was, the rest of the weapons felt serviceable, if uninteresting. There’s your requisite assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles. New weapons become available to you further in the game, but in most cases they’re simply upgraded versions of weapons you’ve already been using. If you’re expecting any sort of creative weaponry akin to those in Ratchet and Clank, you’ll be sorely disappointed. But go in expecting the standard shooter game loadout and you won’t have any complaints.
One of the most pleasant surprises I had with Uncharted was that it contained achievements! Unlike Insomniac’s obtuse “skill point” system, Uncharted makes no effort to differentiate itself from Microsoft’s 1000 point gamerscore system. There’s 1000 “medal points” to get in Uncharted and they are structured similarly to your typical achievement in an Xbox 360 shooter game. For example, there’s “get x kills with each weapon” achievements along with “find the hidden treasures” achievements. To make up for the fact that there’s no way to display your achievements publicly, Naughty Dog has tied medal point thresholds with some cool unlockable content such as making of videos and developer interviews. While the system may not be revolutionary, it felt familiar and added an extra layer of depth to the game for me. I found myself going after the weapon achievements whereas I probably wouldn’t have bothered using every gun if they weren’t there.
Uncharted is a great experience from start to finish. The game took me about 7 hours to complete on normal the first time through, but that doesn’t include the time i spent redoing sequences. You’re probably looking at an 8-10 hour game depending on how skilled you are. While I wished there was more content, I felt like this was a perfect length for an action title. Those of us who don’t have the time to delve into 15-20 hour epics or who normally don’t finish video games will find Uncharted wholly within reach. You’ll also feel great after you finish the game as there’s a clear resolution to the plot. While it would have been nice to include a coop mode or even a barebones multiplayer option, perhaps it is better that Naughty Dog didn’t include subpar multiplayer elements that would dilute the experience. Uncharted is the PS3’s spiritual Gears of War and the first truly ascendant game on the system.
