Uncharted: Drakes Fortune - Impressions

Uncharted is an easy game to describe...

You take the combat mechanics from Gears of War, the platforming parts of the Tomb Raider and 3D Prince of Persia series and the character, humour and storylines from the Indiana Jones and Mummy films (the 2 starring Brendan Fraser)

I had reservations about how the game would turn out when it was first announced. Naughty Dog had only ever really done the Crash Bandicoot and Jak games and their last two - Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing had been disappointments. I wasn' t sure whether they could pull off what appeared to be a " realistic" 3rd person shooter intended to fill the same gap on PS3 that Gears had on 360.

Heavenly Sword, Lair and to lesser extents MotorStorm and Resistance: Fall of Man had already proved lactluster. They were Sony' s unfulfilled promises. A handful of big name games with stellar budgets and production values that not only failed to set the world on fire but also failed to show what the console was really capable of.

Heavenly Sword has fantastic production values - the cutscenes were mostly fantastic and unmatched for non-CG quality. The voice work in particular was astounding. The gameplay was another story though and can be summed up in one four letter word...


...weak...


Uncharted matches those production values, it matches those beautiful cutscenes and it matches that superb voice work... and it stomps all over it... twice.

The characters have character, their expressions are flawless and the game both looks as feels solid. It runs at a steady 30fps with very very minor (and i mean VERY minor) texture pop in and some noticible but not game effecting screen tearing. The animations are some of the best i' ve seen, challenged only really by Assassins Creed, ...and the only technical negative i can really thing of is that the over the shoulder camera and weapon aiming alignment is off. It' s how they' ve made Drake hold the weapons that' s wrong not the camera. It kinda annoyed me at first but i soon forgot about it. It' s far from realistic but its not a big issue and it doesn' t have any impact on the gameplay.

Graphically it' s a contender for best looking console game. The textures are almost as detailed as those in Gears of War but is more realistc and the lighting, physics and polycount are far superior. It' s definitely more impressive from a purely technical standpoint.

The art direction is pretty cool too. There' s nothing you haven' t seen before in movies or other games, but you' d have to take things from several different sources to get everything Uncharted has. I' d wondered how much of the game was set in the jungle sown in the early concept art and figured they' d do several temples... with different lighting... Not so. Naughty Dog have crafted a geometrically diverse game world with each area having it' s own unique atmospehere and " feel" .

The lighting model has no peers on consoles, perhaps even on PC' s. Everything casts realistic shadows, taking the distance between the lit object and the wall (or whatever) behind it into consideration. It looks amazing. It also used well in the different locations. The electricity lacking Nazi submarine base pushes this point. Your initial aim is to find the generator room, and so off you trundle with your trusty flashlight... power it on and the (red) emergency lighting kicks in (it' s a military base remember) and you have to go flip the switches in what are essentially 2 breaker boxes. The red glow from the emergency lighting, coupled with the light from your flashlight, sparks from short circuiting electrical equipment and the shadows cast by both the environment and high poly enemies is... uh... really nice?

The other thing that really impressed me was the water effects (and physics). Until halfway through the game everything was what you usually expect from water in videogames. It looks nice, it reacts to your runcycle and bullets and the flowing water looks and sounds like flowing water. There' s a short section whare you move through a sunken city using a jet ski... the water is still and although the craft controls well, it' s nothing out of the ordinary. So when it came to use the jet ski again, i figured it' d be much the same - but it wasn' t. You have to take the thing upstream and against the current. The fast flowing water acts like fast flowing water and taking the thing up the river is actually more fun than you' d expect. It was a genuine and pleasant surprise that the developers had gone to the effort to create this over-all-too-soon section of the game.

The rest of the gameplay is just as solid. The combat mechanics are ripped straight from Gears of War, minus the wall slamming and chainsawing. The cover system, blindfiring and even grenade tossing all work exactly the same way (though the grenade arc is controled by tilting the controller). Like Gears you can carry a main weapon (2 in Gears), a sidearm and a handful of grenades, and like Gears you switch between the weapons with the d-pad. It all works exactly the same way. That' s obviously a good thing as many (rightly) believe Gears to be the peak of the 3rd person shooter genre. Uncharted falls down against Gears in this area, mainly because of the AI but also because of the cool little touches Epic gave their game; the roadie run, grenade tagging, the chainsaw, curb stomping and the active reload system etc...

The platforming, which makes up as much of the gameplay as the combat, is excellent. In most other games you' re limited to jumping forwards, backwards or (in the Prince of Persia games) at 90 degrees. In Uncharted, you jump every way concievable... even, ...diagonally!

The platforming is pretty forgiving and the " tricky" part is figuring out how to get to where you' re going as it' s never made all that clear. It' s not hard though, you just look for the ledges, vines, ropes, chains, handholds or whatever...

Naughty Dog have excelled themselves in terms of level design and architecture. Everything looks like it could have been used for something and nothing feels like it was put there just so you had something to jump to. It' s all very natural and it' s all very cool. I like platform games in general, but i haven' t had this much fun since the original PS2 version of Prince of Persia.

The music fits well and adds a lot to the atmosphere. No complaints there.

I can' t think of anything bad to say about the game really. The AI is weak, mostly just popping in and out of cover and occasionally moving positions. They don' t rush you like the enemies to in Gears, but the gunfights are still challenging on the higher difficulties. Apparently laser sights on Desert Eagles enhance you' re marksmenship ten fold... There' s some tearing, but not as much as most other games and one or two other minor quirks, but the game feels very polished.

It' s long enough too. 22 chapters making up 10-12 hours of gamplay depending on difficulty and skill level. I' d say it has replay value from the ' this is a game i' d play more than once because it' s cool' perspective - kinda like Resident Evil 4, and apparently there are multiple costumes and unlockables along with an extensive medal list (kill x amount of enemies with x weapon, or complete the game on x difficulty etc) which could be likened to achievements in 360 games. But there;s no multiplayer (thank god) and no Mercenaries mode (like in RE4) - and that could have worked quite well in this game with these environments and enemies.

All in all i would say Uncharted is one of the best games i' ve played this generation. It' s certainly the best game on PS3, and as a whole is probably better than anything on 360 (although that' s a matter of taste and opinion). It' s not as good a shooter as Gears, and it' s not as epic as Mass Effect... but it' s up there with them and it' s superior in many areas. I' d say it was more entertaining.

Drakes Fortune is supposed to be the first in a series... and that makes me feel all warm inside

This was my review for another website:

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Platform: PS3 Release Date: November 2007 Score: 9.0

Pros
+ Excellent Production values all throughout
+ Cinematic feel matched by few
+ Unbelievable animations for the characters
+ Game-play is just fun and addicting

Cons
-Some of the gunfights can be a bit frustrating courtesy of endless waves of smart enemies
- The cover system can sometimes doom you rather than save you

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is Naughty Dog’s first foray unto the PS3 hardware and one of the most anticipated titles for the system. Often referred to as “Tomb Raider meets Gears of War”, Uncharted makes a name for itself with its easy to pick up game-play, likeable cast of characters and incredible production values, making this easily one of the best games for this holiday season, as well as the best game the PS3 has to offer yet.

In Uncharted, you’ll assume the role of Nathan Drake, treasure hunter extraordinaire and a supposed descendant of 16th century legend Sir Francis Drake. It seems Nathan has discovered Drake’s lost diary, which in true adventure story fashion, holds the clue to finding El Dorado. So is up to Nathan, sassy and tough as nail TV reporter Elena Fisher and old pal, the suave yet trouble magnet Victor Sullivan to uncover the secrets of the mythical treasure. Of course, it wouldn’t be a memorable pulp adventure without some ill-nature group going after the same treasure with more than just questionable intentions, providing for lots of chases, explosions and gunfights for Nathan and co to deal with.

Though not original in its premise, Uncharted certainly delivers up on its promises, offering a complete and cohesive package that is beautiful to look at, a marvel to listen to and just plain fun to play. There really isn’t anything bad to say about Uncharted other that is not very long. But at around eight hours, the amazing campaign throws enough action; puzzle solving and vehicle chases that you’ll be more than satisfied. It also helps that the story, while having a few clichés here and there, is highly entertaining and very well written. Nathan’s wit and sense of humor is sure to get at least a chuckle out of most serious gamers, and his constant bickering with Elena is highly amusing as well. Of course, there is a certain amount seriousness to the tale as a whole and it has its share of dramatic moments along with its own urgencies, but its often lighthearted tone is a very welcome change to the more gritty and violent stories we are getting now at days.

The entire game is divided into two main sections, plat forming and gunfights, often times one following the other or vice versa, but are overall very well-pace all throughout. The platform sections of the game tend to be pretty straightforward and often times downright easy, but every jump comes with an awe factor. The camera tends to give you the best vantage points and very rarely will you wonder where exactly your next jump should be aimed at. Along with the jumps, there are some occasional puzzles here and there to spice things up. These aren’t very tough and most of the times, Drake’s journal gives you the answer to them anyway. This is not entirely bad, as it keeps the game moving at a quick pace, but players looking for some substance in their puzzle sections might walk out a little disappointed.

The other portions of Uncharted are the shootouts. These tend to take place in fairly open areas, giving enough cover points for you and your enemies to maneuver around. These are often times exhilarating and just plain fun, since most shootouts require some different approaches using the overall same strategies. The enemies, though their appearances to every shootout are scripted, are smart enough to move between the different vantage points and are surprisingly good flankers and grenade throwers, even on the default difficulty. In fact, Uncharted is a pretty tough game on the regular setting anyway, as most shootouts, particularly towards the end, tend to throw wave after wave of pirates and mercenaries, so you’ll be dying pretty often. It is a good thing that the game has plenty of checkpoints, as some players might find the amount of dying and retrying frustrating. It doesn’t help that Drake can’t take much fire before kicking the can, while enemies take at least three hits before going down, unless you score a headshot. The cover system employed by the game is very good, but sometimes you might find yourself attaching to surfaces in a way that you did not intend, which can result in you getting killed. These instances aren' t very common, but when they do happen, it can be a bit annoying.

There are also some vehicle sequences; one where you’ll be manning a truck turret while Elena races through the forest and others will have you driving a jet sky while Elena provides cover fire. While these aren’t mind blowing, they still break up the action nicely and are very fun too, especially when you have to brave your way up a roaring river. The game also features four difficulty settings, sixty treasures to find and one thousand medal points for players to obtain by achieving different criteria’s. The more points you rack up, the more unlockables you’ll uncover, and there are plenty, so even with a relatively short campaign, there is tons to do in Uncharted.

Graphically, Uncharted is as much of a technical success as it is artistic. In fact, words cannot describe the beauty that Uncharted is. Never have forests, rivers and ancient ruins looked as good. The quality of the graphic engine is such, that some backgrounds almost look photo-realistic. There are some texture pop in and clipping here and there, but you really have to look for them in order to notice it. The characters look just as good, be it heroes or enemies. Sometimes they seem to have a certain kind of plastic look to them, but feel natural overall. Kudos to Naughty Dog on their animation engine however, as characters in Uncharted animate in such a way that sometimes it’ll be hard to differentiate from the real thing. From Nate’s flailing in mid-air after a dangerous jump to his covering his head as bullets whistle, never have animations looked this natural. This achievement is shared by the game’s facial expressions as well.

Sound wise; Uncharted hits it high, with a bombastic soundtrack that fits every situation just right. Guns and explosions are of equal caliber, packing the punch that you would expect them to. The voice acting in the game is also top-notch with each character sounding just right. The actors do an excellent job at portraying the emotions of each character and are always a delight to listen to. The script is fairly well written as well, so is nice to see that everything worked out nicely in the final product.

In the end, Uncharted is an action packed adventure that is a blast to play and will be in your memory for a while to come. Even with its small blemishes, this is one ride you definitely shouldn’t miss this holiday season.

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All in all, Uncharted is a fantastic game. It just takes everything you' ve seem in other games and meshes it in great fashion. A must buy really

I stopped reading at " smart enemies"

Nice jumping in and out of cover animations do not equate to good AI.

I cant wait to get my grubby little pawns on this one!

I stopped reading at " smart enemies"

Nice jumping in and out of cover animations do not equate to good AI.

Well, I just call it like I see it. I am no game developer, or work in development of games, so I couldn' t say what smart and what not in a game' s AI from a technical standpoint.

I guess I say Uncharted' s AI is smart because of some behavior they display. like:

-They know how to move around the covers and use them (most of the time)
-They know when to use grenades and use them properly
-They know how to flank and aren' t stuck to just one cover point
-They shoot pretty well

The toughness of the game, I attribute at the countless waves of enemies, not to each individual being very tough.

I wouldn' t say they can' t be stupid, which they have their moments, but I wouldn' t call it weak. For me, weak AI would be something like the enemies in Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven and Fatal Shadows.

So, how do you really tell between smart and weak unless is blatantly obvious? And just so you know, I am not trying to argue, just get a honest to good explanation on how this works so I can make my reviews better. But since kikizo has that temperamental mind set

so then you like it?

This friday for me!

I forgot chirstmas was so close... I thought i had another week before I had to buy things... I hope uncharted is worth it!

Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine.

Viva La Revolution! erm, I mean Viva La Wii!

It certainly is!

ORIGINAL: Chimura

I guess I say Uncharted' s AI is smart because of some behavior they display. like:

-They know how to move around the covers and use them (most of the time)
-They know when to use grenades and use them properly
-They know how to flank and aren' t stuck to just one cover point
-They shoot pretty well

The AI in Uncharted is a bunch of hard-coded if-then routines. They pop in and out of whatever cover they' re near, usually going to the exact same places when replaying a firefight. They don' t flank you or work in groups and while they may throw grenades in your general direction, it' s not like they' re very accurate - nor do they pick grenades up you' ve thrown at them, ...often freezing and waiting for the impending explosion. They don' t even blindfire.

" Smart" AI would be NPC' s that:

Assess a players health
Assess the direction you' re heading in
Make realistic threat assessments
Retreat if necessary
Work in groups to flank your position
Actively chase you when you flee
Search for you when the line of sight is broken
React to noise
Enter a panicked state when seriously wounded

Not that the AI in Uncharted is bad. It' s just not great, and it' s certainly not " smart" as you call it.

On ' Crushed' the highest available difficulty it' s still not as good as the AI in Gears of War, and even that is nothing to write home about.

The game employs chokepoints, often overlooked by a guy with a sniper rifle, mounted machinegun or grenade launcher. You have to move through that doorway/opening/whatever and since every enemy is a superb shot (and that' s nothing to do with AI) you end up taking damage and dashing to the nearest available cover.

The enemies also have a tendency to hop about like tapdancers on acid making getting headshots tricky. When you have 5 guys jumping in and out of cover, you have limited ammunition and you can' t take many hits before dying... the game appears tricky. But what' s the difference between that and having enemies that have tons of health?

Out of interest, what site do you write reviews for?

ORIGINAL: Silentbomber


I forgot chirstmas was so close... I thought i had another week before I had to buy things... I hope uncharted is worth it!

It' s amazing.

Out of interest, what site do you write reviews for?

I don' t really write professional reviews, just from the point of view from a player. I normally post them on gamespot, but I want to just create accounts on other sites and post them there as well, but I haven' t gotten around to it.

I know most gamers probably won' t read them, but if at least one does and he gets a nice view at a game, then that' s alright with me. I try to be as objective as I can (which, even with the stuff you point out about the AI, which thanks by the way, I think you can see my review is pretty objective, at least I like to think it is )

I guess I am doing this out of discontent at major reviewer sites, since they seem to base their opinions entirely on subjective manners and not from the merits of a game. Gamespot for example gave Uncharted an 8/10, which is by no means a bad score, but when you deduct two points on the arguments " the shooting portions are two difficult and the platforming is too easy" , yeah, that' s not very objective.

So, I guess you could say I am an amateur. But is also good practice for my journalism skills, which I need to practice (specially since English is not my native tongue)

Anyway, thanks for the clarification!

I don' t like mainstream reviews either. I never have. I' ve even preached against them here, pointing out that they' re not only biased but the people writing them generally don' t know what they' re talking about.

But impressions from a gamers perspective are always welcome, and your " review" is well written. So keep going and post whatever else you cover here, as it' s always nice to get impressions of a game from other forum members.

Are you European by the way?

Drool...



That sounds absolutely amazing. I' m going to have to find some way to play this beast.

Got a question for either one of you. Are the environments confined primarily to jungles and temple ruins, or did they spread it out a bit? I' m aware Majik mentioned the bit about the old Nazi sub, but I' m curious to see if lots of stuff like that made it into the game. Do the environments ever get boring or stale?

ORIGINAL: Eddie_the_Hated

Got a question for either one of you. Are the environments confined primarily to jungles and temple ruins, or did they spread it out a bit? I' m aware Majik mentioned the bit about the old Nazi sub, but I' m curious to see if lots of stuff like that made it into the game. Do the environments ever get boring or stale?

The game is pretty diverse.

It' s almost all set in the Amazon but on top of the jungle there' s a cave section, a beached German U-Boat, a stone fortress, a sunken Inca-like city, another castle/fortress complete with a customs house, a church/monestary, an underground temple, a badass Nazi submarine base and an underground bunker etc...

It doesn' t get old and every new area feels completely different to the last.

I don' t like mainstream reviews either. I never have. I' ve even preached against them here, pointing out that they' re not only biased but the people writing them generally don' t know what they' re talking about.

But impressions from a gamers perspective are always welcome, and your " review" is well written. So keep going and post whatever else you cover here, as it' s always nice to get impressions of a game from other forum members.

Are you European by the way?

I am from Spain, but my family moved to Panama before I even turned 1, so I grew up there. Right now I am in California looking for opportunities, but since I am considered Latino (even though my passport is European) they have that whole mindset about them, you know what I mean? I agree with you, mainstream reviewers are just a bunch of biased dirt bags, who care more about earning a paycheck than giving honest to goodness opinions.

I haven' t played many next-gen games (you know, money issues ), but I' ll post my impressions on any game I get my hands on. Thanks for the compliment by the way

As far as Uncharted is concerned, you' ll never get bored of the scenery. Is just beautiful and varied like Majik said.

Played the demo.. didnt fall in love. But still buying the game mainly becuase of all the great impressions its getting...

Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine.

Viva La Revolution! erm, I mean Viva La Wii!

Cripes, another game with zombies?! Just kidding, but that lady does look a little creepy there. Overall though I like the art direction and the saturated colors.

Jajaja, the expression on Elena' s face is like " Oh boy, there he goes again" The art direction is phenomenal and very accurate I might add. I like it when developers do their research and try to create a game that is as close to the real thing, while not sacrificing in stylization.

ORIGINAL: Zoy



Cripes, another game with zombies?! Just kidding, but that lady does look a little creepy there. Overall though I like the art direction and the saturated colors.

The facial animations are really good. I think i just caught her when she got a spot of gas.

Majik do you play on a standard TV?

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

ORIGINAL: QuezcatoL

Majik do you play on a standard TV?

No. 32" 720p HDTV. Why?

Then its the component thing,I dont like the colors,I have the same problem,whenever I use component,get the same kind of colors.

Use HDMI instead might work better,I guess...

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

Heh, it is running through HDMI.

The colours in Uncharted are overly saturated anyway, it' s just the game i think.

These were taken by nib95 at NeoGAF...

Easily one of the best looking games so far this generation.

obs! not trying to attack uncharted,think it looks good,but I dont like the color thing,have the same color thing in CoD4, etc when using component,Hard to explain.

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

I wasnt too sold on the demo but I just played the game today and it is fantastic. Better than Gears.

Too bad its bombing in Europe...

Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine.

Viva La Revolution! erm, I mean Viva La Wii!

I enjoyed it a lot more than Gears as well. Though the shooting mechanics aren' t as tight as those in Gears, it is just a more enjoyable experience.

Well I much perfer the art direction and the general look of the game, its not dark, moody and emo... its bright, colourfull and bold!, the shooting in Gears is better with active reloads and the like, and gears has online... But uncharted has 10x better single player.

And its story is coherent, unlike Gears which was wrote with just a monkey on crack hitting keys on a computer for half an hour.

Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine.

Viva La Revolution! erm, I mean Viva La Wii!

Uncharted is my Game of the Year.

Uncharted is my Game of the Year.

I am with you on that one

Uncharted is my Game of the Year.

I' m torn between Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank as my games of the year on the PlayStation 3 console

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

No. 32" 720p HDTV. Why?

You still considering a P/J?

I only just played a few sources (PC, 360, Blueray Movies) at a freinds house on his new Panasonic PT-AX200E. The performance was incredible, Excellent Blacks, a 2.5 ms response rate (for gaming) , Native 720p and even scales / Takes 1080p Signals and does it nearly to the same level as my Natve 1080p Pt1000. 2 HDMI ports too. For it' s price it' s the best PJ on the market and now real dirty cheap. From £1200.00 to £795.00 the one you should go for if your considering a PJ

Currently playing:
Korg DS 10 (ds) /  Metal Slug 7 (ds)
Rhythm Heaven (ds) /  Fire Emblem (ds)
Super Stardust HD (psn) /  Virtua Fighter 5 (360)
FSX (P

I wasnt too sold on the demo but I just played the game today and it is fantastic. Better than Gears.

Too bad its bombing in Europe...

Sadly, it is bombing everywhere.

I feel like a complete ass for not buying it yet. I guess my excuse would be that I am busy with Mass Effect, CoD4, Assasins Creed, Warhawk, NHL, Halo and replaying Gears and Bioshock.

I will buy it soon, but it is a crying shame to see a game that would easily sell over 500,000 on xbox selling just over 110,000 on ps3 in its opening month.

Well, I guess its too early to tell if it will completely bomb, but it wouldn' t be the first time a great game does. Anyone remember Ico? Beyond Good and Evil? Sad true is, most generic FPS and sport games sell more than really good games.

That' s too bad... maybe it' s just a case of bad timing. If it were released around the time that the next Indiana Jones movie comes out, it might have gotten more attention as a classic film-style adventure.

The hype machine didnt start for uncharted, it could have been a system seller game if it had been pulled through the mediamill, its why i bought my PS3

whats your psn Vx?

Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine.

Viva La Revolution! erm, I mean Viva La Wii!

whats your psn Vx?

VX-Chemical

The hype machine didnt start for uncharted, it could have been a system seller game if it had been pulled through the mediamill, its why i bought my PS3

There' s something about the theme, which hearkens back to the Hollywood adventure films of the 1930s, which is a tough sell. I think the same thing happened with Crimson Skies. Top notch gameplay, production value and art direction, but if it doesn' t have a contemporary or futuristic theme, no hookers or crappy pop rap soundtrack, it doesn' t catch the attention of many people.