Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (retro review)

When I first got my PS3 some months back the first thing I did was download some demos... namely Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Let me tell ya, I played the heck out of this demo (I must of played it fifty times through). The fun of playing this demo reminded me of the Metal Gear Solid demo for the original PlayStation which included Solid Snake's infiltration of Shadow Moses Island. It speaks volumes of a game that a short demo can have so much replay value based on the sheer joy of playing it through. Retro-review after the jump.

I did eventually get the game, actually my lovely girlfriend Eleni purchased it for me but I think its cause she got tired of seeing me play through the demo over and over. If you havent pick up on it yet, I loved the game.

PROS
Graphics: This game is gorgeous. Everything from the jungles to the caves just look awesome. The "wet-rock" texture although sometimes mocked really works to make you feel like you can reach out and feel the cold wet rock. You can tell that Naughty Dog really took their time with this one and no where is it more evident than with the main character himself, Nathan Drake. I swear I could feel his heart racing while in the midst of a gunfight (which by the way are awesome but ill save it for the gameplay segment). Bottom line on graphics, the characters look good, the enemies look good, the environments look good, even the damned toucan that I always shoot at looks good (too bad I cant make him look DEAD).

Fluid Movement: I suppose this could be included in the graphics discussion... but Nathan is animated so damn well. You can tell when he's under stress, you almost shit your pants when he does (after a nearly missed jump or something), and beating the shit our of someone from close range (in slo-mo, no less) is quite the viceral experience. Which leads to gameplay...

Gameplay: This game is a blast to play. I used to be a HUGE Tomb Raider fan (I & II only) back on the original PlayStation. I wont say that this game is Tomb Raider, they're definitely different games, however it did sate my appetite for jungle trapising and relic hunting. That being said, Uncharted has definitely left ol' Lara Croft in the dust with this game. Back to gameplay: head shots will give you instant kills and man is it fun to pull 'em off. This game does have a duck and cover game mechanic reminiscnet of Gears of War (for you 360 owners), this is a good thing, frankly if it works why not use it? You pretty much always have to find cover in this game, especially in the latter half, if you want to survive. However, when there is only one or two guys left I always got a rush from running at them and in slow mo introducing their faces to my (Nathan's) fists. Lastly, the jet ski parts although they could use a little polishing, are very fun too. I mean how often do you get to jet ski up a raging river littered with explosive barrels?!

Music: The music in this game is the kind of good that you dont really realize it in when playing but you'll find yourself humming it the next day. The theme kicks ass, the in-gmae music is more mood setting, but the quality of the composition is clear.

Voice Acting: I enjoy the occasional "master of un-locking" b-movie dialogue from time to time, but i prefer the polished and professioinal voice-acting found in such games as the metal gear series. Uncharted has great voice actors in every role from protagonist Nathan Drake down to the slimy Eddie Raja. Once again, the care and attention put into every aspect of this game is clearly evident.

Story: the story is good, but typical of an action adventure game. I wont go too into it so as not to spoil it for players.

Treasure Hunting: The game has 60 treasures hidden throughout the game (plus a 61st extra secret one), and at least for me, it succesfully stretched out the replay value for a several more hours.

Trophies: Sony and Naughty Dog released a patch for the game that adds the Trophy support... still havent gotten em all, but I'm close.

CONS
Repetition: My only real complaint is that it can be slightly repetitive. That being said, the game is so much fun that even after beating it I played it through another 3 times before moving on to another game.

Enemies: I dont wanna give too much away, but some of the "bad guys" towards the end of the game didnt really do it for me.

Bottom Line: The game kicks ass. I had hours and hours of fun with it and still when I go back to it I have more fun with it. Considering its bound to hit Greatest Hits sooner or later, I highly recommend keeping an eye out for it.