PS3: Uncharted: Drakes Fortune Review

With the PS3, the amount of exclusive games for the system is minimal. Some are no big deal whatsoever, while others are easily competitors for game of the year. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is one of those exclusive games that make buying a system well worth it. The game doesn't do anything new, but it does everything very well.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune put you in control of Nate Drake. Nate's a treasure hunter who starts off guiding a reporter named Elena. Being a descendant of the famous explorer, Francis Drake, Nate is constantly looking for new treasure and proof that he's worthy of the Drake name. Like the typical female-reporter-with-tough-guy-explorer, some bad guys show up and you find yourself in a middle of a gunfight. From there, you make your way into a couple hundred year old chases to find a treasure. As good as that sounds, the game makes it even so much better.

As I mentioned before, you'll be in a gunfight. Lots of them. While you can do some simple combos to disarm opponents, shooting them is a lot easier. Now normally, this is the time where I say that the shooting has some troubles. Well in this game, it doesn't. You target the enemies you want, and with the cover system, you can strategize how to take down enemies. The cover system is simple yet elegant and doesn't cause any annoyances. It's so refreshing that a game can keep a shooting system so perfect. The enemy AI is smart enough to make you use cover properly, but it's still not frustrating. The only petty annoyance is that enemies appear in a very typical manner with Nate entering a new area and once reaching a certain point, the enemies start flowing in. Between your gunfights, there will be areas involving some puzzle solving to figure out traps and how to access new areas. While it feels like Tomb Raider, again it does have a bit of sloppiness.

To put is simply, the presentation is just gorgeous. The graphics offer rich, detailed jungles to slightly, lit caves that look unique from other caves. In some cases, looking at the ocean can give you that epic feeling. Character models are about as detailed as you can get although enemies tend to be a repetitive build. The cutscene feature real time graphics and provide that feel of being in an Indiana Jones' movie. Adding with that is the score of the game which goes great with the story, and holds it own against the best Hollywood has to offer. It's truly an experience where the game throws you into a great movie then back into a great game.

The experience is great but of course, all good things end too soon. Replay value comes in the form of finding secret treasures throughout the levels. The treasures do some unlocking and of course give you a badge of honor. While the game has been out for awhile, it's still a game that needed to be played by every gamer. Soon the game will go down in price as a Greatest Hit but whether you buy it now or later; the game really needs to be played. It's just so good that it would be sad to miss out on it.

Score: 9.2/10.0

- O.G.