Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Brandon Sears
RATED: T for Teen
PUBLISHER: Sony Computer Entertainment
DEVELOPER: Naughty Dog Software
GENRE: Third Person Action Adventure
I had recently purchased a PS3 from my local EB Games. With that purchase you received a free game. I could choose between "MLB 08: The Show", "Call of Duty 4" or "NBA 08". I was not particularly interested in any of those games but I took COD4 for the hell of it. A few hours later, something hit me. Not literally, but in an idea sense. I decided that I would bring COD4 to Wal-Mart and exchange it for something that I really liked. Therefore, I now own "Uncharted: Drakes Fortune", the very subject of this review.
Uncharted is the story of Nathan Drake, his buddy Sully and an adventurous reporter Elena Fisher who embark on a journey to find the treasure of Drake's ancestor, Francis Drake. Drake and company search through forgotten worlds, solve puzzles and take on a staggering number of enemies along the way.
I honestly could have written more about the plot but that's all you need to know. Over the years I haven't played a lot of "action-adventure" games. This gamer has stuck mostly to games of the sports variety as well as more than a few Super Mario games thrown in as well, so this was a new experience to me. In today's day and age, when you're producing a great video game, you're also competing against "Hollywood" and the movie-market. This game basically felt like an inter-active "Indiana Jones" style movie. Cut scenes are fantastic, beautifully animated and the voice acting is stellar. Nolan North gives us the voice of Nathan Drake. North has appeared in countless video games such as "Assassins Creed", "Lost Planet" and "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance", so he is used to voice acting in major video game titles.
The script/story is great and incredibly entertaining from first stage to last and never does it truly feel repetitive. I believe it was MD member Matty Hardy who told me that he "didn't want it to end." I can’t say I blame him. With the various styles in each stage (at one point you drive a Seadoo while shooting snipers in buildings and hiding behind trees as well as operating a high powered machine gun in the back of a jeep while your partner races on attempting a daring escape) its hard to ever get tired of playing through Drake's world.
Visually, it's a great game. This is my first time playing in HD and let me tell you, the difference between standard definition and high definition is astronomical (yes, I used astronomical). For example, around the end of the game you are playing through a level that has huge amounts of rain just pouring down from the sky and the way your surroundings appear mixed with the rain looks fantastic. I noticed as well that when you actually have to dive into the water to avoid something or to swim to a certain objective, your clothes actually get wet and they STAY wet for a good period of time afterwards. I know that it's minimal but its not something I'm used to.
Overall, Drake's Fortune has made me an action-adventure gamer again. For the last few years, I've stuck mainly with sports games and had written off what REAL games were and pretty much stayed away from action games. I've now found a new interest in these games and will be pursuing them more frequently in the future. Oh, and for future reference, they have been confirmed to be working on a second game for Drake. They're going to make this into a franchise.
Brandon Sears is an insurance salesman by day and a superhero by night (not really). He has been writing for Modern Distraction since 2004. He lives in Sydney Mines with his wife, Ashley and his dog Toby.