It would be predictable for this review to start with, “The Playstation 3 needs some killer A-class games to justify its price tag, and Uncharted is it.”. But I won’t (even though I ironically just did start with that…hmm), because it simply isn’t true. No one game should justify the purchase of a console, but Uncharted is a AAA title and it should tempt you to buy a PS3. Naughty Dog’s first PS3 game is the definition of epic, and will make you say “wow” out loud more often than a pubescent teenager in a strip club.

The Naughty Dog team is known as one of the most technically proficient developers in the industry, pushing each of Sony’s systems to it’s limits. From Crash Bandicoot on the Playstation to Jak on the Playstation 2, Naughty Dog have always been at the top of their game. However, it is only with the arrival of the Playstation 3 that they felt they could fulfill their desire to create believable human characters in a realistic setting.

Through this new technology, Uncharted promised to bring a human intensity and realism never seen before in a video game. And though some may insult the game with “Dude Raider” catch phrases, I’d say it just about delivers on its promise.

Uncharted tells a compelling story of an ordinary man (not a buffed up, heavily armoured blokey bloke that is so common in games these days) in extraordinary circumstances, that’s not only set in the jungle, but in a pre-Incan temple, derelict U-boat, abandoned Spanish colony, and more.

The lead, Nathan Drake, believes he’s the descendant of Sir Francis Drake and in search for proof, things go awry. In discovering a 400-year old clue in Sir Francis Drake’s coffin, Nathan finds himself on a hunt for a fabled treasure, but instead ends up stranded on an island hunted by mercenaries. Outnumbered and out-gunned, Drake and his companions must fight to survive as they begin to unravel the terrible secrets hidden on the Island.

Sounds like a pretty great blockbuster movie plot, doesn’t it? It also sounds slightly generic, but the way the story is delivered in cutscenes and during gameplay is spectacular. Heavenly Sword started to perfect the way a story should be told in a game, with very expressive, life-like characters, but although the facial animation and performances were stellar in that game, the delivery in Uncharted is even more immersive.

Here, the cutscenes aren’t a side spectacle from the game, they are more embedded into the gameplay experience. Much of the story is told while you’re in the game, since you are accompanied by Elena and Sully who provide incidental chatter as you traverse (with accompanying facial animation), smoothing off the transition from cutscene to gameplay.

With characters so endearing that deliver witty one liners (“This is like looking for a bride in a brothel”), a sound track to rival the movies, and a story that twists and turns like the best of plots, this game is going to drag you through at a hell of a pace. And trust me, you won’t be kicking and screaming.

While we’re on the subject of the game’s pacing, lets just say that Naughty Dog’s age and expertise shows here. It might be a bit over the top to say that Uncharted is the best paced game you’ll play this year, but Uncharted is the best paced game you’ll have played this year. Starting the game, the narrative and gameplay build up is quite gradual, leading you through the story with platforming and simple puzzles, but then things pick up. From here on in, lengthy and exciting gunfights are built up to a crescendo and then reigned back by rest periods of exploration, cutscene, or a simple puzzle.

Plus, when you think things are starting to get a bit similar, Naughty Dog will throw you into a completely different environment, or into one of the vehicle sections in the game. The level design here is second to none. Each environment is so well designed and varied that most developers would be happy to use just one of them for their whole game, and as you get to the latter part of the game you may be able to think of some games that do indeed take this design philosophy (Gea…Resi… ok, no names).

But Naughty Dog has created such a wide variety of environments, from jungles, to forts, underground caverns, to… well we’ll keep that a secret - you’ll want to shoot through them just as much as sit back and marvel at them as Drake places his hands on his hips (I looked for a picture of Drake with his hands on his hips, but no can do, so this will have to suffice).

As for the graphics, let’s get some minor criticisms out of the way first. The framerate is generally very stable, and even surprisingly so when other games on the market struggle to keep up with lesser graphics, but there are a few moments of tearing. Now, my advice to you is to play the game in its intended 720p resolution, rather than the later added 1080i (to aid those with televisions that don’t support 720p), to make these moments of tearing few and far between.

Second, at the beginning of a couple of the levels there is some texture pop-in. This means the high-resolution textures haven’t loaded onto the objects yet, and “pop” onto them. I shall now tell you why this doesn’t really matter. It could be criticized as something that takes you out of the game, but since the game’s environments are so detailed and compelling, they usher you back in oh so very quickly, making you forget it ever happened.

Plus, there is no loading in the game. Zero loading, nothing at all after the initial load. Want to skip a cutscene and carry on playing? You’ll be put right back into the game environment. Keep on dying? Well you’ll respawn at a handy automatic save point, immediately. So if we have to suffer a little bit of texture pop on a couple of the many levels, then so be it. I’ve seen worse.

Moreover, the textures in the game are a step up for consoles. Every surface is painted with a collection of distinct textures, meaning a wall not only has a brick texture, it has a dry moss texture, a shiny painted surface, sections broken off revealing the cement below, and it’ll look wet if it’s by water. The wet effect is very convincing for the game’s visual style. This layering has in a sense been done before, but not to this extreme, or with such a strong artistic vision.

You see, before Uncharted most textures would reveal a repeated pattern when you get up close, making all textures very similar and even pixelated when you got closer. But Naughty Dog went to the trouble of painting all their textures by hand (usually textures are photographic based) creating as many as possible so they could layer them on top of one another and make every section look unique. Oh and a common cop-out by developers is to have low-resolution ground textures, but not here, they are just as good as the rest.

Uncharted has great textures. So what? Well Gears of War is lauded as a graphical show piece mainly due to both its artistic vision and its high resolution textures. Uncharted, however, trumps Gears of War, for the sheer amount of unique texture surfaces, even when in similar dark sections.

Uncharted also has the best graphics you’ve ever seen on consoles for many other reasons. Your HDTVs are going to be flooded with water– the best looking and moving water you’ve ever seen. Naughty Dog put a hell of a lot of effort into this, and it shows. The reflections and the movement of the water when Nathan is swimming in it makes you want to lick your television, though that’s because of Nathan and not the water (Ooh, Saucy).

Oh, and Nathan gets wet quite realistically, with only the parts of him that touch water getting wet. It must be said though that the water splashes don’t hold up as well as the water itself, looking more like 2d sprite effects, something which Naughty Dog should tackle in their next game.

What helps make the water and everything look so good though is the lighting. Watching the reds and oranges of a sunset glint on the water and merge into the reflections of the green jungle is a triumph of modern graphics engines. The lighting continues to impress in the jungle, filtering through the many leaves and foliage, casting shadows on the forest floor.

Shadows that are crisp like potato chips, unlike other games that have jaggy or flickering shadows. And since the jungle is living and breathing, the plants and trees sway in the wind and cast moving shadows over the ground and Nathan himself. All this is a marvel, and continues to impress even in the tombs, where torches and flames create ominous shadows over ancient carvings.

When we look to Nathan Drake we can see an “every man” character, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt that gets dirtier throughout the game. His clothes wrinkle dynamically to his movement and heavy breathing, and his face animates realistically during combat, from fear to anger.

What makes him an every man? Some might say that if Drake can scale walls, wield an AK-47 and kill pirates with relative ease, that he can’t really be an every man? However, the description seems to influence his character design, his dialog, but mostly his movements, which see him stumbling during platforming and combat.

Naughty Dog’s animation system really comes up trumps here, with Nate changing from state to state fluidly. Drake has over 3500 animations that really bring him to life and make sure you seldom see him perform the same action more than once. For example, throughout the game you’ll be taking cover, which will never induce deja vu because Drake has a multitude of cover positions.

What makes the animations even more impressive is that Naughty Dog can layer animations on top of one another. This means that when Drake is running he can dodge bullets, jump over obstacles, reload and show fear on his face all in one smooth movement. It’s very satisfying and convincing during combat and traversal, putting Uncharted at the top of the animation game, alongside Assassin’s Creed.

One minor problem with Drake’s animation is that he begins to move slightly before his walking/running animation has started, giving the impression that he’s stepped on a banana skin every time he sets off. However, this isn’t too noticeable unless you’re looking at his feet, which you won’t be.

Onto the most important factor of any game – the gameplay. Everything makes or breaks right here. And I’m glad to say, Uncharted makes it and wraps it up in a badass bow. The main bulk of the game is combat, which takes the form of cover-based shooting. Drake can take cover behind objects by pressing circle (the same button for rolling), so it’s both easy and intuitive. You can roll into cover, and from cover to cover, which all happens quickly and as expected.

Once behind cover you can aim and shoot at the many enemies. It’s also possible to shoot blindly, meaning Drake just pops his gun over the cover without looking. This is also helpful in run and gunning if you don’t feel you have the time to aim – taking on more prominence later in the game.

The shooting mechanics work gloriously well, with the level design helping enormously, since there’s a number of ways to kill your foes depending on your tactics. The AK-47 does feel slightly underpowered, but as you move on through the game, the guns increase in power and usefulness. There will be a lot of encounters, but what makes these fire fights so compelling is the enemy and companion A.I.

The pirates have been on the coffee that’s for sure (apart from the fat shotgun guys). They’ll take cover like you, and if you hang back too much they’ll either come charging after you, or they’ll throw a well placed grenade to flush you out. You’ll be on your toes the whole time, but the key to success is locating all the enemies, and being mobile. Don’t be passive, you must be active.

With the A.I. being so clever, and incredibly active in Hard (and Crushing), each firefight is going to play out differently – especially when you have a limited amount of bullets. You’re going to have to make sure you down the pirates quickly just so you can get their ammo to kill the rest.

Much of the game also sees you with Elena by your side, who isn’t a slouch. She’ll down enemies when your firing skills are lacking, and she’ll even push you forward if you’re being a coward. There’s many a time when you’ll shout “Elena slow down, you’ll get killed”, when actually she’s got herself into a much better position than you have.

To up the variety, Drake can also melee using a number of combos. Brutal combos, pure punch ups, and even stealth kills that come in very handy when you want to get your Metal Gear on. You couldn’t really ask for more, except for maybe the ability to whack enemies round the head with a stick or crowbar.

In our demo preview we mentioned that Drake cannot crouch. This is true, but generally isn’t a problem. The reason being that the combat sections are so fast paced and there’s always high and low cover to hide behind, that you seldom feel the need to squat, except perhaps when you’re on higher ground. Naughty Dog should definitely consider including this ability in their next game – as crouching and crawling through tight spaces would also increase Drake’s exploration and platforming capabilities.

It is these capabilities that make Uncharted such a well paced game after the action packed combat sections. These platforming sequences are compelling, accompanied by sweeping camera angles that induce vertigo and a sense of urgency. Although engaging and accompanied by spectacular views and stellar animation, this traversal can be a tad simplistic. Drake generally won’t miss a jump, and the traversal’s difficulty doesn’t really ramp up as the game goes on.

A similar concern can be placed towards the game’s few puzzles, which can be solved with a glance at Sir Francis Drake’s notebook (a nice addition). I myself would prefer a bit more difficulty in these sections, but then again this would conflict with the action pacing of the game. Furthermore, what makes you want to replay the game is the combat, and having to traverse some lengthy areas that throw you to your death would make you turn the game off quicker than you can say “Spaniard”. Thus, learning from the school of God of War instead of Soul Reaver for puzzles, and from Ratchet and Clank instead of Prince of Persia for platforming is fitting for the game, but I wouldn’t mind more challenge here. Moreover, the games finale could have been more epic if it incorporated some platforming to continue the battle, since it feels slightly simplistic, but I’ll leave that for you to discover.

The few vehicle sections in the game are generally impressive and satisfying. A Jeep chase is fast and exciting, with some of the most impressive visuals in the game (and thus of all time) as the trees fall down on your pursuers when you shoot at their trunks (the tree’s trunks, not your pursuers…there’s no time for swimming unless you’re Drake and sadly you don’t get to see him in his trunks).

The jet-ski levels are also godly to look at, with moving water reflecting the surrounding buildings, but when you have to stop to aim your weapon and avoid fuel barrels, the pace is not as exciting. Although being in control of both Drake (driving the jetski) and Elena (wielding the gun) is important, the ability to shoot whilst moving might have helped here, something which is solved in the final very creative jetski section. Nothing like this has been seen before and should be praised for what it does. Sadly, both many others (myself included) presume that you still have to stop to shoot in this chapter also, until we slip our finger across the shoot button. A signpost might have helped here.

What of the replayability? For a single-player game, this is the best you’re going to get. Naughty Dog has outdone themselves, giving you everything you’d want for your hard earned monies. The adventure lasts around 10-15 hours depending on how much you gawk at the environments, and even then the game underestimates how much time you’ve spent on your run-through.

To bulk this out there are four difficultly levels, which increase the A.I.’s cleverness as you move to Hard, and then to the insanely difficult Crushing. There are then medals to earn, such as 100 headshots, or 5 stealth kills, in addition to 60 treasures hidden throughout the levels. These can be a bitch to find, but when you have a llama or monkey rendered in real-time to show off for your troubles, who can complain?

To top this off, the medals and treasures tot up a score that will unlock new character skins, new rendering modes (black and white, an amusing next-gen mode), art work, behind the scenes films, and options to slow everything down, speed it up, or mirror the world. This latter option will mirror the levels (and cutscenes – nice touch Naughty Dog) making them almost brand new – creating an extra challenge after you’ve completed crushing, since the cover and enemies will no longer be in their expected places. All in all, the longevity for this single-player game is immense.

Before we conclude, lets make this very clear. This ain’t no Tomb Raider! Drake isn’t Lara Croft. He can’t do somersaults, doesn’t have disproportionately large knockers (oh well), and he doesn’t suck at shooting. The perfected cover mechanics displayed in Uncharted put it so much above Tomb Raider in this area, that mentioning them together just doesn’t make sense. The isolation felt in Lara’s world, isn’t felt here. You have companions, you have non-stop action, and you have a likeable character, with the English taking their rightful place as the villain, not the protagonist (that’s coming from a Brit). Plus Drake is far more attractive *wink*.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune succeeds in so many ways. It has the best console graphics to date, gob-smackingly good cutscenes, a modest yet twisting plot, an incredible soundtrack, perfect pacing, and combat that you’ll want to keep returning to. Only the simplicity of the platforming and puzzling, as well as the slow paced jetski levels hold it back from being a true masterpiece.

But if you don’t play this game, you really are missing out. You need to buy this game…right now. Because with games struggling to hit the wow factor this generation, Uncharted is one game that surely does, and should definitely be in your runnings for Game of the Year. So long, and make sure to mind your head on the way out. Drake, you devil you.

(Check out some more of Richard Diamant’s artwork for the game here.)

Tags: Game-of-the-Year, Nathan-Drake, Naughty-Dog, Review, Sony, Uncharted:-Drakes-Fortune

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