Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

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It's no secret that the PS3 needs hits, and badly. That's why games like Uncharted are so important: they're not necessarily triple-A titles but if they're done right, they can give hungry PS3 owners something to tide them over until games like MGS4 finally arrive.

Pros

  • It's by far one of the best looking PS3 games around, the gameplay has its faults but it still manages to entertain

Cons

  • The story is a little cliched, platforming sequences are way too easy

Bottom Line

Uncharted reminded us a lot of an Indiana Jones movie in that both are fun and enjoyable romps that are just good enough to make you forgive their respective weaknesses. It isn't going to single-handedly pull Sony's bacon out of the fire this holiday season but it is definitely a title that PS3 owners can be proud to call their own.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 109.95 (AUD)

Here there be monsters

The bad news is that Uncharted has its faults. First, the story, which centres on explorer Nathan Drake and his quest to hunt down a treasure that his ancestor Sir Francis had chased after, is sort of hokey and relies heavily on cliches.

The action can also be frustrating thanks to an overwhelming number of enemies that appear on-screen. The game's cover system is great but enemies will tear you apart the minute you peek your head out, and when your health is low, the screen goes black and white, which makes it that much harder to aim. It's also hard to see ammo when it's lying on the dense jungle floor, which is problematic since we were always running low on bullets.

I also had trouble with the game's platforming elements: it's just way too easy to navigate your way around the treacherous terrain. You'll constantly find yourself hanging by your fingertips from high ledges, but you can jump around like a hopped up monkey with a couple of button presses, which really takes away any sense of challenge. The environmental puzzles are also way too simple, and you're helped along by blatantly obvious things like explosive barrels that just happen to be sitting next to a tall pillar that you have to topple over in order to create a bridge.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The good news is that these complaints are fairly minor and while Uncharted will frustrate you, it also has the capacity to be thrilling and fun. The game offers up some amazing visuals and the gameplay is perfectly paced. You're always doing something interesting, whether it's investigating ancient ruins, trading bullets with modern-day pirates, or skydiving out of a burning airplane. And even though we never truly bought into the story, we still wanted to help Nathan solve the mystery behind Sir Francis Drake's diary.

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