Every once in a while you stumble upon a game that perfectly fits into the definition of fun – a game that keeps your hands glued to the controller and makes your eyes dry since you don’t blink fearing that you might miss something significant if you did.
The last game for me that induced this kind of reaction was the most amazing Resident Evil 4, and I’m talking about the Gamecube version. That was a long time ago.
I remember Uncharted from the early Playstation 3 conferences when the console didn’t have a final design yet and DualShock 3 was a plastic boomerang.
I remember it well, because that, unnamed at that time, game from the creators of one of my favorite platformers made a huge impression on me with its striking animation. On the day I saw the first footage of a dark-haired protagonist in a dirty t-shirt laying down heavy punches on some sort of pirates in a lush, tropical jungle I knew that this is really the next generation coming.
I have to admit that I took me a while to get my hands on Uncharted. It really wasn’t on the priority list. People learn on their mistakes.
When my PS3 swallowed the bluish disc for the first time I couldn’t help myself and close my eyes listening to the excellent main theme and then the uncharted theme. I’m partial to this sort of movie-esque music. And it doesn’t end on those two melodies. The whole score for the game is equally brilliant. It was composed by Greg Edmonson who has a lot of experience in making movie soundtracks. Basically the sound in the game is just top-notch – one of the reasons why must the fact that it comes in an uncompressed DTS so it’s crisp and there is a lot of definition to it. People with home theater systems know what I mean.
The game looks even better than it sounds. You can tell right away that it’s an exclusive title. The characters models are excellent – they are detailed and extremely well animated. Their movements are fluid and graceful – it might not be Assassin’s Creed, but it’s close. Their clothes fold and crease the way they should, and they are soaked and glisten when they get wet. Their faces are full of character and lively expressions. Hell, even their tongues are animated.
The environments are detailed and lively. The foliage sways on the digital wind casting realistic shadows on the sharp, high quality textures. The water looks excellent with reflections and refractions, but flows a bit too much like jelly. You’ll get a plethora of post-effects like depth of field, motion blur and HRD lighting which all make Uncharted look stunning. A setting sun shining though the trees is really awe inspiring in this game.
There are four problems though. First and most annoying is screen tearing – a V-sync would be in order. Second thing – animation tends to drop on occasion, but it’s not serious and certainly not distracting. And a third problem would be clipping issues, but those are really rare. On my first playthrough I encountered one… Last, but not least is some texture pop-in, usually visible after cut-scenes, but it’s not particularly bad and it’s nothing compared to games like Mass Effect or Gears of War.
Ok, we got through the technical part; now let’s focus on the substances.
The game is an action adventure at its finest.
Uncharted places you in the body of Nathan Drake, a self-proclaimed descendant of Sir Francis Drake. After finding Sir Drake’s empty coffin in which Nate finds his ancestor’s journal the main protagonist embarks on a journey to find the mythical El Dorado. He will be accompanied by Elena – a reporter with “exclusive rights” to the whole journey and Nathan’s friend, the roguish Victor Sullivan. All the characters are lovable (in one way or the other) and the actors who did the motion capture and voice overs should really get a big bonus as they did their job fabulously. Right now Nathan Drake is one of my favorite game characters – a witty, cool guy with an attitude.
Of course an adventure story like the one in Uncharted would be nothing without villains. So you’ll have to deal with all kinds of scumbags including pirates, a man with a conspicuous British accent and… well, let’s not spoil anything. Let’s just say that the story is on par with any Indiana Jones movie, with interesting plot twists and mysteries to uncover. It’s not a deep, psychological thing, but rather a light entertaining piece of script. You’ll love it.
The gameplay. It’s the brightly shining gem of Uncharted – it offers a perfect mix of exploration, platforming and shooting with a pinch of puzzles and quick time events. This game will never let you get bored. The plot is constantly pushed forward by the action sequences and all the elements are so perfectly intertwined that you’ll just constantly want more.
Even though that game takes place almost entirely on one island it doesn’t become repetitive. The environments will constantly change – from jungle setting, through ruins to old castles and monasteries. And with a change of place comes a change of pace, objectives and “obstacles” on Nate’s path. It’s just so well balanced. You’ll be jumping from ledges over a huge waterfall and before you know it you’ll be in an intense gunfight with a bunch of pirates. It just never gets old.
In that aspect the game has one major flaw – it’s too short. On the normal difficulty setting it’s not hard to finish in less than eight hours. There is a lot of replay value to it (more about that in a moment), but I would really like Uncharted to be at least two hours longer. It’s not that the ending is rushed or made a cliff-hanger, it’s just the game is so good that you’ll want to see more stuff the developers came up with. Well, maybe in Uncharted 2 as there’s probably going to be trilogy like with all of Naughty Dog’s franchises.
I would like to say one thing. I don’t know why, but the game feels very Playstationish. I couldn’t really pinpoint why, it just does. I can’t imagine this game on any other system.
Oh, about the replay value. Uncharted features a system similar to 360’s Achievements, but in my opinion it’s much, much better. As you know EXramp and I are not very fond of Gamerscore and the achievement system and we would like it be more meaningful. Uncharted gives me just that. After you complete set of conditions you are awarded with points (just like a Gamerscore) and after getting a certain amount stuff will unlock. This “stuff” includes concept art galleries, “making of…” videos, in-game cheats (unlimited ammo, weapon selection) and effects (playing in mirror mode, in sepia, in slow-mo and so on).
It’s an excellent award for people who like to get 100% from their games.
To me Uncharted is what Resident Evil 4 was three years ago - a perfect example of why I love video games so much. It’s the very essence of the entertainment game can provide an anchor that will pull your mind down to the depths of enjoyment. Once again I was able to forget about the surrounding world and problems it brings. And for that I thank you Naught Dog.
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