PS3 - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune by Sony

Drake's Fortune for the PS3 is a mostly Third Person Shooter. However, it does share a little in common with games like Tomb Raider. However, Drake's Fortune ended up a tad on the short side, but the story line and questing were very good, but not perfect.

Graphics

The PS3 can deliver quite stunning graphics. It's unfortunate, though, that even though this game is visually appealing, it just wasn't quite up to the same standards as a game like Mass Effect.

However, even though the graphics weren't as stunning as Mass Effect or Halo 3, the game still plays well.

Controls and Gameplay

This game mixes gameplay styles. In some levels you're questing in a free roaming fashion. In others, the camera angle is fixed and still others, there's the button sequence style. I'm not a fan of timed button sequence play, but this style of gaming is limited to only a few levels in Drake's Fortune. So, I can overlook this style of play.

Audio

The soundtrack worked well to move the game forward and keep the action steady. The game felt more like an extended movie than a game.

Cinematic gaming

I believe this is where game developers need to head. This allows for a more cinematic experience with a good storyline. However, this doesn't mean interlacing every other scene with a cinematic. Limit cinematics to level opens or not at all. A game is supposed to be a game, not a movie even if it plays through like a movie. In this way, Drake's Fortune really set it up as a cinematic type game, but easily keeps the gaming aspects fun and exciting. So, you aren't sitting and twiddling your thumbs waiting for a cinematic to finish.

Overall

I enjoyed the playthrough on this game. It's not a perfect game, but the little subtle touches they added to the Nathan Drake character gave the characters much more realism than most games. For example, then the characters get wet, they actually appear wet. Then, they dry slowly over time. When the characters stand still, they don't stand like statues. They are given slight realistic motions to simulate a human. When turning or jumping, the characters act in realistic ways.

So, the story and the game system combine to produce a realistic system of play. I could have done without the timed button sequence portions, but I still enjoyed the play through. However, I played this game through in about 3-4 days. Very short by most questing standards. Consider that I played Oblivion for over 3 months.

Score

• Gameplay: 8/10
• Audio: 9/10
• Graphics: 8.5/10
• Story: 7/10
• Replay Value: 2/10 (too short / nothing new to do after you play once)
• Bang for the Buck: 6/10
  
• Overall: 7/10