Spawn Kill Favorites: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Posted by WITA on December 30th, 2009
From childhood to adulthood, Naughty Dog has remained one of my favorite game developers out there. As a PlayStation owner for the majority of my life, it brings me the faintest amount of self-indulgent pleasure that all the alternative console elitists out there (the ones who refuse to pick up a PS3 for reasons other than price or dwindling ports on their television) don’t get to experience the exclusive Uncharted series. The sequel recently took the charts by storm as it featured a multiplayer option that only added to the wealth of praise Among Thieves received. As dandy as that is, I took the time to sit down with the first installment before charging toward the latest and greatest.
I like to think of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune as the illegitimate, smart-ass lovechild between Tomb Raider and a Spielberg movie—notably Indiana Jones. Say hello to the hero: Nathan “Nate” Drake, voiced by the lively Nolan North (who voiced last year’s stylish new Prince of Persia and provided some killer Deadpool voice acting in Hulk Vs.). In his hunt for his ancestor, the explorer Sir Francis Drake, joins Elena Fisher, a nosy journalist determined to shake a few vines and nail the story of her career. Even in the midst of gunfire, Elena clings to her camera like its her firstborn child. With the gambling Victor “Sully” Sullivan at his side, Nate tries his best to ditch the in-your-face Elena, but when the search for Drake’s long lost find of El Dorado turns ugly with the arrival of more than a few unwanted guests, she becomes a useful ally with a mean survival instinct buried under all that curiosity.
Cue the entertainment. You won’t always have the support of Elena and Sully to rely upon for spoon-feeding — oftentimes you collect small relics and solve puzzles solo in a way that would make Lara Croft smile at your bug-free endeavors.
The story takes the gold in Uncharted. The plot begins on a tacky, overused note, but it quickly redeems itself. Things do get a bit wacky near the end, instilling you with a Resident Evil-like sense of panic, but the superb voice acting and engaging adventure combined smooth out any rough patches. Even the graphics are perfected — from the water that is realistic enough to touch — to eerie forests, ear-ringing bazookas, and all the highly interactive experiences in-between. Eye candy isn’t everything, though; the soundtrack constantly reinvents itself to a commendable degree.
There are some pitfalls scattered about, however. Despite the decent array of weaponry Nate can pick from like candy, a lot of them endure the full length of the game without much love. Ledges can be difficult to spot now and then, but they present no real obstacle to enjoying gameplay; jet-ski trips, on the other hand, lose their appeal once you discover the brainless inability to drive and shoot. Sticky cover morphs into something troublesome in the heat of jungle-themed showdowns. And speaking of those, the initial challenge of facing off against your fellow treasure seekers deflates into monotonous point-and-shoots at several places in the game, which itself runs a bit short.
All problems aside, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune marks a smart and entertaining ride through unknown, gold-rich territory. The adventure might resort to the typical happy ending, but the journey in between comes riddled with surprises, bullet showers, and enough charm to sink a U-boat.
[Ed. Note: WITA. also known as Stephanie Carmichael, is currently a guest writer at Spawn Kill! We can guarantee you'll want to sink your teeth into more of her work, which you can find here at her personal blog, Impulse Creations, RadNerd, and now at OneMetal! Thanks for stepping in, Stephanie!]
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Tags: naughty dog, PlayStation 3, Uncharted, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
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