Just about everybody has heard of Lara Croft and there's no point me skirting this but Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is Lara Croft with a bloke playing the lead instead of a busty babe, more or less. I'm sure the developers have spent a lot of time watching Buffy and Bones because I could have sworn that the lead character is based on David Boreanaz, but maybe that's just me.
You play as Nathan Drake, treasure hunter and lovable rogue, much like Indie. The love interest is supplied by Elena Fisher, TV documentary camerawoman and girl from the first Indie movie. Last but not least is your trusty buddy Victor—old bloke that's out to make a buck. This trio set off in search of some lost Inca treasure which Sir Francis Drake, who just happens to be a long lost relative of Nathan, had also been in search of many centuries ago. Along the way you will encounter and fight pirates, bandits, hired goons and all manner of characters.
OK so this story's not going to win any originality awards but it's decent enough and the cut scenes do add to the game rather than just take up disk space. Whilst I can't say I ever felt for the characters I also wasn't rushing to skip the cut scenes either.
Gameplay wise, it's a cross between
Tomb Raider and
Gears of War but polished extremely well. The animation and movement of the characters are excellent and I can probably count on one hand the number of times I thought "why the hell did he do that?". If you move off the edge, Drake will drop and grab the ledge rather than just fall off and if you jump he'll grab the rope. Your character has a sense of self-preservation many games seem to forget about for their characters and this all adds to the enjoyment of the game rather than adding unnecessary frustration. When you do die the saves are rather forgiving in most cases, reducing the frustration of repeating the same tasks again and again. The game has a fair few puzzles, none of which will really leave you stumped and if they do it should only be for a few minutes. There's also a handy hint button when you seem to be stumped and are standing in one area for too long. It's not overly in your face but it will direct your attention to the barrels of powder/crank you might need to blow-up/pull.
Combat is right out of the
Gears of War school. Standing out in the open is dangerous. Duck and cover is the name of the game and a lot of the combat is in rather large areas, with plenty of cover, allowing for limited flanking and other manoeuvring. You've also got some limited close combat moves which can come in handy. You're pretty limited in the ammo and weapons you can carry: one side and one main. I found myself switching to the side weapon a lot, and running out of ammo was always a possibility but it does mean you don't spray and pray that often. I can imagine though that some people might be frustrated a little by this fact. However, having played a lots of online shooters, it just made it more enjoyable to have to think a little about conserving ammo. Overall the combat is a very entertaining part of the game. The enemy AI is more than adequate at times, out-flanking and chucking grenades with unerring accuracy.
The graphics are beautiful and the animation of the characters smooth. Walking through plants and watching the way they bend and snap back is a joy to watch. A few years ago this would be unheard of but now it's getting to the stage where games all seem to look lovely. The sound helps to set the mood, and the tempo rises nicely when you are danger. Gun fire and other effects seemed perfectly in place. In fact I'd say that the fact I rarely noticed the sound is testament to how good it was, as 99% of the time it felt right.
All this adds up to a brilliant wee game and I'd go as far as saying a "must own" for the PS3 if you like this style of game. So what if this game borrows heavily from other titles/movies? It's not a 'B' movie rehash of these games/movies. It's an 'A' list homage.
PS3: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune 
