Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)

This is truly a next-gen title, the jaw-dropping graphics coupled with its proper cinematic feel make for an experience which feels altogether different.
The gameplay, though, is a familiar mix of Prince of Persia-esque platform action and Resident Evil 4 style shooting which works well together, although the two elements are usually separated by well defined areas of the environments.
Speaking of the environments, they’re unbelievable – lush and dense and brimming with colour and light in the jungle settings and eerily dark and full of shadows and torchlight in other areas. The graphics throughout are of the highest standard, from the fluid animation of the facial features and exaggerated actions of Mr. Drake to the incidental spot effects of smoke and light, all produced through truly state of the art techniques.
The sound too deserves special mention. The orchestra of tribal beats that keeps the momentum up and the blood flowing truly adds to the movie-like quality of the game. It’s actually tough to find an area of the game that isn’t highly polished and credit must go to Naughty Dog for the love and attention that was so obviously poured into it.
The controls are tight and responsive and they need to be as the enemy AI is progressive and rarely spoils the suspension of disbelief. You will be often flanked and surrounded as the enemies constantly look for better cover and angles. The realism is let down by the enemies high damage thresholds and at times only a few well placed head shots will stop you from being swamped by the lead-absorbing hordes. This is counter-balanced by Drake’s equally resilient flesh which recharges health fairly quickly compared to most other titles. The lack of any onscreen indication of health is off-putting to begin with but the quick recovery rate makes it easy to adapt (the lack of any in-game life “top-ups” is also made welcomely redundant)
This generous approach to damage makes for easy progress through the game, especially once the more powerful weapons become available. The puzzle and platform elements aren’t the most taxing either meaning the whole game only takes about 10 hours to complete making this a typical next-gen title that is meant for everyone not just the hardcore.
There are some aspects to the game that aren’t so modern though. Its rigidly linear and is riddled with old-school inconsistencies relating to your interactions with the environment. For example Drake will easily leap 15 feet when required but some 3 foot high rocks can’t be scaled. There’s a disappointing lack of destroyable scenery (especially windows!?).
Minor niggles aside, this is a thoroughly absorbing game with brilliant characters and a decent storyline to keep you interested in between shoot-outs. A must buy for PS3 owners.