Introduction
Title: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Platform: PlayStation 3
Publisher: Sony
Developer: Naughty Dog
Rating: T
It's always a good thing to find something special unexpectedly. It's the long-forgotten remote control that you find one day in the bowels of the living room couch. It's the $20 bill that magically appeared in the wash. It's the clean pair of underwear accidentally tucked away in the sock drawer. Sometimes you find that special golden nugget when you're not looking for it. Sometimes you find it when you expect to turn up nothing but dried-up doggie turds among new game releases. In a market saturated with half-thought ideas and rushed, low-quality products, it's a real treat to find the golden nugget that just lights up your eyes and tickles your fancy in all the right places.
Enter Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
You must admit that Uncharted: Drake's Fortune sounds like a cheesy title for a game. By name alone, it seems fit to hang with other goofy relics like "Romancing the Stone" or "Wizards of the Lost Kingdom" in that special Wal-Mart "two for one" discount bin. It certainly doesn't stand out like Tomb Raider or "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Then again, if "Raiders of the Lost Ark" had been a flop at the box office, Indiana Jones would be right there among the other low-dollar winners. With that said, a name doesn't mean anything despite the smirks and the rolling of the eyes they can trigger. What really matters is the meat under the skin, or in this case, what's inside the treasure chest, which either makes or breaks a title.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has the kind flair and sense of adventure that will remind you of the Indiana Jones films.
In the case Drake's Fortune, you won't come away empty handed. While the name could have been a bit more adventurous and epic sounding, what lies underneath the cheesy exterior is something spectacular. The game can be surprisingly addictive, and when all is said and done, it will leave you sad when the journey comes to a close, wanting more. Drake's Fortune certainly begs for a sequel not because of any plot twists or cliffhangers, but simply because the game is so immersive, so impressively compelling, so visually appealing that gamers will demand a sequel (note: a sequel was confirmed). In fact, it would seem as if developer Naughty Dog set their sights on not only the gaming market, but on Hollywood as well.
See, it's not difficult to picture a big-budget film based on Drake's Fortune. The game has everything you need to create a box office hit adventure film: a dashing hero who takes death-defying risks; a voluptuous heroine who stands by his side; the witty sidekick who always seems to enter the picture at the right time; the suave, money-hungry antagonist with evil intentions. Granted, the game's virtual stunts are way over-the-top; it's certainly possible to see Goran Visnjic (Luke Kovac of NBC's ER) dangling from cliff edges by one hand while Renee Zellweger struggles to pull him up. From the beginning to the end, Drake's Fortune shouts "big budget," and as Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing."
What helps the game take root in reality is its subtle reference to Sir Francis Drake, the infamous explorer of the 1500s. The protagonist, Nathan Drake, claims to be a descendant, and the game opens with the hero diving into the ocean in search of the explorer's coffin. Once discovered and opened, Nathan finds not a corpse, but a journal pointing to El Dorado, a huge golden statue that could be worth more than Bill Gates himself. The recent expedition to uncover Sir Francis Drake's body - funded by journalist Elena Fisher's publisher - comes to a complete halt when modern-day pirates attack their boat. The journey moves on to an uncharted island with sidekick victor "Sully" Sullivan, pilot extraordinaire and stereotypical cigar smoker. The two boys ditch the hot babe, but that proves unsuccessful later on in the game. After all, the hero needs a little romance, right?
As mentioned before, the game isn't complete without rivals, namely Gabriel Roman, Eddy Raja and archeologist Atoq Navarro, an impressive trio out to find El Diablo before Nate stumbles across it. Unfortunately, despite all the impressive cut-scenes and in-game dialogue, the story can still get confusing. Sometimes action takes precedent over the overall storyline, and in the case of Drake's Fortune, you'll find yourself wondering if this is a third-person shooter or an adventure game full of treasures and exploration. A good chunk of the game relies on the "duck-n-cover" dance, and while that may be fun for some, it can get tiresome for others.
But let's clarify things here: there's nothing wrong with a little action. The box calls it "one ordinary man, one extraordinary adventure." The game is certainly chock full of adventure, but the emphasis here seems to be on shootouts rather than actual adventuring. You spend more time looking for ammo than treasure, more time ducking around objects and corners than exploring the local area. It seemed like a waste to create such a lush, beautiful world only to have the player rush through it because they're struggling to keep their (virtual) brains intact.
Join our discussion on this topic
