Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Review, Continued
Let's be honest here: you normally don't see the "ordinary" man scaling up mountain walls, propelling himself up or down with just his hands and feet. You definitely won't see him moving from ledge to ledge using no tools whatsoever, just his bare hands. If that were the case, his upper body strength would be enormous, his torso of Terminator/Conan proportions. Granted this is a game, and perhaps we're injecting too much realism into our expectations, but if you want to create a realistic, immersive experience, it would seem logical to make the experience "feel" realistic.
Additionally, if you fall 30 feet and survive in one area, the laws should apply in other areas as well. It seemed rather odd to watch Nathan stand up after hitting the ground from a long drop, but is instantly killed off when falling into the water. Someone throw us a bone here. All the characters - including Nathan - also had the ability to take multiple bullet wounds before hitting the dirt in a pool of blood... all without any type of armor. Nathan himself had some uncanny ability to regenerate, which was some unknown mutant talent not explained in the story. Of course, this is just a game, and some exceptions have to be made to propel the story, but sometimes the small things can stand out like a wart on a pretty girl's face, making the virtual world less immersive.
But you know what? The problems of Drake's Fortune are so minute, they probably were not even worth mentioning. The game's highlights even outweigh the lack of multiplayer options, leaving the gamer with one hell of an adventure they will probably play over and over. It's almost as if Naughty Dog had Xbox Live in mind: the game offers 1000 achievement points (aka Medals Points), requiring gamers to find hidden little trinkets (60 in all) throughout the 22 chapters, and perform certain actions like "find 50 treasures," "kill 10 enemies with headshots," "finish the game in normal mode" and more. Since there is no competitive network to share achievements, the game offers the player "rewards" instead by way of unlockables that include cutscenes, concept art and a special Naughty Dog photo gallery.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortunefeatures impressive graphics and stylish visuals.
While having access to unlocked cutscenes can be cool and useful, what really stands out in the bonus section is the inclusion of special featurettes. Here gamers can watch how the game was made and engross themselves in tech movies showcasing full body animation, facial animation, environment creation and more. There are clips on how the cutscenes were put together and even a movie clip featuring the developer. There were a good chunk of goodies unlocked by completing the game in "normal" mode; chances are there's more to discover by accomplishing the adventure on the "hard" and "crushing" settings.
Even set on "hard," unlocking the additional treasures may not be a hard feat to accomplish. Despite the overflow of gunplay featured throughout the game's 22 chapters, the game wasn't difficult to complete: the puzzles were simple and the entire route felt rather linear. You can't free-roam in Drake's Fortune despite its appearance, although Naughty Dog did an excellent job building a realistic world that surrounded the immediate area. The environment gives you the impression that you can go anywhere, but upon quick examination, forests remain closed off, ledges become immediate borders and rooms stay locked behind open windows.
While the game mechanics didn't feature the "this key opens that door" gimmick throughout the adventure, sometimes there was a sense of "go from point A to point B and repeat in the next chapter." Other chapters featured scenarios to accomplish, such as the opening segment where Nathan must fend off attacking pirates surrounding Elena's boat. At times, the chapters seemed to stretch on forever, and other times the chapters felt extremely quick. Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells stated that the average gamer could complete Drake's Fortune in 12 hours, perhaps longer when the difficulty setting is cranked higher than "normal." Even still, the game seemed to grow stale at times and incredibly exciting in other places.
The game's graphics, on the other hand, remained consistently brilliant throughout the adventure. The PlayStation 3 is capable of some incredible stuff, and Drake's Fortune truly shows just how powerful those capabilities are. The graphics engine - Naughty Dog's original powerhouse we'll call The Drake Special - featured a steady frame rate even in heavily detailed areas, rendering moving weeds under Nathan's feet and rolling clouds in the sky. The water effects felt authentic, even popped an eye vein or two in the process. Brilliant lighting effects cast a definite realism on both the environment and characters, causing you to believe that you could step right in through the screen. Vegetation looked alive, lush. Damp caverns appeared wet and rigid, sharp to the touch. Ghostly ancient ruins felt creepy and dry, virtual places that seemed all too real to the eye. Drake's world was extremely colorful as well as extremely gloomy. Naughty Dog did an excellent job suspending disbelief visually. It's hard to imagine how games could get any better than this.
If great visuals aren't enough, the game also featured an epic soundtrack and excellent voice casting. As for the soundtrack, it may not be John Williams, but it matches thee legendary conductor's epic feel to the note. The music worked wonders in setting the tone, pulling back during times of travel, and kicking in when pirates flooded the area. Again, the package felt like a big-budget Hollywood movie, and the soundtrack, with its grand opening theme to the ancient drumming when approaching a mysterious area, made the overall experience that much more spectacular. Sometimes a bad soundtrack can ruin the experience. Alas, you won't find that here, nor will you find bad acting on part of the voice-over work. Despite the robotic mouths of the virtual characters, the actors did an exception job bringing these virtual heroes to life, and we hope they return for the sequel.
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