before i start, spoiler alert for this review. here’s your chance to leave. 3, 2, 1, still here? yeah? good.
The Bad: i love Uncharted, or what i’ve played of the franchise at least. (1, 2, Golden Abyss) but before i go into that, i’ll mention what isn’t so good about Drake’s Fortune. 1, the glitches. Nathan Drake, you buggy burglar boy. Nate will just stop in place after opening doors, or pretend to be a jellyfish while standing on a rock because Elena was walking by. 2, the heavy reliance on quick-time events. so many things you do to progress, including beating the final boss, i’ll get to that, require button mashing & quick-time events. pulling a rope? mash triangle. opening a door? mash triangle. filing for divorce? mash triangle. 3, the aforementioned final boss. you let Navarro shoot some wooden boxes, walk up to him, near-effortlessly tap square & triangle, walk up to him while he’s on the floor, near-effortlessly tap square & triangle, watch the final cutscene, you win. & people complain about Cortex in Crash 2. damn. 4, the jumping controls randomly just forget they exist. 5, the jet-ski controls really badly. & 6, the ending is even cheesier than N-Brie-O.
The Good: now for the good. this game centres around 3 main gameplay styles. explorative puzzles, platforming, & combat. & aside from the aforementioned glitches, the controls are great. i played through this game with my dad, & we had a lot of fun thinking of ways to progress when the puzzle elements would come into play. the platforming is about what you’d expect from the creators of the Crash Bandicoot trilogy, as well as Jak & Daxter. balanced in difficulty, & really satisfying to get right. & said platforming often depends on hanging onto, & jumping between, ledges. this is essentially “Hanging from a Ledge: The Video Game”. & sometimes, it depends on your reaction times. but that’s where the combat comes in. you can either combo someone with your bare knuckles, or you can go to WALMART, which is a six hour flight for me, grab a gun, & question if you’re a good guy in this situation! & the combat is also really satisfying to get right. it’s very fast-paced & really immerses you in the game. when you’re in those moments, you are Nathan Drake. & can we talk about that main theme? when it comes to the gameplay styles of Uncharted, everything is well-integrated together, & it makes for a consistently great experience. the visuals, they are amazing. there were a good few moments in my play-through with my dad where i just stopped to look at the in-game sunrise & sunset, in awe of how beautiful it all looked. so, as i’ve been saying, the theming, & the way Naughty Dog immerse you into this adventure is outstanding.
so, in conclusion, i love this, despite some of its shortcomings, being the first & all. if it weren’t for those issues sticking out so much, i’d score the game higher, but i’ll still give “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” the extremely solid score of a 7/10. goodnight.