Reviews by Kyle Ellis

Naughty Dog seriously knows how to make games. I'm a gigantic fan of the Jak and Daxter games, well besides Jak Racing...or whatever that was called. But the platforming/action trilogy of Jak and Daxter are fantastic games. You probably already know that Naughty Dog is also responsible for the mega-hit Crash Bandicoot. Unfortunately I was addicted to Mortal Kombat at the time so I never played any of the Crash games. Well, just like their brethren in Insomniac games, Naughty Dog can also make other games, besides the platforming stuff. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is an all-out blast to play, and easily one of the best games on the PS3 and the video game market as a whole.

Drakes Fortune revolves around the story of Nathan Drake, possibly a surviving member of the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake. Well, he certainly takes after Sir Drake in the love for adventure department, that's for sh!t sure. Well, this quest Drake is currently on is to find the priceless treasure of El Dorado. Unfortunately, Drake isn't the only one going after the treasure, and too bad for him, the other guys going after the treasure are bad guys. Shame for Drake they just weren't other friendly adventure seekers. But that's fantastic news for us, we get to kill all those bad guys! Throw in a couple side-stories of rescue, and an unpredictable, fantastic story revolving around Sir Francis and El Dorado and you have class A story-telling.

The game itself has some of the highest production values you'll ever come across. I recently finished playing the new Ratchet and Clank, and I thought to myself it won't be for a while until a game this good looking will come out. Boy was I wrong. This game is absolutely stunning. From the water effects, the swaying trees and even the rocks. When you can make rock look good-looking, you know you've got a pretty game on your hands. Add in unbelievable, Oscar-worthy music and incredibly realistic environment sounds, great voice work, and you have yourself one of the best sounding and looking games ever to come out for any system.

But the most important part of the story is the gameplay. And just like the story and production values, it's kickass. Puzzles, platforming (leaping, hanging, swinging etc), shoot-outs, a duck and cover system....the game has wicked good gameplay. And another great aspect to the gameplay, is the fantastic pace of the game. There are zero boring spots in the game. They don't overload you with certain areas, meaning if you just had a huge fire-fight, the next area will be a big change in gameplay, either it being some sort of puzzle, jet-skiing, platforming etc. Naughty Dog has tons of experience when it comes down to gameplay options, and it seriously shows.

The game isn't perfect, but it's damn close. I sometimes had issues with the amount of guys showing up to a shoot-out. You think you have a shoot-out cleared, and then another six guys drop down the cliff and start blasting. I sometimes had problems duckin and covering. I'd be at a weird angle, and I'd try to hurry and duck around something, but since Im at that weird angle, the duck and cover system wont work and I'd end up eating a ton of bullets. But in all seriousness, that's mostly my problem for rushing out into a unsafe area. Obviously you can think of things that bug you in any game, but that's just it, they are just minor nuisances that take barely nothing away from the overall experience.

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune instantly became one of my favorite games. It has a unique feel to it, that is very difficult to describe. It's has a vibrant quality that you just don't feel enough in games. I've finished the game on Normal and am halfway through Hard, which by the way IS Hard. And once Im done with that, yup, I'm on to Crushing, the highest difficulty. Why? Because the game has amazing replay and has awesome bonuses. There's also treasure hunting, and medal earning. You shoot 100 dudes in the head, bingo that's a medal. Drakes Fortune is a blast to play, and any fan of action/adventure games should definitely give this game a shot. 9.5 outta 10

This is a game that a lot of people criticise. Not a lot of people hate it or anything, but there always seems to be something preventing people from loving this one, especially since they tend to prefer 2 or 4. And yet I find Uncharted 3 to be the best of the franchise, and possibly the best action adventure game out there.

There are positives I can attribute to this game as an individual work. I can say, the gameplay is amazing, I can point out the amazing graphics, the cinematic talents in both cutscenes and gameplay. But yet, this is all common in this series. I think the best way to do this is to compare it to the other series and why I think it is better. These might be only minor for some, but the overall presence of all these make this game the best in the franchise.

1. The engagement. Uncharted is essentially an Indiana Jones game - as such our character should be constantly moving to locations. Not only does this give a sense of grandeur for the story, but it keeps gameplay that may be similar feeling exhilarating. In 1 this is a huge problem because we are mostly at the same scenery. 4 is like this for the first half, but in the second half we get reserved in the forest. In 2 this is less of a problem, however I would say that in the second half the action set pieces and overall gameplay is less with the introduction of those annoying yetis. 3 is constantly moving from country to country, and even when we stay at a country each chapter focuses on a new area. This movement not only helps the atmosphere but helps keeping new sections rewarding.

2. The gameplay. I think this is the strongest game in this regard. Firstly, we get introduced to the best melee combat system, which is not only ridiculously fun but helps a lot to the combat system. 1's gun fights suck, but 2 and 4 are also great. In 2 the standout are the big set pieces, a.k.a the heli chase and the train while the less linear action can get frustrating when it introduces the villagers. In 4, there are much less action set pieces, but the actual free combat is much better and consistently fun and challenging. In 3, there is a consistent blend of the both which are both very challenging. For example, you'll get those water sections in the ship graveyard, which are very difficult but also very fun. Then in the next chapter becomes more linear giving more movie thrills. The set pieces in my mind are the best in the series, and the gun fights may also be my personal favourite.

3. Story. Personally I don't find these games the right avenues to have amazing stories, as some might be surprised to here. Some people think "oh these games are cinematic so there stories are good." The story in these games need to be clear. It's not about the story - it's about the characters and the feel of adventure. 2 has a very well told story, but I find that it slows down a lot in the second half. The first half has a lot of twists and turns, and is greatly accentuated by the fact that we know something bad is gonna happen. Once this bad thing happens, we get introduced to the mystical things, the whole bad guy stuff etc. Pretty much we focus more on the story than we need to, because ultimately it should be about the characters. 4 clearly tries the most with the story, and has more effective beats. Overall I prefer 3's because I don't like it's lack of commitment. 3 and 4 have a similar "Drake needs to be less obsessed" story, which 4 commits a lot more to. However, in 4 my biggest problem was the lack of a real change. Without spoilers a twist happens, Drake doesn't do to well, and something bad should happen but it doesn't really. 3 has a similar plot, excluding the whole retirement angle, but the difference is huge. Firstly, it doesn't set up that something bad is going to happen to these characters, more that threats are in the way. As such, I don't feel cheatened when people don't die. Secondly, the section in the middle, in which Drake is completely alone, are very difficult and through natural gameplay and storytelling, convey much more a sense of Drake deliberately enabling himself. I also think that story wise it gives enough to Drake's character to understand his connection to justify his actions and feel compelling.

These are three things that I think the game does a lot better. Now, the Uncharted games aren't very different, so to compare other things doesn't really achieve anything to me. However it's this small group of things that establish this game as a slight step above the others.