I could keep this review short, summing it up with one sentence;

If you own a PS3 and have never played this, buy it.

Ok, thats more of an order than a review. But this game is that good. I have never heard a bad word about it - its a truly brilliant game.

I acquired a PS3 just before Christmas 2011 and only had one game, Skyrim. When I mentioned to a workmate I didn't exactly have many games to play (although Skyrim has so far given me 70 hours of play) he told me he would lend me Uncharted. That was a few weeks ago, hopefully he's forgotten who he lent it to as I still have it and plan on playing it many more times - save me from buying it which I'll do in the next few weeks. Not that buying it will give me that much trouble, going for an absolute bargain price of about £10 on Amazon at the moment.


---------THE UNCHARTED SERIES--------

Uncharted: Darkes Fortune is the first in a series of three Uncharted games - the most recent, Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception (that I recently bought with my dooyoo miles!) came out late last year. Its safe to say, Uncharted was released among a great deal of fuss. Expectation was high, and if Drakes Fortune is anything to go by, its understandable.

Drakes Fortune came out in 2007 - and is a PS3 only title. Being previously an Xbox user - I missed this game upon its release and for the subsequent few years. How I didn't notice this game is beyond me, I am actually ashamed.

The series follows Nathan Drake as he hunts for various artifact of high value in your typically action packed environments - from cities to deserts, ships - on planes and, where we the action set in the first game - on a mysterious island.

The second and third games would take Nathan globe trotting, but the first game is set in one place - an island. Nathan moves around the island, under and above it - so the setting never feels that restricted, but it does get a slight bit samey - just slightly.

The Uncharted series have often been described in a very simple way - like playing a movie. This is fair to say, but even as an ardent moved fan - even the greatest film would struggle to keep me glued to the screen for the 12 hours Uncharted: Drakes Fortune did.

-------GAMEPLAY-------

They style of gameplay offered here are of two very distinct types: Its a linear game and its a 3rd person shooter.

----Linear gaming------

Some games are linear, some are sandbox. Others are Fifa. Sandbox gaming is an open playing experience, with no set path being set out that strictly. Whilst most sandbox games can be 'finished' there is usually no real ending to the game. The player can freely move around environments and have a lot of choice (depending on what the game is) on what they get up to. They can play the game at their own pace, explore and how you experience this game can be very different to many people. GTA and Skyrim are both sandbox games, and this type of gaming really appeals to me. I do like games you can pick up and play, like multiplayer COD, but I really like sandbox games that are opened ended and not restricted. I like playing beyond the end and exploring it further, and I like spending hours leveling up characters.

Linear games are the opposite of this, and since the original Tomb Raider game, have never really appealed to me. A linear game has a clear path. You run, shoot and jump and generally do what the developers want you too. There isn't much choice and most players will have the same gaming experience as everyone else. Thats something that put me off, until I Uncharted smashed my misconceptions.


----------UNCHARTED: DRAKES FORTUNE-----------

Drakes Fortune is a very linear game. You have little choice as to how you play it, they only variation coming when you choose how to take on one of the many waves of enemies. Even this though is limited: hide behind this box, or that one. Don't be put off though - this works very well for this game. This game isn't about choice, its about being taken on a rollercoster of a gaming experience.

The game starts as it means to go on, with a bang. Your thrown into a manic situation and have to simultaneously learn the very straight forward control set up and figure out what to do.

Playing as Nathan, you're right in the middle of a shootout on a boat - under heavy fire. Run, duck and dive behind cover whilst trying to shoot at the hoard of bad guys trying to take you down. This opening scene is really fun, and its really fast paced. This sets the tone for the game - from here on it will rarely let up. If nothing the pace gets more and more.

Control wise, its a mixed bag. In a timely fashion, instructions on what buttons to press pop up when they need too. The first time you need to duck for cover the game will pause as it tell you how to do it. This makes the learning curve barely exist but you feel a little out of control of the game - at first it feels a little like 'press this' and 'press that' and the game is somewhat playing itself. An hour or so into the game you forgive this as you understand just how fluid the game play is. Drake does exactly what you wan't, goes where you want and shoots who you want and this is important due to the pace of the game.

As I mentioned, the pace rarely stops. Its very fast and the adrenaline soon starts pumping. Its a gaming buzz I'd not had for years, and thankfully I didn't have to think about the controls too much - it always seemed to do what I wanted.

As the story progresses Nathans enemies and allies are made apparent, as is a little back story and the plot races on. Its a great story - and whilst a little predictable if you've seen any blockbuster action films in that past forever, the last few hours of the game will come as a surprise in both story and pacing as it really revs up.

There are lots of great things about this game you could talk about forever. Voices and acting are great - the characters affable and fun, you can't help but get behind them. This game has a script and that helps you just love Nathan and his team, you really feel for them and get totally engrossed in the plot. The script is worth shouting about, yes - but its the graphics that are worth screaming about. Considering this game was released in 2007 - its stunning, even up against 2012 games. Your action takes place on a lush island, crammed with detail - making it ever absorbing. The graphics really come to life when your involved in one Nathans high-flying climbing exercises. A particular section will find you traversing over a huge waterfall with the ocean expanding behind you and a sheer drop below you. Times like this, and many more, I just sat in awe and took it in. Something I've rarely had happen in a video game.

Some gamers might find the prospect of Uncharted frustrating. Its plays in a very straight forward way, and you having very few choices - but this is easily forgiven, given just how rapidly it will have your heart racing at.

There are lots of shoot outs in this game, but for me it never got boring. You enter a room - its clear you're about to get into a gun fight; ammo is around the room as well as lot of things for cover - its only a matter of time before the room fills with henchmen. After the 20-30th time this happens you might worry its a bit repetitive, but instead I found each one super fun. The shoot outs get much harder during the game, and despite having to restart some 10-20 times in a row, the feeling of finally beating a room is brilliant.


---------PLAY TIME AND PLAY AGAIN------

This game is advertised as having about 8 hours of game play to finish the main campaign. I'm an average gamer, I had it set to 'normal' and it took me 12 hours - about an hour of play for a couple of weeks, give of take. Considering this game is quite short - its worth the £40 price tag it no doubt came with in 2007.

As soon as I finished the game I didn't want to pick it up right away - I was drained after a crazy final chapter. A few days later I was more than happy to get back on it, specifically to try and find many of the hidden treasures in the game. Literally, little treasures are hidden around the game and Nathan can collect them. This aspect of the game is secondary to the main game and serves as a way as extending the game beyond playing through mains story. Some are hard to find, some easy - do date I've found about half and the other half are seemingly impossible to find. As much as I would not like admit it, I think help off the internet might be order to help figure out where they are.

I'd happily play this game though a few more times - however luckily for me I have the second and third game to play though yet.

This goes for about £10 these days if you don't mind a used copy, or retails at £14.99 new on Amazon at the time of writing.


-----------OVERALL------------

Its an essential game that is an incredible amount of fun to play - I can even see the most picky gamer having a hoot playing this. This is one of those games that affirms just how much fun gaming is and how nice it feels to just get sucked into a thoroughly engrossing game.