Master Engineer of Sigmar's Realm: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Okay so I know I'm a few months behind everyone else in getting this game but hey, a review is a review, regardless of when it's made. Anyway, Uncharted follows the story of Nathan Drake (who I will refer to as Drake from now on) who is on the trail of finding Sir Francis Drake's lost treasure. As you might expect, the fact that they have the same surname is no coincidence, they are related, from one explorer to the next. Drake wears a ring around his neck, which was once owned by Sir Francis himself.

To avoid giving away any spoilers of any sorts, the game takes you across typical environments you might find on a run-o-the mill South Pacific Island, including lush jungle, Incan ruins, watery cities, dazzling cliff edges, ruined forts, old tombs and anything else that you might see in an Indiana Jones movie. Yes, it DOES feel like Indiana Jones, and just like the Doctor himself, you'll quickly come to admire Drake as you lead him across death-defying leaps, mazes of gunfire and not to mention through a jeep chase here and there. And of course there's the mandatory sexual tension between himself and the lovely Elena, a reporter who accompanies Drake on the expedition.

The cinematics are beautiful, and like Heavenly Sword the transition from cutscene to gameplay is effortless, as well as the moving from level to level. Visuals are stunning, once more displaying the potential of the PS3. The camera works in 360, and when you spin around to fast there is a momentary faint blur, as would happen in real life, before the image focuses again. What I especially love about the visuals is attention to detail. Textures are crisp, water effects are perfect, so much so that when Drake climbs out of the water he is actually dripping wet! If you run across a stream his legs get wet, the physics are brilliant.

One of the best features is the jumps. As Drake is an intrepid explorer, he is expected to make the odd leap from ledge to ledge here and there. More often than not you're afraid he wont make it. Leaps are not always obvious, but they certainly aren't disguised either, its just right. If he barely makes it he'll cling on for dear life with one arm before steadying himself. Perfect jumping means he grabs on exactly, and sometimes you might even land flat on where you were aiming. In the more...shall we say "daring" jumps, the camera angle changes to a delightfully appropriate angle, which not only prompts a "You gotta be kiddin' me" from Drake, but also makes the gamer feel equally as cautious and nauseous.

Like Heavenly Sword there are no load times once you initially start the game up, making the experience feel even more like an epic non-stop film. Gameplay is infrequently interrupted by a short event-scenes, which could be so much as when you walk over a dodgey beam that it begins to crack, prompting the whole scaffolding to collapse meaning you have to run for your life as the planks beneath you slowly start to give way! Also, and again like in Heavenly Sword there are moments where you are prompted to press a button, sometimes unexpectedly and with little time to react. For instance in one event Drake swings of a pillar knocking it to the ground, he then proceeds to drop to the ground and let go of the rope... the only thing of course being that that rope was supporting a tray of bricks overhead, prompting a speedy tap of the X button to avoid immediate death.

Speaking of death for a minute lets talk about health. As seems to be the trend with most games nowadays, there's no "health" as such. When Drake takes hits the colour of the screen begins to become paler, and when he's one more hit from death you hear his heart beating and the picture blurs into black and white. The only way to counter this is to find safe cover and wait for the colour to return to normal. And I'll be honest with you, Drake can't take many hits, which just makes the game feel more realistic. One rpg will kill him, 2-3 shotgun shells will too. The main focus of gunplay is cover. A tap of the Circle button and Drake will cling to the nearest bit of cover, and from there you can blind fire or pop out and pick your targets. Pressing circle and holding a direction will have Drake tumble to the nearest available cover, particularly if enemies start to swarm you. During gunplay, Drake may say to himself "Alright, here goes" or after you punch up an enemy in hand-to-hand may prompt a "That's what I'm talking about!" or the more comical "How did that feel?" after you shoot someone in the head. This makes the gamer connect with Drake even more, especially when a grenade drops by feet and all I'm thinking is "SHIT!" and an appropriately similar "Oh, crap" from Drake prompts a quick tap of the circle button to find new cover.

Enemies can take a suprising amount of hits, but the game wouldn't be any fun if it was too easy. AI is good, and they will try to swarm you if all you do is hide behind cover. Like with Drake, the enemies might shout out "Close him down", or when they kill you you might get a "Heh, we got him!". If I was to find a flaw with the enemies its that there's probably to many. I mean seriously, I must've killed nearly an army. At one point in the game even Drake says to himself "Where the hell are they all coming from!". It's almost like they got a guy to sit down and play the game, then was told to record whatever he was thinking while playing it, and then had the voice actor for Drake add it into the gameplay!

Another aspect of the gameplay is the puzzles. Now I classify puzzles from finding out how to open a door to reaching a high ledge through a series of jumps. The levels are linear, meaning that the solutions to the puzzles are also linear. Nevertheless they are neither too hard nor too easy. They don't pop up too frequently either, enhancing the game experience rather than becoming gimmicky. At the same time the puzzles rarely repeat themselves, no two jump sequences are the same for example. I will confess that quite a few times I asked myself "Where do I go" and careful inspection of the walls might reveal a nice lateral crack for Drake to hang onto. That's what makes it good! Too many games fall prey to boasting puzzles to solve, but then make them too easy and too frequent, making them become a nuisance. Reviews of the Lost game for PS3 and Xbox360 will give you just such an indication (on the side: DON'T BUY IT!!!). Aside from that then there are levels on the jet ski or the jeep, one particular level involved driving the jet ski upstream, and I tell you fighting the current was a pain in the you know where!

All in all, Uncharted is a must buy for any Playstation owner. Only now do I regret not buying it when it first came out. A lack of multiplayer really doesn't hamper the experience, I mean I really don't see what sort of multiplayer could've been done. Bundled with achievements and unlockables, treasures to collect and rewards to earn, it has quite decent replayability. And with word of a sequel in the making, Uncharted is certainly a fine new addition to the already increasing number of new franchises on the PS3 and we can welcome one of the newest heroes into the gaming world...