4/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

System: PlayStation 3 Started: 2010 Ended: 2010 Flashback Review I remember hearing about Uncharted when they showcased some game footage to promote the PlayStation 3 console alongside Motorstorm and Heavenly Sword. Uncharted looks appealing since It definitely reminded me of the classic Tomb Raider games at the time and I even remember playing those games at a Demo Kiosk at a retail store and watched my cousin play one of them back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Eventually, I got Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune at a bargain price and finally played this game. This franchise is still popular today but I only played the first and second game. I never played Drake’s Deception, A Thief's End and the spinoffs. On the bright side of this, Drake’s Fortune is fun for a third-person shooter at the time but as time progresses, I can tell some of things in this game hold up while other parts didn’t. The game still aged fairly well for PS3 graphics with glossy and metallic looking graphics and I didn’t play the remastered version and I noticed they changed the graphic style of the series in the next sequel. The level design and gameplay can be barebones. Although, it can be to the point where you can just let it slide since all you do is run for cover and shoot up baddies. This game did add variety to change it up such as climbing on walls and cliffs to progress and perform puzzle segments to change the game up to avoid making it too repetitive. You can tell this game was made in the late 2000’s since this game has cheat mode which you earn by collecting hidden treasures that are scattered in the game. This is another long lost game mechanic that we rarely see today as they are great if you want to replay this game and activate the cheats to play something different as you enjoy the game. Uncharted 1 has aged with clunky combat gameplay since it does have really poor aiming at times when you are under a firefight but it's something you might get used to once you get the feel of it. I still remember the Jet Ski level and it's still frustrating as ever that even fans of the series agree. I kept dying a lot even on normal difficulty and I faintly remember wanting to lower the difficulty on that part. Story is mindless fun but can have some problems in regard to plot holes that do make you question at times like how Elena knew where Nathan and Sully were going to be after being left behind on an uncharted island. And lastly, Puzzles are rudimentary since you do have that Journal book which actually tells you all the answers but right after that it becomes a shooting gallery when you are halfway done with this game. This game feels like a movie so they don’t want players to sit through the game and stumble on a puzzle if they want a chill experience of a cinematic action game. So people can let that slide either way. I complained before how much this game pisses me off at times. Other than the motorboat level, There were times when you die a lot in this game even for the most unfair reasons like “How did he damage me?” even when I was behind cover. As it turns out, I later found out that Nathan Drake doesn’t really take damage. In fact he has “Near-Misses” so basically as the screen turns to saturation, it is supposed to represent his luck and when the screen is in full saturation, one shot can actually kill him. I can see the designers were going with this to represent action movies that only one shot can kill a character. But, I’m playing a video game and having near-misses of a character that is supposed to be a Penalty as damage is bullshit. It was worse when you get to the on-rail portions like manning the turret from a jeep and it can be annoying. However, There are moments that you might change your strategy and it does make you want to sit up after being slouched from a couch and play seriously after dying at least twice during a segment of the game. Overall, it's clearly a narrative cinematic game that started the whole trend of making games that look and feel like movies in the 2010’s. Sure, the first Uncharted game is rough but mindless fun from what I got. Clearly, it is a heavy homage to action movies like the Indiana Jones movies. This game also slowly gets better overtime as it got really interesting at the 2nd half of the game when you find out more about the El Dorado idol and The Descendants. This is a recommended game to play if you are a fan of cinematic games like all the other Sony IPs like The Last of Us and you are just curious on how this franchise got started just don’t expect this game to be as good as the later sequels which you might find a tad disappointed but at least you might enjoy it anyhow.