Uncharted: Drake's Fortune arrived at a good time for the PlayStation 3 library. Sony's seventh-generation home console was having difficulty definitively establishing itself in the market because its main competitor at the time, Xbox 360, had launched with a significant head start, while Nintendo, after the GameCube's reasonable sales, was back in the spotlight with the Wii's tremendous success. Uncharted appeared at this highly competitive moment and began showing consumers that owning a PlayStation 3 would be worthwhile because of the exclusives that were on the way.
Charismatic characters are part of the Uncharted universe.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a third-person shooter action game released for PlayStation 3 in 2007, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. In 2015, it was remastered for PlayStation 4 in the Nathan Drake Collection. Here, we are reviewing its original version.
Below is the trailer for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
Interesting fact: The Uncharted franchise proved to be a major success not only with critics but also with audiences from its very first game. It sold around five million units, an impressive number not merely because it was a debut title, but also because it was exclusive to a platform that was still fighting to establish its place in the competitive seventh-generation console market.
Behind the Scenes
After developing Jak 3, Naughty Dog's leadership believed it was time to make a more realistic title that would make effective use of the hardware in Sony's new machine, the PlayStation 3. To achieve this objective, it called upon the employees recognized as the company's most talented at that point, and they began developing a title under the working name Big. One of the main influences on the game that would become Uncharted was, naturally, the Indiana Jones films, filled with action and beautiful landscapes that provided rich settings no longer limited by older hardware.
The script keeps players hooked.
Drake's Fortune made its first public appearance during E3 2006 and, as expected, comparisons with the celebrated Tomb Raider franchise were plentiful, with Uncharted even earning the nickname “Dude Raider” at the event. Although the developers did not deny Lara Croft's influence, they said other games also contributed to its creation, including Resident Evil 4, Gears of War and the now little-remembered Kill Switch. They wanted one major difference, however: unlike its references, which made extensive use of dark settings, Drake's Fortune needed a vibrant, lively atmosphere.
The wealth of detail is impressive for a launch-era console title.
For the process of creating the characters, the objective was to use a photorealistic style and make the protagonist easy for players to identify with, going against the concept of an enormous, muscular man holding a giant weapon. The idea was someone resourceful who always resolved conflicts at the limits of his abilities. Supporting characters Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan were added to help create a more engaging narrative, something we know Naughty Dog would become known for in its later The Last of Us.
Interesting fact: Although Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was the first officially released game in the series, its story does not depict the origin established within the franchise's universe. The PS Vita title Uncharted: Golden Abyss and the Eye of Indra comics narrate events that occurred before the 2007 game.
Story
Next, we will look at a brief introduction to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, without spoilers significant enough to ruin the experience for anyone who has not yet played this incredible game.
Protagonist Nathan Drake has a ring, a family heirloom bearing the coordinates that can lead him to the tomb of his important ancestor, Sir Francis Drake. Unfortunately, the place where it was supposed to be found lay in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Panama. Because Nathan lacked the financial means to fund such an expedition, he contacts a television network to secure sponsorship. Seeing the possibility of obtaining a major story, the network sends reporter Elena Fisher along with a boat.
Drake's journal helps solve puzzles.
Nathan Drake, together with his great friend and mentor Victor “Sully” Sullivan and Elena Fisher, manages to find Francis's tomb. As Nathan had expected, however, it is empty except for a small journal that supposedly contains the location of El Dorado, a legendary “place” coveted by the Spanish where there was said to be a great deal of gold from the colonial era.
As soon as Nathan gets his hands on the journal, Panamanian pirates appear and the game begins. During the adventure, villains searching for the treasure emerge to obstruct the protagonists' objective, including mercenaries Atoq Navarro and Gabriel Roman.
Chase scenes in the best Indiana Jones style could not be left out.
Interesting fact: The character supposedly Nathan's ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, actually existed. He was a captain, vice admiral, privateer, a type of officially employed pirate, navigator and politician. Queen Elizabeth I of England knighted him in 1581. He was feared by the Spanish and known as El Drake (“Francis the Dragon”). His achievements include serving as second-in-command in the battle against the Invincible Armada in 1588, being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world and having a four-million-pound bounty placed on his head by Spanish king Philip II. Unfortunately, his end was not particularly honorable: he died of dysentery, or the runs, to put it plainly, in 1596 at the age of 55.
Sir Francis Drake
Technical Analysis
The narrative in Uncharted revolves around protagonist Nathan Drake and his adventure partners Victor “Sully” Sullivan and Elena Fisher. Although apparently simple, the good humor in the story makes us want to continue playing. Even if many of the jokes are not particularly inspired, the characters' charisma creates curiosity about how the plot will end. We encounter puzzles in certain parts of the journey, but they are all easy and require minimal reasoning from players. Even so, if you have difficulty, the game offers hints when it detects that you are stuck.
Puzzles are part of the franchise. They are intuitive and do not disrupt the intense action.
The difficulty, as in most games of this style produced today, is quite low. Players only need to become accustomed to the basic jumping and shooting mechanics and know how to solve the puzzles. For this reason, the experience is generally uninterrupted.
Secondary characters such as Sully add a great deal to the game's content.
The gameplay in Uncharted is quite easy and satisfying, although franchise veterans know how much it improved in later entries in the saga. Combat has the classic cover system that came directly from Gears of War, as well as regenerating “life” simply by avoiding damage for a while. Hand-to-hand combat, although still primitive in this first title, gets the job done when we are close to enemies and want to save ammunition.
The platforming moments are quite easy.
The platforming segments are somewhat reminiscent of Assassin's Creed, without requiring much concern or precision when making apparently dangerous jumps. During shootouts, in addition to grenades, we can carry only two weapons, one small and one large. Interestingly, although this may appear to impose an inventory limitation, in practice it helps ensure that the gameplay does not become repetitive, since we constantly switch weapons, an experience similar to what we saw in Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The game is tremendous fun: its relaxed difficulty level, simple but engaging story, charismatic characters and incredible setting keep us entertained until the credits. It feels as though we are truly controlling a good action film from the 1980s or 1990s. It is not difficult to find someone who went on an Uncharted marathon after finishing the first game in the series.
Varied gameplay moments, such as the jet ski section, help keep the game from becoming repetitive.
The campaign length is rather short, with a first playthrough lasting around eight hours if the player explores the environments at times, dies during combat and falls into chasms.
Unexpected things appear in the game's final stretch.
The game's replay value is low because, as usual in Naughty Dog titles, its games are very linear, with stories that resemble good action films. Even so, those who have already finished it may want to play another round in the not-too-distant future, not only because the game is extremely enjoyable, but also to seek out every trophy and collectible hidden throughout the campaign.
Collectibles contribute to the franchise's replay value.
To summarize it in a single word, Uncharted's soundtrack would be epic. The adventurous atmosphere begins with the game's title-screen theme, Nate's Theme, giving us the motivation needed to start playing, but not before listening to the track loop about three times. The musician responsible is Greg Edmonson, who had previously composed for series such as Firefly. Below is the complete Drake's Fortune OST.
Below, we see “PlayStation in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall” in London on May 30, 2018. The performance was given by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and we can clearly see the audience's excitement when the franchise's main theme, Nate's Theme, is announced. Incredible.
Interesting fact: The success of Drake's Fortune almost immediately secured a sequel for the franchise. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves reached the market in 2009 and definitively established the series within the gaming industry, becoming a greater success than its predecessor in every possible way. It will probably receive a full review here at Epic Play someday. Below is the trailer for the sequel.
Played on PlayStation 3.
