Genre: Action-Adventure
Year: 2007
Developed by: Naughty Dog
Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PS3
#198
Feeling Like: Mapped Territory
Video games have come a long way and I’m glad we have proof of it instead of having to rely on my brain. When I think of any of the Uncharted games, I immediately think that all the cutscenes look like they do in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Watching Elena and Nathan on the couch feels and looks like something right out of a TV show. Movements are lifelike, the weird pause between lines isn’t there. They actually talk like human beings, aided by the fact that they get actual actors to motion capture. It makes a big difference in terms of connecting with the characters.
However, looking back at old videos and pictures of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is a mild shock to the system. They’re nowhere near as polished, nor should they be. Uncharted 4 was on an entirely different system and the first Uncharted came out right at the beginning of the PlayStation 3’s lifecycle.
I mean, it hardly looks bad and you can’t blame Naughty Dog. This was the origin of one of the most critically acclaimed series ever. Each title is an adventurous romp with DNA injected from Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider and a few other classic heist movies. There had been games like this before, but never quite like this. The (then) advanced hardware meant Nate, Sully and the rest had an opportunity to really wow gamers. I distinctly recall Nate’s jeans turning a darker shade of blue when I jumped into a river; that level of detail shocked me at the time. Now, for the rest of the game, would I fixate on his clothes’ dampness for even a single second? Absolutely not, but that was just one notch in their belt of tricks.
I never got tired of the banter, particularly between Sully and Nate. At the time, this felt like movie-quality dialogue. Everybody’s cracking wise, or spouting dramatic exclamations when they need to be, or shouting about an upcoming building about to crash on their heads. There’s development, uncertainty, twists but also consistency among the characters to the point where I think Sully is one of the all-time great sidekicks in gaming. Mark Wahlberg was fine in the movie adaptation, but nobody can touch the voice of Richard McGonagle as Victor Sullivan. It’s right up there with Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man in Mass Effect 2, or Michael Mando as Vaas in Far Cry 3 as performances I admire the most.
Bastion was a superb example of merging gameplay and story. If the Uncharted games have been guilty of, in hindsight, it’s the dissonance on display. The main character is Nathan Drake, he’s a happy-go-lucky thief, archaeologist, treasure hunter, explorer and historian. He has friends. He’s a scoundrel, true, but he’s got a good heart. You could see yourself having a great night out with him. He can be the straight man and the jokester and often is.
You spend the majority of the adventure killing your opposition, either through gunfire, grenades or choking them out. With a body count this high, Nathan Drake should probably seek therapy and not buried treasure.
At the time I didn’t think much of that design conflict and to be honest I still don’t really today. I mean yeah it’s an issue if you’re analyzing each of the Uncharted games beyond a “is it fun” threshold, but I don’t believe that’s what Uncharted games are for. They’re for uncovering secrets that laid dormant for centuries, unearthing an ancient civilization’s tomb, magnificent set-pieces and intense gun battles. It may not be Shakespeare, but they’re fantastic popcorn games. And what’s wrong with that?
I might be harping too much. The 4th iteration was my Game of the Year in 2016 largely because of the evolution of the characters. You could tell Naughty Dog kept improving as a developer and comments made in the 4th Uncharted are far more mature, and you likely wouldn’t hear them in Drake’s Fortune.
A few areas near the end of the game creeped me out. The weird cursed mutant things crawling around a dark, underground labyrinth was more than enough to keep me on my toes. These kinds of adventures always do better when the threat has some teeth. The final boss must have taken me a dozen times, but I felt a great sense of relief and satisfaction when I hit the end credits. I even enjoyed myself enough to go for nearly all the trophies, something I rarely do. Hey, like I said, it was early in the PS3’s lifecycle and I didn’t have much else to play.
Much like how Bastion was the beginning of Supergiant’s terrific run, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was just the first step for one of the greatest developers. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and The Last of Us were massive leaps in terms of quality and it stamped Naughty Dog’s legacy as THE company for providing a cinematic experience through a controller. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is easily my least favorite Uncharted but at the time you could see the potential.
The 500 