by Elton Gahr

Created on: June 02, 2009

In "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" you play the part of the descendant of Francis Drake. A modern day treasure hunter who his discovered Drake's lost diary and is searching for El Dorado the man of gold. A giant golden idol. You do this with running gun battles and climbing puzzles.

The game starts you on a boat where you, and the reporter who is helping to pay for the expedition have just found Drake's coffin, but rather than Drake you find his diary. Almost immediately you are attacked by pirates which takes you into a mercifully short tutorial of how to use the fighting system.

From there you are rescued by a friend who takes you to the last place El Dorado was found. It is gone but you discover a treasure map that leads to the island where most of the game takes place as you seek to escape the island as well as looking for El Dorado.

The biggest problem with this game is that it is a game of exploration that allows for almost none. From the first moment of the game you are put firmly on the rails. Each step forward must happen in a single way and the only puzzle is discovering what they want you to do. This leads to major frustration when you find a point in the game where the solution isn't clear because there is often no way back and so you are stuck experimenting, and though after a moment they will show you were you are supposed to go this only makes it more clear that you have no freedom in this game.

The two major elements of game play are gun battles and climbing and jumping from ledge to ledge and the game is best an neither of them, but it manages to be adequate at both and at its best moments it combines the two into challenges that are quite fun.

The graphics are little more than average for the play station 3, the puzzles are generally straightforward and it is nearly impossible to use any real strategy in the gun battles which typically involve enemies coming at you from one direction while you hide. This said, the game manages to be remarkably fun. There isn't anything truly original but the areas you walk through do look good, the levels are well designed with the correct difficulty in most places.

If you love Tome Rader and games of that type then this is a game well worth playing simply as an average or possible above average game in the third person puzzle shooter genre but there isn't anything here that makes it any better than any other game so rent it and save your money for something better.

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