Uncharted

05.12.2007

Beautiful. This is what Uncharted: Drake's Fortune looks like, and it draws you in right from the start with perfectly animated water and a gloriously colourful background. In addition, you will quickly grow extremely fond of Nate, an adventurer by vocation. Together with his older mate, Sully, and the reporter, Elena, he wants to track down the bequest of his ancestor, Sir Francis Drake. The legendary treasure of El Dorado is set to get a new owner, but of course nothing runs to plan.

Treasure hunters must be experienced! There are a number of obstacles standing in the way of your search, taking many different forms. You will have to climb, solve puzzles, fight and shoot. Luckily, Nate is not just a first-class talker; he can also climb like a crazy monkey. Crazy, because that is how you will overcome many fatal precipices — with daring jumps and climbs. Dive from a rocky plateau onto a rock face and hold on by gripping a few protruding stones. Skilfully swing from one rock edge to another, balancing by using the motion sensor in the PS3 controller over fallen tree trunks, or build up enough momentum to run along a rock face hanging onto a liana. Not all the climbing routes are obvious, and sometimes you will have to look around the area you are in first, in order to work out which path you must take.

However, it needs more than a good eye for climbing challenges to make progress, as the game also has a few puzzles for you. As you will be carrying around an old yellowed notebook that belonged to your ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, you will often receive support in lining up antique figures or correctly arranging objects. Sometimes you will have to shoot down objects, ignite them or push them around. Although the puzzles are not the most demanding ever, they make a welcome and fun change from the risky climbing tours and the shoot-outs in the foreground.

When you are talking about a wealth of treasure full of promise, there are normally a number of parties involved. Bronzed opponents, and less suntanned creeps later on as well, stand between you and the coveted gold statue, and they are not interested in negotiating. Using the circle button, you can roll to the next best cover position, as soon as the lead is whistling around your ears. Nate presses against pillars and walls, rolls from one position to the next, and climbs over obstacles. All this works perfectly, and is easy to do, and all the movements appear to be real and believable. The skirmishes are demanding, as the enemies do not exactly behave stupidly. Even if they sometimes run into their own grenades, or are sent to the beyond by their own mortars, which could be seen as stupid, they are not just cannon fodder. The opponents are quite agile, and can move forwards or flank you from the side. Whipping boys also have a very good time. Creep up on the scoundrels and eliminate them with a fatal close combat attack, or beat the living daylights out of them with some simple combinations, as soon as they come too close to you. In some cases, you can eliminate all the opponents from a single position with targeted shots, however as soon as the levels are more angled or of a larger area, you need to keep moving, often shooting from the hip and proceeding tactically, in order to save your virtual life.

It is worth protecting the virtual life for as long as possible, in order to see all the graphic splendour that shines from the game. Beautiful wooded sections, adorned with many different plants that sway in the wind. Sunlight that breaks through the branches and casts delightful shadows. Colourful birds and nimble little monkeys under a clear sky, and less attractive animals in dark catacombs, bring life to the game. After a dive, the beautiful reflective water leaves visible traces in the form of soaking wet clothing. While the water is still dripping from your sweatshirt, grenades are already flying around your ears again, creating a very realistic explosion, together with a rising cloud of smoke. Fear is shown in the face of the characters, as pores and beads of sweat are visible. We could go on writing for pages — the game looks simply bombastic. Your ears are also in for a treat. Epic background music, which sounds exciting and nerve-racking through the speakers, provides an atmospheric mood. A nice addition: The convincing German language version can also be translated on request into English or other common languages, including the subtitles.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is neither revolutionary nor particularly innovative. Certainly it makes the most of the PS3 controller motion sensor in some cases, even if only occasionally, and the successes that can be achieved by making a certain number of shots, or by finding smaller pieces of treasure, are a nice idea, while not a new one. In general, you will have already seen everything in other games, whether it is the climbs, the puzzles, the fights or the cover position system, or the chase in a jeep. But in spite of this, this game is something special, because all these well-functioning and proven elements come together as a great overall package. Above all it is the story, together with the believable and real protagonists, that give the title a particularly pleasant tone. Nathan Drake really is a great character, who keeps on providing laughs with his ironic and chummy ways. In addition, there is currently no other console title that comes anywhere near Uncharted: Drake's Fortune from an optical perspective.