A video game review by: Lee Sonogan

(2007) Action, adventure, fantasy

My first experience to this Playstation exculsive video game series. Playing Last of Us I had to get the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection with all first three games remastered. Wikipedia desribes the story as off the coast of Panama, treasure hunter Nathan “Nate” Drake and journalist Elena Fisher excavate the coffin of English explorer Sir Francis Drake, Nate’s supposed ancestor, whose ring has coordinates leading to the location. Instead of a body, the duo find only a small notebook, which Nathan refuses to allow Elena to read. A small fleet of pirates attack their ship and set it on fire, destroying any record of their find save for the notebook and Elena’s camera. After getting her to safety, Nate holds a private discussion with Victor “Sully” Sullivan, his old friend and mentor. Based on clues provided by the notebook, he theorizes that Drake faked his death to cover up the discovery of El Dorado, an ancient city said to be made entirely of gold.

Inspiration for the game was drawn from various sources in the action and adventure genres: pulp magazines, movie serials, and more contemporary titles like Indiana Jones and National Treasure. The team felt the sources shared themes of mystery and “what-if scenarios” that romanticized adventure and aimed to include those in the game. When first unveiled, comparisons of elements such as platforming and shooting between Uncharted and the Tomb Raider series were drawn, earning the title the nickname of “Dude Raider”.

Development of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune began under the codename Big. The Naughty Dog development team intended the game’s main setting, the island, to play a big role in the overall experience. Feeling too many games used bleak, dark settings with dull color schemes, they wanted the island to be a vibrant, believable game world that immersed the player and encouraged exploration. Nathan Drake was envisioned as more of an everyman character than Lara Croft, the protagonist of Tomb Raider; shown as clearly under stress in the game’s many fire fights, with no special training and constantly living at the edge of his abilities. The director of the game, Amy Hennig felt a heavily armored, “tough as nails” protagonist with a large weapon was not a suitable hero, and decided a “tenacious and resourceful” character would portray more human qualities. Nolan North and Emily Rose did motion capture sequences for the game. Also voicing Nanthan Drake and Elena Fisher the two main characters of the game.

Overall, it was much different to Last of Us, but similar. As the story and cut scenes were long, exciting and in detail. This game was all about finding a hidden treasure on a island compared to a zombie video game. The shooting elements and puzzles are the key things you need to do in this somewhat linear game. Following the paths you will have to fight your way and solve your way to get further into the game. Some missions in this game are very good and awsome to play, tho there are some tendious challenges in others you need to get though. At first I played the game on hard cause I wished i did it for Last of Us. Two hours into the game i changed my mind and put it down to average. This game is challenging in many aspects and it leads to a satisfying ending. I recommend this game to anyone who wants to play a adventure movie in a video game or someone who was interested in the series like me.

7.4/10