 Indiana wishes he looked this good. Nathan Drake has finally tracked down the lost treasure of his relative Sir Francis Drake. Unfortunately for him, he isn't the only person looking for its treasure. Nathan must go on a long, dangerous adventure to retrieve the treasure, save the girl, and get home alive to tell the tale.
1. Gameplay
I have heard people talk up the Uncharted series as one of the best video game series ever created. I’m not exaggerating with that, people have told me that Uncharted is the best game series ever. Now, I realize that if you looked hard enough you could probably find someone to say that for just about every series, but that isn’t really the point. I went in with high expectations for this game. In some ways it lived up to those expectations while in others it fell far short.  [Insert joke about "falling short" here. You know, since the image makes it a bit ironic.] I really liked this game’s story. It was simple, something that many similar games avoid like the plague. This wasn’t the kind of story that was going to make me rethink my life or shake the foundation of my belief system. This is Indiana Jones meets Tomb Raider. Nathan Drake is trying to find the treasure that Sir Francis Drake left behind, and in the process goes on a daring adventure. That’s basically the entire story. Nathan is a funny, simple man with simple motivations and somewhat stereotypical friends, but everything ties together in a way that has charm.  It's actually pretty funny at times. The platforming elements were fun. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out the various puzzles and climb the cliffs and buildings in order to progress. It wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t always a breeze. Sometimes I got lost, but I always knew that there was a way to get out if I looked hard enough, and eventually I found my way onward. But the combat was awful. It’s bad enough that the awkward cover system was often a chore to use, but the enemies were all overpowered. Death was a constant factor, even on the normal difficulty level. Maybe this is due to the age of the game, but compared to other third person cover shooters this game would have done better to remove the combat entirely and stick with the puzzles and platforms.  This is a great adventure game. It isn't a very good cover shooter. And this is a shame because once you strip away the enemy’s deadly firepower, the AI is extremely well designed. They would actually flank me if I stayed in one spot for too long. I had to be on the lookout for sneaky enemies making their way forward to try and catch me unprepared. If things had felt a bit more even (after all, I am only one person against usually half a dozen or more) this could have been an awesome element. I am going to play the sequel, but I really hope that the developers turn down the enemy’s strength. I can’t express how frustrating this game could be at times.
This game lasted around 8 to 9 hours of total play time. There were a good number of collectibles, most of which I happened to miss during my first playthrough, so there is some replay value here. However, the story never changes, so the player can decide to only go through the chapters where he missed collectibles and achieve the same end. With no multiplayer portion to this game and no additional content, there is very little reason why the player should replay the campaign unless they really liked the game.
I cannot begin to describe the frustration I encountered with Uncharted’s combat. The cover system was a bit rough but sufficient, weapons were varied and interesting, and the enemy AI was extremely well designed, but that was marred by the fact that enemies did way too much damage. I played through the game on the “Normal” difficulty level, yet there were a number of weapon types that would kill me in a single hit in most situations. And I don’t mean “I was mostly damaged and then I died”. I mean “I was at full health and then I died.”  One-hit KO. Again. Shotguns at close range, revolvers at any range, grenade launchers hitting anywhere within 5 feet, and anything that involved a laser sight at any range (including pistols). During the second chapter when the enemies were still using the most basic pistol, assault rifle, and shotgun I thought to myself “If the game is this difficult now, what it is going to be like in the final chapters?” The answer was that if I made one wrong move I would die. If I was out of cover at the wrong moment or didn’t notice the enemy flanking me within a few seconds or was reloading at the wrong moment or missed a shot or stayed out of cover for too long or anything of that sort I was dead. There were situations where I would die, respawn, and die again within 5 seconds repeatedly. I’m not exaggerating. I would attach to the nearest cover and be instantly killed because of a grenade launcher or someone with a revolver. I have never, ever played a game where the player could be killed in a single hit by anything on the “normal” difficulty level. Not even the ultra-realistic shooters do that. If the story wasn’t so good and the characters so well written I would have chucked this game out the window. The only thing that saved this game was the fact that combat was only half of the game, with the rest being enjoyable platforming sections or interesting story-moving cutscenes. 2. Parental Notices
Violence in Uncharted is fairly mild. The player will be involved in numerous firefights throughout the campaign, but these are interspersed with platforming sections that lack any violence. When the player is in combat, he will have access to a small variety of firearms, most of which will have the same effect. Hits will result in some blood. Up close this is easy to see, but at a distance it can be nearly impossible to identify.  This was one of the few times where blood was actually visible. Almost all weapons will have this exact same effect.  This is a better indicator of what combat will look like. Explosions will cause enemies to go flying into the air, but there is never any gore anywhere in the game.  Boom.
Sexuality is not a factor in this game.
A number of the characters can be seen smoking in different sections of the game. The most common depiction of this is one of the main characters, who is almost always seen smoking a cigar.  I'm sorry, the no smoking light is clearly on. There is also some sort of “ancient biological weapon” used to prevent a sarcophagus’ contents from being stolen. This weapon causes the potential looters to turn into rage-filled zombies.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Religion plays a very minor factor in this game. The giant golden statue that Nathan is looking for is described to have been worshipped by its creators as a “golden god”. I’m not really sure why they worshipped the statue they created, but that’s how the game describes it. For a good portion of the game the player will have to go to a church in order to look for the statue. The church has no religious symbols. However, some of the puzzles make references to religious people and icons and the symbols associated with those people. For example, the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all mentioned as part of a puzzle, and their animal symbol is included as well.  This puzzle would make more sense with the actual puzzle instead of just the clues.
There’s one section in the beginning of the game where Nathan mentions that he can’t call the authorities to save himself from pirates because he didn’t have a permit to treasure hunt. Other than this, anti-law is not a factor in this game.
There is no multiplayer mode for this game.
Half of this game will be spent in “platforming” activities. These will involve climbing up and around buildings and cliffs with extremely steep drops. It’s usually pretty perilous, but there are very few times when the player is in any real danger.  Hardcore parkour! There are also a few times in cutscenes when the action will take a slightly less plausible turn. For example, there is one scene where two of the main characters drive a jeep backwards off a cliff into the ocean in order to escape pursuing enemies. It isn’t a short fall either.  That plunged quickly. After the plane that Nathan is flying has engine troubles, he and the female lead have to jump out over an island. They end up parachuting down to the island below.  An improperly maintained aircraft can be hazardous to all passengers and crew. There are also a few sections where the player can drive jetskis. Most of the time, the player will have to drive while being shot at by enemies.  Wave Runner 2013
Magic is not a factor in this game.
Human Disfigurement Late in the game there are enemies who have essentially been zombified by the gaseous contents within a sarcophagus. The zombies end up attacking most of the characters at the end of the game. However, they are only present in a few short sections.  What happened to their clothes?
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