NOTE: This is part one in an ongoing retrospective where I dissect each Uncharted game and talk about my experiences, joys, and qualms in regards to each game. Today we will be looking at Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. If you enjoy this review, please check out each new part when they are released. With that being said, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.
So when I started playing Uncharted last Spring, I never expected to get so heavily invested in the series. My only exposure with the series prior was beating Uncharted 2 the week I got my PS4 in 2015 because it came with a bundle that had a download code for Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection. But here I am almost a year and a half removed from finishing the first game and I’ve now played each entry and fallen head over heels for this series. The series mixes third person cover shooter gunplay with bombastic action set pieces and ambitious story telling. Yeah, sure, not every game lands (Which we will be getting to in this review), but every game is at least competently made and worth at least one playthrough. So given how amazing the series is, how does the first entry hold up? Does it feature that amazing cover based gameplay with huge landmarks around you all while telling a deep story about learning when to cut your losses and call your heyday quits? Well, uh… no, it doesn’t.
Now, I’m making Drake’s Fortune sound like a bad game when it's not. It is a competently made third person shooter with the plot of a B list action movie and that’s all it really needs to be. The story follows the protagonist Drake, his friend Sullivan, and a photographer met in the first chapter named Elena. They all go on an adventure to retrieve famous nomad Sir Francis Drake’s treasure and end up crashing in a Spanish fortress. There, Drake climbs rocky cliff sides and crumbling ruins all while trying to retrieve the treasure. There’s also a supernatural element featured in the last three chapters, but I forgot everything about it, so I won’t be covering it. While, yes, the plot is really bare bones and by the numbers, it holds its own and ends up being a memorable experience because of the landmarks you see while adventuring. The Uncharted series is known for its excellent action set pieces and while not as boisterous as the third or fourth game, Drake’s Fortune still has tons of memorable moments like when you first crash in the castle and see the stunning cliff sides or while you explore an abandoned sea vessel while paranormal creatures attack you.
So if the set pieces hold up in comparison to the rest of the series, does the gameplay? Ehhh… it is hard to explain. To be honest, the only game where I liked the shooting was Uncharted: Golden Abyss and that was because of the gyro aiming. Besides that, I’m not a fan of any cover shooters that aren’t Call of Duty or Halo and I have a special distaste for cover shooters of the third person shooter variety. While the combat is competent, each section feels like it lasts too long and the guns feel like plastic. Combine that with the janky platforming and mediocre puzzles, and the gameplay is just sort of a blur that carried me from Chapter 1 to the Epilogue.
You might think because of this review I dislike Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, but that’s far from the case. I just feel the game shows its age more than any other game in the series and that it isn’t anywhere near as strong as most of the games that would follow it. I still recommend Drake’s Fortune if you’re looking to get into Uncharted because you just don’t appreciate the transition from silly action movie stories to the gorgeous narrative of Uncharted 4: A Thieve’s End without it. With that being said, I firmly place this game in a C tier and if I could rate it among the rest of the Uncharted games, I’d say it goes towards the bottom. Where at the bottom will remain a mystery til we reach further entries. Please check out Uncharted, though. It’s a phenomenal series and I’m looking forward to reviewing each entry in a retrospective styled review series.
Rating: C
Genre(s): Action adventure puzzle, third person shooter
So when I started playing Uncharted last Spring, I never expected to get so heavily invested in the series. My only exposure with the series prior was beating Uncharted 2 the week I got my PS4 in 2015 because it came with a bundle that had a download code for Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection. But here I am almost a year and a half removed from finishing the first game and I’ve now played each entry and fallen head over heels for this series. The series mixes third person cover shooter gunplay with bombastic action set pieces and ambitious story telling. Yeah, sure, not every game lands (Which we will be getting to in this review), but every game is at least competently made and worth at least one playthrough. So given how amazing the series is, how does the first entry hold up? Does it feature that amazing cover based gameplay with huge landmarks around you all while telling a deep story about learning when to cut your losses and call your heyday quits? Well, uh… no, it doesn’t.
Now, I’m making Drake’s Fortune sound like a bad game when it's not. It is a competently made third person shooter with the plot of a B list action movie and that’s all it really needs to be. The story follows the protagonist Drake, his friend Sullivan, and a photographer met in the first chapter named Elena. They all go on an adventure to retrieve famous nomad Sir Francis Drake’s treasure and end up crashing in a Spanish fortress. There, Drake climbs rocky cliff sides and crumbling ruins all while trying to retrieve the treasure. There’s also a supernatural element featured in the last three chapters, but I forgot everything about it, so I won’t be covering it. While, yes, the plot is really bare bones and by the numbers, it holds its own and ends up being a memorable experience because of the landmarks you see while adventuring. The Uncharted series is known for its excellent action set pieces and while not as boisterous as the third or fourth game, Drake’s Fortune still has tons of memorable moments like when you first crash in the castle and see the stunning cliff sides or while you explore an abandoned sea vessel while paranormal creatures attack you.
So if the set pieces hold up in comparison to the rest of the series, does the gameplay? Ehhh… it is hard to explain. To be honest, the only game where I liked the shooting was Uncharted: Golden Abyss and that was because of the gyro aiming. Besides that, I’m not a fan of any cover shooters that aren’t Call of Duty or Halo and I have a special distaste for cover shooters of the third person shooter variety. While the combat is competent, each section feels like it lasts too long and the guns feel like plastic. Combine that with the janky platforming and mediocre puzzles, and the gameplay is just sort of a blur that carried me from Chapter 1 to the Epilogue.
You might think because of this review I dislike Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, but that’s far from the case. I just feel the game shows its age more than any other game in the series and that it isn’t anywhere near as strong as most of the games that would follow it. I still recommend Drake’s Fortune if you’re looking to get into Uncharted because you just don’t appreciate the transition from silly action movie stories to the gorgeous narrative of Uncharted 4: A Thieve’s End without it. With that being said, I firmly place this game in a C tier and if I could rate it among the rest of the Uncharted games, I’d say it goes towards the bottom. Where at the bottom will remain a mystery til we reach further entries. Please check out Uncharted, though. It’s a phenomenal series and I’m looking forward to reviewing each entry in a retrospective styled review series.
Rating: C
Genre(s): Action adventure puzzle, third person shooter
Sure, I played and beat it...but definitely below my expectations, nowhere near the praise these games get, it's a popcorn game at best and much like popcorn movies, it kinda bores me, I prefer Tomb Raider 2013 over this any day. It's just one of those games where I play it, beat it and go "yeah I did that but now what? I don't feel like this added much to anything"
I gotta say, this game is great!
It's a third person shooter/parkour platformer, and I loved it. I went in looking for a decent cover shooter. And while I got that, I also got some absolutely FANTASTIC writing. I should have expected that, but it was a joy to listen to Drake, Sully, and Elena interact with each other. The gameplay was pretty good, it has a nice variety of weapons in the game, though I do find it annoying that you can only carry 2 weapons at a time, and some of the weapons the game barely gives you ammo for. (I'm looking at you, Desert Eagle) The parkour's pretty good, though it can feel a bit jank at times. But the story was fun, and the plot twist near the end had no right being as good as it was.
I'd give this game a solid 8.8/10. And when people say THIS is the worst game in the series, that makes me feel very confident in Uncharted 2.
It's a third person shooter/parkour platformer, and I loved it. I went in looking for a decent cover shooter. And while I got that, I also got some absolutely FANTASTIC writing. I should have expected that, but it was a joy to listen to Drake, Sully, and Elena interact with each other. The gameplay was pretty good, it has a nice variety of weapons in the game, though I do find it annoying that you can only carry 2 weapons at a time, and some of the weapons the game barely gives you ammo for. (I'm looking at you, Desert Eagle) The parkour's pretty good, though it can feel a bit jank at times. But the story was fun, and the plot twist near the end had no right being as good as it was.
I'd give this game a solid 8.8/10. And when people say THIS is the worst game in the series, that makes me feel very confident in Uncharted 2.
This series is some of the best the PS3 has to offer. Gorgeous visuals even for 2007, charismatic protag, climbing mechanics that are actually fun, high octane story. A must play.
A very solid effort to mark the debut of Nathan Drake's adventures. This game, unsurprisingly, falls short when compared to other entries in the series in terms of graphics and gameplay but it does offer an interesting story and at the time, it was a great graphical display and a somewhat influential game thanks to its Hollywood-eseque presentation.
An ok start for the series that features some control lag and a story that doesn't have its best potential in terms of writing, but set the ground for treasure exploration that is quite inspired in the Tomb Raider games. Nathan Drake seemed like a cool dude to chat with.
Lowkey impressed this sparked a franchise, I feel like this was pretty bland even for its time, but perhaps the Nathan Drake character was charming enough to connect with people. The series got better as it went, but none are my favorite by any means.
iam jellous of people that hate this game i wish i was that new to the gaming genre that I thought drakes fortunes is a bad 3rd person shooter relative to whatever else i played
Yeah this one is rough. Seems like Naughty Dog learned a lot between this and Uncharted 2, as that one is far better. I say just skip this one and go straight to Uncharted 2.
Shows its age
There should not be so much of this combat, it is mind numbing. Every “puzzle” requires you to either look at your notebook to follow cut and dry instructions or wander around until you find the magical hidden ledge you can climb on.
The story is leagues behind future Naughty Dog titles and is super predictable, aside from a terrible twist including weird monsters. How did they manage to jump the shark on the first game?
There should not be so much of this combat, it is mind numbing. Every “puzzle” requires you to either look at your notebook to follow cut and dry instructions or wander around until you find the magical hidden ledge you can climb on.
The story is leagues behind future Naughty Dog titles and is super predictable, aside from a terrible twist including weird monsters. How did they manage to jump the shark on the first game?
Just another action movie game, go watch a movie instead or play the original tomb raider trilogy (GOG) instead as it is superior to the uncharted series. Your welcome.
Eu juro que tentei, mas sinto que estou perdendo massa encefálica a cada capítulo. Não entendo como alguém consegue se desentender tanto com o tema do jogo, por que essa merda é uma prisão mental trajada de exploração. Um infinito corredor de pedras cheias de musgo e levels de combate tediosos. Ninguém merece, eu não mereço!!
why did this game turn into resident evil near the end
Crusty
no
Jogo curtinho com uma história bem mediana e um combate bem maçante, da para se divertir e passar raiva nos capítulos finais.
I wanted to quit the game several times because I found the combat system and the sheer amount of shooting passages unbearable. Unfortunately, the first part of the series still has a very strong focus on action and I really didn't enjoy it at all. However, the story, characters and atmosphere were very entertaining and simply...charming. I was definitely looking forward to the next installment and was glad to have stuck with it.
This review contains spoilers
This game had a lot of potential, that thankfully was exploited in the sequels. This game is basically an action-movie morphed into a video-game. Also, it also doesn't take itself seriously, like at all. The plot is ridiculous, and very fun because of it, the animations on deaths are hilarious (shoot someone with a sniper and they'll do a flip 90% of the time). This game's first half really is a guilty pleasure of mine, because of how stupid and fun it is.
The gameplay is mainly shooting, with a few puzzles (that aren't good). The shooting isn't fully brainless, but it isn't the most advanced thing in the world either. It's main strength is the level design. Basically, the challenge if this game is to try and take an advantagious position over your enemies, and the game doesn't always give you a good cover spot out of the gate, so you'll have to take down a few enemies to get to that good cover spot, and even then, you may get a grenade thrown at you, forcing you to move. The use of coverage is what makes the game fun, so when the last hour of the game just shoves it out of the way to make way for bullet-sponges enemis that you just have to unload in, the gameplay takes a hit. Sometimes, the game can feel a bit unfair, by just having every one fire on you at once, giving you an insta-kill if you pop your head out for even a milisecond, but overall, the gameplay is good.
However, the gameplay's flaws are made apparent by the game's pacing. The first half of the game are just shootouts, and that's fine because the level-design is great until that point, though you will be feeling a bit tired of the formula by then. Afterwards, the game gives you avried gameplay for an hour, with vehicle sections (which are fine, not good, not terrible, fine) that are a welcome change of pace. then, backl to shooting, but not just any shooting: poor shooting. The level design takes a hit, it doesn't feel as well designed, the game feels unfair at times (it can be blatantly easy for enemis to flank you at this point because of large arenas), and then the final hour hits, and wow its not good. I was intending on giving this a 3.5 rating, but the ending just took me out of it. It's just emptying round of ammo after round of ammo into enemis. It isn't fun. Yeah, getting a headshot kills them, so you're supposed to be going for the head, but the enemies move too fast to actually be aiming at them, so you just empty bullets until A/ they die, B/ you somehow get a headshot. A shame to be sure. So basically: the base formula of the game isn't bad, but the vehicle sections being more spread out around the game and the last hour being either trimmed or reworked would have hid the flaws of the system way better. Also, it lacks variety. The weapons that the game introduces arrive quite late in the game, and are just upgrades of previous weapons.
But, Uncharted is supposed to be an action movie, and it has the story and characters to go with it. The great cinematic setpieces aren't exactly there yet, but the rest of the story and characters reek of 2000s action-movie. The story is so over-the-top it's ridiculous. It involves spanish conquistadores, nazis, Francis Drake and zombies. That pitch is insane. The game puts a U-boat in the middle of the jungle. It isn't high-art, sure, but it's hella fun, and perfectly fits the "doesn't take itslef seriously" vibe of the game. The characters are great, at least the good guys are. the villains are forgettable, the twist villain sucks (and the final boss battle against him sucks too). But Nathan Sully and Elena are one of the best trios in gaming. Nathan is charismatic, quick-wited, and funny. Elena is often the one doing the rescuing actually, a strong female character that perfectly complements Nathan's goofiness with her more serious tone, and Sully is Sully. He shines more in later entries, and doesn't appear much in this game, but he already shows signs of greatness here.
This game is no masterpiece, it's pretty unremarkable overall. However there was a lot of potential in the gameplay and story, as well as the characters. It feels rushed, as I said the first half of the game had me giving it a 3.5/5 score, that later dipped because of less-than-steller level design. It's interesting to go back to, I enjoyed it way more this time around (which was my second time playing the game) than I did my first, though the ending reminded me why I didn't really love it the first time around.
The gameplay is mainly shooting, with a few puzzles (that aren't good). The shooting isn't fully brainless, but it isn't the most advanced thing in the world either. It's main strength is the level design. Basically, the challenge if this game is to try and take an advantagious position over your enemies, and the game doesn't always give you a good cover spot out of the gate, so you'll have to take down a few enemies to get to that good cover spot, and even then, you may get a grenade thrown at you, forcing you to move. The use of coverage is what makes the game fun, so when the last hour of the game just shoves it out of the way to make way for bullet-sponges enemis that you just have to unload in, the gameplay takes a hit. Sometimes, the game can feel a bit unfair, by just having every one fire on you at once, giving you an insta-kill if you pop your head out for even a milisecond, but overall, the gameplay is good.
However, the gameplay's flaws are made apparent by the game's pacing. The first half of the game are just shootouts, and that's fine because the level-design is great until that point, though you will be feeling a bit tired of the formula by then. Afterwards, the game gives you avried gameplay for an hour, with vehicle sections (which are fine, not good, not terrible, fine) that are a welcome change of pace. then, backl to shooting, but not just any shooting: poor shooting. The level design takes a hit, it doesn't feel as well designed, the game feels unfair at times (it can be blatantly easy for enemis to flank you at this point because of large arenas), and then the final hour hits, and wow its not good. I was intending on giving this a 3.5 rating, but the ending just took me out of it. It's just emptying round of ammo after round of ammo into enemis. It isn't fun. Yeah, getting a headshot kills them, so you're supposed to be going for the head, but the enemies move too fast to actually be aiming at them, so you just empty bullets until A/ they die, B/ you somehow get a headshot. A shame to be sure. So basically: the base formula of the game isn't bad, but the vehicle sections being more spread out around the game and the last hour being either trimmed or reworked would have hid the flaws of the system way better. Also, it lacks variety. The weapons that the game introduces arrive quite late in the game, and are just upgrades of previous weapons.
But, Uncharted is supposed to be an action movie, and it has the story and characters to go with it. The great cinematic setpieces aren't exactly there yet, but the rest of the story and characters reek of 2000s action-movie. The story is so over-the-top it's ridiculous. It involves spanish conquistadores, nazis, Francis Drake and zombies. That pitch is insane. The game puts a U-boat in the middle of the jungle. It isn't high-art, sure, but it's hella fun, and perfectly fits the "doesn't take itslef seriously" vibe of the game. The characters are great, at least the good guys are. the villains are forgettable, the twist villain sucks (and the final boss battle against him sucks too). But Nathan Sully and Elena are one of the best trios in gaming. Nathan is charismatic, quick-wited, and funny. Elena is often the one doing the rescuing actually, a strong female character that perfectly complements Nathan's goofiness with her more serious tone, and Sully is Sully. He shines more in later entries, and doesn't appear much in this game, but he already shows signs of greatness here.
This game is no masterpiece, it's pretty unremarkable overall. However there was a lot of potential in the gameplay and story, as well as the characters. It feels rushed, as I said the first half of the game had me giving it a 3.5/5 score, that later dipped because of less-than-steller level design. It's interesting to go back to, I enjoyed it way more this time around (which was my second time playing the game) than I did my first, though the ending reminded me why I didn't really love it the first time around.
As the first entry in a storied and influential franchise, it deserves recognition. However it does not live up to Naughty Dog's modern standards. A rough draft for Uncharted 2, which is the true beginning of the Uncharted Trilogy.
Also, my first PlayStation Platinum.
Also, my first PlayStation Platinum.
this game blows, not very fun at all
Not that bad..
This review contains spoilers
What a fun romp! I am still reeling from the twist at the end 16 years later.
I only finished b/c I wanted to play the other games, and it's was worth it
I will catch slack for this statement, but without the 2022 Uncharted film, I would’ve never become an Uncharted fan. It was only after watching the movie and seeing the fan criticisms being levied at it that I became interested in playing through the franchise at all. I needed to see for myself if the writers and actors of the film failed to capture the treasure hunting antics and iconic personalities of Nathan Drake and Victor “Sully” Sullivan that are so important to the series' identity. In hindsight, the film did fail in those respects, but let’s ignore it and discuss the first game in the franchise - Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
Released in late 2007, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was an unprecedented success on the PS3. I’m unsure if this was a foregone conclusion at the time given the stellar track record of the studio creating the game up to 2007, but nowadays the Naughty Dog name is synonymous with polish and quality. Coming off the heels of their success with the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series, Uncharted took the studio in a new direction. While they left behind the quirky orange mascot of Crash, the wisecracking of Daxter, and the stoic badassery of Jak, Naughty Dog replaced them with the adventure loving, gun wielding, treasure chasing, and still wisecracking Nathan “Nate” Drake. This was obviously a wise decision on the part of Naughty Dog, as the Uncharted series would become synonymous with the Playstation brand and Nathan Drake would become another Sony mascot of sorts. I, however, was not on board with this change and actively resented the series at its debut. It was replacing my favorite game series of all time, Jak and Daxter, and killing my hopes of a Jak IV (no, Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier does not count). Looking back, I realize the advent of Uncharted was necessary to continue the growth of Naughty Dog as a game developer and a studio known for its storytelling. With the overtly adult themes and dark tones of their most recent releases, however, maybe it is time for the studio to return to form and give us something a little more campy and a little more fun.
Drake’s Fortune begins on a boat as the player is introduced for the first time to Nate and, arguably, the second most important character in the entire series, Elena Fisher. The two are in the middle of the ocean to uncover the coffin of the famous pirate Sir Francis Drake, a possible relative to our titular hero. Elena, neither an adventurer nor an experienced diver, is here to document the historical find, while Nate hopes to unearth long forgotten treasure. The two soon discover the coffin, but are quickly ambushed by the antagonistic force of this game, a highly trained group of mercenary’s lead by Atoq Navarro. A shootout between the unlucky couple of treasure hunters and the mercenaries acts as the game’s tutorial and an introduction to the gameplay of the entire Uncharted series.
The best way to describe playing any Uncharted game is likening it to playing an Indiana Jones movie with bigger stunts, just as many puzzles, more guns, more death, and less Nazis. The player will spend most of their time guiding Nate through treacherous ancient death traps, solving challenging puzzles of the past, and engaging in intense and nearly unwinnable gunfights with a limitless supply of goons. The controls are smooth and responsive allowing for precise aiming, quick dives to cover, and effortless 3D platforming. While your ability to aim true and find the right cover will be tested on harder difficulties, the game is never unfair and is able to strike a balance between frustratingly difficult and excitingly challenging.
Looking back on Drake’s Fortune with the knowledge of where the series will go and where Nathan as a character ultimately ends up, this game is a fantastic introduction and is only made better by the subsequent games. Thanks to this foresight, the game's title becomes multi-faceted where “Fortune” takes on several different meanings for Nathan Drake as a character. Let me explain.
Fortune has three widely accepted meanings: (1) a very large sum of money, (2) prosperity attained partly through luck, and (3) destiny or fate. For the first meaning of the word, it is obvious by the end of the game that Nathan and friends find a fortune in treasure. The second meaning, while slightly less obvious, was explained by Naughty Dog themselves in a 2018 interview stating that Nathan’s health bar is actually just a luck meter, with each decrease of the bar representing Nathan’s luck running out. When the bar gets low enough Nathan’s luck has run out and his enemies will get a clear shot and kill him. While this sounds silly, it does mean that everything Nathan has accomplished is partly due to his insane amount of luck, i.e. his prosperity is attained partly through luck. The final meaning of the word, destiny or fate, can be applied to this first game in two different ways. First, the meeting of Elena and Nate was destined to occur as they are meant to be together. Second, it was fate that brought Nathan to the coffin of Sir Francis Drake in the first place and set about this whole chain of events that would span several games, a spin off, and a movie. Am I looking too deep into a title? Maybe.
In conclusion, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is an absolute gem and a great introduction to the series. With its compelling narrative, thrilling gameplay, and memorable characters, it set the benchmark for action-adventure games going forward and would only be topped by its sequel.
Released in late 2007, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was an unprecedented success on the PS3. I’m unsure if this was a foregone conclusion at the time given the stellar track record of the studio creating the game up to 2007, but nowadays the Naughty Dog name is synonymous with polish and quality. Coming off the heels of their success with the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series, Uncharted took the studio in a new direction. While they left behind the quirky orange mascot of Crash, the wisecracking of Daxter, and the stoic badassery of Jak, Naughty Dog replaced them with the adventure loving, gun wielding, treasure chasing, and still wisecracking Nathan “Nate” Drake. This was obviously a wise decision on the part of Naughty Dog, as the Uncharted series would become synonymous with the Playstation brand and Nathan Drake would become another Sony mascot of sorts. I, however, was not on board with this change and actively resented the series at its debut. It was replacing my favorite game series of all time, Jak and Daxter, and killing my hopes of a Jak IV (no, Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier does not count). Looking back, I realize the advent of Uncharted was necessary to continue the growth of Naughty Dog as a game developer and a studio known for its storytelling. With the overtly adult themes and dark tones of their most recent releases, however, maybe it is time for the studio to return to form and give us something a little more campy and a little more fun.
Drake’s Fortune begins on a boat as the player is introduced for the first time to Nate and, arguably, the second most important character in the entire series, Elena Fisher. The two are in the middle of the ocean to uncover the coffin of the famous pirate Sir Francis Drake, a possible relative to our titular hero. Elena, neither an adventurer nor an experienced diver, is here to document the historical find, while Nate hopes to unearth long forgotten treasure. The two soon discover the coffin, but are quickly ambushed by the antagonistic force of this game, a highly trained group of mercenary’s lead by Atoq Navarro. A shootout between the unlucky couple of treasure hunters and the mercenaries acts as the game’s tutorial and an introduction to the gameplay of the entire Uncharted series.
The best way to describe playing any Uncharted game is likening it to playing an Indiana Jones movie with bigger stunts, just as many puzzles, more guns, more death, and less Nazis. The player will spend most of their time guiding Nate through treacherous ancient death traps, solving challenging puzzles of the past, and engaging in intense and nearly unwinnable gunfights with a limitless supply of goons. The controls are smooth and responsive allowing for precise aiming, quick dives to cover, and effortless 3D platforming. While your ability to aim true and find the right cover will be tested on harder difficulties, the game is never unfair and is able to strike a balance between frustratingly difficult and excitingly challenging.
Looking back on Drake’s Fortune with the knowledge of where the series will go and where Nathan as a character ultimately ends up, this game is a fantastic introduction and is only made better by the subsequent games. Thanks to this foresight, the game's title becomes multi-faceted where “Fortune” takes on several different meanings for Nathan Drake as a character. Let me explain.
Fortune has three widely accepted meanings: (1) a very large sum of money, (2) prosperity attained partly through luck, and (3) destiny or fate. For the first meaning of the word, it is obvious by the end of the game that Nathan and friends find a fortune in treasure. The second meaning, while slightly less obvious, was explained by Naughty Dog themselves in a 2018 interview stating that Nathan’s health bar is actually just a luck meter, with each decrease of the bar representing Nathan’s luck running out. When the bar gets low enough Nathan’s luck has run out and his enemies will get a clear shot and kill him. While this sounds silly, it does mean that everything Nathan has accomplished is partly due to his insane amount of luck, i.e. his prosperity is attained partly through luck. The final meaning of the word, destiny or fate, can be applied to this first game in two different ways. First, the meeting of Elena and Nate was destined to occur as they are meant to be together. Second, it was fate that brought Nathan to the coffin of Sir Francis Drake in the first place and set about this whole chain of events that would span several games, a spin off, and a movie. Am I looking too deep into a title? Maybe.
In conclusion, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is an absolute gem and a great introduction to the series. With its compelling narrative, thrilling gameplay, and memorable characters, it set the benchmark for action-adventure games going forward and would only be topped by its sequel.
Probably the worst in the franchise but its not bad at all. hits the ground running really well. Graphics look a bit janky now but its to be expected. Great start to an iconic franchise
Just like Nathan Drake, Naughty Dog was also still inexperienced at the whole 3rd person, character-driven genre, coming off of platformers like Jak and Daxter and the Crash Bandicoot series. A decent first attempt overall.
Been about 10 months since I started game and I just finished lmao
An okay start for an okay franchise.
When my dad moved out, he got a PS3 and a stack of games at his new place for us. I think this was one of them, thus it still carries a strange vibes for me. I've decided I'm going to overshare on Backloggd.Com.
Underwhelming and not so well-aged.