This review contains spoilers
These write-ups will fill out a lot more as the series goes along, but the first game just gets a quick write-up because it's been a while. Also because the first Uncharted is easily the worst (depending on how you qualify Golden Abyss).
Not a bad time, though, just rough compared to what the series would become. You can see the hallmarks of what would make the series so strong here: its character dynamics, its set pieces, its natural flow from jumpy-climby stuff to cover shooter stuff, etc. But I do feel like there's something missing yet. Nate and Sully have an instantly fun dynamic, but we don't get to spend nearly enough downtime with them to really feel their connection. Elena needs the second game to really tease out the extent of her relationship with Nate, but the start's there. The set pieces are great conceptually - the long-lost U-Boat in the middle of the Amazon is certainly striking - but it's rare for the game's spectacle to be used in a way that shakes up the gameplay experience. The search for El Dorado is a great high-concept, but I feel like the game's too quick to let Nate and Sully find SOMEthing.
I do sorta miss the focus this game has on its supernatural twist, given how supernatural elements get de-emphasized as the series progresses. I feel like it's almost genre work, so not having it in later games is a bit odd to me. ...at the same time, "zombies" is perhaps a bit too off-beat. I know it's a super-virus that's been sealed away forever blah blah blah - I dunno, I'd think that the virus would've gone extinct in the time between the Nazis showing up and Nate et al. showing up. Never mind the idea that the infected Spaniards could still be running around after 400 years, or that the preserved corpse would still be a vector. Ah, well.
Also, lobbing grenades with the Six-Axis motion controls is poopy. I get why it's there, Uncharted being so early in the PS3's life cycle, but still. Definitely glad later games moved away from it.
It's a modest start to what would become a great series. In a way, that's sort of perfect, given how much import the series places on the Sir Francis Drake motto "Greatness from Small Beginnings". But don't be too thrown if you don't love this game. This one's the stepping stone.
Not a bad time, though, just rough compared to what the series would become. You can see the hallmarks of what would make the series so strong here: its character dynamics, its set pieces, its natural flow from jumpy-climby stuff to cover shooter stuff, etc. But I do feel like there's something missing yet. Nate and Sully have an instantly fun dynamic, but we don't get to spend nearly enough downtime with them to really feel their connection. Elena needs the second game to really tease out the extent of her relationship with Nate, but the start's there. The set pieces are great conceptually - the long-lost U-Boat in the middle of the Amazon is certainly striking - but it's rare for the game's spectacle to be used in a way that shakes up the gameplay experience. The search for El Dorado is a great high-concept, but I feel like the game's too quick to let Nate and Sully find SOMEthing.
I do sorta miss the focus this game has on its supernatural twist, given how supernatural elements get de-emphasized as the series progresses. I feel like it's almost genre work, so not having it in later games is a bit odd to me. ...at the same time, "zombies" is perhaps a bit too off-beat. I know it's a super-virus that's been sealed away forever blah blah blah - I dunno, I'd think that the virus would've gone extinct in the time between the Nazis showing up and Nate et al. showing up. Never mind the idea that the infected Spaniards could still be running around after 400 years, or that the preserved corpse would still be a vector. Ah, well.
Also, lobbing grenades with the Six-Axis motion controls is poopy. I get why it's there, Uncharted being so early in the PS3's life cycle, but still. Definitely glad later games moved away from it.
It's a modest start to what would become a great series. In a way, that's sort of perfect, given how much import the series places on the Sir Francis Drake motto "Greatness from Small Beginnings". But don't be too thrown if you don't love this game. This one's the stepping stone.