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