None of the Uncharted games (including 4, which is relatively new) have aged particularly well, but the first entry in the series takes the cake in terms of being borderline unplayable in 2021. The charming interplay between genuinely likeable characters has always been the main draw of the series, and it’s present here as well, but everything else about this is really tough to swallow. The shooting is already bad enough, but the fact that enemies are massive bullet sponges (granted, also a problem in 2 and 3) makes every fight an interminable slog. The setting looks good for a game of this vintage, but it’s also effectively a hallway almost completely lacking in side paths and nooks that we would see in the later games.

The set pieces, so often the highlight of Uncharted games, are a mixed bag here - the bit with the U-boat stuck deep in the jungle, for instance, is a cool idea that is marred by the incredibly dumb and obvious fake death of Sully. The prison escape with Elena, in which you fight off pursuing vehicles with a machine gun mounted to the back of a jeep, is probably the best story beat and the game’s only successful gameplay switch away from the horrid third person shooting. But that small success is counterbalanced by the jet ski sequences, which are so awful that it’s unfathomable that they even made it into the game.

The story, which is a major strength in later games, is a fairly standard ripoff of Raiders of the Lost Ark, right down to the Nazis mutated by a cursed artifact. Still, the banter and chemistry between Nathan, Sully, and Elena is enjoyable, and the bumbling Eddie Raja is pretty amusing as one of villains. Stay around for the cutscenes, but don’t expect much from the gameplay until the sequels.