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Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered (2015, Playstation 4) Review


WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE


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[I'm reviewing the version from The Nathan Drake Collection, which also contains part two and three of the series. A standalone PS4 remaster of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was allegedly released in 2016. I don't yet know if it differs from this version.]

When Naughty Dog originally released Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for the PS3 in 2007, games suddenly started competing with a specific movie genre: the action-adventure blockbuster. Why would we need cinema anymore, when games could present well-directed cinematics with a charismatic cast of characters and fine voice acting? And above all, why did we need actors pretending to be in danger when we could put the outcome of the action scenes into our own hands?

Nowadays, Tom Cruise and his ilk have shown how to engage their audiences with the return to dangerous stunts and practical effects, via brilliant movies like Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible - Fallout. But back in the aughties the doubts were valid, as movies started to rely increasingly on computer-generated animations for action.



The movie magic was lost, because the illusion was so apparent and unrelatable. No matter how realistic the VFX-crew made it look, they could never use it sparingly enough. The more indifferent the audience got, the more they cranked it up to grab our attention, and in so doing only bored us further. We knew the heroes in action movies were never in danger, since the actor obviously stood in front of a green screen. And how often has the hero died in the middle of an intense action scene? The more violent the situation, the less dangerous it was for the hero.

In stepped the gaming industry, with Sony and Uncharted at the forefront, to demonstrate a different option for the audience. In the role of roguish action hero Nathan Drake, a direct descendant of the explorer Francis Drake, you went on an Indiana Jones-esque archaeological adventure in the jungle. By your side you had a romantic interest and documentarian, Elena Fischer, and an old buddy and father figure, Victor Sullivan. Your goal was to beat the crooks to the location of the lost city of El Dorado.



Best of all was this: Contrary to movies, the more violent the situation, the more danger you were in. It was atmospheric, adventurous and exciting, with pretty visuals, a triumphant soundtrack and the soundscape of a humid jungle all around. Waterfalls, cliffsides and ancient temples were all integral parts of the gameplay as you scaled walls, jumped across deep ravines and took cover from gunfire behind ancient stone structures. You had to solve simple archaeological mysteries to proceed. Who needed boring, predictable adventure movies anymore?

Prior to this playthrough, I had finished Uncharted once, and remembered it quite fondly. But its legacy has been tarnished by frequent reports, from different sources, about how poorly it has aged. Most of them revolve around the repetitive nature of the gameplay loop; wave after wave of enemies spawning  from every corner, just out of view. They claim it grows tiresome, and the controls don't respond as well as they should.


After replaying Drake's Fortune on the PS4, I can see those flaws, but I honestly don't care. Maybe it's just the skillful remastering done by Bluepoint Games, but to me the game feels about as slick as necessary. It strikes a great balance between its combat scenarios, action set pieces, puzzle elements and spirited cinematics. It's probably not as refined as the later entries (we'll have to see when I replay them), but for me they are good and challenging enough to entertain a solid 8-hour playthrough.

I admit it feels basic in the way it repeats familiar gameplay elements like wall-climbing, cover-based shooting and lightweight puzzles. But the familiarity makes it instantly accessible, as if designed according to a modern gamer's instincts. It keeps the time commitment short and focused on the things that matter.

Nothing about Uncharted has ever felt unique or original. But through the restrictive linear progression and standard third-person shooting mechanics, it has a great sense of pacing. It has the flavor of a great, romantic adventure. And the tension is real - the checkpoint system is restrictive enough to make failure and death a real punishment. I constantly feel I'm in the hands of great storytellers, who know how to direct the player's experience through the exact right involvement.


Combat is the main focus of the gameplay loop. It is the most prevalent and challenging game mechanic. You quickly learn to read the situation ahead as an upcoming combat scenario: First off, you find weapon and ammunition pickups. The playing field opens up a bit to form an arena, and you detect a bunch of strategically placed cover positions. You can see some more gleaming pickups scattered all over the place, which often turn out to be more powerful weapons. Maybe you even spot a turret on the opposite side of the arena.

That's when the enemies start swarming in, wave after wave, giving you a hard time. I never grow tired of this loop, thanks to the delicate handling of the difficulty curve. Early on, while my skills are rusty, the enemy is poorly equipped. But in late-game scenarios, I have to constantly switch covers to avoid hand grenades, all the while dodging some sniper's laser sights and incoming grenade launcher fire. I remember many frustrating deaths in the original PS3-release. For some reason, I fared much better this time around.

It's like a juggling act, trying to maintain awareness of all the enemies, item pickups and cover locations. It feels engaging all the way through, and it's with great enjoyment I see my improvised attack plans work as intended. I particularly liked to lob a few grenades behind enemy cover to make them expose themselves, and then blow them to kingdom come by shooting an explosive barrel in their escape path.



However, the game is not without its fair share of problems. My major gripes are twofold: 

First and foremost, the platforming is pretty bad. Even Lara Croft did it better in the original Tomb Raider (1996). A jump you've failed nine times might suddenly succeed on your tenth attempt, although you did nothing remarkably different to make it across.

In one horrid segment, where I had to run and jump across a series of balconies, I fell to my death so many times I even started doubting I was going the right way. But since the game required me to shoot the lock off a door ahead of the final jump, I knew I must be on the right track. And of course I was - the game was just being super-particular about the positioning. You needed to be right on the very edge of the platform to reach the final balcony.


Secondly, for a game from a studio venerated for their storytelling, the story isn't really that special. The dialogue is good, and the interplay between the main cast is brilliantly cheeky, but the hunt for El Dorado itself lacks the mystery and fascination it should evoke. It's little more than a vanilla MacGuffin. Also, Naughty Dog don't do a lot with Nathan's and Francis Drake's kinship. I don't feel invested in the outcome of the treasure hunt itself, only in the fate of the characters. Luckily, for me that's all that matters.

Also, the villains are boring, evil archetypes. For unclear reasons, we get three of them. Why so many? Sure, a classic adventure movie like Raiders of the Lost Ark also had three distinct villains, but they each added a little something to the movie (well, at least they all got their own unforgettable death scene). In Drake's Fortune, the trio could have been utilized as three distinct boss fights, evenly distributed throughout the game, but this doesn't happen. Instead, we only get a lacklustre final confrontation against the most uncharismatic one.



The formulaic story and dull villains I can disregard, but it's hard to overlook the frustrating platforming segments. The precision required can be atrocious. The camera is often to blame, at least when it changes position to give you a "better", distanced overview of the situation. This only makes it harder, as you must steer the stick in the right angle to make it, otherwise you might miss the platform entirely.

I also detect a certain lack of polish in the clumsy cover mechanic. Taking cover shares button with the dodgeroll, which occasionally causes some confusion. But this does not aggravate me as much as I remember from my time with the PS3-version. On normal difficulty, the game lets you soak up a few bullets before dying, which gives you time to adapt to the control scheme's mischief. And the jet ski segments, that caused me so much grief in the original, I now cleared without a hassle.


I still sense a great triple-A game in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, but only by early PS3 standards. Over time it has aged to remain a good experience, but in most regards, it would no longer qualify as a blockbuster. It is too linear, too unrefined, too short and too basic. It offers no side content. Nowadays, we crave more, with no thoughts on whether we should just settle for better. It's no wonder that the most celebrated triple-A games the last couple of years have been refined remakes of - and sequels to - games that did it right the first time around.

What remains of the gameplay part of Drake's Fortune is a good double-A experience, well worth playing - at least in the shape of this skillful remaster. And a few triple-A qualities still remain. The main trio of characters, the dialogue, the cinematics, the voice acting, the flow and the pacing of the storytelling are all top-notch, priceless milestones to hang on to.


The gameplay tweaks and improvements secreted into this remaster eradicate most of the frustrations I felt playing the PS3 original. That version can now be retired, and this one should take its place. A solid framerate of 60 FPS, along with the chance to control Drake with the DualShock 4 explains why I felt so skilled this time around.

And when Bluepoint offers me a chance to shine, why should I not return the favor with a favorable review? Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a fine appetizer to a landmark series. I'm really stoked to experience how they handled even better source material in the weeks to come.

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