From humble beginnings to greatness
The Uncharted series is widely regarded as one of the most influential franchises in gaming. While the first installment, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, was considered a sleeper hit, it laid the groundwork for what was to come. Recognizing its potential, Naughty Dog poured their efforts into creating a truly monumental sequel. Their dedication paid off with the release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in 2009, propelling the series to household name status. As the fictional Francis Drake himself might say – rather than crapping himself to death – Sic Parvis Magna, or “Greatness from Small Beginnings.”
Full time explorer and overtime scoundrel, Nathan Drake is on the hunt for El Dorado. Is it an ancient lost city of gold? A statue? A CURSED STATUE? This game is as traditional a treasure hunting romp as they come. And it is glorious. Always armed with a gun and a quip, Nate and his mentor, Sully, think this is going to be a smooth endeavor. However, things don’t quite go as planned as they bite off a bit more than they can chew when a rag tag group of Indonesian pirates and the woefully cliche British bad guy happen to be on their trail. Caught in this mess is the lovely and equally snarky reporter Elena Fisher. Can Drake get the treasure? Can he save the girl? Can he save the whole world?!
While the series is known for globetrotting around the world, this first game mainly takes place on a secluded island off the coast near Panama. The gameplay in Uncharted 1 is split into a few main categories at any given time: around 50% cover-based shooting, 40% platforming, 8% puzzle-solving, and a solid 2% of that stupid fucking jetski bullshit. Nathan Drake controls well, but for a game aiming for a somewhat grounded vibe, his superhuman athleticism slams that notion into the dirt. I’d love to imagine myself pulling off even half of his stunts, but every time Nate parkours up a crumbling wall like a chimpanzee with a Spider-Man side hustle, I’m brutally reminded that my greatest physical achievements come from carrying all the groceries inside in one trip. Nate is a dude in jeans who is wielding an AK-47 held together by duct tape and plot armor. Every shootout is a chaotic dance of janky aiming against bullet-sponge enemies. The guns feel like they have all the weight of a fake plastic doubloon but it works for the PG-13 light hearted violence the developers were going for.
Each game’s platforming improves upon the last, but that isn’t to say that it started off here being total crap. Nathan Drake monkeys around surfaces and swings on vines like Tarzan, all with his bare fucking hands! There are moments where you’ll leap up from one ledge to another that appears 10 feet above you with no hesitation or momentum; I’ve never seen someone play through this and not acknowledge how fucking silly it looks. Even though it often defies logic, the platforming focuses on timing and finding the correct path – but it’s also more about figuring out which surface you can cling on to instead of accidentally plummeting poor Nate to his death like a Willie-Coyote cartoon.
Like I mentioned before, there are a few puzzle sections sprinkled throughout this relatively short campaign. These challenges are approachable at a novice level and if you take more than 20 seconds the game will literally hand you the solution. “Wait… I’ve seen this before in Drake’s diary!” How in the name of Coronado has no one else figured this crap out in over 400 years?! This shit would’ve been easier to get into than your mom after two shots of Bacardi.
I’d like to briefly touch upon the jet-skiing segments of this game. I’m speaking directly to the developers here: Naughty Dog ……I ask you…… The fuck?!
The game is an introduction to our lovable trio Nate, Elena and Sully. All the characters are instantly likeable with very strong chemistry. Nate and Sully are always exchanging funny quips- you really get the impression these two are ride-or-die lifelong pals. Elena is an equally tenacious protagonist who will stop at nothing to get her story. Her and Nate are my favorite fictional couple – yes, I’m an almost 30-year-old man saying this. The main villains in this game are nothing to write home about – I’ve played through at least 30 times and I still struggle to remember their names. However, the secondary villain, Eddy Raja, the smart mouthed Indonesian pirate really steals the show. He literally just eats every scene he is in. Eddy would’ve been better off as the main baddie. Aside from the two main villains, the characters are very well fleshed out and are endlessly quotable. The trio of Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher, and Victor Sullivan in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune quickly became one of gaming’s most beloved casts. It didn’t take long to fall in love with their personalities, and by the end of the first game, you’re fully invested in their journey, eager to see where their next adventure would take them.
I’ve personally platinumed all of the Uncharted games so I know them in-and-out. Luckily they didn’t make it a requirement to beat the game on the added “Brutal” difficulty within the Nathan Drake Collection… good luck with that shit. Uncharted 1 is objectively the weakest entry in the mainline series – it’s the shortest with a comparatively bare-bones narrative. The gun play is a tad flimsy, the puzzles are way too simple and the game suffers from the 2000s gaming curse of shoehorned QTEs – although there’s only a couple. It’s still a great foundation to what would become what is considered the greatest series on the Playstation. Grab a pistol, blast through waves of bullet sponges, head up the river, and see where the legend of Nathan Drake begins.
Feels kinda hinky,
Mikhail & Fil
Verdict: 8.5/10
https://opencritic.com/game/1543/uncharted-the-nathan-drake-collection