Previews// Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Naughty Dog/Sony’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (UDF) has recently been causing something of a stink with a region-locked demo meaning that no PAL play was possible.

Apparently PAL gamers will have to wait until 22nd November to download their demon… sorry, demo.

Well, fortunately for SPOnG and our glorious debug PS3, we didn’t have to wait that long. In fact, I’ve finished the demo that Sony sent us, and here are my initial reactions…

Having recently had to sit through the soul-destruction that is Lair for PS3; and not being the kind of Nipponophile who falls for the likes of Folklore on the same platform (I don’t recommend either), I approached Uncharted with a kind of weary anticipation.

The PlayStation 3 needs good games. Not in the same way as your partner ‘needs’ you to come out and meet their friends who you’ll just love (you won’t, they’ll judge you and deem you unworthy, or you’ll fancy one of them and things will go horribly wrong). The PS3 needs good games – no, great games – in the same way that a movie star needs a hit film after two flops; the rule is ‘three flops and you’re dead’. It’s a harsh world is Hollywood; apparently video games companies want to play in that same kind of high risk space – don’t blame us, we didn’t make up the rules.

Once the initial bounce of the £299 PS3 has worn off, those people who own one will have no other option but to play PS3 games (remember, with the low price comes no backwards compatibility). With that in mind, a game like Uncharted takes on slightly more than passing importance.

So, with preview code slapped into the debug PS3, I leant back to soak up the inevitable movie-like intro. Heavenly Sword has gone some way to convincing me that, in some cases at least, cut-scenes and movies can be more interesting than the game itself. Generally, however, I don’t like movie intros. I’m more of a Warhawk kind of a bloke – get in there, get some action, stop all the messing about with plot and nonsense.

Actually, I’m more of a Actua Soccer 3 kind of a guy… but I don’t think that’s entirely relevant here.

Quickly now – the cut-scenes work. I enjoyed them. They enabled me to relate to the characters, catch my breath and see how the plot was evolving. Blimey! You can teach an old dog (or bitch) new tricks. Score 1 for UDF.

So, what were my expectations? First up, it’s a Naughty Dog development. That, of course, means zany, fast-packed, cartoony (yes, Crash Bandicooty) madness, right?

Wrong, and that’s the kind of attitude that gets you sacked as a video game (p)reviewer and told to go and work in the music industry. While UDF is undeniably amusing in places, has pace and character, and doesn’t stint on its overall gamliness, it’s about as much like that Bandicoot as David Bowie’s The Laughing Gnome is similar to David Bowie’s We Are The Dead.