Since Uncharted: Among Thieves is turning 10 in October this year, it would be nice to revisit the first game released in Naughty Dog’s critically acclaimed series. A great measure of a good video game is how its gameplay experience fares after several years. That said, many titles have stood the test of time, among them great games like Minecraft, Super Mario Bros., StarCraft, and Tetris, just to name a few.
So after all these years, how does Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune hold up?
For anyone in the dark, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was launched exclusively for the PlayStation 3 back in 2007. Upon its release, the game received a lot of positive feedback for its visually stunning graphics and good character development. The overall production value was praised, with critics calling it “top-notch” and even comparable to movies straight out of Hollywood.
On the other hand, Jake Magee from GazetteXtra points out some of the game’s flaws. As someone who played the PlayStation 4 remastered version of the game, it was easy for him to spot what Drake’s Fortune lacked. The game is more than a decade old, after all, and a lot of technological advances can happen in such a long period of time.
Uncharted’s debut title featured a mediocre duck-and-cover combat system, as well as some annoying and sometimes unfair platforming challenges. Compared to today’s games, the action sequences in Drake’s Fortune were hit and miss. For instance, the design around the sequence where protagonist Nathan Drake drives a watercraft while enemies throw grenades from above can be considered poor by today’s standards. That’s because, in order to fight the enemies, the player has to stop driving the watercraft and use the duck-and-cover system again for combat.
Of course, Uncharted greatly improved with its sequels. Uncharted: Among Thieves is widely regarded as the best in the series. Naughty Dog upped the ante with its thrilling narrative and fantastic level designs. Meanwhile, the finale to Nathan Drake’s story, Uncharted: A Thief’s End, also garnered positive reviews. People have said that the game was a satisfying end to the series. In Level Skip‘s ranking of the Uncharted games, Drake’s Fortune was actually placed last. It just goes to show how much video games can mature in a span of several years.
Regardless of Uncharted’s timelessness, you cannot deny the impact the series has had over modern video games. Uncharted set the bar for compelling characters and great storytelling. And since then, other games have tried to make their characters more likable or relatable, like Tomb Raider, Infamous, Vanquish, and Enslaved. Meanwhile, the exploration aspect of Uncharted can be seen on even smaller scale games like Jungle Jim – El Dorado on ExpatBets. El Dorado was the plot focus of Drake’s Fortune, with protagonist Nathan Drake going on a quest to find its location. Even the featured character looks quite similar to Nathan Drake. So even if people can’t agree with how the Uncharted series has aged, it is still applauded for its then groundbreaking playing experience.
With the benefit of hindsight this 2019, it’s safe to say that Uncharted paved the way for video games with good quality plot lines. In fact, thanks to the feedback on Uncharted, Naughty Dog was able to create another masterpiece in video game storytelling — 2013’s The Last of Us. So whether or not you are a fan of Uncharted, you have to admit the series deserves a place in the video game hall of fame.
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