When the head designer of the famed developer Naughty Dog departed, there was an inkling that they just might lose their style and become yet another developer with long lost creative juices. Earlier this year however this fear was proven wrong as Naughty Dog unveiled one of the year’s most anticipated titles for the PS3, and not only that it is one of a few exclusives for the system – that of course being Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. While Uncharted does have its fair share of problems, it still remains a game that all PS3 owners must own, but only time will tell whether that is because of quality or the lack of other PS3 exclusives.

Uncharted is broken up into three main story sections - the initial section where you and a buxom TV journalist ‘Elena’ are filming a Discovery Channel style documentary and are attacked, a middle section where you are stuck in an unforgiving jungle, and the third section which is integral to the storyline and contains many spoilers. Uncharted never really gets going in terms of story, as we found ourselves playing the game because we enjoyed the combat most of the time rather than wanting to see what happened next. The word cliché comes to mind with Uncharted as you play through its fifteen or so levels.

Taking inspiration from the Tomb Raider series of games, you play from a third person perspective controlling Nathan Drake - a descendent of the famous Sir Francis Drake. It is Sir Francis' treasure which you seek but ultimately the game does feel somewhat like a Tomb Raider clone with just a little more gun play thrown in. However there are many things that Naughty Dog has done which, in our eyes, has put this title above Tomb Raider in terms of playability. They have tried to pitch Drake as an every day man rather than a buff action hero and in many aspects it works but in others it doesn't. Put it this way - I don't think I could do some of the things Drake does but he does react to situations in a much more human-like manner with emotions unlike most similar games.

The level design in this game is beautiful and brilliant. When we got stuck in the game it was only for five to ten minutes while we looked around at the surrounding environment trying to figure out what to do next. Uncharted is one of those gamers that when you do figure out what you need to do, you slap your head because it was so obvious. Many times we found ourselves over complicating puzzles only to discover the simplest solution was the correct one. This in a way is frustrating gameplay design but also opens it to the casuals as the puzzles are very logical and not that difficult.

For those who do get stuck, the game does have the ability to point you in the right direction. Holding L2 will give you a hint as to where to go next. This becomes available once the game detects you are either stuck for an extended period of time, or you keep falling to Drake's death, and it got us out of a few sticky situations. The level structure also very much represents that of Tomb Raider with ledges and other rocks used to leverage between areas. Other cool aspects are some on rail vehicle sections plus one area where you take on a Jet Ski and mimic many action movies by shooting enemies while flying down the river at high speed.

However it's not all positive news for this game. The first two or so hours are so brilliant you will think this is the best game of 2007. However once the gun combat comes into play the game becomes more of a third person shooter than adventure game and while this isn't a problem itself, the amount of enemies is. There are sections of the game you will polish five enemies off only to have another five and then another five appear. It really is a game where you cowardly hide behind rocks, poke out, shoot a few guys, and then go back. We also weren't huge fans of Elena being part of the actual gameplay, although she does act as a nice diversion for the enemies trying to shoot her.

It also doesn't help the game lacks a health meter with Naughty Dog deciding to change the colour of the environments to show how healthy Drake is. This is a nice idea, but the execution just fails a little as it can be very hard to tell just how sick Drake is. Instantly the screen will start to turn white when Drake is shot and the difference between one bullet and practically dead is almost minimal so it can be hard to tell. You can think you are almost finished, when in fact you are not.

Another problem which could have occurred but was saved at the last minute can be found in the level design. While the design of the levels is brilliant as touched upon, the repetition does tend to get to you however the game does a good job of changing it up just in the nick of time before much damage is done. The graphics of the game really are stunning and use the power of the PS3 well. The characters also react to the environment well, such as when Drake goes in water and his clothes, for a period of time, will appear soaking wet adding the next level of atmosphere and immersion to the game.

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is a game that PS3 owners should own but it’s more due to a lack of quality titles exclusive to the system than the game being mind blowing. It does a few things by the numbers but there are also times where the game really stands out. Drake may not be Lara Croft but he certainly gives her a run for her money.