Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Update

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is one of Sony's biggest guns in the PlayStation 3's holiday arsenal, and also vaunted developer Naughty Dog's first stab at making a game on next-generation hardware. The majority of Uncharted that we've seen so far has been set in the tropical jungle where Drake and friends will battle a team of crack mercenaries on their way to hopefully discovering the lost treasure of El Dorado to become rich beyond their wildest dreams. At least, that's the plan. But what else is in the game? Naughty Dog stopped by our office recently to show off some indoor areas from later in the adventure, which proved to us that Uncharted will be much more than a simple steamy jungle romp.

The game will be split over 20 chapters, and you'll see a chapter title tastefully pop up onscreen every time you begin a new section. This smacked of a good adventure novel to us, and lead designer Richard Lemarchand indeed said it's meant to evoke the classic adventure serials (think Indiana Jones), which inspired Uncharted in the first place. Our demo began at the outset of chapter 11, about halfway through the game, as Drake entered a customs house, an old 16-century Spanish governmental building originally used to coordinate the shipping of goods. The outside required Drake to leap across a few broken walkways and such to reach the interior. But those darn mercs had set up shop in the main, ruined room of the building, which required our hero to run from cover to cover, taking them down carefully and methodically as the tactical combat demands.

We were more impressed by the next section, which was set in an ancient monastery. In terms of design, this dimly candle-lit cathedral was the most starkly different setting we've seen yet in Uncharted and quite dissimilar to the typical jungle environments that make up the early game. We played through an intense firefight in the main room here, ducking or rolling between pews and columns as we fought off a number of mercs up close with shotguns. Toward the back of the church, we used high-powered, laser sight-equipped rifles. After we cleared the room of enemies, we uncovered a minor puzzle via a mysterious diary that required us to ring two bells at the same time (we'll leave the fairly intuitive solution to the player) that led us down into some subterranean catacombs, complete with Lara Croft-style chasm-jumping and ledge-grabbing.

Naughty Dog has been listening closely to player feedback from previous demo showings of the game, especially on certain Internet gaming forums that shall remain nameless. As a result, it has implemented a wide range of tweaks to the combat and navigation that we found improved the overall experience from the previous times we've played the game. Primarily, enemy resistance to damage has been reduced, so you won't unload half a clip of ammo into one guy before he goes down anymore. The targeting has also been tightened and refined; thus, overall, it felt like we were putting forth a much more effective offense than we were able to do in the past. Another nice addition will help you navigate some of the more acrobatic obstacles in the game. Whenever Drake is clinging to a ledge or overhang and you press the stick in the direction you want him to jump, he'll extend his arm toward the next available handhold--if there is one. This will give you a clearer visual cue that it's safe to leap without plunging to your doom.

Uncharted represents a departure from Naughty Dog's traditionally whimsical, cartoon-style roots, but the team's trademark design elements are still evident throughout the game. For one, you'll find a rewards system built into the game that's all but identical to the one seen in the Jak & Daxter series. You start out by earning medals, each of which has a point value attached to it. Some medals will be granted when you simply discover hidden treasure throughout the game. Others come from your actions, similar to Xbox Live achievements; for instance, scoring five headshots in a row might grant a medal. You'll see a little in-game pop-up that shows which medal you've just acquired, along with the number of points it's granted you.

There will be dozens of available rewards, each with a point cost. So as you accumulate points, you'll unlock more and more of the rewards, which will let you modify the game in all sorts of interesting ways. You'll unlock the requisite concept art and making-of videos, of course, but you'll also go on to open up new costumes for Drake and his friends. You'll eventually even be able to play through the game with different characters, such as Elena and Sullivan, on subsequent play-throughs. The rewards get really crazy when you get up to the graphical effects and gameplay tweaks that really change the look and feel of the game. You'll be able to play the game in slow-motion or sped up much faster than usual. There will be alternate render modes too. First you can turn things black and white or sepia-toned for a nostalgic look. Then later, you can crank the light bloom up to searing intensity or remove all the texture maps from the game to make everything look completely featureless.

We're not just being polite in saying that Uncharted looks better every time we see it. One of the pleasures of the prerelease previews process is seeing a developer put the final polish and refinement on a game over its last few weeks, which is what Naughty Dog seems to be doing here. Between the thoughtful gameplay tweaks and the smoother frame rate than we've seen previously, Uncharted was playing very well. And we're pleased with the direction this one's going. That said, we'll have to wait until the release date in late November to see how all these elements coalesce into one story-driven experience.