Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Gamers generally associate the term 'platformer' with a medieval prince who’s out to rescue a beautiful princess from the clutches of an evil vizier... or perhaps a scantily dressed archaeologist with a British accent who could give good old Indiana Jones a run for his money.

But now we have yet another candidate to add to this list, and he goes by the name of Nathan Drake. Drake isn’t a skilled warrior like the Prince of Persia nor is he as literate and learned as Ms Croft; in fact he’s pretty much your average Joe who’s endowed with a corny sense of humor, a natural survival instinct, and a never-say-die attitude.

For his very first foray on the PS3, Nathan Drake’s out to procure the lost treasure of El Dorado with the help of an ambitious reporter who’ll go to any lengths to get the scoop of a lifetime, and a reliable sidekick who just happens to provide valuable backup in the nick of time.

Drake’s quest for this long-lost treasure takes him to a multitude of gorgeously detailed (and highly dangerous) islands in the Pacific Ocean. As expected, no treasure hunt is complete without bad guys, so expect tons of pirates, mercenaries and other menacing obstacles along the way. These, by the way, are fun to eliminate courtesy of the game’s awesome combat mechanics.

After my tryst with the crapfest that was Kane and Lynch, I have new respect for Naughty Dog for implementing a near-flawless cover system seen in games like Gears of War and Rainbow Six Vegas. With the flick of a button, Nathan can take cover behind any surface and just like Marcus Fenix or Logan Keller he can pop up from cover, pump his enemies with lead, and head back into cover once again. If you find yourself pinned down by enemy fire you could always blind fire with your selected weapon, but it won’t be too accurate.

As and when an enemy gets too close for comfort, you could utilize the game’s 'not too bad, but not too deep' melee combat system. While mashing the square key will unload a bunch of punches and dropkicks on your enemies, pressing square, triangle, square will unleash a brutal attack on your opponent. But don’t worry, we aren’t talking Manhunt kind of brutal here, we’re talking punching and kicking people in the face kinda brutal.

Enemies in Uncharted may not be the smartest people on the planet but they are pretty efficient at what they do and what they lack in brain power they make up for in sheer volume. Unlike older third person shooters where you could just plough your way through the opposition, you’ll actually have to use the cover mechanics a lot to survive enemy encounters (just like in Gears of War).

Lowly pirates bring relatively mellow weapons to the battle, but in later levels mercenaries bring in some serious firepower in the form of grenade launchers and sniper rifles that can kill you in one shot.