Tomb Raider without breasts?
Another thing that positively stood out was the combat element of the gameplay, something which I've never particularly enjoyed or thought was executed with much aplomb in the Tomb Raider games. In Uncharted Drake's Fortune however, the accuracy and smooth movement of the crosshair, coupled with the natural and fluid animations of Nathan Drake as you orderhim (with O) to duck or hide behind environmental objects, plus the intelligent behaviour of the AI did make for a decent and enjoyable shoot-out. We understand that they'll also be hand to hand close combat sequences allowing us to pull of an array of attacks, such as drop kicks and haymaker punches.
Furthermore, the superb graphics add to the believability of the combat and the platforming elements as you cross over some lush, living-breathing environments that are deep in texture and sport some of the best water effects we've seen in a videogame (yes, even better than Xbox 360's Bioshock).
Click for larger image
Click for larger imageIn my review of Tomb Raider Anniversary , I admitted that I was getting bored with Lara's adventures, but Uncharted Drake's Fortune could now be the future for this type of third person action adventure. The premise is the same, but it's got graphical polish, fluidity, deeper combat and a fresh approach to platforming, thanks to the six-axis controller. It's too early to tell whether gamers will take into their hearts this third person action adventure in the same way that they have with Tomb Raider (the lack of breasts may be an issue), but nevertheless Uncharted Drake's Fortune is shaping up to be a solid and colourful adventure.
Uncharted Drake's Fortune is due for release in November 2007 on PS3.
