Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Introduction

Announced before the kickoff of E3 2011, Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the first game from the Uncharted series to land on a mobile platform. However, Naughty Dog didn’t develop the Vita title as that baton was passed to Oregon-based Bend Studio. Released at the launch of the PlayStation Vita, the fourth entry into the franchise once again puts the player into the shoes of risk-taker Nathan Drake. Designed to fill in the gaps between the flashbacks during Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and the first game in the series Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Drake is tearing through the jungles of Central America to discover the 400-year-old secret behind a horrific massacre of a Spanish expedition.

While Sully (Victor Sullivan) doesn’t play much of a role in this tale, Drake gets a new female lead to flirt with by the name of Marisa Chase (voiced by Step by Step actress Christine Lakin) who happens to be searching for a missing archeologist (also her grandfather) that went missing in the ruins. Drake is also teaming up with Jason Dante (voiced by SOCOM voice actor Jason Spisak), a shady, fellow treasure hunter who also happens to know Sully. There’s even a retired, somewhat crazy general thrown into the mix, thus everyone is competing to reach the ruins before the other characters.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

If you have played any of the previous Uncharted games on the PS3, you will be right at home with the general format and control system on the Vita. Nathan Drake is still running around the landscape, leaping over massive drops, clinging to walls often on breakable objects, etc. The game can be played as a third-person, cover-based shooter or simply as a stealth game. Similar to previous games, if an enemy spots Drake during the level, all hell breaks loose and Drake’s position is swarmed immediately.

Enemy artificial intelligence is fairly moronic as well. They pick poor cover positions during most firefights, stick to a small handful of the same movements and simply don’t react after spotting a fallen comrade that Drake has silently dispatched. Overall, the major set pieces of the previous games have been toned down in both scope and chaotic action on-screen. Likely due to shortened development time or lack of Vita horsepower, the amount of enemies that Drake can battle at any given time is limited compared to previous entries in the franchise.

As a way to tie in the games within the Uncharted timeline, Drake is tasked with building out his trusty notebook that’s mostly blank due to the prequel nature of the game. This is accomplished by introducing a series of mini-games that require the player to perform actions like flicking the rear touch panel to adjust zoom on a camera for potential photographs, rub the front screen to create a charcoal rubbing or put together a torn drawing, map or photograph by rotating pieces and locking them together like a puzzle. While I applaud Bend Studio for trying anything new to the Uncharted franchise, the gimmicky nature of the mini-games would be tolerable if not for the ridiculous amount of touchscreen actions that fragment the pacing of the narrative.

Mapped to a button on the PS3 controller in previous Uncharted games, the game often abruptly forces the player to perform a swipe of the front touchscreen to move forward. This can be anything from chopping vines or a blanket (yes, a cloth blanket hanging in a doorway) with a machete to prying open a doorway. Countering punches in a fist-fight is also mapped to the touchscreen in addition to flicking grenades at enemies. (Interestingly, Nathan can’t toss a grenade back at an enemy like in Uncharted 3.) These awkward movements severely break up the action and rip the player out of the immersive environment to remind them that they are using a PlayStation Vita.

Alternatively, Bend Studio did an amazing job with integrating Vita features into the shooting controls without annoying the player. Using a combination of the right analog stick and the accelerometer, the player can bring the target reticule to the enemy with the stick and fine tune the position of the reticule by tilting the Vita. I actually found the combination more efficient in picking off enemies than the Dual Shock controller on the PS3. Another great addition to the shooting controls is the inclusion of the rear-panel swipe to control the zoom distance of the sniper rifle’s scope. While a front screen option also exists, allowing the player to keep their hands on the controls during combat is excellent and allows for quick action when firing off a few rounds.