Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Preview

As much as it craves triple-A games, the PS3 also needs more platform-exclusive titles to help push the console's sales. Not to mention Sony really needs to think about lowering the PS3's price some time soon (preferably during the upcoming holiday season).

Well, as luck would have it, some pretty cool-looking PS3 games are on the way and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune appears to be one of them.

While choosing the premise for this game, the developers mentioned they were inspired by a number of movie classics such as the Indiana Jones films, The Mummy movies, and more recent flicks like National Treasure and The Da Vinci Code. They even reverted to silent oldies like Fritz Lang's The Spiders (1919) and The Thief of Baghdad (1924).

Using all these movies as a foundation for an action game wasn't a bad idea and as it turns out, it eventually lead to the creation of the game's main character -a.k.a. Nathan Drake, a daring chap who heads on a journey in search of El Dorado, the lost city of gold. When it comes to adventure, Drake's ambitions know no bounds. In fact, he believes he is a descendant of the illustrious explorer/pirate Sir Francis Drake. Things get more exciting when he meets up with an uprising television host named Elena, who joins Drake on his quest for the elder Drake's legendary coffin, which was hurled into the sea a long time ago. The story kicks off as Drake and Elena locate the coffin and discover Sir Drake's travel log. Finally, they learn Sir Drake was connected to a secret Spanish colony on an unknown island in the Pacific, which is the very spot where the game takes place.

When it comes to gameplay, the developers were not shy to borrow elements from several recognized game franchises. For starters, you could say the game's over-the-shoulder aiming is a mish-mash of Resident Evil 4 and Splinter Cell, while the exploration and puzzle solving portions seem similar to the Tomb Raider series.

Drake's also no stranger to various stunts and acrobatics, which represent an integral part of the gameplay - in that respect, the game seems analogous to Ubisoft's Prince of Persia series. Still, the acrobatic moves won't be so over-the-top like in the PoP series. Drake is a daredevil and an eager adventurer, but in the end, most of his actions and stunts are bounded by realism.

In "Uncharted," there are a number of gameplay elements that were cleverly put together to allow for an effective combat system. When players attack foes from a distance, the game uses the aforementioned over-the-shoulder view. However, with one quick press of button, you'll be able to switch to melee combat and finish off enemies using punches, dropkicks and so on. In this way, the combat feels more organic and fluid.

So, basically, apart from exploration and puzzle solving, "Uncharted" is looking to make the combat a more involved and inherent part of the game, something that was often missing in the Tomb Raider series. With all these features included, it was revealed that it may take players roughly 10 hours to play through the entire game; provided they keep up the pace and don't bother much with exploring the area.

The hand-to-hand combat requires quick reactions. For example, once you enter melee combat, if you press the square button at the right moment, you can trigger an effective one-hit kill move, such as a deadly double-footed dropkick. Next to that, Drake can wrestle enemies and snap their necks. Some contextual moves were thrown in too, so if Drake is attacked while near a wall, he can grab enemies and slam their face straight into it.

As far as the shooting goes, Drake will be able to wield many diverse firearms, such as the handgun, AK-47, shotgun, grenades, etc. However, even with such an arsenal, in most cases, it would probably be best to seek out cover, before you rush out to meet your opponents head on (bearing in mind that enemies use cover, too). Ducking behind old ruins, rocks and such is, again, something we've seen in games like Gears of War and Killswitch. This is performed by hitting the circle button on the controller, every time when Drake is near a flat surface. On the other hand, pushing the X button allows Drake to jump over obstacles. From what we've heard, the system is fairly easy to get into.

Working on the AI was obviously another priority for the development team. During your adventures, enemies will do their best to flank you, take cover or simply hang back and wait for reinforcements rather than rushing blindly into action. Also, they won't hesitate to lob a few grenades your way to lure you out of cover.