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Thread: Let's Chart - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune!

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    'Just Friends' Formalhaut's Avatar
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    Default Let's Chart - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune!


    Let's get exploring!

    So the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End has inspired me to give this game another attempt. I played it over five years ago and I stopped playing because - and feel free to laugh - the zombie monsters. The smurfing zombie monsters. I'm not a fan of zombie monsters. I'm not a fan of horror in general. And then those smurfing weird creatures with the possible insta-kill move show and I nope out of the game.

    But not this time! Mercifully I've forgotten most of the plot and all of the controls, and to hell or high water I will actually complete this game and move on to the second game, which will definitely not have creepy things whatsoever. Nope, none.

    I purchased the Nathan Drake Collection for relatively cheap yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, Mr. Carny beat the entire game in a day. I can't promise such rapid times, primarily because I am bad at shooters, cautious in combat and fastidious in collecting. But let's get cracking! Thanks to the PS4, it can take screenshots for me. Which is neat, because pictures are great. There's also a Photo Mode option for this remaster, which might be handy.

    I'll be commenting on story, so if you haven't played the game, consider this your warning (well, I suppose you've been spoiled on zombie monsters), and before you ask, I'm playing on Easy. Because of course I am.


    Chapter I
    Ambushed

    So we start in some picturesque unnamed ocean. Actually, not just yet. First we have an artsy, deep message from Sir Francis Drake which basically translates to: finish what you started. Such wisdom, Sir Drake!


    Before I move on, can I just comment on how good looking Nathan Drake is? There's a variety of unlockable skins. Shirtless Drake isn't a thing, unfortunately. He's one sexy explorer/archaeologist. Honestly, in the world of gaming and fiction, they might as well be the same thing.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160625032412.jpg
    Has an attractive underwear modelling career lined up if this exploring gig doesn't work out


    Talking about shady archaeological practice, we're only seconds in and we're already defiling old, sacred relics and coffins. Drake attempts to cover and say it was an empty coffin, but he couldn't have possibly have known that before opening. So yeah, you might as well beat up ethical practice itself, Drake.


    Drake is joined by Elena, who I am guessing is the female lead (read: main love interest) of this story. She's a journalist. A really dedicated journalist, as we'll soon discover. Upon opening the coffin, Drake apparently finds what he was looking for: no, not a skeleton, but a diary! Sir Francis Drake's diary! What a find.

    Now let's go read it like we're reading some teenage girl's diary and giggle about how he totally fancies Chad over Thomas.

    Shock horror! Drake and Elena's gossipy spying time is interrupted by, you guessed it:


    Fortunately, Drake has exactly two pistols, and there's two people on board. Well that works out nicely. Especially given the fact that Elena apparently knows how to handle Drake's tool with ease. Wasn't she meant to just be a humble journalist?


    And so we enter combat for the first time, and demonstrate immediately how bad I am at shooters by getting Drake's health into off-grey (there's no life bars in these games), in the tutorial section, on easy. I'm also supremely inept at doing brutal combos. I know you're meant to pause slightly before pressing triangle, but the guy I'm beating up just punches me back. Ugh. I might just avoid all hand-to-hand completely.

    I also kept confusing the 'take cover' button for 'jump/climb' button, which was the opposite of the intended effect. I'm sure I'll get used to that.

    Otherwise, combat was okay, but was obviously easier than I'll end up getting into. The best bit was the banter between Drake and Elena.


    They then bring in a rocket launcher, just to up the stakes. They look like instant-kill weapons to me, which immediately raises alarm bells. Mercifully, I only had to avoid that for a few moments, before the cavalry arrives to rescue us.

    In this case, the cavalry is represented by a friendly if somewhat creepy man called Sullivan.

    The trio decamp to a lovely, pirate-free island. Nate tells Sully the good news. Basically, Sir Francis found El Dorado and swore his crew to silence, which gets Sullivan all aquiver.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160625034533.jpg
    Sully's cigar is still permanently glued to his face, apparently

    Meanwhile, Elena's outside on the phone. My first-ish impressions of her are pretty good, I have to admit. She seems like a strong character, not someone prone to be a damsel in distress type figure.


    In the end, Nate and Sully ditch Elena to wander the jungle for El Dorado, which is only barely surprising, leaving her alone on the docks. No doubt she'll reappear.

    And that's the end of the first chapter! A lot of cutscenes. But a good start to the game. Join me next time while we find El Dorado! Yup. Chapter Two. We're gonna find it now, I can feel it!


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    Resident Critic Ayen's Avatar
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    I have never played a single Uncharted game in my life, but I will follow this thread for the funny comments.

    Also, Elena is hot.

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    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    Oh yes oh yes oh yes. An Uncharted Lets Play! I'll be eagerly following this.

    I have great memories of Uncharted. Completed the original three games quite a few times. Sully is the best!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Formalhaut View Post
    Shirtless Drake isn't a thing, unfortunately.
    Such a waste.

    I really enjoyed this game, and the second one (which I haven't finished yet) is even better.

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    Previously on Formy's Fortune...

    We began our adventure on a boat in some nowhere ocean (but probably the pacific), salvaging some coffin from the water. Drake shows off his body in a skintight diving suit, and we're introduced to Elena Fisher - a no-nonsense journalist with attitude.

    Drake finds his ancestor's diary, and with it, possible clues to El Dorado. With creepy old guy Sullivan in tow, the two ditch Elena and head to some jungle in Central America to discover more.

    We're entering the game proper now!


    Almost immediately, we learn about Sully's 'skills' with a barmaid in Lima. Because we were just dying to know how much Viagra it takes for him to get frisky with a woman half his age.

    While enjoying the banter, I stumble upon the first treasure in the game (which Mr. Carny missed, for shame). Well, I say 'stumble', more 'playing with guide in hand so I don't miss any'. Moving past a beautiful waterfall, Nate and Sully enter some old ruin. These are some old ruins - way older than Sully initially estimates. More importantly, these conveniently placed pillars and ledges can only mean one thing - welcome to Introduction to Climbing 101!

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160626004035.jpg
    Someone's ready to ruin their manicure!

    Eventually we find out that the ground is hollow. After bagging another missed treasure, Nate keeps jumping, like a cool youth who's into parkour. While jumping, I wonder how long it takes for Drake to constantly keep resecuring his shirt over his belt buckle in just the right fashion.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160626004525.jpg
    Seriously, it stays like that the entire game

    After some more intense man on wall action, we knock a conveniently placed rock onto the hollow bit of ruin, uncovering an entrance. Exciting!


    Unfortunately, the Spanish have picked clean all the gold that would obviously have been in this ruin, because all ancient civilisations apparently pooped gold all over the place. This upsets Sully, who was expecting gold laying practically everywhere, glistening so brightly you could probably see it from space.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160626004856.jpg
    Between the Viagra and the debt payments, Sully still manages to afford expensive cigars

    The duo move on, past a chasm using another conveniently (sensing a pattern here?) placed explosive to knock over a pillar to get across. After opening a heavy door, we come across a brazier. Such a brazier looks astonishingly familiar to the brazier sketch in Drake's Journal; the macguffin comes to the rescue!

    We use Sully's cigar to light the brazier, which is confirmed as being removable from his face This is perhaps the most interesting thing I've learned so far.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160626005413.jpg
    It comes off! I didn't know it came off!

    In either case, lighting the big brazier allows us to burn debris. This takes us to a larger room which involves jumping. Precarious jumping, as it turns out, as some of the handholds crumble away, almost as if it was, like, old. Crazy. Forgive me if there aren't pictures of those sort of events: kinda hard to remember to take an artsy action shot whilst on a crumbling ledge. Another explosive later, another brazier lit, another door opened. While walking about, I do like how 'Tomb Raider' like these settings are. Puzzles, elaborate lighting systems, suspiciously well preserved ruins... I can see why Mr. Carny likes this game so much.

    Another room holds another puzzle, which I won't elaborate on because it's probably dull to read about. This reveals a lovely pit of water, which I dive into after raising the water level.

    After reuniting with Sully, we meet some perfectly safe scaffolding.

    Shockingly, I'm proved wrong. Thus begins a lovely madcap timed evacuation reminiscent of a good Crash Bandicoot game. It's only a short hop, but I loved rushing forward while scaffolding toppled behind me. It actually got me in the mood for the remakes of that series, actually. So, good practice, I'm sure.

    A bit of revelation follows in the form of a cutscene. Turns out, El Dorado isn't a city of gold, but actually a man of gold. Which anyone with fluency in Spanish could tell you, but nevermind. Turns out The Road to El Dorado is actually pretty inaccurate.

    The Spanish moved the statues using cut logs, so Nate and Sully endeavour to follow the trail. Moving through the underbrush, we come across a pretty stunning vista:


    Most shockingly, there's a mysterious boat that's stranded on the river! Interesting! You might call it... a surprising find. Stay tuned to find out what's on that boat!
    Last edited by Formalhaut; 06-26-2016 at 02:38 AM.


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    That's my boat!

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    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    Aww man, I remember really struggling on that collapsing bridge on my first playthrough.

    I love the bits on the boat in Chapter 3

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    Previously on Formy's Fortune...

    We temporarily genre flip into a pretty decent classic Tomb Raider game, only with less dinosaurs. After much tombing, and a hint of raiding, Nate and Sully discover that El Dorado is, shockingly, a golden statue of a man.

    They follow tracks from where the Spanish dragged it along to discover a boat jutting out. Well, cool.


    Turns out the entire chapter is 'A Surprising Find'. Go figure. Turns out the boat is actually a German U-boat. The chance of Nazi zombies appearing has thus increased by about a third. Nate goes off to explore as Sully finds the entire place 'hinky', which is a term I have literally never heard of until now.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160628235935.jpg
    Sheesh just look at his gritted teeth!

    To get on to the U-boat, a delightful climbing sequence happens, which is quite fun and very pretty. Just look at these pictures!

    After wrecking Nate's manicure, we manage to get on the boat. After collecting another treasure, we enter. It's basically corridor-like, and Nate can only move forward, meaning this game has more in common with FFX and FFXIII than I had previously thought.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160629000841.jpg
    Looks like this place won't be passing the food safety inspection

    We see some corpses that have been viciously killed, thus upping the chances of Nazi zombies appearing to 50/50. The presence of Spanish coins and a map tells Nate that the Germans were also looking for El Dorado. The Nazis got the whole 'mysterious artefact' market covered, haven't they?


    We leave the boat, but not before blowing it up first like any good American would.


    When we get ashore, unpleasantness happens. Turns out Sully's "I'm in debt, waaaaaah" was a genuine concern. Some guy called Gabriel Roman wants his money back, and was willing to hike all the way to this ass-end jungle to get it.

    Priorities!

    After some backtalk and passive-aggressive villainous epithets, Sully gets shot and Nate is on the run. Oh snap.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160629001932.jpg
    I'm surprised it didn't take years of smoking and 'performance enhancers' to do his heart in

    We bump into Elena a while later, having tracked down Nate and Sully with ease. They're not really known for subtlety, are they?

    Thus begins a fairly long combat section making our way out of the ruins. Elena joins us in combat and is pretty handy with a gun. They probably taught her that in journalist training, obviously.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160629002442.jpg
    Not taught: using cover to avoid enemy fire

    The combat's fine at this point in the game, with largely sensible cover points dotted around. The only annoying section was the very end, where you're attacked from all sides. Hiding by the door seems to be the best bet.


    After hijacking a jeep, Nate and Elena get a plane to the island were El Dorado is, and have a great time bonding playing a game of 'guess the facial expression'.


    Almost as if to ruin this moment, anti-aircraft fire scatters them, and they crash. In a whirlwind finale to this chapter, Elena and Nate escape the aircraft, but are split apart on this unknown island.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160629004159.jpg
    There are many 'oh crap' moments in the trilogy, I'm told

    Will Nate make it? Has Elena survived? Will Nate ever get a clean shirt ever again in this game? Oh the mysteries! Tune in next time when we explore the mysterious island that has never been charted, not even by Google Maps.

    As Nate says:



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    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    You know what, I've only ever heard the word "hinky" once before. It was in the film The Fugitive when Tommy Lee Jones' character Samuel Gerard is talking to his colleagues whilst waiting for an elevator.

    Marshal Biggs: "This is hinky. This guy's a college graduate, he went to medical school, he's not gonna come through all the security, go to the county lockup, to find someone his people say doesn't exist. Hinky."
    DM Samuel Gerard: "Well, what does that mean Biggs, 'hinky'?"
    Marshal Biggs: "I don't know. Strange."
    Marshal Henry: "Weird."
    DM Samuel Gerard: "Well, why don't you say strange or weird? I mean hinky, that has no meaning."
    Marshal Biggs: "Well, we say hinky."
    DM Samuel Gerard: "I don't want you guys using words around me that have no meaning. I'm taking the stairs and walking."
    Marshal Biggs: (Whispering) "How about 'bullsh!t'? How about 'bullsh!t', Sam?"

    I'm with Gerard, hinky is a terrible word.

    I'd like to take this opportunity to say that trying to get a platinum trophy in a Naughty Dog game is smurfing impossible. Good luck if you are attempting it, Formy!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba View Post

    I'd like to take this opportunity to say that trying to get a platinum trophy in a Naughty Dog game is smurfing impossible. Good luck if you are attempting it, Formy!
    You see the problem with getting platinum is the 'difficulty' trophies. Smurf if I'm ever going to attempt Hard, Crushing or Brutal. I'm aiming to get all the treasures though, because that's doable.


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    You have the soup, but is it a food, a drink or is soup an abstract concept and as such everything we know about soup is wrong?

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    Ray "Bloody" Purchase! Crop's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ayen View Post
    You have the soup, but is it a food, a drink or is soup an abstract concept and as such everything we know about soup is wrong?
    Wtf.



    So you still doing this Formy? I enjoy pictured lets plays, especially of games I adore.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bubba View Post
    I'd like to take this opportunity to say that trying to get a platinum trophy in a Naughty Dog game is smurfing impossible. Good luck if you are attempting it, Formy!
    I got the platinum for Uncharted 1 and 2. I didn't for 3 because I bought it second hand and I refuse to pay for online. That black mark in my Uncharted career haunts me.

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    I am! Chapter Four is pretty big, but I'll probably aim to have it up tomorrow.


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    Previously on Formy's Fortune...


    We explore a German U-Boat that has beached itself magnificently in the jungle we were exploring. Turns out they were also looking for El Dorado! With coordinates in hand, Nate exits the vessel, only to find that Sully's debts have caught up with him.

    After a pithy exchange with some old white guy called Roman, crap goes down and Sully gets shot. Well smurf. Hijinks ensues, we bump into Elena, shoot our way out the ruins and take a plane to the mysterious island that has never been touched by Google Maps.

    Oh no! Anti-aircraft fire! Plane destroyed, Nate and Elena separated! What will happen next?


    Chapter IV
    Plane-Wrecked

    Looking at the guide, there's a full 10 treasures to find. Smurf. This'll be a long chapter. Thankfully, the first treasure is right behind me, and with 20 treasures received, we get some new skins! We can play as Victor Sullivan, and be creeeeeepy. Like a geeeeeezer.

    But Nate's our main hero, so we're playing as him. Moving on, we pass by a log bridge we have to cross carefully. I remember doing this section on the PS3, and oh-my-God it was impossible to do with the crappy six-axis. This is much easier.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160705182850.jpg
    As if the complexities of human balance can be condensed into simple tilting of a controller

    A few enemies to kill, and I temporarily forget what the cover button was. Thankfully, a tutorial pops up, as if to read my mind. Another bridge later, and we get to play with grenades! It also suffered under the six-axis in the original, so hopefully I can use these more effectively this time. Another good thing I have from all the treasures Mr. Carny hasn't been collecting is the ability to switch weapons on the fly, like the Wess 44 revolver!


    It looks awesome, but you can't restock on ammo via the rewards system during combat, so the paltry 12 bullet limit is way too unfeasible. Instead, the 60 ammo limit 92FS semi-automatic pistol, which does everything better than the basic pistol.

    Next comes a part I remember being very tricky. On my first partial playthrough, I very nearly died, but just about managed to recover and actually got the 'Survivor' trophy at the end. Fortunate.


    This time around was better, but longer. I was way more cautious, as it was by far the largest gunfight I've been in so far. The jungle environment didn't help matters much either, to be honest. I pretty much stuck to the beginning area like glue, not wanting to overexpose myself my boldly dashing forward. I imagine it would have been thrilling to watch, though it did provide ample photography opportunities.


    After a lot of shooting, we do eventually make it to a fun climbing section over a fast-flowing river, which makes a nice change of pace. It's not so long though before we get into shooting again. One guy spectacularly flails over into the waterfall!

    Then comes a rather annoying jumping section, which involves me dying twice (the first time so far, not that is any achievement). I kept overshooting the mark when the platform crumbled, the camera perspective playing havoc on my depth perception.

    Uncharted™_ The Nathan Drake Collection_20160705191037.jpg
    The fixed angles provide exciting perspectives but limited assistance in actual platforming

    After getting through that, a very action-packed sequence involving a truck appears...


    ...miraculously forming a bridge. More platforming later, and we come across the plane that was wrecked and retrieve that important bit of paper. After a spectacularly pathetic moment where I die attempt to shimmy down the bloody rope, more enemies appear. Who has the money to pay these guys?


    Combat is still not impossible but is markedly more difficult. My screen turned nearly grey a few times, even on easy. Which probably means I'm very bad at shooters. Poor Nate and his medical bills. After busting down a door, we encounter scary looking man-traps, which look extremely painful. I end up dying not by the traps, but by failing what appeared to be a very easy jump.

    Another thing impacting his medical bills is those smurfing rocket launcher enemies, which make their debut just now. Because insta-kill missiles are my jam. I kill the guy immediately, and then scoop up the rest, avoiding traps by moving at a snail's pace.

    But the one bit of story to really occur in this entire chapter is at the end. Seems like Elena's in trouble!


    So yeah, looks like we'll be having to climb this thing. But I'm sure Elena's fine... right?


  15. #15
    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    Yeah, the truck forming a bridge is probably the first major 'suspension of belief' moment in Uncharted. As we all know, there are plenty of those in the upcoming games!

    Ugh. I hated those swinging wooden trap things. I remember dying A LOT on my first play through here.

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