100 of my favorite books, movies, tv shows and games: #4 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

{100 of the best books, movies, TV shows and games in no particular order}

Let me start out by saying that this game is freaking awesome. This franchise is the reason that I initially became a Playstation gamer as opposed to Xbox. After watching a friend play years ago I went out the next day and bought my Playstation and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and haven't looked back. 

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune is the first game in the Uncharted universe by Playstation game developer Naughty Dog. In it, Drake is contracted by Elena Fisher to find Sir Francis Drakes coffin for her documentary. He signs on to help but its not too long into the expedition that Bad Guys in Black appear and Drake has to shoot his way out to save himself and Elena. From there, their adventure takes them to a mysteriously (mostly) uninhabited tropical island, a city of ruins filled with more mysterious creatures, and a nefarious plot to string them all together. It's every bit like what being a treasure hunter was to your eight year old self. Only with bonus terrifyingly frightening creatures added in as well. 

The characters introduced in this game are used throughout the next couple games. First of all there is the rouge-like charmer, Nathan Drake, the game's namesake and main character. He has the ability to always look dirty and sweaty and like he hasn't found a shower in months and somehow have that look work for him (and yes the similarity between him and Nathan Fillion is uncanny isn't it?). Nathan Drake is about on par with Aragorn with ability to make dirt and sweat as attractive accessories. 

He is a self made man and self-proclaimed treasure liberator. He smirks and smart-asses his way through the game, blowing up some things, and some people, along the way as he searches for treasure and lost artifacts for his own personal gain. He's one part Indiana Jones and one part Han Solo. So basically he's Harrison Ford.

There are two other supporting characters, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan (aka Sully). Victor Sullivan is Nathan Drake's mentor turned partner in treasure liberating. He drinks too much and smokes too much and womanizes too much and is all kinds of awesome. His character provides needed back up to Drake in key points to the game as well as welcome bits of sarcasm that are always appreciated in the middle of a shoot-out.  

Nathan with Sully and Elena.

The other secondary character is Elena Fisher, wanna-be documentarian and all around HBIC. She is with Nathan Drake filming her documentary as he recovers the coffin of Sir Francis Drake (who just so happens to be a distant relative of Nathan Drake's. Notice the same last name? Yup) off of a pair of coordinates from the ring he wears on a lanyard around his neck. When they find Drake's coffin is empty save a diary telling the location of El Dorado, the city of gold, Elena goes along with Nathan on his quest, wanting to continue her documentary. She is feisty, independent and not at all a damsel in distress. Her character is capable and helps Nathan out frequently as they both struggle to find what is really going on and to stay alive (and find that wealth of gold). She takes no shit from Nathan and holds her own with a gun. 

The Uncharted series is built on Nathan Drake and how he and his partner Sully are treasure hunters. They're thieves with hearts of gold only not really because they'd steal those too. So while I totally believe that "It belongs in a museum!", I still enjoy Drake's rouge-ish charm and how he is constantly trying to plunder a bit of gold. Of course, despite being a bit of a treasure hunter, he's not our bad guy because he's likeable and tends to only shoot at people that are covered head to toe in black, clearly indicating themselves as Bad Guys or zombie pirates (just your average treasure recovery mission...).

The thing that makes Uncharted more awesome than just your normal video game are the characters and the plot. Naughty Dog took their time in developing Uncharted: Drake's Fortune to run more like a movie than just a game. The look of the game is also amazing, the visuals and production values are similar to many current animated films. Everything is done to give it a completely immersive feel so that you feel like you are narrating a story and a movie, not just playing a shooter game.

I love this game so very much. It is, without a doubt, the most fun I've had losing myself for a couple hours, days, weeks. It has everything I require in a game: strong characterization of characters, an intricate and good plot,  HBIC female who is awesome and zombie pirates. I love going back and playing it again, even though I know the outcome it just is that good and that fun for me. If I was to recommend just one game to someone who has never played video games and wasn't sure what was so great about them, it would be this.