EGTV: Uncharted gameplay vids

By Johnny Minkley Published 28 September, 2007

Cream of the Croft.

If you checked out Ellie's recent in-depth look at Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, you'll know that it's one of the more promising prospects on the exclusive-craving PS3 this Chrimbo.

Despite fairly obvious similarities to 'er with the big 'uns, the creator of Crash and Jak insists our chiselled hero Nathan Drake is much more than a brainless Larry Cruft knock-off. You can now judge for yourselves in three tasty gameplay vignettes we've just whacked up on Eurogamer TV.

Videos one and two show off combat - the first has Drake sploshing around in an underground, well, tomb, rapidly switching between weapons, going hand-to-hand, and cobbing grenades at nasty types. The second heads outside and into ruins for more happy slapping. Finally, the third clip offers a taster of the puzzle-solving you'll encounter in the course of your grave-robbing escapades.

Direct-feed Uncharted gameplay videos one, two and three are now showing on Eurogamer TV. Drake's Fortune hits PS3 on 20th November in the US, and later this year for us lot.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Eurogamer TV's Johnny Minkley is a veteran journalist with a lifelong passion for games and the games industry. He uses Twitter more than most people use air.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • zuljin #1 4 years ago

    Hmmm. The trajectory being drawn when you throw a grenade is something which hasn't been done much since Gears. Still can't decide whether I think its cheating or not...

  • ProfessorLesser #2 4 years ago

    Seriously dodgy tagline.

  • Kiigan #3 4 years ago

    @zuljin

    Lots of games draw the trajectory of your grenades. It's really handy - some games let you aim in roughly the direction of the throw (so you have to aim high) and some other games let you aim at the spot you want the grenade to land. That's all too vague and confusing so at least showing the path of the grenade removes the ambiguity. Assuming you don't want the challenge of the game to come from the act of managing to throw something where you want it to land (which after all, any decent game hero should be able to manage without too much assistance anyway!) that seems fine to me.

    As for this game, it looks fine. I do feel like I've played it 100 times before, but then you can say that about everything really.

  • Kiigan #4 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus

    Nothing wrong with taking ideas that work well. Gears did lots of things just right and so will prove influential on future games from other developers. The same has always happened throughout the history of videogame development. I don't think you can fairly claim that Uncharted is a "Gears of War rip off" though.

  • JediMasterMalik #5 4 years ago

    Without good graphics? What constitutes good graphics if this doesn't?

  • LeD #6 4 years ago

    This'll be the first killer app for the PS3 - mark my words.

  • Dizzy #7 4 years ago

    Lets just say I hope it has lots of platforming and puzzles because the combat looks rather "meh". They should focus on platforming anyway... that has always been the most fun of Tomb Raider.

  • Curion #8 4 years ago

    gears of war ripped the shit out of killzone

  • Turambar #9 4 years ago

    Indeed, saying Gears of War ripoff is like saying Gears of War was the first third person shooter ever, it wasn't. It's like saying Gears of War ripped off Lone Soldier.

  • Lim-Dul #10 4 years ago

    This game looks very, VERY generic to me... However, given the lack of almost any decent titles on the PS3 this might as well be a hit.
    In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

  • Scimarad #11 4 years ago

    To the twat who reckons Uncharted is ripping of Gears of War;

    How insanely idiotic are you? do you even know what type of game it is? To even suggest they are ripping off gears of war based soley on the fact that includes a path indicator for grenades & includes gun fights using cover is to totally ignore the whole platforming puzzle solving element - Not to mention the bloody setting!

    God, I hate fanboys! Especially those from the more moronic end of an already moronic species...

    Edited by 2 at 28/09/07 @ 15:07

  • JediMasterMalik #12 4 years ago

    I love the fact that everyone thinks it's wither a huge TR rip off, or Gears rip off, and they fail to realise that saying both those things, makes both statements completely false.

  • bodypopper #13 4 years ago

    Calm down boys! But yes farticusmaximus can't have played many games to make such a reductive statement. Splinter Cell had cover, shooting and throwing grenade stuff too remember.

  • andrewwd #14 4 years ago

    I'm with farticusmaximus on this one. It's a 'bit too Gears' for comfort in my book.

    I instantly noticed the similarites as being

    *The cover system, animations and camera movement
    *The weapon select HUD
    *The grenade throwing
    *The vaulting animations


  • zuljin #15 4 years ago

    @andrewwd
    I don't really see it as ripping it off. The cover sytem combined with no health meter is becoming more and more standard in fps games (Rainbow 6, GRAW).

    The weapon select again, is becoming industry standard on consoles (Resistance, Bioshock, Warhawk, etc).

    The vaulting also, is something which is becoming more prominent (Rainbow 6).

    I just see them as things which makes sense, to include into new iterations of fps games. Congrats to Gears for hitting the nail on the head first time round, but to complain games copy other games features is like saying a racecar is copying another by also including spoilers.

    Now if it had active reload as well, then it'd be a bit too close for legal comfort.

  • Kiigan #16 4 years ago

    "gears of war ripped the shit out of killzone"

    Well I really don't see that AT ALL. Unless you mean kill.switch perhaps, the Namco game? Stuff like blind-firing over cover was in kill.switch anyway. Killzone on the other hand was completely derivative in every way, whereas Gears of War really did a lot of things quite differently. We'll doubtlessly be seeing the influence of Gears on console shooters for years to come, so best get used to it.

    As for the similarities between Gears and Uncharted... well Gears certainly didn't invent "choosing weapons with the D-pad", vaulting over cover or peeking around corners. Also, anyone who has followed the development of Uncharted will know the gunplay and use of cover isn't all there is to the game.

    Every shooter stands on the shoulders of the games that come before it, and I have no problem with devs re-using stuff that works well in other games. That's how games get better, and if you're going to copy stuff you may as well copy from the best. It happens with every great influential game and it is to be welcomed. Let the market decide what they want to buy.

  • lambtron #17 4 years ago

    @Scimarad

    Sweet lord - talk about an overreaction - was this game developed by your mum or something!!!

    Personally, I would argue that anyone who cannot see the very striking resemblance between the combat in this and the combat in gears either hasn't played gears much or doesn't want to see it due to various vested interests. Its goes far beyond having been just influenced IMO. That's not to say its a bad game or that the combat is all there is to it though.

  • Scimarad #18 4 years ago

    "If you can't see the very obvious copying of combat style then you need to take another look at the videos. It's not just LIKE Gears, it's practically identical."

    Yes, because of course of the combat style is THE WHOLE SODDING GAME! I remember loads of platforming in Gears of War...

  • Scimarad #19 4 years ago

    @ farticusmaximus

    Fair enough.

    I'm getting sick of people having a go at game they never had any interest in just because it isn't on their favourite platform and initially read your post to be 'one of those' - Hence the over-sensitivity for which I apologize.

    On the subject of Uncharted; I've always thought it was new take on the Tomb Raider style of game rather than a shooter, though it does appear to have lots of shooting in most of the videoes. I seem to remember the developer saying (In an EG article) that they DID pretty much lift the combat form Gears;-)

    It IS a very pretty game, though. Not that you could tell from that video...

  • Isere #20 4 years ago

    ''Blatant Gears of War rip off, but without the good graphics.''

    I concur with farticusmaximus.

    Developers shouldn't just take ideas that work well and put them in their own games, that is just totally crazy. Infact, there shouldn't ever have been a second 3rd person shooter in history, that too was totally a .............(blatant ripoff).

    And Unchartered has bad graphics. I hear it has like 5 polys or something.

  • IronGiant #21 4 years ago

    Looks excellent from the vids i've seen, combining the action from Gears with platforming and general Indiana Jones type stuff is a great idea IMO. On my pre-order list along with many other games this winter :)

    So farticusmaximus did you moan that Gears of War was ripping off countless other shooters when that came out? or were you just happy that you got a very good game to play.

  • captainrentboy #22 4 years ago

    Hopefully it'll end up slightly more impressive than Sony's other 'first' killer app, Heavenly Sword, suuure it wasn't too bad, lovely cut scenes, I played it through until completion, but I think it lasted me about 5 hours, and there was nothing there to make want to go back to it, ohh and by the time I was done I had a major case of RSI on my wrist. (Make of that what you will)

  • Apologie #23 4 years ago

    amazing game, 10/10.
    The graphics seem unreal, and the gameplay is a la Gears of War style.
    VEry good

  • haowan #24 4 years ago

    10/10? you've played it then? didn't think so.

  • Luna-C #25 4 years ago

    Xbots = Sour grapes.

    Gears of War ripped off kill.switch that was out in late 2003, it uses almost identical cover and shoot mechanic. So play some more games before you can comment on anything you bunch of noob tw@s.

    kill.switch:
    http://ww w.gametrailers.com/player/1799....
    Edited by 2 at 01/10/07 @ 10:08

  • Apologie #26 4 years ago

    really, i mean, have you guy's ever seen sutch beautifull game??? graphics, gameplay, action..., these one have it all, i hope they don't mess up befoure it's release.

    Yes, gameplay is a bit like gears, but that's a good think, i enjoyed gears a lot.
    (let's just hope it get's what it desevs, some ps3 games have been really underrated)