Review: Uncharted Golden Abyss (PS Vita)

Platform : PSVita 
Developer : SCE Bend Studio / Naugthy Dog
Price :39,99$ (Free for PS Plus members)
Type : 3D Platform / Shooter
Completed on Hard

**NOTES** Pictures taken from the game using the PS Vita Screen Capture option seem more pixelated than the game itself. Those pictures are the ones with the 2011 Sony Copyright on the bottom right.

Uncharted is one of the most successful franchises exclusive to the Playstation. Every games follow the adventures of Nathan Drake, an unfortunate treasure hunter. In Golden Abyss, Drake is called by an old friend, Dante, to help him and his partner, Marissa Chase, investigate on an excavation site in Panama where 400 Spanish soldiers were found dead. The site, however, is straight in the middle of the territory controlled by a rebel group led by Colonel Guero. Of course Dante does not hold his part of the deal with Guero, leading to a conflict between you and them.

Dante, on the right, looks like the trustworthy kind.

You soon learn about Chase's interests in the background story involving the death of those Spanish soldiers. The storytelling is great and, in Uncharted fashion, could stand on its own as a Hollywood movie.

The environments are breathtaking though the graphics aren't really at their best for the console. You will go through the usual scenery, like jungles, guerrilla camps, temples and the likes. The water effects are especially well made. You will see nice ruins and the artfully crafted world is well designed. The team behind Uncharted really showed their experience with the 3 previous games even if they were only foreshadowing SCE Bend Studio.

The breathtaking imagery you will encounter during the game.

Just superb art style

The game plays like other Uncharted and could be divided into two distinctive parts.

First, much of the action happens when you encounter enemies. You usually go sneaking, going from cover to cover, and killing enemies one by one until you're noticed and start a shooting spree. You can carry one small weapon (pistol or submachine gun) and one big weapon (Rifle, Sniper, Shotgun, Rocket launcher ...) at a time. You get a decent variety of weapons any Uncharted veteran will be familiar with. Adding to that are the trusty grenades, helpful for getting enemies out of cover. The mechanics of shooting are similar to other games: you can shoot from cover without exposing yourself, you can shoot from the hip and run at the same time, or you can aim for greater accuracy, while losing speed. You can aim using the analog joystick or enable the motion sensor to aim by moving the Vita around. Throwing grenades requires the touch screen and it can sometimes be tricky to get to that special spot.

You can also fight enemies by hand. Melee combat consists of touching the enemy on the touchscreen when a fist appears on them. After a few hits, they will hit back and that is when an arrow will appear on screen. You must swipe your finger in the direction of the arrow to avoid the enemy attack and swipe a second time to make the final blow. The two and only boss battles are melee fights and are done entirely by swiping your finger around on the screen, following the indications. That will probably be the easiest boss fight you will encounter in your life (although I must admit that War Hammer 40k: Space Marine final boss was as easy).

The second part of the gameplay consists mainly of puzzles. The main goal of those are to get from point A to point B. Most are simple paths you have to find. It often requires you to climb dangerous rock walls, ruins, ropes, and cutting through walls made mostly of branches. They added the touch features, though mostly optional and feel useless at best. For example, when climbing a wall, instead of using the joystick, you can just draw your path on the screen and watch Drake move that path.  You can use the back touch pad to climb ropes like your fingers were your feet, swiping down alternatively the left and right sections of the touch pad. Every time you are going to cross a log or narrow bridge, you will stop halfway through and rebalance yourself using the tilt control of the console. Yet again, it feels unnecessary and just a gimmick of the game.

Unfortunately, they made finding the paths easier than in the console versions of the game. First, the path is pretty linear and it's hard not to see where you should be going. Second, the path is painted gold from start to end. If there's a path that is not painted, it will lead you to a treasure for sure. Here are two pictures to better explain what I mean:

Should I jump  on those golden tiles there?

Should I climb that golden ledge?

You also stumble onto the puzzles themselves. In the console versions of Uncharted, those puzzles were never too complicated to begin with. But in Golden Abyss they are at an Elementary level my 4 year old son could probably solve by himself. They mainly consist of tear-down papers you have to put back together. The outline of the puzzles are already there and if your piece is near the spot, with about the same angle (you can be 25 degrees off) it will automatically lock on the right spot. On harder puzzles, where things don't lock themselves automatically, you will have a sound and verbal feedback from Chase every time you put the right piece over the right spot. The fun part of the puzzle is the explanation that comes with it, unveiling a bit more of the story of the ancient civilization you are about to loot. You are a treasure hunter after all.

One hard puzzle.

There are also some extra features worth mentioning. The game is linked with the new Uncharted Card: Fight for Fortune game. Finding treasures not only gets you closer to getting PSN trophies, it also raises the power of the cards you have in Fight for Fortunes. This adds a replay value to those who own, or plan on owning the game in the future. The "Near" feature of the PS Vita also lets you use the "Black Market" to send and receive those extra bounty (treasures dropped by enemies) you did not receive during gameplay.

Conclusion

While the replay value of the game is weak unless you want to get all the treasures for your PSN Trophies and boost all the Fight for Fortune cards, the game remains a good single player game. It really shows Handheld console can handle high quality games. The lack of multiplayer features (No Online Pass) makes this game a hassle-free second hand purchase, and I strongly suggest that you actually buy the game that way. The small issues do not make the game a pain to play; they mostly feel useless, but you can easily cope with it. The blend of classic gameplay you find on traditional consoles, with the small handheld features makes it a nice experience that feels familiar. The graphics and the environments, while not the best the system can handle, are beautiful and bring the ambiance that the Uncharted series has been praised for.