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E3 2007: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune Impressions

Naughty Dog has always been at the forefront of pushing Sony's hardware, be it Crash Bandicoot or Jak and Daxter, Naughty Dog just doesn't know when to quit. Upon your first look at Uncharted, you quickly realize how fortunate Sony is to have a studio that is capable of achieving such sensational results with everything they work on. Uncharted looks far better than I could have ever imagined. It's visual strengths lie in its ability to animate exceptionally well. Each animation transitions into the next absolutely flawlessly – and it's one of the aspects that Naughty Dog is touting for the game. The result makes Uncharted one of the best moving games I've seen to date.

There's an incredible amount of detail put into stuff like shadows and textures. When you look around your surroundings, you'll notice each object casting its own unique shadow, as opposed to a gray spot attempting to look like a shadow. This kind of attention to detail, coupled with the game's candy-like color palette makes Uncharted one of the best looking games of the show. And best of all, the framerate is coming along quite well, keeping the action flowing smoothly at all times.

And that's the best part of Uncharted, the action. You can shoot or engage in fisticuffs with seamless transitions. Hand to hand combat goes beyond just random button mashing, and we were glad to see that. Likewise, gunning also goes beyond running around and shooting mindlessly (run and gun), as aspects of stealth will frequently come into play. You'll be required to use good judgment and be tact in your adventuring. The artificial intelligence demonstrates brain, so you'll want to outsmart them by sneaking around corners, blowing up nearby objects, or just being a damn good head-shooter.

Uncharted is coming along exceptionally well at this rate, and we highly recommend keeping your eyes peeled for this one.

Related Game(s): Uncharted: Drake's Fortune