Nathan Drake has seen some exotic locations.
He has been to South America, the Himalayas,
and the Middle East.
But now he is exploring somewhere he has never
been before, and that is the Playstation Vita,
with Uncharted Golden Abyss.
Nathan Drake is taking his talents to a portable
syste, and the results are pretty good.
Uncharted has always been known for its characters
and breathtaking visuals, and its portable
version does not disappoint.
This is the same great Uncharted experience
you had on consoles, only portable and with
some unique features unique to Vita.
The story is a prequel to the original Uncharted.
Set in South America, Drake is brought in
by his friend, Dante, to examine a 400 year
old Spanish explorer massacre.
What follows is what you would expect from
an Uncharted game, a story of betrayal and
mystery and the only way Drake can survive
it is by climbing and shooting.
The new characters didn’t leave the same
impression as previous one.
Dante and Marisa are just not as memorial.
Luckily Sully comes back pretty far into the
game to bring some life to it.
But overall the story will keep you interested
as you play through the 10 hour campaign.
The visuals for this game are just jaw-dropping.
There are plenty of those moments where you
will forget that this is a portable game.
This should be the game that you use to show
off what your Vita can do.
It runs smooth and really well.
I have not noticed any frame-rate issues,
which makes it all that more impressive.
Just stand on a cliff and look out and you
will see what the Vita is capable of doing.
But what does the Vita bring that the console
doesn’t have?
Golden Abyss makes full use of the Vita’s
features, from the touchscreen to the gyroscope.
The main features works their way into the
platforming.
You can now use the touchscreen to direct
where Drake will go.
You tap the next platform you want Drake to
jump to, or you can run your fingers along
a path and he will follow it automatically.
It sounds gimmicky but I found myself using
the touchscreen all the time.
It works great and feels natural.
You can also tap the screen to perform take
downs.
Also Drake now will take rubbing of the world
he is exploring.
This will have you rubbing your fingers across
the front touchscreen to make the rubbing,
or to polish artifacts.
You also use the touchscreen for cutting down
bamboo by follow the gestures on screen.
This feels a little weak but doesn’t hold
anything back.
The combat is what you have come to expect,
solid cover based shooting.
You use the Vita shoulder buttons shoot and
the analog sticks to aim.
But you also use the gyroscope to tilt the
Vita for more refined aiming.
It’s functional but also makes you look
like an idiot when playing in public.
There is a lot to Golden Abyss.
There tons of puzzles and hidden items throughout
the world.
Some have you assembling maps and others taking
photos of the world with the Vita camera.
Having all this really brings you into the
world of Golden Abyss.
I would have liked to see the console multiplayer
added in, allowing me to hunt other would
be treasure hunters anywhere but it is a small
complaint because the campaign will have you
putting plenty of time into it.
You will find yourself replaying missions
to find everything and complete your journal.
Golden Abyss gives you everything you could
want when you buy an Uncharted game.
The gameplay is refined and the visuals are
almost too good to believe.
If you are a fan of the series or if this
is your first try, this is an experience you
don’t want to miss out on.
