With the release of Uncharted 4 due out this month, it’s time to look back at the game that started one of PlayStation’s most well received and highest selling franchises: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Developed by Naughty Dog and released in 2007 for the PlayStation 3, the game still holds up after 9 years and started the gaming franchise which is one of PlayStation’s most successful properties.

The game has a cover third person shooter gameplay style in which players are encouraged to take cover during fights or are allowed to jump straight into fights. Players also will encounter puzzles and other challenges during the game in a style that is similar to the Tomb Raider video game series. So not only will fans of the shooter genre be pleased by the game, but fans of puzzle games as well as platformer games will also find the game to be enjoyable.

This game is the first game in the Uncharted series and follows the character of Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter who is on a quest to find the treasure of his ancestor: famous explorer and pirate Sir Francis Drake. Along the way, Drake and his crew encounter other treasure hunters who are also trying to hunt down Sir Francis Drake’s treasure. The story itself is not too long but not too short either and is usually pretty easy to follow with cut scenes that seem like they are straight out of an action film. Although there is not a long story, due to Nathan Drake’s treasure hunter character, there are treasure pieces the player can collect thus giving the player replaying incentive for after they finish the main story.

The game also had an original score that provides great background music during the game that underscore the tone and emotion of the game depending on what part of the game the player is in. And the sound effects for the game are spot on not just in combat but also when the player reacts with the environment giving a realistic and more cinematic experience when the player plays the game.

Probably the biggest appeal of the game is the nearly cinematic feel of it. While I was playing the game I kept getting the feeling that I was watching a movie such as Indiana Jones or The Mummy with the settings and the treasure hunting story. While other games can be compared to movies, they usually feel like games as for Uncharted feels like it is its own movie. Not only does the game have a cinematic like story, the game also has gameplay that feel like action sequences and the game has quicker transactions from cut scene into gameplay than many other games do giving the player the full cinematic experience. The game also features the occasional level involving vehicle chases that give to more of the film feel and the game also features dialogue during gameplay instead of exclusively in the cut scenes to give a better cinematic feel.

One of the game’s only drawbacks is the lack of online gameplay in this one though at the time the game was created, not every game featured online play and so this one didn’t. Although at the same time the two sequels, and the upcoming fourth game, all do have an online multiplayer mode to them. Other than this one instance, there are not a whole lot of things wrong with the game.

While it was for PlayStation 3 exclusively for the longest time, the game was brought to PlayStation 4 as part of the Nathan Drake Collection in 2015 so if you are looking to play this game and get into the series, pick it up for either PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4.