One of the biggest exclusives to hit the Playstation 3 this year is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, thankfully then this game has now hit these shores and entered our Playstation 3 for review, but is this a game worth spending your cash on? Read on.

The developers of this game are the mighty Naughty Dog, who are usually responsible for series such as the excellent Jak and Daxter, which is a far cry from Uncharted, although that’s no bad thing.

So to the game itself, which sees you play as Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter who has stumbled onto something big, although finding it isn’t without complications. Uncharted takes the guise of a third person action adventure, with the emphasis very much on the action, throughout the levels you will find yourself scaling walls, solving puzzles and taking on all manner of bad guys as you try to track down what you are looking for. On your travels you are accompanied by your friend Sullie (for a while anyway) and a newslady called Elena, whose main interest for being there is to get a story.

Although Elena and Sullie are both unplayable characters they are very relevant to the story, throughout the game you will watch in awe as they help you out of tight spots, by taking on enemies and doing what you need them to without hesitation, the AI of these characters really is spot on and I believe more games could learn from it. It’s not just the AI which is impressive when it comes to the non playable characters though, but also the way their relationships grow throughout the game, Sullie for example will constantly tell stories to his companion, while the reporter who isn’t so keen on Nathan to begin with, slowly warms to him, it is rare to see such companionship in a game and it just shows you how much effort the developers have put in to make even the smallest details work.

If it’s action you want then you won’t be disappointed by Uncharted. Pirates and mercenaries are on your back throughout the game and they will go all out to stop you, thankfully though the games cover system will go a long way to helping you out should you be surrounded by a pack of bad guys, this is due to the crates, pillars and trees which are spread throughout the environments, just placing your back against these will give you adequate cover, enabling you to take aim and fire at the enemies during the appropriate moments.

The combat offers great variety and therefore never gets boring, enemies will try different tactics to take you down, such as throwing grenades or even just storming at you, meaning that hiding behind crates will not always be the best tactic. Combat also rewards you for being more precise, so for example, if you hit an enemy straight in the head, he will fall straight away, whereas shooting him elsewhere will result in him taking a few shots to go down, which both makes life more difficult for you and wastes your most precious commodity, ammo.

The only problem some people may find with the game is that the flood of pirates feels almost constant, just as you have defeated two groups of them another almost inevitably follows, which also has the effect of giving you the near death experience of your screen turning grey due to yet another of their bullets hitting you, although in this case just make sure you find cover until the screen returns to full colour again.

Uncharted isn’t just about fighting, as our hero has plenty of difficult landscapes to master on his way to what he is searching for, this involves ledge climbing, shimmying and not forgetting balancing your way across makeshift bridges with the aid of the Sixaxis controller, yeah it may all sound a bit Tomb Raider-esc and it probably is, but I tell you what, it’s great fun.

Graphically, Uncharted is probably one of the best looking games on the PS3 yet, you will watch in amazement as Nathan enters into the water before coming out again with his clothes soaking wet and then drying again in real time, just try and stop yourself looking for places to swim the first time you see this. The same typoe of detail is evident throughout the game, the effects of the sun as it shines through the leaves is breathtaking, as are the effects of bullets hitting the trees. Character animation is also pretty impressive. Another impressive part of the games presentation is the cut scenes, which help tell the story without ever feeling intrusive, throughout the game the voice acting is also very strong, as is the dramatic background music.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is a game that should grace every PS3, it offers action and adventure a plenty and looks fantastic, there is not a moment throughout the game that will disappoint you, from the moment you turn this game on you will be hooked, and that is what gaming is all about.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Singstar has been a revolution for Sony, there is no doubt that it is one of the many games that has made the Playstation 2 so successful, but can it do the same for the Playstation 3 and what if anything does this next generation version bring to the table?

On the face of things Singstar on the PS3 doesn’t really looked to have changed much, the usual modes such as Duet, Solo, Pass the Mic and battle still remain and the interface of the songs is practically the same but with a little more next gen gloss. So what sets this game apart from its last generation counterpart? The simple answer is its online features.

The first online feature added to the game is the SingStore, a service which eradicates the need for future expansions to the game, this is basically an itunes style store which allows you to choose from a wide range of tracks at a very reasonable price of 99p each, this will get you the song and the video and it is my belief that the pricing here is absolutely spot on, at the time of writing there were 41 songs available to download, ranging from classics such as Travis, Sing to more seasonal songs such as I Wish It Could be Xmas Everyday. The developers have promised that they will add new songs on a frequent basis and eventually hope to be able to release a song as soon as it hits the charts.

Another new addition to Singstar and perhaps the best of all is My Singstar Online, here you can create an online profile to which you can upload your videos, snapshots and recordings for others to hear and see, you can also view any other players profiles, meaning that you can watch their videos and view their pictures, which as you can imagine is great entertainment in itself, not only that but you can leave comments and rate their content. The interface for this feature is very well executed and easy to navigate, it is quite simple to find any player providing you know the first letter of their profile, finding friends is even easier, just press triangle when in the meet other players menu and everyone on your friends list with a Singstar profile will appear. This could become a very popular feature indeed and this is backed up by the fact that there are already quite a few videos on there (including my own efforts).

Playing the game itself couldn’t be easier, simply plug in your mic, choose your song and your away, during gameplay (and providing you have a Playstation Camera plugged in) you will notice a small video in the corner of the screen, this occurs automatically, so that at the end of the song you can view a playback of yourself in action, along with some photos and your best bits, you then have the option to save these, which enables you to view them again by visiting your media gallery, and if you are feeling brave upload them for the world.

The presentation of Singstar PS3 really cannot be faulted, the SingStore is a excellent idea and the My Singstar Online features are what the game was made for, to get the best out of the game you really need a Playstation Eye, however given the quality and excellent feature of the camera no-one should really be without one of these anyway.

Singstar PS3 is a great example of what games should be, it offers great value for money, is very easy to pick up and play and best of all is great entertainment, sure it may not be everyone’s type of game, but I for one could not have a PS3 without it.

Overall Rating: 9.4/10