Last week I again signed up for Playstation Now with the intent to finally check out the Uncharted games using my Playstation TV (which has been collecting dust for quite awhile). I had never played an Uncharted game, and knew very little about them going in, but I had always heard great things about them.

Once I launched Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, I was pretty impressed with how the game looked, although some textures seemed a little muddy. Still, for a game that came out 9 years ago it still looks pretty darn good. Uncharted not only looks great, but sounds great too thanks to its superb voice acting.

Sorry for the poor quality of these pictures, I don’t have a great way to take screenshots with the Playstation TV unless I hook it up through my PVR box.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as the game handed me control of Nathan Drake I started to realize that I might not enjoy playing the game. The shooting in the opening sequence felt really sloppy and put me off on the game from the start. I got through the sequence without dying (playing on easy), however it just didn’t feel good at all.

If it were only the shooting that didn’t control well I could probably push through the game, but the climbing and platforming has felt clunky so far as well. I haven’t enjoyed any of the climbing as it was slow and felt like a chore from the start. The platforming is even worse. During the early sequence in which Drake must run toward the camera as the platform beneath him is falling I got so frustrated I nearly turned the game off right then. I died seven or eight times during the sequence because Drake controls like hot garbage, and didn’t seem to respond as expected.

You might say that the clunky controls could be due to the fact that I’m streaming the game via Playstation Now, however I haven’t felt the same about other games I’ve played via PS Now, such as The Last of Us.  Also I have pretty fast internet (200mbps) and a powerful router. Sure, I absolutely hate the Playstation controller and its analog sticks, but I think there’s just something off about Uncharted’s controls. Maybe it’s because I’m playing a 9 year old game, but considering that much of the game revolves around platforming and climbing I’m not sure if I’ll be able to push myself through it.

Besides the controls, I’m just not much of a fan of platforming and puzzle solving in games. During one puzzle sequence early in Uncharted I clearly knew what I had to do but the clunky controls made the execution beyond frustrating, and I fell off of platforms again and again which wasn’t fun at all. I’ve never enjoyed climbing and platforming in more modern games like Tomb Raider, but I’ve been able to push through because those games control well and the shooting is a blast. Maybe the later Uncharted games play better, but if I’m going to play them I want to experience the series from the start.

Do you think that Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune still holds up today? Should I just skip it and start with Uncharted 2?