To be honest, I had no intentions of playing Naughty Dogs' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Prior to it's release, I played the demo and was very critical with the experience. With a poor hit detection system, awkward aiming controls, and a suspected AI, I completely wrote off the demo and had no interest in the game. This was disappointing at first because I was a huge Tomb Raider fan. The gameplay mechanics in Uncharted was familiar territory, but I just coudn't get into the demo. However, after the game was released, all "hell broke loose" when the Gamespot review was published.

Many of the PS3 community felt angry and thought the review was incongruous. The review was so inconsistent to such a degree that it sparked an online riot in the forums! At first, I didn't even bother to read the review but, there I was, feeling proud of guessing correctly the GS final score for the game. After all, the demo felt a bit less polished to my liking. Days went by and more outrage dominated the boards. This prompted a read through the review. It was a confusing read to say the least. I read other reviews of Uncharted and there were far more favorable scores and output. Several weeks later, I decided to buy the game, and hoped that it wasn't a mistake in doing so.

Having very little time, I played Uncharted for only 20 minutes. The story was interesting and I realized that I needed a weekend or two to play. This past weekend was reserved for Uncharted. The more I played the game, the more I felt the demo was completely different from the full version of the game. The aiming was the same but it wasn't as awkward once I got used to it. The story, visuals, believable characters, and puzzles were impressive. The constant amount of enemies that I encountered felt a bit repetitive, but they were challenging. Some enemies moved around for better cover, others flanked the area to gain ground. It was pleasing to see.

Once the credits came in, I felt disappointed that it ended as I wanted to play more but also felt foolish to criticize the game prematurely. I felt cheated and a bit angry just as much as the PS3 community about the illogical review. Most demos will give a good idea of what to expect in an upcoming game. But the Uncharted demo almost prevented me from playing a great game! Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a game that truly deserves a score much higher than an 8.0. I won't make the same mistake in writing off another PS3 game.