The main criticism levied at Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is that it feels derivative. And you know what, those critics are probably right. It deftly snags the cover fire from Gears of War, the acrobatic platforming from Prince of Persia and the tomb raiding aspects from, well, Tomb Raider. It’s hard to argue with those accusations, but I certainly wasn’t thinking about stolen gameplay ideas while I rolled under a screaming shotgun shell and dispatched my attacker with a well-aimed strike from my pistol.

I can’t blame Naughty Dog, the developer of Uncharted, for hijacking borrowing some ideas. It’s pretty difficult to come up with an entirely new genre or some previously unimagined way to dispose of enemies. They combined proven gameplay with the setting from Indiana Jones and even sprinkled in elements from the literary classic Robinson Crusoe to create something that actually feels pretty darn unique and, more importantly, fun.

And don’t forget about the eye candy. The graphics are so stunning, it’s easy to forgive a hint of unoriginality just to see what lies ahead. Uncharted is my favorite PlayStation 3 game and is more fun than just about anything else I played last year. If you had as much fun hunting for ancient treasure as I did, get ready to test your knowledge. Kwanzoo has your Naughty Dog needs covered. We have trivia for Uncharted, with the Jak series and Crash Bandicoot coming soon. You might need to give us a while to get those Way of the Warrior questions ready, though.

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