Editor’s note: I’m going to be honest with you guys: I was hesitant to promote Seth’s article because I didn’t want any more competition for Elena. She is by far the cutest character I’ve encountered in a video game. Seth thinks so, too. -Brett
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was my favorite game of 2007. It undoubtedly faced steep competition — Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, and the Orange Box, just to name a few — but the game won me over with its storytelling chops, stunning visuals, and lifelike characters.
Take leading man Nathan Drake, a roguish man’s man. Neither slender nor wimpy — and a rock climbing god — Drake cracks wise and gets the job done, making Indiana Jones look like a rusty has-been.
More notable to me, though, was the female lead, Elena Fisher.
Elena is the antithesis of most female video game characters. Small in frame with — gasp! — a realistic bust, Elena knows her limits and doesn’t plan on slaying vampires anytime soon. Even so, she’s smart, quick witted, and has a mean right hook. Plus, she’s pretty cute — and a journalist as well! Just my type.
Taking advantage of great voice talent and fully blocked motion capturing that lends credibility to the animation, Uncharted is able to play these two characters off each other in a believable way.
Case in point: How many times in a movie have you seen the shot of the girl getting helped up by the male lead and they get close together in a moment of palpable sexual tension? A million, surely. It’s kind of cliché at this point.
But in a video game? I can’t think of one game where I’ve been anywhere near that connected to the characters to notice it. The closest has probably been some hammy Final Fantasy cut scene. Not to rag on that series, but the narrative immersion just isn’t there.
Uncharted, however, nails it. As the story unfolds, the spark between Drake and Elena slowly builds to a current and ultimately culminates in an almost-kiss that’s ruined by Sully, their Bruce Campbell-esque third wheel.
This teasing is ballsy on developer Naughty Dog’s part — or at the very least, it leaves the player (not to mention Drake) with some serious blue balls. It also makes me insanely excited for Uncharted 2’s upcoming release.
The tiny issue I have with their otherwise harmonious affair is this: Drake savagely murders hundreds of black and Pacific Islander mercenaries before saving the world, getting the girl, and letting the credits roll.
Sure, they did shoot first, and Elena might’ve taken out a few of them. But I’d approach a member of the opposite sex with some trepidation if I knew they’d just brutally ended hundreds of lives. At very least, I’d be prepared for some therapy bills. And this game is rated “T for Teen”?
That said, the whimsy with which this pulp adventure story is told neatly throws a rug over the protagonist’s homicidal rampage. No game story since has engaged me quite like Uncharted’s story, simple as it may be.
I hope that developers take note of the strengths of Uncharted and focus on characterization a bit more. Because you know what? Some of the guys buying games rank Love, Actually pretty high on their favorite movies lists. (Before you say anything: Shut up. That movie is awesome.)
Seth Boyer lives in Anchorage, Alaska, and is really poor. Send him money via www.twitter.com/sethboyer and he’ll love you forever.