Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Action gamers who found their way to Uncharted via God of War and similar bombastic franchises will only have their itches scratched in the cutscenes. Whereas if your main enjoyment comes from the character interaction and cute dialogue these games seem to do better than so many others, you won't be disappointed at all.

If you've played an Uncharted game before you'll know what you're in for. Uncharted Golden Abyss is technically very impressive and the voice acting is great. But we've already seen this on the PS3 with better controls.

A very good action-adventure game with varied and entertaining gameplay. However, it's quite boring to watch all those characters and scenario as well as it is a tiresome experience to use all those new functions of the PS Vita handheld. Fortunately, you don't need to use them to the full. And then, when you click off all the dialogues there is nothing that could stop you from your enjoyment of cool graphics and great action passages that are plenty.

That being said, this is still an Uncharted game. Every Uncharted game comes with a certain base level of precision and execution, and that hasn't been lowered here. Golden Abyss gets a pass, but it doesn't come with honours.

Nathan Drakes first portable adventure is equally as impressive as it is disappointing. Bend Studio have created a visually impressive adventure with an excellent control scheme, but the haphazard use of some motion controls and the lacklustre story are a small let-down.

A story worthy of the franchise, Uncharted: Golden Abyss falls short in terms of pacing and controls, as the touchscreen gimmick takes the experience down a big notch.

Like an over-encumbered sherpa, Drake stumbles occasionally under the weight of all the gadgets and gimmicks included with the new system. For better or worse, Uncharted demonstrates just about everything the Vita can deliver.

Though Uncharted: Golden Abyss brings a little too much reality to Drake's day-to-day by making him polish artifacts in gimmicky touchscreen nonsense, there's still a good, if formulaic, adventure to be had. In other words, this might just sell you on the Vita ... whenever it's not selling you on the Vita.

Golden Abyss is full of disappointments. The action set pieces are great, but there's too few of them; the voice acting is exemplary, but the narrative doesn't do it justice; the touch and motion controls work well for some actions, but they ruin others. For every moment of enjoyment you have, something comes along to spoil it. Despite its problems, though, Golden Abyss still succeeds in delivering some intense, entertaining action and combat.

This is an enjoyable game, and Studio Bend has proved itself capable of competently shepherding Sony's trusted franchises, but its limited spectacle and lacking script also make it the worst entry in the Uncharted series since the original Drake's Fortune.

There's also the beauty of Uncharted's exotic locales, which act as a great showcase for Vita's astonishing display. And even if Golden Abyss starred a power-armoured space marine fighting his way across the cardboard-box planet, it would still be a robust thirdperson shooter, the likes of which we've simply never seen on a handheld. The core Uncharted experience is still here, in other words. It's stripped a little bare, but it's just about enough.

Abyss does mix up the Uncharted formula, using Vita's touchscreens and gyroscope: Rather than just pressing X at a specific moment during a cinematic fight, you swipe the screen. These additions are mostly tedious, a barrier between players and the story. Stopping in the middle of crossing over a crevasse to tilt the Vita left and right to regain your balance doesn't ramp up the tension, it breaks that tension in half.

Golden Abyss is for the fans, no doubt – a formulaic Uncharted that sticks to what it knows best. It's more down-to-earth, realistic and at times, adventurous, but is unable to match its console-counterpart's memorable sequences and polish. It's also for those who needs a constant reminder of how "OMG! Vita is awesom3z!".

The technology and mechanics clearly show how good this game could be. Naughty Dog's genius spark is missing and what we got is just good craftmanship. It's a great base for a real Uncharted for PS Vita, that most likely will debut in a year or two.