Anyone who has done the “scroll to the end of the review to see what the score is” thing will know I think Uncharted is pretty special. The biggest thing that makes Uncharted stand out for me is that it's a game worth playing on the PS3, as up till now mine has been used pretty much as a blu-ray player only. There has been the odd game or two on which I have dabbled but nothing really held my attention and certainly nothing which made me look at the PS3 as anything other than a movie player.

U:DF though has changed all that, not only is it a game worth playing, but I have done nothing but play it for the last couple of days. Now that, for me, is something special at any time of the year (you could count on your hands the number of games I have completed) but when you consider some of the (supposed) AAA titles that have been released in the last few weeks then maybe you will get an idea of how much I enjoyed U:DF

The game opens with you aboard a small boat seeking out the coffin of Sir Francis Drake (who you are supposed to be related to). This section serves as a tutorial for the combat part of the game but it’s all so intuitive that no tutorial is really needed. The combat will feel very familiar to anyone who has played Gears of War as it uses a very similar cover mechanic. Drake can duck down behind walls or to the side of doors and take pot shots at the enemy. This being the tutorial though you don’t really get a feel for just how good the combat is going to be.

The combat is brilliant, it starts off nice and easy allowing you to work out how to use the cover as best you can and having the enemies in front of you, but as the game progresses combat gets better and better. This is mainly down to the AI. No longer can you just stay behind that one piece of cover and pick off the enemies one by one, if you try that later on they get clever and flank you, also using the cover to get close and get behind you. The fluid movement and tight control of the central character allows for some very exciting and (I guess) believable gunplay.

Ok maybe I have gushed on long enough, its obvious I loved the game - in fact upon completion I started it again, which I think I have only done once before (with Resident Evil 4) but are there really no bad bits ? Well none that I could find without being accused of nitpicking. The game is brilliant, not just the best game on the PS3 but the best game I have played this year – roll on the inevitable sequel!