Which brings me to the next thing I wanted to focus on in Uncharted, the combat and there is tons of it! Nathan can handle everything from a 9mm pistol to an M4 machine gun. From the very beginning of the game and I mean the very first level you are quickly thrown into the action. Like I said before the gunplay is a mixture of Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War. Pressing the L1 button you’ll get an over the shoulder view, R1 to fire. Needless to say the aiming is very precise and I was getting headshots with the starting 9mm very easily. Things get a bit more difficult when you start using the automatic rifles because the recoil is insane. It’s much easier to pop off a few shots aim again and then fire. It’s a better way to conserve ammo, which is abundant and you’ll rarely run into a situation where you’re completely out. There are plenty of pickups lying around anyways. Nathan can hold 1 handgun, 1 larger gun and up to 5 grenades. My favorites were the Desert Eagle and Shotgun very satisfying for headshots and clearing out enemies quickly. 

Of course what use would these guns be if you couldn’t take cover while you’re reloading or sneaking around the environments. Pressing the circle button near a wall, column, crate etc will have you press up against “a la” Gears of War. It works quite well in Uncharted; you can quickly hop over and run to the next cover with ease and Nathan will adjust automatically if what you’re leaned up against changes in height. The cover system is pivotal to your survival, be careful though, the game is full of destructible cover and a crate can only take so many shotgun shells before it disintegrates.

Now get used to aiming these guns and so on because there are tons and tons of armed goons running about the island. Your enemies are very well equipped to take you out and you’ll usually be dealing with several at a time. The enemies display has a very impressive AI for a game like this, you’ll get flanked, grenades will be used to flush you out and pin you down with cover fire while their cohorts get closer. Don’t think you’re just going to pop up out of cover and kill them all. They’ll dive for cover to avoid your shots, jump out of cover differently each time to get the best shot at you and more. There are some parts where you are severely outnumbered. With a sniper in the distance, grenade launchers, desert eagles with lasers and shotguns all pointed your way it can get overwhelming. It’s not too difficult… honestly things get smoother when you become more proficient with your weapons. It’s good to see the enemies are more than just cannon fodder. On higher difficulties you better get used to taking cover and jumping out at the right moment, otherwise…… BOOM HEADSHOT! Of course to make things fair sometimes in fact most times it’s better to whither your enemies down a bit. Using the hit zones you can knock enemy’s guns out of their hands, shoot them in the legs reduce their mobility and soften them up. So with enemy almost dead it’s time to get up close and personal and use your combo attacks. Most of the time you’ll be using the standard punch combo (Square 3 times in succession) if your timing is good you can use the brutal combo (Square, triangle, square) or add some shooting to the mix with the gunslinger combo. Don’t start punching an enemy out in the open especially when you’re surrounded, you’ll die very quickly. There are a few situations where either Elena or Sully will help in a firefight and surprisingly enough the AI holds up here pretty well. Granted their aim isn’t too great but will provide enough distraction sometimes to let you sneak up behind an enemy and unleash a stealth kill which is pretty cool.