Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first hour understands exactly why you picked up an Uncharted game. You are climbing through old structures, slipping into places you probably should not be, and moving toward another buried fortune while trouble closes in. Golden Abyss keeps the series’ third-person action-adventure rhythm intact on PS Vita, so the basic loop of traversal, shooting, close-quarters scuffles, puzzles, and treasure hunting feels familiar rather than watered down.

The handheld-specific controls are the interesting wrinkle. Tapping a nearby ledge or drawing a route during climbs can send Drake across a chain of jumps automatically, while combat and quick-time sequences ask for directional swipes. These gestures make sense when you want a direct, tactile way to guide an obvious movement, but they can also interrupt the clean immediacy of simply pressing a button. Your tolerance for that tradeoff will shape a lot of your enjoyment: it is a novel use of the Vita, not an automatic improvement on conventional controls.

Exploration has more weight than a quick collectible sweep. Drake’s diary tracks found and missing treasures, and some rewards sit behind dense jungle that must be cut away. You will also photograph locations and make paper impressions from tablets and markings with the touch screen. The stronger finds do more than inflate a count; certain objects add clues about Marisa Chase’s grandfather and his route through the region. If you like pausing to search a ruin instead of sprinting straight to the next firefight, that extra layer gives the journey a satisfying sense of investigation.

There is a small practical catch: completion-minded play asks you to slow down, inspect areas carefully, and keep an eye on the diary. That is rewarding when the mystery has you hooked, but it can feel like busywork if you only want Drake’s fastest, most action-heavy route through the campaign. Play it for the mix, not solely for the shooting.

Graphics

The view stays in the series’ familiar third-person perspective, with Drake navigating Central American jungle, ancient temples, dense foliage, and treasure-filled ruins. The Vita’s touch interactions are visible in the moment-to-moment action as you trace climbing paths, swipe during fights, and take photographs of locations for the diary.

Story

Set before the first Uncharted, Golden Abyss catches Nathan Drake before he knows Elena and pairs him with Victor Sullivan on a hunt for Central American gold. That earlier placement gives the adventure its own lane: you are not dropping into a sequel’s aftermath, but joining Drake at another stage of his career, with Sully serving as the familiar connection.

Jason Dante starts as Drake’s partner in the treasure search, though the fact that he is a crook keeps the partnership uneasy from the outset. Marisa Chase gives the hunt a more personal stake. She is pursuing evidence of what happened to her grandfather, who vanished while seeking the same treasure, and the items scattered through the game can gradually fill in pieces of his path.

Roberto Guerro supplies the immediate danger. His guerrilla force is hunting the treasure to finance his army, and he regards Drake and his allies as tools to be used or discarded. It is a dependable Uncharted setup—lost gold, ancient places, unreliable allies, and armed opposition—but Marisa’s family mystery gives you a reason to care about the clues beyond the payoff of another valuable artifact.

Overall Experience

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a convincing portable version of the series because it retains the things that make a Drake adventure easy to sink into: energetic movement through dangerous ruins, a treasure hunt with mounting pressure, and enough side investigation to reward curiosity. It does not merely put familiar action on a smaller screen; the diary, photography, rubbings, and jungle-clearing make searching the world part of the handheld routine.

The touch features are the dividing line. If you enjoy using Vita-specific inputs and can accept swipes or drawn paths as part of the experience, they help the game feel made for the system. If you prefer every climb, punch, and quick reaction to stay under traditional controls, they may occasionally feel imposed rather than exciting.

Still, the payoff is worth it for anyone who wants more Nathan Drake and is happy to explore at a measured pace between bursts of danger. Go in ready to rummage through the diary, inspect ruins, and follow the thread of Marisa’s grandfather alongside the gold hunt. For additional game history and release details, see this overview of Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

Retro Replay Score

8.1/10