Uncharted Golden Abyss review: Grave rubber

Presenting Uncharted: Golden Abyss as one of Nathan Drake's earlier adventures is a masterstroke. For one thing, it explains why people are still hiring him to hunt down relics. At this point, they just haven't heard of the handsome, half-tucked grave robber who breaks everything he climbs across, shoots everyone he sees, and goes through an awful lot of trouble for treasure that's invariably cursed, deadly or not really treasure at all.

But we're not interested in the chest full of MacGuffins at the end. We're in it for the hero's hazardous journey over crumbling handholds and vertiginous chasms. We like to see an ancient civilization lurch back into life with the aid of an unbelievably convoluted, one-use mechanism. And we want to spot that spark between the characters who get themselves into one mess after another, and yet another. If that's what Uncharted is to you, then you'll find very little has been lost in the transition to PlayStation Vita.