As a PS3 trilogy, the Uncharted series has primarily been about three things: traversing lush jungle environments by hanging from a highly unlikely series of outcroppings and ledges; shooting at gun-toting enemies that pop out en masse from behind beautiful ruins; and listening to some impeccably acted and animated witty banter. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, the first portable entry in the series, is definitely about all those things, but it's also about awkwardly showing off the Vita's unique control functions in ways that annoy more than they enlighten.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss Vita Release Date: Now

Now MSRP: $49.99 Official site

That's not to say all the new additions to the Uncharted controls are unwelcome. Using the touchscreen to drag a grenade's path to the precise landing point you want is quick and intuitive, for instance, and tapping glinting treasures on the screen to collect them can be handy. There are one-off scenarios that use the Vita's controls in interesting ways, too, like swiping the rear touch panel to gently paddle a boat, or tilting the system to avoid rocky outcroppings as you're hurled down a raging river rapid.

Annoying interludes

More often, though, the use of the Vita's unique controls ends up feeling like busywork that interferes with the game's tight, action-packed pacing. Rather than just pressing a button to add a charcoal etching to your inventory, for instance, you have to spend precious mindless seconds rubbing your finger against a virtual piece of paper to make the image appear. Rather than simply automatically examining a found treasure for clues, you have to gently rotate it and rub away virtual dirt to unlock its secrets.

Every few minutes it seems you're forced to stop being an action hero and start fiddling with the touchscreen to do things like rearranging a torn up piece of paper, solving a simple block-placement puzzle, or unlocking a combination lock like the kind you used in middle school (you're not even picking the lock... you're just entering a combination you already have). You could argue that these little interludes help put protagonist Nathan Drake's archaeological chops on par with his high-flying action-hero side, but I strain to imagine the player who finds that new side nearly as interesting.

Golden Abyss also throws new, Vita-specific control schemes for Drake's running and gunning, though many of these are optional. For instance, you can use the touchscreen to trace a path across a series of handholds, then watch Drake follow that path automatically without any further input. While the end result is the same as using the analog stick and buttons to traverse the same path, somehow swiping and watching a canned animation unfold feels awkward, calling attention to the game's largely prescripted paths.

You can simply ignore that control "innovation," but it's much harder to ignore the constant use of touchscreen swipes for actions that could easily have been relegated to the buttons. In seemingly every hand-to-hand combat situation, for instance, there will come a moment where time slows down and a large arrow briefly appears on the screen, telling you to swipe in that direction to perform some action-hero supermove. Not only is it awkward to transfer from the buttons over to the touchscreen quickly, but the whole situation throws off the spontaneity and pacing of the fight, taking you out of the moment at its most thrilling point.

It's as if the game will take any opportunity to interrupt the standard Uncharted experience to scream and point at some "cool" thing the Vita can do. "Hey, you have to tilt the Vita to keep your balance here!" the game yells. "Doesn't swiping the screen make cutting through this bamboo barrier more fun?" it will ask expectantly. In one annoyingly cute area, the game asks you to hold the Vita's rear camera up to "a bright light" in order to expose an on-screen message written in invisible ink. Sucks to be you if you're playing in bed with a partner that doesn't want to be awakened by the lamp... the game demands you appreciate this pithy, contrived situation that could only be made possible by the Vita (or, y'know, any platform with a camera).

A familiar Uncharted experience

Aside from all these control "innovations," Golden Abyss is incredibly faithful to the formula set by the first three console Uncharted games. This time around you start off paired up with Jason Dante, a charmingly unctuous, image-obsessed, two-bit thief and hustler whose lack of any inherent honor or thirst for knowledge contrasts well with Drake. You'll also pal around with Chase, a feisty, driven archaeologist who slowly unfolds an interesting backstory as she and Drake come to trust each other as partners.

While this trio occasionally work at cross purposes, they're generally focused on unearthing some priceless artifacts from General Guerro, a gruff, rotund banana republic leader right out of central casting. Guerro is constantly saying that he is tired of dealing with the three interlopers who are making trouble on his land, but this begins to strain credulity after the third or fourth time he has them cornered at gunpoint, yet lets them all live after an extended monologue.

But it's easy to ignore holes in the plot when the writing and presentation are this good. Golden Abyss proudly continues the Uncharted series' reputation for witty one liners, great voice acting, and character animation that actually conveys emotion through non-verbal communication. Drake does have a habit of occasionally descending into overly long explanations about the ancient civilizations whose secrets he's busy unlocking, but in general the snappy cut scenes are worth actually watching, rather than skipping through as fast as possible.

As for the gameplay, if you've played any Uncharted you know what to expect. Aside from the show-off-the-Vita's-controls interludes mentioned above, the game is still dominated by sections where you climb around ruins alternating with sections of stop-and-pop, over-the-shoulder shooting. The game does its best to mix up these situations, with handholds that fall away or occasional sequences where you have to shoot while hanging from a rope or exposed ledge, for instance. The occasional chase sequence or stealthy takedown scenario also helps spice things up a bit. Still, it's the promise of more witty banter and enchantingly beautiful ruins that will pull you along more than the promise of exciting and interesting new gameplay experiences. There's also more than the normal amount of hidden bits for those completionists who want to explore off the beaten path.

The lush jungle ruins and scenery don't look quite as good on the Vita's screen as they do on your HDTV, but they don't look substantially worse either, a testament to the graphical horsepower of Sony's new portable. Control-wise, the Vita's two analog sticks and familiar button layout make it feel like you're not really compromising anything in the transition to the portable—though, again, the awkwardly forced use of the touchscreen does get in the way of this.

Despite the Vita-control-induced annoyances, though, Nathan Drake couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the portable realm. When it's not getting in its own way, Golden Abyss delivers everything you'd expect from an Uncharted game in a package you can take with you on the subway.

The good

A full, console Uncharted experience captured on a portable for the first time.

experience captured on a portable for the first time. Witty banter and great character animation drive the story

Beautifully lush jungle environments

The Bad

Constant busywork interludes that seem designed to show off the Vita's control options

Touchscreen controls that feel shoehorned in, for the most part.

Stop-and-pop shooting sections can feel repetitive by the time the game is done.

The Ugly

General Guerro, a stereotypically corrupt antagonist without much interesting characterization.

Verdict: Buy It