Indicator GIF
 
Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta - Episode 1 PS3

Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta - Episode 1

Unearthed is an episodic third person Action Adventure game set in modern day Middle East. When fortune hunters Faris Jawad and his sister Dania receive a call to visit Morocco they embark on an exotic adventure throughout the Middle East on the trail of the famous Muslim explorer Ibn Battuta. The trail won't be clear however as they will have to overcome an unholy alliance of a militia army leader, a weapons dealer and a wealthy antiquities smuggler who are after the same goal.
  • US N/A
  • EU May 29, 2013
  • JP N/A
Rate it
2/10
Platform: PlayStation 3 icon


Developer: Semaphore
Publisher: Semaphore

pro

Unearthed comes off as a game with a vision, and I do appreciate the authenticity of the story due in large part to the fact that the game is developed in Saudi-Arabia. Whether it's actually rooted in something real, I don't know, but it feels like it. The music is fine at best and the game is subtitled in 21 languages which is a nice gesture.

con

Episode 1 is a complete technical mess and borderline unplayable. Every single action be it walking, jumping, fighting or shooting, is an experience comprised of lag or even no reaction at all. You will often find yourself gliding across surfaces, falling down shafts because the jump button simply won't work and inexplicably twitch out of cover only to be shot to death. Picking up items only works 1 out of 10 times, the cover mechanic will have you shoot into the wall you're hiding behind even though you're leaning out, and it's all poorly animated. Cut scenes are stale, lacking in animation and often a bit awkward due to the rather poor voice acting.

con

The first episode is 1 hour long and manages to cram in most of the mechanics you've seen in various games over the last decade, and not one of them is executed properly. I've already mentioned the cover mechanic which is broken, but there's more. During the hour you will shoot, climb ledges, roll, solve a puzzle, control an RC car, sit on the back of an ATV while you shoot bad guys, fight enemies hand to hand like in Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat, walk'n talk, and perhaps the most infuriating part: drive around town in a car that is completely uncontrollable while being chased by the cops. Not only do you have to suffer through three fights, but the driving part got me pretty close to just sit down and cry.

con

Unearthed doesn't only lend a page from the Uncharted book, it rips them all out and goes to town like it's 1995. The logo resembles Uncharted's, there's a spinning medallion during the loading screen, and even the voice of Faris tries to resemble Nolan North. Cut scenes include bits like the camera panning across a table covered in books, daggers and maps. Do I sound harsh? I think I have a right to. For $9.99 you get to play 1 hour of Uncharted if it was made on PS1, and I'm probably giving Unearthed too much credit already. I get it, you got to start somewhere, but a little bit of QA never hurt anyone.

TOTAL SCORE
2/10
Quote
Back to the drawing board.
More from developer
You might also enjoy