Uncharted Golden Abyss Treasure Map: Worth Buying?

It may not have reached the heights of Drake’s Deception, but Uncharted’s Vita debut has been a landmark for portable gaming. The touch controls may have been hammy in places and the over-arching narrative a little out of place but intuitive gunplay, fantastic visuals, and dedication to Naughty Dog’s groundwork have paid off nicely for Bend Studio.

Something we particularly fell in love with was the game’s abundance of collectibles. In the form of clues, photographs, artefacts and bounties, they enrich the experience and pour on a good few hours of replay value. Aside from providing snippets of backstory, they also build towards some of Golden Abyss’ more taxing trophies.

The map, in all its glory.

Bounties have been made less bewildering thanks to Bend’s implementation of the Black Market and so have the other collectibles, via a downloadable treasure available on the PlayStation Network. At 79p it’s a throwaway bite of content that we suspect many have bought on impulse, but for those who are still wondering whether to take the mini-plunge, we’ll take a look at what to expect.

Once downloaded, the map will be available exclusively via Drake’s journal which can be opened using the select button, followed by an on-screen icon. Adorning the left hand side of the journal, there is a unique map for every stage in the game that can be expanded at the tap of a button.

The maps themselves are far from spectacular, lacking any sort of interactivity. Each one displays a lay out of an in-game stage, littered with icons and arrows that denote the locations of camera vantage points and pick-ups, as well as obstacles which need to be hewn away by Drake’s machete. The image quality is good, though navigating the maps won’t be plain sailing for everyone.

Working out where you are in correlation to the map can be tricky at times, even more so when in areas with multiple levels of elevation. At just under a pound it may be unreasonable to ask for a full 3D lay-out with video tutorials, but having a persistent location marker wouldn’t have been too much of a push. I’m currently on my second run-through, and admittedly I’m enjoying the game more when playing in this self-imposed treasure hunter mode.

The maps are basic, but with the only other alternative being smartphone/tablet guides, it’s the quickest way to unearth that coveted platinum trophy.