Uncharted: An Overview
The Premise: The tongue in cheek answer to what Uncharted is like would be Indiana Jones crossed with Tomb Raider; some fans and detractors alike tend to refer to it as Dude Raider. While a bit simplified the thing is that's a not inaccurate description of it. I'm always reminded of "Romancing the Stone" too but either way it's fair to say Uncharted fits nicely in that not really archaeological, but pretending to be so, action/adventure genre, and it does it well.
The games are mostly bog standard first person shooter in gameplay - you have a gun, grenades, throwable propane tanks and you clear the area of henchmen who want you dead. But the gameplay, fun as it can still be if you like that sort of style, isn't generally what you stay for.
The basic plot of any of the games is simple enough too - it tends to be the main characters seek some hitherto hard to find but extremely worthwhile treasure, only someone else is also on the trail and not afraid to eliminate the competition, forcing them to defend themselves. On the way along their journey there is revealed a deeper reason than just wealth that means they ought to continue through the hardship and persevere as the victors.
What's special about Uncharted is just how cinematic it is, it is like the movie of games, though more games are heading in this direction in latter years. In between the fighty sections you have cutscenes to keep playing for, the story unravels bit by bit through them, and even in gameplay you have the wisecracking hero commenting on things. You get a sense of characters building up nicely and also wonderfully beautiful locations for it is a very pretty game series. They can also be amusing games in parts too, the characters not taking themselves too seriously.
Uncharted as a series has a lot going for it that makes people feel attached to the characters, even when arguably they are doing pretty questionable actions - saving the world shouldn't make thievery/tomb robbing okay but it's easy to like the characters and they mostly fall into the set up of being heroes despite that.
Meet The Characters
Nathan 'Nate' Drake
He's designed to be an everyman likeable character - though I don't know any average people with his upper arm strength - based mainly on Johnny Knoxville, Harrison Ford and a general pulp action hero archetype. Nate tends to give a bit of running commentary during the game on what he's up to, even when he's pretty much alone, that helps you get a sense of his personality and humour. His primary occupation is treasure hunting with sidelines in getting into trouble during that and accidentally saving the world from great evils. Voiced by Nolan North.
Victor 'Sully' Sullivan
Another treasure hunter and Nate's apparent father figure. They often go treasure hunting together, having a long history of doing so, though Sully likes to note frequently that he's getting a bit old for all of it, which has yet to stop him in any of the games still. Sully has many tales to tell and there's a nice back and forth between him and Nate. Voiced by Richard McGonagle.
Elena Fisher
A journalist by trade who at the start of the first game had her own archaeological TV show called "Uncharted" which leads her to team up with Nate on his treasure hunt. She tends to banter with Nate a lot and is Nate's primary love interest but far from a damsel in distress. She can hold her own in the physical situations they come across and is smart too, with a good knowledge of history that comes in handy. Voiced by Emily Rose.
Eddy Raja
Another treasure hunter, but not the smartest of them, who is also the leader of a pirate gang. He was once friends with Nate but there is bad blood between them and hence a rivalry during the first game. Voiced by James Sie. Present in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and prequel motion graphic novel Eye of Indra.
Harry Flynn
A roguish British treasure hunter you will come across in Uncharted 2: Amongst Thieves, and also in the Uncharted comics. Him and Nate have worked a number of jobs together and team up again in the 2nd game. Harry is also a bit of a wise guy but not as talented at treasure hunting as Nate, who he appears to rely on for figuring out the finer details. Voiced by Steve Valentine.
Chloe Frazer
Chloe is an Australian treasure hunter who has a romantic history with Nate and also teams up with him and Harry during the 2nd game. She's witty and no nonsense, getting things done, though she tends towards acting in her own interest more than Nate and Elena. Voiced by Claudia Black.
Charlie Cutter
Another British treasure hunter, who appears in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Charlie seems very much like a Jason Statham character, the well built action man but he is also shown to be quite well educated and more nuanced over the course of the game. Voiced by Graham McTavish.
The Canon
Primarily the series is games on Sony games platforms, though there are a number of other media tie-ins too. Arranged below in story chronological order.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss (2012, game on Playstation Vita only) - a prequel game similar to the main PS3 games.
Uncharted: Fight for Fortune (2012, game on Playstation Vita only) - think Collectible Card Game but online, ties into Golden Abyss.
Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth (2011, book) - set probably before UC1 but a standalone adventure story.
Uncharted comics (2011-2012, 6 issue comic run) - set probably before UC1 but a standalone adventure story.
Uncharted: Drake's Trail (2007, online game) - the game itself was released as part of UC1 promotion and is now defunct, the website no longer online but can be read about here as it has some details that do get referenced in fanfic on occasion.
Uncharted: Eye of Indra (2009, motion comic purchasable on Playstation Network) - a prequel graphic novel in 4 parts, with audio and motion added, set closely before events of UC1.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007, game on Playstation 3 only) - abbreviated to UC1 or UDF
Uncharted 2: Amongst Thieves (2009, game on Playstation 3 only) - abbreviated to UC2. Also had multiplayer that still has people playing.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011, game on Playstation 3 only) - abbreviated to UC3. Has non-canon multiplayer storylines too.
Uncharted 4 (To Be Announced, assumed 2014 on Playstation 4 only) - very little is known so far but a teaser trailer released points to a piratical theme and probably taking place in Madagascar in part.
There has also been talk of an Uncharted movie for a number of years but reception to the casting and discussed plot/character changes, diverting away from the original of the games, left a lot of fans either uninspired or dismayed. The director and script for the film have changed a number of times and the future for the film versions looks unclear.
What might interest people who like the sound of the story but don't have a PS3 or PS Vita console to play on, or desire to play the games, is there are fans who have captured the gameplay and edited it down into a watchable movie for each game, enabling people to watch the story instead of play.
The Ships
The ships you are most likely to see around in fandom are below:
Nate/Elena - the main ship you will find out there because it is canon, though not without its troubles in canon.
Nate/Chloe - not so much out there for this one but they do have history in canon so it does come up in fanworks too on occasion.
Nate/Harry - probably the main slash pairing out there. There's not anything inherent in canon for this but they worked together, had banter, so easy enough to see.
Nate/Sully - not such a popular slash pairing as the above, especially with the more recent games playing up the father-son dynamic for these two but still to be found around.
Marlowe/Talbot - both these characters are antagonists in UC3, who clearly have a close working relationship with the older Katherine Marlowe most likely Talbot's mentor, and some fans like to assume a bit more going on between the two.
There's also a smattering of Sully/Other Female Character fics out there and occasional other pairings - like Chloe/Charlie, Harry/Chloe, Chloe/Elena - but there's not a lot of characters in Uncharted and half of them in any given game will be antagonists making ships with them much less likely.
The Fandom
The fandom for Uncharted is relatively small. You'll find more graphic sets/picspam and fan artwork than fanfic in the fandom too, much of it occurring on tumblr rather than LiveJournal.
There's still a reasonable number of fanfics, for a game fandom, and a not too bad ratio of gen adventure fics that mimic the games' plot structure though all too often those are works in progress never to be finished.
Offsite resources/fanworks:
Uncharted fanworks on Ao3
Uncharted on FanFiction.net
Uncharted at Sony Playstation Forums
The Uncharted wikia
Uncharted official website
Communities on Dreamwidth:
uncharted kinkmeme - for all your kink prompting needs
drakesfortune - a general fan community for the game series
uncharted-fics - fanfic community with occasional prompts
Communities on LiveJournal:
drakesfortune - LJ mirror of general fan community
uncharted-fics - LJ mirror of the fanfic community
uncharted_slash - slash specific community
uncharted_elate - Nate/Elena specific community
nate-x-elena - Nate/Elena specific community
And that's it for the overview. If anyone has any questions, or spots any mistakes I've made, do let me know. I hope this has been informative and possibly even inspiring of people to check this fandom out. :)