Its the whole that shines, not just the parts.
Gameplay
The core mechanics of the game are a blend of Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid and Gears of War. This is quite a mixture but its mostly an adoption of various elements from these games. The puzzles in the game is very straight forward and there is rarely a time or occasion where you are stuck. And if by some chance that you are, the hint system would aid you in your time of need and is always there to prevent any frustration from being puzzled stumped. Some folks may view this as a bad thing but,the reality is puzzles are only fun the first time true and after the first run its nothing but an annoyance. Because of this, the puzzles in the game are light and trouble free.
The lack of "hardcore" puzzles places more focus on platform jumping and climbing with heavy combat. The platforming in this game is almost perfect and rarely would you be frustrated by poor controls or camera placement. The guns fights are fun and fast pace. The game is geared to different types of gamer tactics which are the run and gun folks, the stealth folks, the melee folks and the shoot and take cover folks. For the average player, it would be a mixture of the above depending on the situation. The battles are quite entertaining due to the great AI.
Melee is responsive and is very rewarding when executed correctly. While the moves are limited, they are just enough to get the job done and prevent it from being grossly repetitive and uninteresting. There is a certain level of pleasure in punching the hell out of an enemy.
The enemies can duck, hide, dodge, take cover and dynamically react to your aggression. They are not blind and can see you just like you can see them. I was even surprised when they react to seeing dead comrades. In addition to that, they can be interrupted by your gunfire. Example : if they are about to throw a grenade and are shot, the grenade falls out of their hands causing them to grenade themselves.
The overall pacing of the game is well done and quite enjoyable. Some games crash and burn because of horrendous camera angles. Thank fully Naughty Dog care about the sanity of gamers and developed and planed a camera system that is near flawless. The camera is either controlled entirely by the gamer like in a FPS or is fixed in the most optimum or logical position for the situation.
Graphics
This game simply is a beauty to look at. The animation is fluid. The environments are detail due to the rich texturing and art direction. All of the levels are very believable and skillfully made to bring the environments alive. The addition of motion blur and depth of field; while may be nauseating at first, is easy on the eyes for quick movements.
Some folks have encountered screen tearing but, its my belief that this can be related to the PS3 behaving differently on different TV sets for I have not encountered this problem but others have.
There are also moments where the textures are not loaded and the low resolution textures are still visible. This occurs very rarely and does not affect the graphical fidelity of the game.
Sound
Simply amazing. Its just as great as the visual presentation. The voice acting is believable for its sounds right. The music adds to the excitement during combat and non combat, in addition to completing the overall look and feel of the environments.
Story
I honestly don't believe any ordinary person would be disappointed with the storyline. Its entertaining and quite fulfilling.
Conclusion
In the end, this is simply the best adventure game that has been released this gen and is the best in its genre. It a ride that every PS3 owner who is an adventure gamer should take. With no loading times after the initial load and the seamless transition from one adventure to another adventure makes the game nothing but a continuous well paced adventure that must be experience. While the game may not be revolutionary or innovative it is high concentration of refine and generally annoyance free gameplay that makes its shines above the rest and a worthy buy. Couple this with great unlockables further seals the worthiness of a being a must buy.