Uncharted Clone Unearthed

Switch out a few letters, squint slightly and a new game called Unearthed looks very much like a well-known PS3-exclusive that may or may not be pretty much exactly the same in every way.

Yep, after a year of God of War clone’s/copycats in 2010, we have an Uncharted clone that really doesn’t seem to be hiding it’s source of inspiration whatsoever.

Unearthed: the Trail of Ibn Battuta is being developed by Saudi studio Semaphore for Xbox 360. The game was known to be in development for iOS, Android and PSN but has now been listed for XBLA as well as WiiWare.

Get ready for some ‘strong comparisons’ because I’m about to talk details here. Unearthed follows the story of ‘fortune hunter’ Faris Jawad ( a heroic name if ever I heard one) where he receives a call to journey to Morocco and traces the footsteps of famed Muslim explorer Ibn Battuta.

If you don’t know who Ibn Battuta was, just know that he was a bigger explorer than his contemporary comparison, Marco Polo. Is that another similarity?

The game differs from its inspiration in that it will be made in TV-style ‘episodes’ available in both Arabic and English, everything else is pretty much the same.

According to Semaphore, Jawad 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”.

Is this ringing any bells? Give the teaser and gameplay trailers a gander, see if it jogs your memory. Still not convinced? Pop on over to the latest trailer for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and feel that eery sense of déja vu.