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Needless to say, Djawadi's music for this movie loses a star in this review simply because filmmakers cannot be rewarded for replacing effective and established concept themes for no good reason. Even without the detrimental factor of alienating fans of the game by reducing Edmonson's rousing main theme to a cameo role not on the album, the score for Uncharted isn't among Djawadi's better works. It's a recording that has no idea what style to embody, its balance of orchestral and synthetic elements never comfortable and their blend never achieving a genuine spirit of either coolness or awe. Djawadi can't seem to decide if he wants the cool synthetic loops to define the character of the music or, more predictably, the traditional orchestral fantasy and adventure, ultimately opting for a poor balance of the two. Perhaps this inconsistency is the result of a hoard of ghostwriters hard at work on individual scenes and not coordinating well with each other. The orchestral portions are somewhat decent in parts, striving for Jerry Goldsmith heroics but sounding shallow. The synthetic elements, led by electric guitars and various looped effects in conjunction with abrasive percussion, are often extremely obnoxious, defying any particular era of electronics in film music during its meandering contributions. The Latin elements infused into "Cross Purposes" and the main villain's cues aren't prominent enough to function well. The final battle sequence offers some really poor orchestral action, a rising pitch effect for suspense in these cues highly annoying. All of that said, there are some moderate highlights to appreciate in Uncharted, and the latter half "A Whole World You Haven't Seen" mixes all of the score's themes together quite well. Those themes consist of a main new identity for Drake, a secondary but major theme for treasure in general, a somewhat underdeveloped brothers theme, and an equally elusive villain's motif. Djawadi's version of the Drake theme is chipper and nimble but ultimately a generic brass anthem with progressions that aren't all that appealing. It's as though he tries to emulate Edmonson's main theme in spirit but simply can't compete with it.

The main theme for Drake is featured during all of "Uncharted" in fully orchestral mode and is moderately fun. The theme never achieves the swagger promised by this suite-like performance that opens the album, serving an elusive, secondary role more often than not. It returns at 0:41 into "I'm All In" with wretchedly distorted analog synthetic tones, playful hints open the watery "Meeting Braddock," and it reasserts itself at 2:02 into "Only One Rule in This Game" in a heavy combination of strings and synthetics; the melody shifts into brass action mode and terrible digital manipulations later in that cue. It's buried in the faux-Latin action in the middle of "Cross Purposes" and the quietly urgent fantasy ambience of light choir in "Clockwise Keys." While the theme is subdued and skittish to open "Skeleton with Angel Wings," is does fill out later, and its secondary phrasing makes a rare appearance. After stewing early in "Ready to Make History" and the middle of "House of Moncada," the main theme for Drake mingles with the treasure theme at the end of "Postcards," is coolly mashed up at 0:24 into "A Whole World You Haven't Seen," and figures in some of the early propulsion of "Flying Galleons" and "Cannonball." The latter cue allows the full theme to integrate better into the action, but it is largely lost thereafter, a final guitar-laden exit for the theme offered at 0:32 into "Lost Not Gone." The treasure theme largely overtakes the main Drake identity by the end of the score, its broad fantasy scope with similarities to Goldsmith's Lionheart becoming especially apparent by the end. A brief reference previews the theme at the end of "Hey, Kid," but Djawadi saves its full introduction by the orchestral ensemble and later low flute until the start of "Giant Urns." It's the more easily recognizable theme of the two main identities, interjecting obviously at 0:43 into "Have Some Respect" as a sudden orchestral shift after obnoxious synths. A fragment in the first half of "Postcards" evolves into a big revelation at 2:39 for the full ensemble. The treasure theme enjoys a nice, lush series of performances starting at 2:12 into "A Whole World You Haven't Seen," the main theme provided smartly in counterpoint to yield the brightest moment of intelligence for the entire work.

Shades of the treasure theme inform the start of "Lost Not Gone" and shift to keyboards and strings later, and the composer really lays on the Lionheart comparisons in how he builds the theme starting at 0:43 into "The Biggest Treasure Never Found," culminating in a huge finish. A less effective theme for Drake and his brother in Uncharted fails to really catch on in this score, its three ascending chords an offshoot of the treasure theme and never seemingly defining itself effectively. This idea debuts at 0:29 into "Brothers" on guitars and keyboards, building to a briefly dramatic conclusion. It's developed further on acoustic guitar in "Heart of Gold," makes a cameo at 3:01 into "A Whole World You Haven't Seen," returns at 0:41 into "Lost Not Gone" on strings with some sense of resolution, and meekly opens "The Biggest Treasure Never Found." The villain material in Uncharted is largely defined by its vague Latin nature and low, twangy guitars. Its application in "Meeting Braddock" doesn't offer much style or fear, and that posture is reprised in "House of Moncada" without much impact. The villain material does present with more power and menace in "Ready to Make History." There are a few other motific fragments that recur for Djawadi, the most interesting of which is one of action built from descending phrases meandering around key. You can catch pieces of this motif at 0:37 and later into "Parachute," as well as a more forceful rendition late in "Ready to Make History." Ultimately, however, the majority of the Uncharted score lacks distinctive style and infuses enough annoying synthetic variance to deter enthusiasts of symphonic adventure. A somewhat mindless but fun orchestral suite could be assembled out of "Uncharted," "A Whole World You Haven't Seen," and The Biggest Treasure Never Found," the middle cue in that trio the clear highlight in its smart combination of the score's three most prevalent themes. Enthusiasts of the game may find Djawadi's attempts to raise memories of the Edmonson theme without actually developing it to be unforgivably irritating. (The classic theme is dropped into the film a few times like a song placement but that material is not on the album.) Aside from that one catastrophic decision, the Uncharted score sullies its moderately entertaining highlights by failing to decide exactly what its demeanor and style should be. You'll need a forgiving mood for this needless disappointment.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Total Time: 58:31