On June 16 2023 we attended the official inauguration of Uncharted at PortAventura World, giving us exclusive access to the attraction before opening to the public on June 17.

A world class attraction and the perfect addition to PortAventura World’s already impressive lineup, Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence is an exceptional dark ride and a complete reimagination of what a spinning coaster can do, executed brilliantly in a fun and thrilling experience.

This review will contain spoilers, so if you are looking to visit and would like to experience the ride with no prior knowledge, this perhaps won’t be for you.

On arrival to the park, after our stay at Hotel Gold River, we were greeted along with other invited guests and provided with complimentary goodie bags. Upon entering the park we passed a number of Uncharted banners, so there was absolutely no confusion what we were all here to experience.

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The first thing that caught our eye, was how impressive the overall façade to the attraction is. The mountain rock work fits perfectly into the Far West area of the park, so much so that on walking through you would not notice the attraction at all! This in itself is impressive given the size of the show building.

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After being provided with some refreshments, we took our position as David Garcia and Luis Valencia from PortAventura World as well as Jeffrey Godsick from Sony Pictures Entertainment, Rich Hill from Sally Dark Rides and Ignasi Guasch from Intamin all took to stage. To kick off the ceremony they discussed the importance of the attraction and provided a little more context as to why PortAventura picked Uncharted for this particular project.

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After these interviews took place, including two in English with partners from Sony and Sally Dark Rides, we were treated to a live action show with Nate & Chloe from the franchise themselves in a classic fight scene against villains on a mission to get to the treasure first! The villains got there first by the way, giving our lead characters the perfect opportunity to chase after them into the mountain, beckoning us to follow.

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On entering the mountain itself it was clear that this was going to be an incredibly well themed immersive attraction with several themed rooms that you zig zag through before entering the first pre-show area where animatronic Nate & Chloe are found talking to Sullivan. We’ll let you make your own minds up over whether the animatronic looks like the video game or movie, but regardless it was great to see an actual animatronic at a time where so much is done with projection mapping.

Following their interaction with guests, you begin to descend into the caves below with much of the queue areas being single passageways which you have to navigate with impressive large scale sets and lighting along the way. The storyline continues at this point and it is discovered that in following the baddies, Nate has been caught and Chloe is trying to rescue him. This story is played out across a number of well integrated screens and we particularly liked the inclusion of an illusion which made you feel like the queue was the width of a plank of wood above a deep well.

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On entering the final chamber, queuing guests go from ‘passive’ to ‘active’ and are requested to search for clues around the walls to help find a solution. This is the first time we’ve seen anything like this, however it will be interesting to see how this works from an engagement point of view during usual park operating hours.

After a final turn we entered the rides station which is a hugely impressive space, themed like a cave. We were particularly impressed with how well disguised the ride operators booth had been integrated into the set so as not to spoil the overall atmosphere.

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We then boarded our ride vehicle which is themed more like an exploration buggy, taking three rows of four riders - and before we knew it were on our way.

Spoiler alert - this section will go into detail about what to expect!

The ride starts by entering a larger darkened caved area with gems on the ceiling and walls lighting the way. It’s not before long, however, that the car rotates 90 degrees to reveal a baddy with his rocket launcher! On firing, the ride vehicle spins greater than 360 degrees to avoid direct aim and reveals the damage to the rock face that the missile has just hit instead. On reverting back to the forward position, the vehicle experiences its first punchy launch. Whilst the top speed won’t be high, the launch comes as a surprise and is effective in getting away from the first baddy.

On swinging around the corner you come face to face with the first large projection screen. We did find that it was almost nostalgic for those that have played the Sony PlayStation games as the graphics will be very familiar - however the impact is lessened slightly as light escapes from a nearby transfer track and there is little to no physical set around the edges of the screen.

The train then dives right into its first lateral drop in darkness, righting to the forward position before launching up into a roll-back, which it spins freely on, back to the lateral position before flying past the screen you have just viewed into a short section which is definitely more roller coaster than dark ride. Across the roll back and a hill, there is a good amount of impactful airtime which helps make this experience exciting.

The next section of the ride sees the vehicles travel through a series of drops, twists and turns with minimal theming and effects throughout so is ultimately in darkness. It would have been perhaps been nice to see a little more in this section, however the movements of the ride itself carry you through well.

The ride then turns left and brakes into a section with screens both above and in front of the riders. It is apparent that the ride car is being air lifted, however all doesn’t go to plan and as the vehicle turns to the backwards position it drops away from the helicopter, completing the last section of ‘coaster’ before entering the station in front of one final screen which concludes the story.

On exiting the ride, you enter a well themed gift shop with a good selection of Uncharted merchandise. Full credit, in this area however, must go to PortAventura, as located in the shop is a VR Simulator Experience for guests that are perhaps not able to enjoy the main attraction. This is the first time we have seen VR used in this way and were really taken aback by this approach - definitely something we would welcome in other parks.

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Uncharted is the world's only lateral launch coaster and it certainly doesn't disappoint. The movements and dynamics of the ride vehicles along with the special effects - both physical and animated help make this is truly world class attraction and the perfect fit for PortAventura.

The partnership between PortAventura, Sony, Intamin and Sally Dark Rides has resulted in a brilliant new attraction and we are sure that guests will love Uncharted from opening on June 17.

PortAventura World

Following our exciting morning we then had the opportunity to explore the rest of the ride offerings across the two parks at PortAventura World. General ride availability was good and there seemed to be a great atmosphere across both parks which made for a really enjoyable afternoon in the sun.

All of our favourites including Shambhala, Dragon Khan, Furius Baco, Red Force and Hurakan Condor were all available as well as the water attractions Silver River Flume, Grand Canyon Rapids and Tutuki Splash which were greatly needed in the Catalan heat. We even had the opportunity for another spin on Sally Dark Rides' other attraction - Street Mission.

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Hotel Gold River

We also enjoyed an overnight stay at the very impressive Hotel Gold River. This particular hotel stretches across an entire Western themed town and has a good selection of bars, eateries and entertainment including several outdoor pools as well as an exclusive park entrance directly into the Far West area to keep guests happy.

The rooms themselves were quite charming and very in-keeping with the general theme and feel of the area as a whole.

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