Naughty Dog (original developers of Crash Bandicoot, developers of Jak & Daxter and Uncharted series) are noteworthy for not producing groundbreakingly original gameplay, but solid dependable exemplars of established genres using some of the best technology at their disposal (Lisp in games = fuck yes!). You really do want to give Uncharted a shot. Everything from gameplay mechanics to graphics and sound and little realistic details in the presentation will blow you away with how solidly built and well thought out it is. If you don't have fun, I will be surprised.
Well, I never was a big fan of Crash Bandicoot, haven't played much Jak and Daxter, and I didn't really get into the first Uncharted either. I mean, I can see the game is a technological marvel, but the setting and characters feel so boring to me. But I haven't played it long enough to really pass judgment...I'm just having trouble getting motivated to do so.
I found the characters more fascinating than their counterparts in the Tomb Raider series at least. In fact Uncharted 2 contains something of a Lara Croft parody of sorts, a sexpot bad-girl love interest with an Englishoid accent (Australian, actually) whom Drake ends up ditching. 