Note: Spoilers, spoilers, and more spoilers below!

For such a wholly iconic franchise throughout videogamedom, it's funny to consider how there's only really the one entry that set the world afire with a contagious level of joy and happiness. I'm sure I don't even need to specify which one it's such a prevalently held opinion that it's the best - and by a significant margin. Sure, Uncharted 3 has its fans, but it's disingenuous to claim otherwise that it has about as many detractors as it does supporters. And Drake's Fortune can unfortunately only be recognised as a time capsule of the early years of the PS3. It had its moment of fame no doubt about it--I certainly invested a lot of positive emotions to my time playing it--but that it hasn't aged very well is putting it mildly. There's also Golden Abyss, to which I haven't played myself (along with the majority of Uncharted fans I'm sure) due to its stubborn exclusivity on the Vita. However that too didn't attract a lot of gracious buzz--least not to my knowledge--and is barely brought up whenever it comes time for the other three titles to butt heads in order to take the crown.

Psst, it's Uncharted 2. Uncharted 2 has the crown, and it's one that it's held on to rather assuredly for the past seven (!!!) years. And yet, here we are with Uncharted 4, and now suddenly Uncharted 2's crown doesn't seem as safe as it once was. To put it bluntly, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is bladdy awesome.

Leading up to release, there was a lot of speculation as to what sort of shape Nathan Drake's finale would form. Uncharted 4 is birthed into a post-The Last of Us world, and Naughty Dog and what they represent has perhaps shifted gears a little. Would Uncharted 4 be more darker? Moodier? Quieter? ''Harrowing''? As it turns out, not really. Don't get me wrong, The Last of Us has certainly left its mark, but what I was rather surprised to discover was that Uncharted 4 is an Uncharted game through and through. This isn't Uncharted: The Last of Us edition, this is an Uncharted game complete with many of the improvements and lessons learned from its distant cousin, and what this has resulted in is an Uncharted that is recognisable, yet at the same time not. It perhaps takes a little adjusting to try and notice the similarities - you need to look past the heavier-set, slightly more sombre expression on display to notice the traditional swashbuckling, high-octane action. But oh is it there!

Uncharted 4 positions itself as Nathan Drake's final farewell and what a farewell it is. Though while the game is great enough that it can stand on its own as well as any other Uncharted release, the nods and references to Nate's prior video game adventures made my heart sing. Chapter 4 in particular and the trip down memory lane via all of his mementos was wonderful to reflect back on - even if it hasn't actually been that long that I played these games courtesy of the Nathan Drake Collection. That Uncharted 4 is a little more 'grown up' than the previous games becomes apparent pretty quickly when we get to witness Nate living his life in a much different environment. That of the average family man, sitting at his work desk finishing paperwork, with a loving wife to share in his mundane, everyday escapades. With most video game action heroes picturing the male lead in a standard domestic lifestyle can seem difficult to fathom. The classic discussion involving the staff trying to envision how Marcus Fenix would spend his days outside of a war against rock monsters immediately comes to mind. Fortunately Nathan Drake is such a character that even in the face of the typical video game discrepancies characters such as he face--most importantly being his overall kill list and how his clambering/platforming abilities are that of a superhero--he still manages to appear like a relatable and most importantly real person. Seeing Nate at a desk or exploring his own home doesn't feel out of place, and helps to portray him with that much more humanity. He's not just a thrill-seeking, quip-spewing murder machine anymore. Now he's a thrill-seeking, quip-spewing murder machine with a desk job!

The aforementioned wife also naturally continues to be Elena Fisher, and the relationship between Nate & Elena as portrayed throughout the game is perhaps one of the overall highlights of the story. The Uncharted games have always been character driven, was was The Last of Us that followed, though Uncharted 4 is the first that attempts something else beyond the typical puckish rogue qualities of Drake and co. There's still plenty of that to enjoy, but there are also a number of interactions between the main cast that evoke the quiet intensity and drama that was expressed between Joel & Ellie before them. Getting to see Drake and... Elena Drake (seems so weird to call her that, though we also never hear her full name; maybe she's Elena Drake Fisher??) in the sort of environment to where they're shown eating on the couch before playing a modified version of Crash Bandicoot (wot) helps ground and mould their relationship into something approaching relatability. The performances of both Nolan North and Emily Rose, paired alongside the bewilderingly impressive facial capture, really sells these two characters and their emotions they direct at one another. They've both worked together across so many games at this point that it's impossible not for their interactions to feel so effortlessly natural. Drake loves Elena, and Elena loves Drake.

However Drake perhaps loves Elena too much - to the point where he condescendingly tries to shield his obvious desire to possibly return to his life of old. Elena professes that she doesn't want to stand in the way of his happiness and wishes for him to take on the job that's being offered to him by a friend, but the promise Drake had made in between Uncharted 3 & 4 is too much for him to openly break. He would rather go behind her back than admit his own weakness. Drake is a flawed human being, but it was only Uncharted 3 to where his obsession with treasure hunting was acknowledged and brought to the forefront. And in Uncharted 4 it almost comes to a head. But to be fair to him, he at least has a pretty good reason to be getting back into the game. That he very clearly happens to be enjoying himself is a fortunate bonus to the outcome.

Enter Sam Drake, the other core character of Uncharted 4. Sam was very clearly conceived during the brainstorming of Uncharted 4, but I think Naughty Dog (mostly) do a pretty good job in fitting him into the overall timeline. That Nate thought he was dead and gone gave no reason for him to be brought up - he represented a level of guilt that he didn't want to reflect back on, as he believes it's because of him that Sam 'died' amidst a firefight. Although his absence during the previous flashback of Nate's adolescent years in Uncharted 3 is rather peculiar. It'd be funny if ND decided to George Lucas a special edition with Sam occasionally appearing in the background somewhere. In any case, it's no surprise that Nate & Sam bounce well off of each other, what with them each being voiced by the two top voice acting heavy weights of video games. As with Elena, Nate naturally jives with Sam like two best buds trying to out quip one another. Part of this is perhaps because of incredibly similar they are - Sam essentially came across to me as Nate-pre Uncharted 4, or more specifically the selfish and foolhardy Nathan Drake of Uncharted 3, who kept putting everything on the line for the sake of his own adrenaline. In terms of personality, they both feel very in tune with one another. Which is perhaps intentional, given how Troy Baker essentially took to playing all of the roles Nolan North would perhaps voice. Despite this striking similarity, I thought Sam was a likeable guy, though the plot twist concerning his prison breakout (a bloody class action sequence by the by) was wholly predictable. That Sam had made up a debt he owed purely to rope Nate back into his life--consequences to his family life be damned--was screaming at me throughout the game. Sam's sly little laughs at whenever Nate would bring up the debt clued me really hard.

To be honest said twist was honestly a bit disappointing, because the crime lord guy was actually awfully intimidating. Robin Atkin Downes (who has been in every Uncharted as a different character) perfectly portrays the classical archetype of a criminal kingpin - as friendly and welcoming as can be at one moment, then completely cut-throat and terrifying the next. No better is this shown than when he hands Sam the water, only to snatch it away when he realises he's not exactly getting all of what he wants. Then when things go his way again, he picks Sam up with a jovial smile on his face, as if he's completely ignorant of the fact that he was the one that put him on the ground in the first place. Alas, that entire sequence was but a bit of creative writing courtesy of Sam's imagination...

Speaking of which, the effectiveness of the foils & villains of Uncharted games have always proven to be rather inconsistent, and sadly Uncharted 4 is no different even when disregarding scary druglord man. It does at least have a pretty memorable bad guy in the form of Rafe Adler, who comes across as the bastard child of Harry Flynn and Gabriel Roman. As with every other performance in this game, Warren Kole deserves his due praise for bringing his role that of an insecure little psychopath to life. My favourite scene of his would have to be set during the auction. We have everybody gussied up and dressed to impress, as Sully attempts to get a lay of the land by using his natural charms to talk his way whatever info he can concerning Rafe and his hired Mercenary leader Nadine's goals. Only for Rafe to just smack Sully's drink out of his hand in the middle of the crowd. It made Rafe seem impatient, and most importantly intimidating; here's a guy who doesn't give a single shit about making a scene, and lying underneath his well kept demeanor is somebody dangerously vicious. The bait and switch as the prison guard Vargas grabs his arms and threatens him, only to get stabbed in the neck by Rafe--with zero hesitation--before he's barely able to get a word out was another fantastic scene. This was during the prison flashback sequence of course, so Rafe hadn't yet become an antagonist and is technically an ally at this point funnily enough. But even if you weren't already aware that he was to be one of the villains, the scene with Vargas's death gives you a pretty good inkling that Rafe will bring about violent conflict as the story progresses.

His partner, Nadine Ross, doesn't fair as well. Which is supremely disappointing, because she has a Helluva intro with her kicking Nate's ass. Problem is beyond a couple of fantastic encounters--both of which involving her beating up the brothers Drake--she doesn't really... do anything during the story. The same can actually be said for Rafe to a lesser degree. Neither character makes very many appearances throughout the game. This can be said for the villains in previous games, but each one had a constant menace to be wary of. Drake's Fortune had the trash talking Eddy Raja, Uncharted 2 featured the smarmy wankery of Harry Flynn, and Uncharted 3 has a solid helping of antagonism via Talbot. All of three games featured three villains in total as well, but Uncharted 4 only has the two and both come across as feeling underused - again Nadine especially. Given the stronger focus towards the characters and their relationships with one another, it's a shame the villains couldn't have received a similar treatment. I think Rafe is a solid antagonist, but he's also essentially just a one-dimensional evil guy. And Nadine is literally just a hired thug who happens to be really good with her fists (and feet) and doesn't leave much of an impression otherwise. I was expecting Nadine to perhaps turn to the other side, and there are references throughout that hint at such an outcome. Though while she does of course turn her back on Rafe, it's at the very end, and it's only so as to let Nate & Rafe battle it out with cutlasses - which I considered to be a pretty solid ending boss for the record. And on a semi-related note, her facial expression to when Rafe slapped her was fucking golden. A very ''oh u dun fucked up big time son'' sort of reaction.

The story eventually comes full circle with Elena's return, once again just in the nick of time to save Nate's ass after the previously mentioned, and again predictable, twist concerning Sam. That the game sorta saves Elena in the holster until the final few chapters feel intentional - getting to once again listen to these two charmers back and forthing with one another is like a reward in and of itself. All the better given that they're a married couple, and so in between all of the wisecracks they'll get srsn bsn and try to mend their relationship after Drake's deceit. With both of them now side-by-side again, it's up to them to save Sam. Rescuing Sam feels as if both Nate & Elena are trying to rescue a part of themselves so to speak. As said before Sam is essentially Nate but without the family attachments, and both Nate & even Elena come to admit that they still enjoy the thrill of adventure. However their means to which they force such desires deep within is what lead to their relationship combusting, and so their saving of Sam to me is like they're 'recapturing' their thrill of the life, together as a couple. Which in Elena's case basically goes against her character progression in Uncharted 3, to which she really did seem like she was done with it all. In all honesty there are aspects of Uncharted 4 that appear desperate to pretend that Uncharted 3 never happened. That's obviously not the case, but I did get the impression in places...

I'm sure I'm likely in the minority in this one, but I was a little disappointed that there was no end game supernatural twist. It always manages to add a bit of extra colour and personality to the overall package; they give an extra allure of mystique to these already mysterious and illusive lost cities and artifacts they're hunting for. They typically serve as warnings that something so incredibly valuable naturally has an equally high price. Adding in zombie pirates or.. pirate ghosts or... man eating pirate ships or what have you wouldn't exactly have detracted from the tone of the game, either. Sure, there's a heavier helping of more personal moments on display, but Nate is still also 'self-defencing' his way through a horde of mercenaries and landing jumps and surviving falls that would kill any ordinary man. Uncharted isn't real life, and for the most part it doesn't try to be, so the lack of any supernatural shenanigans was frankly a bit of a letdown. Comon, who wouldn't have loved for Nate to stumble upon the eternal spirits of Sam Avery and Thomas Tew fighting a battle they're condemned to fight for all eternity?! Probably a few of you, but I think it would have been cool.

Action Bombast meets Walking Simulator

The playing of Uncharted 4 and what you do is treated to what is perhaps the biggest holdover from The Last of Us. A lot of the formula remains the same, with bombastic action and cover-based shooting, but there are also a lot of segments to where your aim is to simply wander around and enjoy the dialogue between Nate and his cohort. There's often a number of things you can press triangle on and then listen to Nate commentate on whatever it is, which can sometimes lead to some rather memorable character moments.Not the least of which being Nate & Sam pondering a life outside their treasure hunting inside the bar of a mythical, long-lost society. The second sequence where you follow the brothers Drake as kids feels very reminiscent of Left Behind in particular, complete with hats to put on and even a photograph to take. The 'exploring' aspects of this series have certainly come a long way from the days of that one sequence in 2 where you can explore a tibetan village. Honestly I quite liked these segments, too. Uncharted 4 is surprisingly lengthy, and so is able to compact all of the typical gung ho action alongside these quieter, slower paced sections. The reward isn't so much besting a combat encounter or nailing a jump, but to simply be wooed by the dialogue that's exchanged between such a likeable cast of characters.

Though the shooting is still here of course, and it's actually pretty damn good. I'm someone that considers Uncharted 2 to be a legitimately OK shooter - it's hardly the best in the business, but it works well within the overall framework. Uncharted 4's shooting however is a significant notch above all of the previous games. The controls are silky smooth and everything about transitioning from one action to the next feels effortless and fluid. It can now thusly stand firm and perform toe-to-toe with the shooting of the Tomb Raider reboot, and (for my money) has overall put those games back in their place as the also rans they are... I kid, I actually still really like Rise of the Tomb Raider in particular, but my heart most certainly aligns with Uncharted 4 between the two. In any case, the shooting in Uncharted 4 is a lot of fun. The immediate reaction I had to sum it up was that it's fast and furious. This may be a cover-based shooter, but cover is seemingly always highly destructible, forcing you to quickly look elsewhere to hunker down for a few more seconds before that inevitably crumbles. The feedback of the shooting is extremely satisfying also, and unlike the bullet sponges of Uncharted 3 enemies go down pretty swiftly - even the armoured enemies can't withstand too much punishment, much like how they were in Uncharted 2.

The stealth has been given a slightly keener focus also, which I appreciate. The ability to tag enemies is a particularly wondrous addition that just about every shooter of this type should include. That there's also a cone that quickly fills up above a guard to signify how close they are at spotting is another smart addition. Now for as often as you can hide in knee high bushes, Uncharted 4 isn't really a stealth game. The stealth instead exists as a means to thin the herd before chaos erupts - and chances are high it will. That's not to say you can't stealth your way through encounters completely--I can attest to this personally--but relying exclusively on stealth can get to be a little boring. For all of the necks I'll gleefully snap in silence, sometimes I'll instigate a shootout just to mix things up a little. It's a solid mix of action & stealth akin to the Far Cry games, and the much more expansive arenas gives you a lot of leeway in how you want to proceed. Uncharted has always flirted with the idea of including stealth from the very first one, but it's here that it's undoubtedly the most realised. I'm sure some would also point out the fact that enemies can now lose your trail and you can retreat back into stealth. To which I rambunctiously and outrageously must correct you! As you may be surprised to learn that such AI patterns have existed since Uncharted 2!

What's more is the inclusion of a grappling hook, which works to the game's favour both in and out of combat. The environments in general are now much more spacious, which means you can potentially use your grappling hook to flank an entire section of the map - either to escape back into stealth or to simply move to a more advantageous position. Outside of combat the grappling hook fits in alongside Nate's other bag of traversal tricks. As always the traversal and platforming is pretty simple and not especially complicated, but it still manages to be fun all the same, not the least of which when swinging to and fro with your hook. It's an exhilarating thrill to be leaping off of cliffs, only to then effortlessly grapple onto a wooden beam and then soar through the sky and finally stick the landing.

Then there are the action set-pieces, some of which prove to be the series very best. Uncharted 4's own convoy sequence (of which featured in both 2 & 3 before it) is probably my favourite part of the whole game. Unfortunately for some this was a set-piece they revealed in a trailer, to which I luckily decided to skip. Seeing and playing it myself in person suddenly reveals what all the fuss was about when it was in its non-interactive form. It combines the traversal (including the grappling hook) alongside the gunplay perfectly, with you first being dragged through the mud, slowly climbing your way to the truck, only to then engage in a pure adrenaline-fueled game of hopscotch as you leap from truck to jeep to truck, all in the hopes of catching up with Sam. Another particular highlight goes to the clock tower - you climb up this huge and elaborate structure, and once you reach the top and must ring the bell, the entire thing predictably collapses and crumbles beneath you. It was all so beautifully absurd to witness that I couldn't help but laugh out loud amidst it all. There may be a lot of smaller, slower-paced moments than any other previous Uncharted, but when Uncharted 4 decides to go big, it goes ginormous.

The vehicle segments made for a pleasant surprise also, for the most part. The section that has you driving throughout Madagascar really sold me on the concept of a ND-developed open world game, but at the same time while I relished the chance to explore such a vast location, there isn't really much reason to beyond some collectables. Furthermore, the lack of any kind of map really decentives you to actually explore in the first place. Nonetheless, the driving handling and physics are well done, and I enjoyed listening to the conversations between the three leading lads of Nate, Sam, and Sully. Should you leave the jeep mid-conversation, that they'll all then pick up right where they left off complete with the storyteller first trying to naturally remember their place was rather impressive also.

What is undoubtedly Uncharted 4's greatest achievement goes to the overall production. Uncharted 4, in case it wasn't already obvious, is a visually stunning video game. I always balk at the notion of jokingly referring to Naughty Dog as Wizards... but for a game to look like this, running at a solid framerate, on a console like the PS4? Nothing short of magic. The environments are all so painfully and meticulously detailed, and I feel like you barely go five minutes before there's another wondrous vista that's just asking for you to take a screenshot. The attention to detail concerning Nate is just as regaling, as he naturally acquires mud and dirt all over his clothes, and the animation work perfectly portrays a level of weight and groundedness to Nate's movements that is unlike the previous games. And man, Uncharted 4 probably has some of the best looking grenade explosions I've ever seen.

The voice acting is also of course top notch, with everybody bringing their A-game. From the classic cast members to new arrivals, everybody is on point with their character, and the astonishingly well done facial expressions pair with the voice work to enhance the performances even further than any of ND's previous catalogue. It's simply put a tour de force for the eyes (and ears) and, much like how Drake's Fortune still looks rather fetching to this day, will be able to stand the test of time for years to come.

Officially The Happiest Ending Ever

The marketing for this game was... odd. They were clearly trying to set up the idea that tragedy was inbound. The darker motif, Nate lookin' all worrisome and sad on the front cover, ''a thief's end'', and there's even a dynamic theme that's advertised within the Uncharted 4 PSN page that depicts Nate surrounded by fire and treasure, called ''Was it worth it?''. A certain message was being sent to potential players, one that spelt a possible loss - Elena, Sully, Sam? Maybe Nate would become crippled, thus forcing his retirement from treasure hunting. Maybe Nate & Sam would end up at each other's throats and the treasure would tear them apart similar to the outcome with the pirates they're both trailing Sam Avery and Thomas Tew?

...Nah, Nate & Elena actually come away with some treasure for once (well, disregarding that haul from Drake's Fortune that seemed to have been expended awfully quickly), enough to start funding their own legitimate expeditions. Also they have a house on the beach, a daughter (exploring an empty house as a blonde child seemed so eerily familiar, but maybe that's just me), a dog, and despite being set 12 or so years post-Uncharted 4 Nate's father figure is still alive?? Now, I should add that I don't have a problem with this, because this an Uncharted game. Nate deserves a happy ending, and I'm glad he got one! But at the same time, why all of the doom and gloom? Is it because they wanted to really put forth the idea that this is a more 'mature' Uncharted? Because nothing equates to seriousness quite like misery!.. I don't say that to mock certain proclamations about Uncharted's tone - this is indeed a slightly more sombre story with character motivations and interactions beyond ''TREASUUUUREEE!''. But at the same time, this is an Uncharted game through and through, and the story--for as great as it is--is still within the same realms of simplicity of the previous games. Uncharted 3 attempted to do a little more with its storytelling, to which fell flat on its on face, but fortunately Uncharted 4 nails the landing perfectly. This is a game that truly does get to have its cake and eat it, too. It features all of the same hallmarks of an Uncharted game, while also including a few added sprinkles of relatable drama and emotion. The quips go hand-in-hand with the tears and mournful glances, and even though i think people are building the tone of the game up a bit too much (which feels born from the desperate desires for video games to be taken as seriously as other mediums), it's still a brilliantly engaging story that kept me glued to the screen.

Oh! Conclusion!

For years I considered Uncharted 3 to be one of the most disappointing games of its generation. And although I may have warmed up to it a skosh, I'm glad Uncharted 4 was able to come along and provide the finale Uncharted deserved. Or... in another way of putting it, to provide the sequel Uncharted 2 deserved.

This is assuredly Nathan Drake's final adventure, but is it the final Uncharted? ND left themselves a pretty glaring opening to potentially continue on with the escapades of Sam & Sully. Although frankly I don't want to spend too much time pondering the future of Uncharted just yet. For the time being I just want to continue to revel and stew in Uncharted 4's greatness. It feels only appropriate given how long the game is - its lengthy escapades consisting of nothing but walking around listening to the characters talk incentivises you to stop and really take a look at your surrounding; to immerse yourself in the adventure, and despite completing the game I don't want to move on just yet. I want to think back on all of the moments that'll morph into memories and ultimately nostalgia. I want to look back on the entire series--both the ups & downs--and remember where I was when playing each individual adventure. And when all that's done, I'll probably wanna give it another playthrough.

...That or play Doom.

Additional Miscellaneous Thoughts

• Young Sam looks and sounds like some sort of greaser from Brooklyn.
• I also really like how Sam calls Nate 'Nathan'. I myself have a younger brother called Bradley, to whom I refer to as such rather than Brad.
• If there's one particular TLoU influence I could have done without it's the amount of lugging conveniently located crates around. Though it was funny during that one moment when you're split up and can (I assume) wait for Sam to drop a crate, or can use an alternate route to reach him complete with his surprise upon your arrival.
• Certain pieces of the music that erupts during combat distinctly sounds like something from Pirates of The Caribbean. Fitting considering the overtly piratical themes of the game.
• Elena looks real badass in her crimson tank top, hafta admit.
• Pretty disappointed Cutter didn't factor anywhere beyond a single reference. Still sore about his premature departure during Uncharted 3.
• Why the Hell does Elena own an original PS1?? It's not even a slim! You can play PS1 games on your PS3 y'know!
• Uncharted 4 without a doubt features the best puzzling of the series. I genuinely quite enjoyed solving the painting puzzle, as well as the one nearing the end where you have to make your way across the grids without exploding.

I rewatched the original teaser for Uncharted 4 the other day, the one with the voice actor that isn't in the game, and the tone is completely different from the actual game. I feel like what bits of the marketing that I did see/you mentioned (tried to stay away) are way more in line with that teaser than the actual game.

Great game, though. Can't wait for them to make Uncharted 5 where you play as Cassie and they finally kill off Nathan. I'm only half joking. You decide which half.

@mooseymcman: For sure. I think Amy Hennig's vision may have potentially featured Nate & Sam opposing one another in some respect, possibly with Sam taking the role of primary antagonist! I would love to hear about what the original Uncharted 4 was shaping up to be storywise, but considering all of the hubbub surrounding certain events amidst its development it's unlikely we'll ever get the chance to. Or... not for a very long time at least.

Nice blog! Uncharted 4 is fantastic.

I'd play a Cassie Drake game, as long as it involved cool mass murder like what her parents are into. Just climbing on stuff wouldn't be much of a game. I doubt they'll continue the series in that capacity though... I sure don't hope they make a TLoU2 either, because the gameplay of that first game got a little long in the tooth towards the end.

I don't play Uncharted games, but I thankfully have a husband that does, so I get all the awesome story without having to actually play. When I initially saw the trailers and stuff leading up to the game, I thought someone was going to die. Sully? Elena? Sam? Maybe Nate himself? Either that, or some lesser tragedy would happen, like Elena and Nate being torn apart in a completely unfixable way, leaving Nathan alive but broken and alone. I mean, come on, the marketing seemed to point to impending doom and gloom! The good thing is, as you pointed out, this game has an ending that is so happy and slaps such a pretty bow on the series that I can't see it continuing, though they may try. Maybe with the adventures of Sam 'n' Sully (yuck)? I don't know, I hope not, because I think this game is pretty much a perfect send off for fans of Nathan and the cast of characters that inhabit the Uncharted universe.

We had a relatively long conversation about where this game "fit" in, was it the best? One of the best? Better than 2? My husband leaned towards saying it was pretty great, much better than both 1 and 3, but he wasn't ready to say it was better than 2. He really enjoyed the final boss fight, though it kind of introduced new mechanics at the last minute. As a viewer, I enjoyed that it was a one on one fight with no extra magic bologna suddenly injected into the story. Just a guy who really hates another guy and wants to stab him. No blue zombies! It made everything feel much more grounded and the emotions hit a bit more, even if the game was still pretty fantastical with hidden pirate cities and gigantic puzzle rooms with ridiculous traps.

On a technical level, the game is probably one of the best looking games on PS4, maybe the best looking. It's full of gorgeous locations filled with such tiny details that you could look around a room for 5 minutes and still miss stuff. It's a game that, if I was playing it, I would just be walking around and looking at all the little things, while my AI companion was left hanging. And, when the poo hits the fan, the game is smooth, whether you're fighting a bunch of mercenaries or escaping a collapsing building. It looks fantastic no matter what is happening. The characters look great too, and the cutscenes are wonderful. Acting, both mo-cap and voice acting, is on point and some of the best you can find, but with Naughty Dog that's pretty much a given. I loved watching this story unfold and I never thought to myself "Man, that looks really weird" or "Man, that line could have been delivered better."

I really like the story of Uncharted. I wish I liked playing it more. I'm not really the biggest 3rd person shooter fan. The only ones I've ever really enjoyed were Saints Row The Third, the Gears of War series and The Division. I'm thankful that I have a person in my life that likes playing them and will wait for me to run into the room to see all the cool stuff. We ended up going through the last 6 hours or so of the game on Sunday, unplanned. It just was so good that we kept going and wanted to see the ending. And the ending, like I said, it's a pretty much perfect sparkly bow. It may be too happy for some people, but I loved it. It's nice to have a hero, and a nice guy, get the ending they deserve when all is said and done. :)

@yummylee: I wonder if that character in that voiceover even was Sam. Could be that they kept the fifteen years thing, but changed him to be Nate's brother later in development. Hope we find out someday.

I'm OK with another TLoU, only so long as it's completely separate from the events of the first. Well, not completely separate--maybe it could be happening concurrently--but no more Joel & Ellie basically. I also think TLoU's gameplay is fantastic (it's ND's best shooter at the very least), so it's not just more story stuff that I could be potentially excited about.

It's Sam.

He may not have been called Sam mind you, but he was Nate's older brother.

I'm a little torn between the two as well. I've still got Uncharted 2 freshly in my mind (I've played that game a lot, never mind the recent playthroughs courtesy of the PS4 release), so I feel equipped to compare and contrast. I guess Uncharted 2 is certainly tighter, as I think Uncharted 4 maybe meanders a little in spots, primarily when it comes to climbing around everywhere. It also most definitely has the better villains... but Uncharted 4 without a doubt features the best overall gameplay when the combat is concerned. It also features much more Sully than 2 did as well, so there's that to consider! I don't know, I think this is one of those cases to where it doesn't really matter. They're both fantastic games that should be allowed to exist side-to-side rather than us having to tear them both down to see who ultimately comes out on top ;)

Y'know, I've ever had any problems with the blue yeti people in Uncharted 2. The first encounter sucks because you're forced to use the weakest weaponry to beat them, but the later battles include more explosives and such so they're much easier to handle. Plus once you realise that they take 2, sometimes 1 shot from the crossbow then they suddenly don't seem as much of a threat. The final big battle of the game with Lazaravic's men battling it out with the smurfs I think is genuinely pretty awesome, too! But I'm always a sucker for AI on AI violence.

From a story perspective, again, I never saw an issue with their inclusion. These are stories to which involve chasing after mythical artifacts and cities, so where's the harm in featuring curses and supernatural guardians and such as well?

lol you're not really a big third-person shooter fan, but you happen to enjoy the third-person shooter series? :P Although I can understand the idea that Gears makes every other TPS seem paltry by comparison. Once you go Gears you never go... Once you go Gears everything else reduces you to tears? Eh, I tried.

@yummylee: Okie dokie then!

Just finished the game last night. It's definitely my favorite Uncharted, although I don't really get the hate for 3. I played that game on Hard and again on Crushing and thought it was a really good game. Speaking of which, I really feel they amped up the difficulty on this one. Hard is well, hard. Enemies will take you down quick if you're not behind a rapidly deteriorating piece of cover. I never cared for the shooting in Uncharted games, and I still really don't. Maybe this isn't a thing on normal, but enemies on hard are super bullet spongey; it emphasizes the importance of a headshot to its detriment. Overall though, I really had a good time with it. The interactions between Nathan and Sam and Nathan and Elena are what does it for me. Never before have I seen characters convey their emotions so convincingly in a video game. It's so good. I was glued to my screen and felt emotionally drained when it was over, and I am so not that guy when it comes to video games at all.

Unlike you, I was glad there was no supernatural enemies in the game. That always felt really lazy to me. Nathan Drake may have superhuman acrobatic skills, but doesn't grant free license for anything goes in a game series that is mostly grounded in reality. And the game just doesn't need it. Save your brother, stop the bad guys, and get your girl back. That's still a cool ending in my book. I thought it was funny that Nathan actually jokes about undead pirates.

Also, one cool thing I haven't seen mentioned, and maybe it's just because it's so obvious, is that they named their daughter after Nathan's mom. Cassie, short for Casandra Morgan.

I have been really interested in reading and listening to people's reaction to this game. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this franchise because up until Uncharted 4 I had this vision of a game it could be but they always leaned into the combat encounters and supernatural to such a degree that for the exception of the second one, I never finished the other ones. The first one because of combat and the third one because of supernatural. My issue with the supernatural hasn't been so much that it breaks some kind of grounded realism, but more that it always feeds back into the combat which has never been the franchise's strongest pillar.

Uncharted 4 though found a really nice balance I thought and even gave you enough options to not turn every encounter into a dumb horde mode-feeling scenario. What I appreciated the most was probably the way they incorporated a lot of cleverly designed character moments by making some sections (more or less) free from enemies and basically only gave you a general direction. I found myself spending way more time than I thought just enjoying the scenery and made sure not to interrupt conversation. Went out of my way to find written notes, conversations or an apple to eat. The game felt like it had the confidence to give you more than a single down time and still make it worth your while.

Overall I think this would rank as my favorite of them all. Though as a side note, two things;

Why do the enemies in the Uncharted games always seem to find a better road to get to wherever you're going? Why do we need to almost kill ourselves climbing cliff sides when Shoreline manages to drive big trucks to the front door of places?

When a bookshelf have fallen in front of a doorway, Nathan (insisting on grabbing the bottom half) and Elena help each other lift it up to get under it. And the entire time I just looked in disbelief wondering why no one at Naughty Dog in some meeting didn't raise their hands and go; "So.. we're still going with them lifting it instead of just standing it back up? I mean, if I was in that situation, I don't think lifting it and dropping it back down would be the easiest or safest option. But hey, that's just me."

@hippie_genocide: I'm curious to know why you jumped straight to Hard mode despite not liking the combat of the previous games? I played on Moderate myself and thought it was challenging but not overwhelmingly so like Uncharted 3 could get. Enemies couldn't withstand much punishment and headshots were pretty easy to pull off at that, especially with the pistols. And regarding the supernatural element, I assume you share the same feelings towards the supernatural stuff in the Indiana Jones movies?

I've always questioned that as well, or at least more specifically how despite Nate always being the one to solve the clues/find the relics first, Shoreline are always on the same step as you if not the one ahead. But I tend to just chalk that up to how they simply have more resources and manpower to basically brute force their way to everything.

@yummylee: I play on the hardest difficulty in almost every game I play. I guess I just enjoy the challenge and testing myself against an AI. I don't like the shooting mechanics in Uncharted games, I don't think the difficulty matters; I wouldn't like it no matter how easy it was. I actually started up a Crushing run in UC4 last night and got up to auction chapter. There hasn't been a lot of shooting yet, so we'll see how that goes. About the Indiana Jones thing, I'm ok with it if the fiction earns it. It shouldn't feel tacked on. Uncharted 1 was kind of the worst offender in that respect. All the sudden I was fighting feral zombies out of nowhere, or so I recall.

@hippie_genocide: But how is Indiana Jones any different from Uncharted? They are both grounded in reality up until the later portions, to where supernatural shenanigans occur. And the zombies didn't come out of nowhere in Drake's Fortune, they hint that El Dorado is cursed and turns people into feral monsters in the murals Nate & Sully find early on. Fitting the treasure the treasure seekers are after with a curse, or having it be protected by guardians as in Uncharted 2, has always seemed par for the course. After all, the treasures they're hunting down in the first place eer on the fantastical side to begin with (El Dorado, the Tree of Life, Atlantis of the Sands), so I've never understood why anyone would think the supernatural stuff is out of place. From a gameplay side of things, sure, I can understand the distaste, but tonally and thematically speaking they line up with everything else.

...That or play Doom

Play Doom! (Or y'know, do whatever you want) :3

Just finished this tonight. It's quite a game! I would add a few more grievances/thoughts, tho. Namely the trick of objects crumbling/breaking followed by Nathan exclaiming "Oh, shit!" definitely wears out its welcome and the game can be a bit too scripted for its own good at times (there was one time in particular involving Elena, a ledge, and a car that killed me, but did make me laugh really hard). Thankfully the checkpoints are really liberal.

The ending got spoiled for me before I finished the game, so I wasn't shocked, but it was heartfelt.

But yeah, it certainly is an Uncharted game. I only played 2, myself and I feel that's enough. Nadine is still out there and Sam is still in the game (and Sully, but as you mentioned, he's old as dirt), so I wouldn't put it past them to make more of these under a different name/brand. Hopefully not anytime soon.

I would totally go for an Uncharted that went crazy for the supernatural. Maybe have Nathan go to hell and face all of the mercenaries he killed over the years for treasure. Okay, maybe not that far.

And so I am! Though I'm still also playing more Uncharted 4 (mostly multiplayer, but have started a new Hard mode playthrough also) with the occasional forays into Battleborn. April/May has been a really outstanding couple of months far as games are concerned.

I agree that things keep breaking beneath you so much that it gets to be tiresome, but on the flip side the game does make fun of this to an extent, such as during the rare few times everything doesn't immediately collapse beneath you. One example I can remember is driving over a bridge in Madagascar and Nate & co's genuine surprise that they actually made it across without any hassle.

Sully has to be really damn old by the time of the epilogue, but if they were going to continue the series traditionally then it would definitely be set post-Uncharted 4 but way before the epilogue, starring Sam & Sully. Which would frankly suck because as i mentioned in the blog i think Sam & Nate are practically the same character for the most part, so using Sam to continue the series in any way would be the safest and most boring outcome possible. There's likely going to be a new Uncharted game when all's said and done, but I have my doubts that ND will develop it. It's how all of their other series have progressed, to predictably disastrous results...

lol yeah, that's laying it on a bit too thick! Although if Uncharted was to somehow get a Halloween-themed spin-off or something that doubles down on the supernatural stuff, that'd be kinda cool. Have a demonic/undead Cameraman Jeff be the ultimate antagonist in it because why not.

@yummylee: Always felt like Uncharted/Drake was just the modern Indiana Jones we've always wanted.

If anything, though, Uncharted 3 and 4 wound up making Nate a bit deeper than Indy, even though the last two Indy films did well on the front.

It's kind of amazing Sony hasn't made it happen yet, either. I mean, making an Uncharted movie is essentially a modern day Indiana Jones, basically. The concept (story and quality notwithstanding) sells itself.

Nice blog duder! It was indeed, really good. After playing through the previous two games less than a week ago, I can easily say A Thief's End is my favorite. The improvements to gun-play and stealth were great. Though I still really dislike the laser-sight snipers, grenade launcherers and the body armor guys. In Drakes Fortune it was a good way to show the escalation of danger, going from fighting pirates with AKs to highly trained and armed mercs. But to keep some of the mechanics for four games is a bit baffling to me.

Otherwise, I found the story fantastic. The main quest taking a backseat to Nate and Elena working through his trust issues was well done and added real dimension to a "chucklefuck video game protagonist," as one reviewer described Drake.

After the flashback of Nate and Sam breaking into that mansion, I kept thinking it would be cool if Uncharted 5 was a prequel starring Cassandra Morgan(Drake). Then the epilogue happened, and I was like "well done Naughty Dog." Though I have to wonder if Cassie will inherit her father's genocidal tendencies.

There are a lot of video game stories that you'd think would translate well to the silver screen, though they never seem to pan out very well. Either they have an awful director attached or they go through so many rewrites that they're simply a mess, or both. Though really it's no big loss, since video game stories being adapted to film always feels like such a redundant endeavour. I mean yeah money and all that, but games like The Last of Us & Uncharted in particular gain very little from being adapted into a movie, as the games are so cinematic and well acted anyway to begin with. You adapt them to film and all you have is the same story but without any of the interactivity. Which is different from books & comics being adapted because they're becoming something pretty different. Video games, however, essentially tend to encompass all facets of media, from film (cutscenes), to radio (audio logs), to books (regular logs), to their interactivity.

Thanks! The laser-sight and armoured enemies are still in tow, though they're also very few and far between I feel. There's none of the Drake's Fortune & Uncharted 3-esque encounters of 3 snipers all aiming their sights on your head with 2 armoured fuckers slowly advancing with shotguns. Which is good mind you, but on the flip-side the enemy variety was a little slim. That's part of the reason why I thought it was disappointing that there was no supernatural enemies, because they always functioned as a completely new & different enemy type to the regular mercs you're gunning down.

@yummylee: This is a pretty fantastic blog. Thanks for writing it!

I actually was kind of happy in the end they didn't kill anyone off because that has gotten to be super cliche in hell every form of media lately to feel the need to kill at least one major character off just for effect. The opportunity for the series to kill someone off was really in 3 with Sully, where they set it up for basically the entire game and then didn't follow through. Thematically, I think it fit for the character arc of Nathan Drake to have his final action scene moment to be saving his brother in a room filled with treasure he didn't care about.

I'm going to start on my own review and hopefully have it up later this week. The summary of it though is yeah, this is at least as good as 2 in my book, and I think that's a pretty weighty statement. I know it's become chic in recent times to hate on the Uncharted series, but Uncharted 2 was legit one of the top games of the last generation.

Perhaps the best compliment I can say about this game is I look forward to Uncharted 5: Cassie's Search for More Money in about five years or so.

Thanks man, that's really kind of you to say! When you post your review make sure to post it on the forums, as it'll be completely obscured otherwise.

And I agree, Uncharted (or at least Nate) should bow out with the happiest of smiles on his face, he's earned it. However I did really think Sully's non-death in Uncharted 3 was such a copout. They kept building up to some sort of consequence for Nate's folly and recklessness, with every character (besides Charlie funnily enough) shouting at him about how he keeps putting everybody in jeopardy for his selfish gains. The thing is that what really bothered me is that they actually tried the Sully dies card. The moment when he's shot during Nate's hallucination was gut-wrenching, but it felt appropriate. Only then ''it was all a dream'' happened and oh well why the fuck would you even do that in the first place?? If you don't want to kill Sully, OK, but don't then do a scene wherein he dies but not really - that's the coward's way of eliciting powerful emotions without any actual consequence. It was completely at odds with itself and it's one of many reasons to why I disliked Uncharted 3 so.

Always wish I could have gotten around to blogging about that one via the NDC (and 2 for that matter), but I got lazy. I've posted about both all over the place, but it's always a nice feeling to know you have a written piece you can point to when it comes to expressing your opinions. Rather than continually repeating yourself per thread whenever these games come up in conversation, which gets to be more tiring each time.

I think people on GB just don't seem to really care for third-person shooters in general. Barely anybody on here gives a shit about Gears of War for example, either. I don't really frequent many other gaming communities, but it wouldn't surprise me if the divisive nature of Uncharted is something that's mostly relegated to GB. I can remember an article listing a number of big name video game developers listing their favourite games of the last generation, and Uncharted 2 was one of the most common picks, so it definitely still has a lot of love for it out there. Just... not on here it seems.

As mentioned above I have my doubts the next Uncharted will be developed by Naughty Dog. There'll most certainly be another Uncharted one day, but it'll likely follow the same trajectory as Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter before it, with it being shipped off to another developer to keep the name somewhat afloat while ND (hopefully) get to work on new stuff.