Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

When it comes to the Uncharted series, I’m something of an outlier. While I did enjoy my time with Uncharted 2, I felt that the third game fully realized all of the good ideas from the second, while eliminating most of the major annoyances of its predecessor. I came into Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, hoping for Naughty Dog to deliver a game that builds upon Uncharted 3 while introducing some elements that made The Last of Us one of the most memorable games in recent years.

Much like 2009’s Uncharted 2, the fourth installment starts with a bang. Instead of awaking in a crashed train dangling over a cliff, this game opens with an action packed battle on the high seas. After Nathan is thrown from the boat, the game flashes back to his childhood in order to introduce his older brother Samuel. As this lengthy flashback fades into Nate’s adulthood, the rest of the story is set up as another new character, Rafe Adler, is introduced as a cohort of the Brothers Drake. While inside of a Panamanian prison, the trio finds information as to the whereabouts of the treasure of pirate Henry Avery. After an escape attempt gone wrong, the game flashes forward fifteen years to a modern day Nathan Drake who has since left the Indiana Jones-esque life he once led. Nathan and his wife Elena have settled down and become a “normal” couple, and here is where the game’s phenomenal writing begins to shine through. Using one of the best moments of the year, the game explores the relationship between Nate and Elena and how it has changed since the end of Uncharted 3. The level of character interaction in this scene is just one of many examples of how all the characters throughout the game play off one another in some incredible ways. Soon after, Sam is able to track down Nathan and draw him back into the life he tried to leave behind. For one reason or another Sam and Nathan must find the aforementioned treasure of Henry Avery as fast as possible. As the story progresses, every character, from the handful of new people to some familiar faces, gets ample amounts of development that makes every one of them stand out in their own way. The biggest beneficiary of the writing is Nathan Drake himself. In all three of the past games, he was always a rather shallow character. In Uncharted 4, he is still the same quip making, mass murder machine, but there are added layers to his character that push this game beyond any of the previous titles. Much like The Last of Us, Uncharted 4’s overall plot isn’t anything too special, but the top-notch character writing, voice acting, and cinematic presentation make every narrative beat stand head and shoulders above anything else at the “AAA” level. These two games are a testament to Neil Druckmann and the rest of the team at Naughty Dog and put them in a class of their own when it comes to storytelling in big budget, blockbuster games. Even though the story aspects far surpass anything the series has done before, there is no denying what the Uncharted series is truly about. In that regard I can confidently say, this is an Uncharted-ass Uncharted game.

From the collapsing building and train sequences in Uncharted 2 to the cruise ship and plane sequences in the third game, the Uncharted series is defined by its insane set-piece moments. Uncharted 4 has some of the familiar moments from past games, such as getting chased down a series of corridors by a large truck and massive shootouts while speeding down a dirt road, but the epic multi-stage set-pieces are mostly eschewed in favor of player driven action moments. The combat arenas in this game are far larger than they have been in past games and the ability to use items such as the grappling hook allow the player to attack from a variety of different angles. Spraying enemies down while changing cover and then swinging from the rope to deliver a flying punch is one of the most satisfying experiences in recent memory. Throw in fully destructible cover that forces player and enemy alike to constantly remain on their toes and you have some of the most engaging combat in the genre. This sounds fantastic, but there are elements of Uncharted 4 that set it apart from other action games. The inclusion of some stealth elements from The Last of Us allows for a brand new approach to the typical gun fights. In almost all combat encounters, Nathan can hide and sneak up on enemies allowing for entire levels to be cleared without ever firing a single bullet. If things do break down into chaos, the line-of-sight of the enemies can also be broken allowing for Nate to re-hide and gain the upper hand. It is these seemingly anti-Uncharted elements that open up the game and allow for some ridiculous, player driven moments that rival some of the scripted moments the series is known for. Beyond the combat, another element that has always been a key part of the franchise is puzzle solving. I’ve always loved the way they have worked because even though Nathan’s notebook more or less has all the pieces of the solution, the player must still piece together all of the clues to solve the usually complex puzzles. While these certain instances are fantastic, there are few of them. Most of the puzzles you will encounter bring to mind one of my biggest criticisms of The Last of Us. In that game, there were far too many times where Joel had to find a ladder, wooden plank, or pallet in order to progress. These moments were pure filler garbage that severely took away from an otherwise fantastic game. Unfortunately, Uncharted 4 has similar elements. Many times throughout the game, Nathan must find an object to move under a ledge in order to progress. While these moments don’t take too long, there are far too many of them and they are also filler garbage that take away from an otherwise incredible game.

Despite the relatively minor issues I have with Uncharted 4, there are so many things that this game does well. The characters are all well developed and the back and forth banter between them makes the slower moments of the game just as enjoyable as the action packed ones. The all-star team of voice actors (Nolan North, Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, as well as a few others) deliver fantastic performances that bring these well written characters to life. The insane action set-pieces underscored by player driven stealth moments gives a variety to the combat that many AAA games are missing. The game is absolutely jaw-dropping from a visual perspective and rock solid from a performance standpoint and is the single best showpiece for the PS4. In almost every regard Uncharted 4: A thief's end completely surpasses anything else out there. As I said earlier, I wanted this game to build upon the best parts of the previous installments while bringing in the best elements of The Last of Us. This game strikes a balance between the over-the-top, cinematic gameplay of the other Uncharted games and the phenomenal storytelling of The Last of Us in a way that is far better than I could have ever predicted. Uncharted 4 is not only the best game in the series, it is not only the best Naughty Dog game, it is not only the best wrestling game in years, it is one of the single best action games ever made.

Likes: The incredible writing makes every character memorable in their own way, allows for different playstyles with seamless transitions between them, Breathtakingly gorgeous visuals,

Dislikes: Too many “find the stepstool” sequences, The game takes a while to really get going

Means of Acquisition: I rented the game from Redbox.