Setting A New Standard For The Industry.

Uncharted 4 isn’t just a game. It’s an experience and it’s one that literally no one but Naughty Dog delivers. This game is storytelling at its greatest – full of amazing combat, wall-running, and voice acting that makes you feel that you’re actually inside the game. Being objective however the game puts it’s set-pieces in the back seat and opts to weave a story that attempts to finish a beloved Playstation exclusive series.

The story mode gives you somewhere around 15 hours of gameplay your first play through and a good portion of that are cut-scenes. Probably about a feature length film’s worth. With a second play through, skipping cut scenes, rushing through the game as fast as humanly possible, and not exploring anything you’ll probably clock in 6 hours. Theres even a trophy for doing so.

Stealth and Similarities.

There are nasty rumors going around that this game takes a lot from The Last Of Us. Those rumors are all true. And should you be one of the people who think that’s a bad thing, please close this internet browser window and know that your argument about this and (most likely) many other games, is invalid. A great game similar to another great game does not make either game less amazing. Especially if they’re done by the same studio. Naughty Dog is polishing their craft and in this game spared no expense to make the experience the best that it could possibly be.

Uncharted 4 is much less a linear game and more a linear game…with enormous set-pieces. You’ll constantly want to look around and go off the beaten patch to explore these vast areas looking for collectables or just flat-out staring at the gorgeous atmosphere. This game can at times border on photorealistic and it’s jaw-dropping at its best and there is no “at it’s worst”.

Camera angles can be changed or shifted but they’re always doing the job of making sure that your eyes are completely satiated. Unlike the other Uncharted games player choice is now a huge part of the game. You can take multiple routes to your objective and even ghost entire levels without killing a single person. You can tag enemies on a map similar to Metal Gear Solid 4 and perform stealth takedowns from tall grass. Every gameplay mechanic and blade of grass is so unbelievably polished that every step you take has your complete attention.

The Bad.

Every game has some thing that’s going to make players angry. The frame-rate outside of the multiplayer is pretty much set to 30 frames per second. Sometimes you’ll feel like you definitely should have grabbed that ledge before falling right  to your death. Most of the hand-to-hand fighting is almost acting against you. Like the game wants you to know Nathan Drake isn’t a prize-fighting badass. He’s just a normal dude searching for treasure.

Sam. Sam is a character with a lot of skepticism. The game tries hard to establish this character who, for all intents and purposes, has been there the whole time. A lot of the time you feel like he’s just a plot device so that the 2-Player CoOp-Like gameplay can be achieved. This aside Troy Baker (Joel from The Last Of Us) gives a powerful performance and by the end of the game you’ll be happy you stuck it out and let Nathan Drake’s brother back into your life.

All of these things however are small gripes that can and should be overlooked when looking at this game as a whole.  Love it or hate it, it’s the story they wanted to tell and it’s a better one than pretty much any game on the market will give you.

 

A Thief’s End.

This is it. This is the last Uncharted we’ll see at the helm of Nathan Drake. I don’t believe Naughty Dog has anything else to say. I’ve played all of them and in trading constant action for a slower pace and adult-tone, the game is catered to the audience that’s grown up with this franchise. If you haven’t played the other three games I’d highly suggest going out and doing so before giving this one a shot. It’s a much more emotional ride if you know where each of these characters have come from. After the game there are multiple bonus modes to be played through like putting on Bullet-Time or playing through the entire game in Low-Gravity or 8-Bit modes.

Aside from the main game there’s a multiplayer component just polished enough to keep players engaged and competitive. The sheer amount of unlockables is enough to get any completionist drooling. If you own a playstation, buy this game. The experience is similar to reading a favorite book or completing your favorite television show. You’ll always remember it and it’s something you’ll want to replay for years to come. This latest Naught Dog adventure just makes me glad that a studio of their caliber is making games for us to play.  So much heart went into Nathan Drake’s farewell and I can only imagine what kind of story they’re going to want to tell going forward with The Last of Us 2 or any other ip.

The Bottom Line.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s end is an achievement in gaming unlike any other. It’s blockbuster story with polished graphics combined with immersive gameplay and it’s a proud ending to the series/emotional sendoff to a character that a lot of us have grown to love and cherish as one of the best that Sony has to offer. It’s something to experience and you’ll be hearing about it for years to come.