Overall 9.6 Graphics 10 Sound 10 Addictive 10 Story 9 Depth 9 Difficulty 4
9.6
The Uncharted of Us Eirinn
My apologies for the length, but I couldn't trim this down while doing the game justice. I tried.
Uncharted 4 brought about the end to a long running and well loved game series about the adventures of Nathan Drake and friends. It brought us an entire crew of loveable characters along with a few we wish we could forget, but Naughty Dog refuses to let us *cough*Lost Legacy*cough*.
The series is known for it's intense action sequences, witty dialogue, and of course, it's parkour elements. There's always climbing. Much climbing. The formula is a tried and true one, and various elements of it have evolved over the course of the series, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse, but all of the console iterations are worth at least one play, if not several.
So when it was announced that there would be an Uncharted 4, and that it would be not only the final Uncharted (which, surprise, it wasn't), but it would also be subtitled "A Thief's End", everyone began speculating as to whether or not this could mean that the legendary (those who have finished 4 will get that reference) treasure hunting hero in thief's clothing would meet his end. And I am here to tell you that...you have to find out for yourself because I'm not allowed to spoil the story.
Graphics: 10/10
Incredible.
It was an undisputed claim by Naughty Dog that this game had the best graphics of any [console] game ever at the time of it's release, and a year later I still have to stand in awe at what they accomplished here. However, there were a few things that left me less than impressed, but only because of how great everything else is.
So let's start with the characters: they look great, at times looking more like actors than video game characters. I found myself taking screenshots at different points just to capture the detail that a certain camera angle or area lighting highlited. If there are better looking console game characters out there, I've yet to find them. Though I hear they may have met their match in a recent PS4 game, but I've yet to play it personally.
Next we have the environment, which is, much like the characters, a real cut above the rest. Just as I did with the characters, I often stopped to take screenshots just to admire the detail and beauty of the environments. They range from dark and gritty hidden caves, to intense rainstorms at sea, to colorful splashes of plant life amid the desert sands, and beautiful ocean views from mountain peaks. And best of all, if you can see it, odds are you can traverse it.
I could ramble on for a while yet, but let's keep this as short as possible while doing the game as much justice as possible, yeah?
I did find a few things to complain about though, such as the tall grass in the Scotland mountains just popping in and out from a distance, or Sully's and Sam's very poorly handled movements during non-cutscene discussions, and in fact this happens with a few different characters in conversations that take place during normal gameplay. However these and the few other issues I found wouldn't have stood out enough to really notice if I hadn't been so wowed by the game pushing the realism boundary in the graphics and animations departments. If a game looks so good that it raises your expectations, that's saying something.
Highlights:
•The best graphics I've seen personally
•Beautiful scenery
•Is this Memorex, or is it video game?
Sound: 10/10
Incredible.
The music always compliments the action in the game, but even better is that it manages to capture the emotions which run high at several points over the course of the story. It's definitely a testament to the abilities of the composers behind this title.
But good music and music that you want to listen to on repeat aren't always the same thing. The music here, while perfect for the game, stays in the game. You can buy the soundtrack but I can't see why you would. It works beautifully with the game, but I didn't remember any of it afterward.
The sound effects are spot on, entirely believable explosions, echoes in enclosed spaces, gunshots, they all sound great. But where the audio shines is the voice acting. Let me just say this right now: you won't find better voice acting than you'll find here. Seriously, it's that good.
Sad as it is to see the storyline and Nathan Drake's adventuring end, equally tragic is seeing a vocal team this solid finish their final project together. Elena and Nathan together take the well written script and sound like a genuine married couple, Sam and little Nate couldn't be more believable if they were real brothers, and Sully's voice carries genuine emotion in the few moments where he reveals his concern for the reckless "Kid". And that scripting was incredibly well done, but I'll touch on that more later.
Highlights:
•Dramatic musical score
•Solid sound effects give a good sense of immersion in the environment
•The best voice acting I've found so far
Depth:
9/10
Excellent.
I had to think for a while on this one because the game, much like the other Uncharted titles, is pretty straightforward. However, A Thief's End puts a few twists on the depth side of things, shaking the gameplay up in unexpected ways that could potentially make or break your taste for the series.
First off there's the usual: tons of hidden treasure to find as a sort of collectathon side quest, and it may be worth noting that the treasures are back to their former appearance of blinking specks, hearkening back to the first two titles in this area.
But this is where things start to change.
The environments are a sort of pseudo open world setup as opposed to the perfectly linear worlds of the previous titles. By pseudo open world I mean that they often present you with various ways of getting from point A to point B, but that you'll always end up in the same place, and the openness is often just an option of climbing this or swinging from that, or taking the high road or the low road. The diversity of open world gaming is there in ways, but the linearity remains at the same time. And that isn't a bad thing: Uncharted wouldn't work as an open world game. The change up is interesting, even if it makes my job as a completionist a bit more frustrating.
Then there's the stealth and awareness systems. This is the only Uncharted to date (at the time of this writing) that places any emphasis on Stealth beyond one or two scenes where it's made obvious that being quiet is preferable. At several points throughout A Thief's End you will simply not survive without using stealth. It's quite the interesting experience seeing a game that's all about high speed chases, intense gunfights, and explosive action scenes, embracing a heavy focus on Stealth gameplay. Polar opposites, yet they somehow mesh together well.
Finally we have new means of traversing levels: the grappling hook. It's entirely unrealistic in it's usage, but it's still fun nonetheless and it gives room for some very well streamlined adrenaline moments when your quick reaction time and grappling hook are all that save you from plummeting to your death. There's also one other new mechanic, but given how late into the game it comes in, I'll leave that in spoiler territory. A shame too, because it's pretty awesome.
Gameplay changes aside, there's a final depth touch that I won't dwell on for long, but the fact that you can actually find hidden areas in this one is a nice addition.
Highlights:
•Sort of open while being closed yet unclosed or somethingowmybrainhurts
•Nathan has been promoted to Ninja Thief
•Grappling hook. That is all
Addictiveness:
10/10
Incredible.
So this may not be the most addictive game I've ever played, but once I started playing it I couldn't stop without sinking at least two or three hours into it. And since the description of the addictivemess rating says it's about how likely I am to play it again, anything short of a 10 would be a lie, but this is the truth about all of the console Uncharted games.
As I stated earlier, A Thief's End changed how Uncharted played in many big ways, and while some were for the better, if I'm being completely honest then I have to say that some was changed for the worse. Namely the ability to throw grenades back has been removed, and the fist fighting has been dumbed down so much that it isn't nearly as enjoyable as before. Uncharted 3's biggest improvement was the big changes that it made to hand to hand combat, and to see that taken away in 4 was saddening. The new additions to the gameplay made up for it, but it would have been nice to have it all. Man that sounds entitled...
Highlights:
•Must...play...moar
Story: 9/10
Excellent.
This game won several awards for it's story, and it deserves them. However the story was started by Amy Hennig, the woman who wrote for the other three, but after she had started, she left Naughty Dog and the story was scrapped and started over by Neil Druckman and Josh Scherr, and it shows in a big, big way. The game is Uncharted to be sure, and it thankfully draws frequently from the other three with inside jokes between the cast and various other references, but it also smells strongly of The Last of Us, which was more than a little disappointing to me personally.
Chapter four in it's entirety felt like the beginning of The Last of Us with a husband and wife instead of Father and daughter, and to be clear I'm referring to the discussion between Joel and his daughter. Sure, the story manages to capture the humanity and reality of real life moments shared between spouses and family, and it's nice to see that level of humanity, but it also smacks of familiarity.
I didn't want to see the story shift focus in such a big way from previous titles the way it did, but it worked well as a story and filled in all of the holes left in Nathan's story, and it was a good story all things considered. It would have been nice to see something more old school Uncharted in the story, but at least it gave closure in the end.
I said a lot of negative things here, and they were all true, but what's also true is that the story was very well written, engaging, and managed to successfully throw a few plot twists that I didn't see coming at all, and that's not something I can say for most games or even most stories. And as a bonus, the dialogue is always believable and sharp.
Highlights:
•Very well written story
•Expertly crafted dialogue
•No zombies
Difficulty:
4/10
Easy.
I'm rating this based on my experience in Light mode, but the game is fairly easy, albeit more difficult than previous installments in the series. The difficulty change comes from the incorporation of new gameplay ideas, and more focus on strategy than before. There are times where you have encounters that will make you have to watch your every step in order to survive the fight, challenge, or puzzle. And should you fail the stealth test, you need to be prepared to run for cover because fighting against the often overwhelming number of enemies is simply not an option.
The game challenges you at times, but once you get the hang of it, you can pass it's tests with a little patience.
Highlights:
•Puts up a fight, though not too hard
Overall:
9.6/10
Excellent.
Well this was a strange review, wasn't it? I started off praising the game almost incessantly, then I went into criticizing every aspect of it. It's like I said at the start though: the faults I found were only because when a game is as solid as this one is the things that aren't amazing stick out more than usual. It really is a great game and deserves the overall rating that I gave it.
If you currently find yourself in possession of a PlayStation 4, or if you ever do for that matter, do yourself a favor and pick this game up. In fact, if you haven't played the first three console Uncharted titles, do yourself two favors and get the Nathan Drake collection first, then get this one. This whole series (excluding Golden Abyss on the PS Vita) is something you should experience. It's one of the few things I've found that deserve every bit of the hype it enjoys. You should be able to score the Nathan Drake collection and Uncharted 4 for both for less than $60, but if you have to pay the full $60 For each of them, trust me, it's a worthwhile investment.
Graphics 10 Sound 10 Addictive 10 Story 9 Depth 9 Difficulty 4
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 04-07-17
Review Replies: 7
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