I think it’s basically impossible to be part of the internet and not have stumbled across the Uncharted series and how much praise it gets but seeing as I’m obviously the most hipster of hipsters out there, I never picked up a copy of the game throughout the years (15 whole-ass years this year).
MAN WAS THAT A BAD IDEA!
Honestly, I don’t even know how deep I am into A Thief’s End, but I don’t want it to stop.
If you’ve never played an Uncharted game before; it’s this prefect blend of movie and game. Those Naughty Dogs have managed to get the whole thing to flow from cut-scene to game and back to cut-scene again, seamlessly, and never unnecessarily. Not once did I feel like the game was interrupted and I always felt involved, even when I had no control. The voice acting is *chefs kiss, the script is *chefs kiss, the gameplay is *chefs kiss, the realism is *chefs kiss (at one point my partner woke up from a very well-deserved couch nap and asked what movie I was watching, only to discover I was playing the movie).
I mean, the game isn’t perfect, sure, maybe one of my feet fell through the step and just maybe Nathan Drake had to squeeze past a few invisible people in the crowd, but none of that bothered me. I was so engrossed in the game that I almost felt like I was Nathan himself. Even when you die in game the other characters still shout out for you as if you’ve died for real-for real. The game is also cleverly designed in such a way that it leads you to the objective while making it feel like you’ve chosen your own path to get there. There’s no line-marker that you can follow blindly, you must investigate the area around you and make your way to where you think you need to be, whether that’s from this ledge to that rope swing to the hill slide down to the left, or from this hill slide to that pole, then to another pole and onto to a sneaky little ledge.
The puzzles aren’t too difficult but have just enough flair to feel like you’re Nicholas Cage carpe-ing the diem. The action is meaty and exciting; jumping from wall to wall, dodging bullets only to land up in a fist fight between yourself and 3 jacked South African bru’s, and the one-tap Barok.44 is satisfying as all heck. The stealth feels clever and requires patience, and is completely optional, depending on what kind of Nathan Drake you feel like being on the day, most times I found myself picking off a few wanderers with a chop to the neck from the shadows, before going full Rambo and then dying.
The only negative thing I have to say about Uncharted so far, is that now I need to find the time to play them all.
Ok, but what if you already know how great Uncharted is and you’ve already played both A Thief’s End and The Lost Legacy? Well then, I say, play it again! But this time in glorious 4K!
The Uncharted Legacy of Thieves collection includes both Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy with 3 new Graphic modes:
- Fidelity Mode, which allows users with 4K displays to enjoy Uncharted, and its spectacularly beautiful environments, in glorious 4K at a targeted 30 fps.
- Performance Mode, which allows users to run at a targeted 60fps.
- Performance+ Mode, which allows users to target 120fps at 1080p resolution (on a compatible 120hz display, of course).
It also includes all the upgrades that comes standard with the PS5, i.e., 3D Spatial Audio, blisteringly fast load times and, one of my favourite PS5 features, the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
I also hear there’s a first time PC release on the cards for this one.