So outside of the Final Fantasy games, this is going to be the first piece of media I’m devoting an entire review to on its own. And this is for very good reason. Namely, Uncharted 4 is one of the best games I have ever played, and is worth getting the full review treatment.
Just as a bit of backstory, I love the Uncharted series. Uncharted 2, in particular, may be my favorite game of all time. It is certainly in the top 3 (for the record, when I consider what games/movies/etc. are my favorite, it comes down to asking “which one of these would I rather do than anything else right now?”). I love (most of) the characters and the way they interact with each other. The presentation is second-to-none and the narrative keeps me going for some very long play sessions. The platforming and combat is great fun, though excessive at times. There is very little for me to dislike about any of these games.
And Uncharted 4 is the best representation of the series. You can tell that they really took the time to not only craft new things that would be great to add to the series, but also re-evaluate the things that have not worked as well while still retaining the exquisite level of polish that the previous games are known for. There is also a ton of influence on this game from The Last of Us, which was my favorite game of that year, and it brings the emotional impact of the story to another level.
Let’s start with saying what a technical achievement this game is. It is not only one of the most beautiful games ever made, the fact that they are able to present the entire game without a single load screen outside of the initial one from the main menu is staggering. Knowing what I do about game development, my hats are off to them just for that alone. The smoothness and detail of the animation is also incredible, particularly during cinematics where you get full mo-cap. I find it amazing that there are games now where you can see what a character is thinking just from facial expressions and posture. The first three games had a lot of this as well, but this game is several leaps above even those.
Uncharted 4 retains most of the same solid mechanics from the first three games with a couple new additions. You now have access to a rope (often called the “magic” rope because of utter lack of realism), which ties into a lot of the platforming, but is surprisingly useful during combat as well for getting around enemies. There is also a lot of sliding down and across things. I don’t know if that one is actually new to the series, but it is presented as a standard mechanic in this one. The parts where you have to hook winches up to stuff is also a fun addition. Others have noted this as well, but it does feel like the combat went backwards after Uncharted 3. Thankfully this game doesn’t rely on it as much as that one did, so it’s a negligible drop.
The Uncharted games are best known for are their set pieces. Most famously the train sequence in Uncharted 2, but the ship and plane sequences from Uncharted 3 and the convoy chases in every game are also blood-pumping scenarios of controlled chaos. I don’t think Uncharted 4 quite matches the highs of previous games, but there are definitely some good action pieces here. The opening of the game fighting off a legion of boats in the sea. The jeep escape through the middle of a village followed immediately by a convoy chase right in the middle of the game. The prison escape (both of them really). There is plenty here to get excited about.
However, I don’t think the set pieces are the important parts of this game. Uncharted 4 is much more a reflection on the series and Naughty Dog, the developer, in general. This game is the last one in the series (though who knows if that will actually hold true, the ending certainly provides a full-stop conclusion, but this is games), so it is full of nostalgia bombs, reminding us of all the great things that have come before it. And I might just be a sucker for those kinds of things, but I loved those moments where it was referring back to the great adventures of the past, Uncharted or otherwise.
If I had to single out the thing I liked most about this game, it would be the relationship between Nate and Elena. Being recently married myself, even though we don’t have any of the same problems that they have had, those moments where they were opening up to each other just tugged at my heart. It’s the kind of relationship that you can only depict by having a lot of history, which the first three games provided. It’s the difference between drama in movies and drama in TV shows, the amount of time you spend with them really does matter, and this is probably the first game to ever pull this kind of relationship off. I hope that I’m not the only person who feels this way as I want to see more games invest in their characters this way. Sure, you can argue that Nate is a bit of a psychopath based on the number of people he kills and swindles in these games, but you would hard pressed to find a main character in a game who is as charming and complex as he is. You often get characters who are one or the other, but not both.
I feel like I need to add at least one criticism, so I will throw out the only thing that really made me go “ugh” while playing the game. Basically, every time a squad of enemies showed up. The pacing in this game is such that you spend most of it exploring and platforming. Because of this, when enemies did show up, it came with a sense of annoyance at being pulled out of the fun of exploring. It wasn’t quite so bad when you discovered some enemies who were already camped out since that would allow for more stealth action, it was much more annoying when you were already in an area and they appeared or ambushed you. It’s a small gripe, but it really did bring my mood down a bit each time it happened, so I feel it’s worth mentioning.
Ever since I finished this game, I have been weighing in my mind whether Uncharted 4 is the new king on my list or if Uncharted 2 will retain that spot. Up until this point, if I listed out my favorite games and then ranked them by how much I wanted to play them right then, Uncharted 2 was #1. I still feel like time will have to tell with this one as I feel that Uncharted 4 is the better game in almost every way, so I may find myself replaying it more in the future than 2. In any case, it is certainly on my short list of favorite games ever, so I can’t give it much more praise than that.
Play this game. Do it. And play the previous ones if you haven’t because they are also fantastic. And play The Last of Us while you’re at it. Naughty Dog is truly the king of cinematic gaming right now, and their works are well worth the effort.