A Simple Review of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
*This is a review of the single player campaign, spoiler free. The game also has a multi-player mode, but I have not played that as of this writing.
Greetings. I am The Fractured Analyst. And I remind you that all things must end.
If this is indeed the end, what an end it is.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the latest game from Naughty Dog studio (the same studio responsible for the amazing game The Last of Us) for the Playstation 4. This is (probably) the last game in the Uncharted series, or at the very least the last one starring the game’s hero Nathan Drake, if Naughty Dog is to be believed.
Uncharted 4 picks up 3 years after Drake’s last adventure (Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception). Drake is living a quiet life which is disrupted when someone from his past comes in need of Nathan’s help. That is the set up, in a bare bones, spoiler-free nutshell. But don’t be fooled, the story is fantastic and I don’t want to give anything away here. Things play out perfectly, via in game cut scenes full of plot twists and great action set pieces. Graphically, the game is gorgeous. It is rare that you have a game that looks as good as it plays (the only other console game that comes to mind at the moment is The Witcher 3).
Regarding the game play, it does not re-invent the 3rd person action genre, but it doesn’t need to. Drake controls very well, running, jumping and shooting as prompted. There are occasions where you have a computer controlled partner along for your adventure, and for the most part, they do a fairly decent job of covering you in a firefight and not getting in the way too much. This would not be an adventure game without some kind of puzzels in the majority of the areas, but there is nothing that is too brain breaking to take you out of the story. The enemy AI is pretty good as well, with enemies working as a team, laying down suppressing fire and trying to flank you to add additional challenges to your firefights (and there are many).
If you have a Playstation 4 and have never played any of the Uncharted games, the original 3 games are available as an HD remaster on the Playstation store. These games are as close as you can get to having an Indiana Jones style adventure on console (unless you count the new Tomb Raider games… which probably owe a lot to Uncharted, just as the Uncharted series owes it’s existence to Tomb Raider…. and both owe their existence to Indiana Jones….. a paradox…)
The game is great. Get it. Play it. Love it.
