Review: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - A Fitting End

When playing Uncharted 4, I’m in constant awe of my surroundings. It’s one of the great feats of Naughty Dog’s latest venture, that the game can feel both grounded and magical. I’m currently in the process of trying to beat the game at the highest difficulty and hunt down all the treasures, as I try to Platinum the game. And as I scour my treasures, the beauty of the game still strikes me. It’s not just that it’s an incredibly good looking game, but just seeing the content of the game again is still exciting. I know I will have to play the game a couple more times for the platinum, be it through treasures I’ve missed or other goals, and usually for me, once I acquire that platinum I’ve grinded for; I’m happy to put the game down and never return to it. But I feel like Uncharted 4 gives me something that many games (especially the others in its own series) don’t, and its a reason I'll come back for 4ths, 5ths, 6ths and so on. There’s a feeling of adventure that the game gives you, this comes through 2 aspects its Story and its Gameplay. The story is told expertly and it makes you feel like you’re part of the journey instead of simply playing the role of someone on the journey. And many of the game’s finest moments are only partly scripted, giving the player the sense of real-time action. 

In the next two paragraphs, I will be discussing parts of the story which could be considered Spoilers, particularly in the second paragraph. After which, I will be discussing the Gameplay without spoilers. 

As seen literally everywhere prior to the game’s release; the game introduces a new character, Sam. Sam is Nate’s long lost, thought dead, brother; and he drives most of the story and the dialogue between characters. And it’s impressive that we, as the player, immediately like him and his characteristics, as he seamlessly fits into the exchanges with arguably fan favorites – Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan and Elena Fisher. Our first moment with Sam, has him breaking us (as a young Nathan) out of an orphanage for some crazy rooftop antics (or more appropriately, Acrobatics). We then travel forward in time and discover Nate has locked himself in a prison to gain access to ruins beneath it. During the inevitable breakout, the player falls from a rooftop and is surrounded by guards. Sam out of nowhere comes to the rescue; as he dives from above tackling several guards. Just as the player is home free, Sam is shot in the back and falls to his presumed death. Now back, worn by time and a derision of the cell he was in for so long; he’s now free and even a little reckless, as his younger years still consume him. We tell him of our adventures, and the player is free to pick what to tell him first. This (as far as I can tell) has no bearing on the game whatsoever. But what it does give is the opportunity for the player to share one of their own experiences, allowing the player to create a bond between themselves as Nate and Sam.

In the next section of the game, we are told the story of how Sam escapes the prison and debt he owes for doing so. It’s the first moment in the game where there’s a bit more of a shoot out other than the trivial opening sequence. It’s quite grand and explosive. But because we play it (and here’s a big spoiler) we solidify the moment as being the truth, but as we later find out; he lied. This is the first moment of great storytelling in the game. Having played all of the games, the player would be expecting a betrayal of some sort, and it usually comes in the form of a fellow protagonist turned antagonist; but Uncharted 4 has many moments where it upsets the expectations and changes them. Because we play this moment, we have no reason not to believe it’s the truth, simply because we play it and even if we suspect that Sam is lying (purely based on it being an Uncharted game), it’s not for this reason. It’s a big moment, because even though Sam doesn’t outright sabotage Drake (as Flynn does in Uncharted 2); it feels more personal because he’s Nate’s brother. He’s our brother. The banter and rapport they shared, we shared as well. But we forgive him, and we still want to help. This is another triumph of the story in Uncharted 4.

This narrative structure is a perfect complement to the gameplay. As outlined above, the game sets the stakes high, so it makes the game's fantastic set-pieces all the more epic. Furthermore, in Uncharted 4, the game relinquishes some extra control into what many games would just have as cutscenes. Indeed, even when the game requires Nathan to fall to a specfic point, the transition back to gameplay is so seamless that many players would barely notice. This is done through, in truth, fairly straight forward platforming; as they come in the form of climbing up something or sliding down something. E.g. theres only one way to go. A great example of this is when the clock tower collapses in Madagascar. Nate swings on the bell and as he jumps off, the bell drops causing most of the platforms to fall, this so happens to include Nate. This moment happens so fast, that a player naturally wouldnt have time to react. Very quickly, he lands on several gears, the same gears he used to climb up the building, without a break, the player is immediately back controlling Nate, though the player wouldn't notice that they ever lost it. The tower continues to fall, and just out of curiosity, on my second playthrough I decided to see what would happen if I did nothing; and sure enough he was crushed or some form of death.

Whilst the set-pieces have always been the stand out moments in Uncharted, the gunplay as always been rather weak. In Uncharted 4, whilst still not perfect (we've definitely played finer 3rd person shooters) the action is on a completely new scale, thanks to the introduction of the spectacular Grappling Hook. The Grappling Hook allows the player to create dramatic Action, like the ones from the Blockbuster Movies its trying to replicate. This happens in quite literally every shoot out, and we’re encouraged to use it quite often. The maps are designed in such a way where using the Grappling Hook nearly always give you an advantage, whether it’s using it to dive away from gunfire, to get higher up to get the drop on enemies or quite literally that – drop on enemies, which never gets old. This is great, as throughout the game I found myself avoiding just dropping into cover, not least because I was always on the look out for another place to swing from but also the game is at its best when you’re on the move. 

Nearly every 3rd person shooter nowadays opts for the chest high walls and cover mechanics where its just an endless shoot out. But in Uncharted 4, you're almost encouraged not to do this, 1. because staying in cover rarely feels safe and 2. because its actually just far more fun to not do so. This for me was oddly reminiscent of another 3^rd person shooter called Vanquish, where you once again where avoiding cover and found most satisfying gameplay on the move. You’re encouraged to try and keep moving as enemies throw grenades, destroy your cover and flank you, all to avoid you staying still. You also run out of ammo fairly easily; guns rarely have a full clip when you pick them up and so you’re encouraged to run into their faces for melee attacks, not least because it’s satisfying, but Nate will usually take this opportunity to disarm an enemy in the process, thus giving you more ammo and playing a badass animation in the process. All in all, this makes the combat the best in the series by far. But the game also improves the climbing from previous entries (also through the use of the grappling hook but also the criminally underused climbing hook (a hook the player uses to dig into the wall and create a manual grip)). The level design in Uncharted 4, allows the players to choose a path at nearly every climbing section. Unlike in previous games, which had very singular and linear pathways, Uncharted 4 adds multiple ways through each section, not only does this help the environments feel more natural, it gives the player lots of reasons to come back and play again. The Uncharted series has always had treasures hidden within its environment, but this time, only the most skilled explorer is going to find all the treasures and journal notes.

Despite my enjoyment of the game, I have some very minor gripes. The puzzles in the game are once again very simplistic, and we’re often told the answers through notes or another character literally just telling us we’ve got it wrong, as opposed to letting us work out the solution. This is a shame, because in a lot of cases, the puzzles appear quite intricate, with beautiful complex structures to solve but everyone of them is practically a formality. In a year, where the phenominal 'The Witness' was released; which has literally hundreds of fantastic puzzles which required a lot of thought and mental fortitude; this was slightly disappointing. And secondly, less of a negative and more of a suggestion of what I would have done. The Journal I feel could have used the touchpad more. I personally would have liked to swipe the pad to flick through pages; this would actually have been fairly easy to implement, as much of the ground work was in place. As always, the Journal is a lovely addition to the game; with detailed scribbles, notes and sketches. This time, the journal even managed to add some well written humour, which made me laugh everytime. But as the touchpad was used to open the Journal regardless, I would have liked to have been able to flick through it with greater control.

Uncharted 4, is ultimately a fitting send off for the series. I'm sure we'll see a return at some point in the future, whether it would be from Naughty Dog or someone else. And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Naughty Dog for 4 fantastic games, each managing to improve on the last and all of which I've thoroughly enjoyed. I greatly look forward to whatever comes next.