Revisiting Uncharted

Back in the PS3 days I spent a lot of time running and climbing. Between Nathan Drake and Ezio Auditore da Firenze I shimmied along countless ledges. As amazing as Ezio’s trilogy and the first two Uncharted games were, I was burnt out on the mechanics. So a few hours into Uncharted 3, I stopped and I didn’t go back.

Until now! Recently I watched the Uncharted movie, and though I knew it was a best “eh”, it did rekindle an interest in the games. I then discovered I could pick all three PS3 versions of 1/2/3 for £4! So here we are, revisiting the first two games and actually finishing the third. What will I make of them many years later?

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I was immediately struck by how good this looks for a seventeen-year-old game. It feels like Gears of War mixed with Tomb Raider. I purposely say Gears first because there is so much shooting! I remarked to a friend that “Uncharted is far shootier than I remember”.

The environments look a little samey, but I wasn’t too fussed about that. What did bug me was a dragged out final few chapters, and fucking QTEs. I do not miss them! The fights become more like a slog than feeling like overwhelming odds., whilst the environments are pretty much just green and brown.

You’re meeting fully formed people with history and character. Drake’s climbing ability may be completely unrealistic, but alongside Sully and Elena there’s an engaging cast. The jet ski sections do suck though,

Pretty much just throws you in then drip feeds some info as you go. Drake’s Fortune is a really solid game. You can sense a Developer figuring out not only a new world, but a new console. But they’re clearly onto something.

Wow.

With confidence flowing through them, Naughty Dog take a huge leap with this sequel. The stakes are higher, it’s crazy cinematic, and the writing is excellent.

Guys…the train sequence!

The balance between platforming and combat is far less binary. There’s more verticality, and scenes where you shoot whilst climbing! Having to work my way around a lamppost with signs to get the best cover and angles on enemies is interesting. Shooting feels more fine-tuned, whilst the simpler melee – with lots of context sensitive moves – feels weightier and much more a viable option. Everything has been smoothed out. There are even some nice stealth sections.

I have to talk about the train sequence. The acts of getting to it, boarding it, and working along it, is astounding. It’s not even the only big set piece. So well thought through and exciting. Sully takes a back seat, which makes sense, whilst the introduction of Chloe and return of Elena shows different sides of Nathan. He’s crazy, but he’s not stupid. Our hero reaching points where he tries to back out due to things being too much and prices being too high rounds him out. He’s not a superhero. He’s a thief with a heart of gold. He just buries it under hubris and dubious decisions.

This is an amazing game. From the variation in environments, to the characters, to the controls. A high point. If Drake’s Fortune is an action movie, Among Thieves is a summer blockbuster.

Annoyingly, or maybe spot on, I ran into an issue with Uncharted 3 that it turns out existed back at release! A rather frustrating issue with the game freezing about 1/3 through. After reinstalling the game data, and recovering the PS3’s database, I admitted defeat.

Frustrating to abandon my “OG” approach. but there was a different way. The Nathan Drake Collection. I quickly caught up, and noticed I’d passed the point where I’d left the game thirteen years earlier. I’m not going to chastise past Chris for dropping off, but I did miss out.

At this point I’m fully in tune with what Uncharted is offering, climbing, shooting, wise-cracks, and bonkers set pieces. There’s also a cool new character in Cutter, who I genuinely feared for a few times. And now I realise I’ve not mentioned the antagonists or the historical Macguffin’s that prompt each adventure. They’re all fine! What they aren’t, is the point. They all put Nate in the unique position of being labelled as a “treasure hunter” and thought of as a thief, but he actually makes the right decisions and saves the world.

Drake’s Deception gives us a bit of backstory, though I felt like it skirted really tackling Nate’s upbringing, mentioning his chosen name. None of the villains have been particularly fleshed out. I know they aren’t he focus but I wonder if more Marlowe could have helped this story.

Nevertheless, this is another brilliant game. The third quarter drags a little, and it’s not quite up there with Among Thieves in how everything comes together. But the plane sequence is spectacular, the trudge through the desert suitably exhausting, and Nate finally gets his priorities in order.

Once I’d dropped off UC3 back in 2011 I didn’t really track what was going on. So when UC4 was released I just assumed it was an add on. A last go. Maybe a grab? I’m conditioned to see things in trilogies, so a fourth entry just seemed a bit odd.

Having completed A Thief’s End, and read up on it’s development a bit, I was so wrong!

Development wise it started immediately after 3, but a lot of upheaval at Naughty Dog pushed out it’s release date. And story wise it makes great sense. A true conclusion to the story.

A Thief’s End feels more mature, befitting the positions we find the main characters in. It’s been some time since Nate and Co last discovered a lost city or some treasure, and they’ve settled down. But it doesn’t feel right. One last big adventure ensues. But it doesn’t feel the same, in a good way.

Perhaps Naughty Dog learnt a lot from creating The Last of Us. More mature relationships form the core of the game, which has also gently updated all it’s mechanics and adding in a grappling hook. Adding a rope to swing around to Nate’s already inhuman upper body strength might strain realism, but the writing feel extremely real. They may not be about treasure hunting, but I’ve similar feeling conversations with my wife before. It felt so real, I connected to it.

Not just an add-on, Uncharted 4 is right up there the second game; a mature and refined entry that caps the series perfectly.

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If I were to rank them I’d go with the I think fairly obvious 2/4/3/1. Very happy that I decided to play these again. They’re cracking!

I’ve played Crash Bandicoot, and I’ve played The Last of Us. Perhaps it’s because it’s fresh in my my mind, but in terms of entertainment, Uncharted is my favourite series from Naughty Dog.