Uncharted 4 A Thief’s End Campaign Review: SIC·PARVIS·MAGNA
(Image sourced from https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2015/12/23/uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end-now-launches-on-27th-april-2016/)
A journey that began 9 years ago, a journey full f ruined but
precious lost cities, curses that would make your skin crawl or even infect and
twist the best of us, a journey full of danger, gun fire, and badly constructed
bridges, a journey full of love, loss and betrayal, a journey full of phenomenally
realised and acted characters, and more hilarious one liners than I can count;
that journey has finally come to an end, and boy am I sad to see it go.
(Video sourced from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNDGQMz1fJQ)
The story of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End sees Nathan Drake,
after going through countless trials by fire, ice and even a flood or two, in
search of the world’s finest treasure has finally found his in the form of a
normal life with his wife and long-time adventurer Elena. But when Nate’s long
lost brother, Sam, bursts back into his life, Nate is flung back into the life
of a treasure hunter.
The main plot of Uncharted 4 is probably the best laid out
and constructed in all the series. Unlike in some of the other games mostly
Uncharted 3, where the plot was just a vehicle to get me to the next “OH COME
ON!” inducing set piece or manic gun fight up a rusting boat graveyard, the
plot in Uncharted 4 had me genuinely hooked. With each new clue discovered
behind a conveniently locked door or discarded not left in the hands of a dying
Pirate I was right there with Nate, trying to piece together the mystery
surrounding the treasure and which clue would send us closer to the booty.
But not only that but the character arcs in this final
chapter were also excellent and some of the best, if not THE best the series
has done. Each character not only acted completely reasonable and realistic but
each ones growth in the story had me either on the edge of tears of holding
down jumps of joy. It was a true treat to spend time again with these
characters and each one got their own iconic moment in this games spotlight
that had me uncontrollably smile long past the closing credits
What was also really well done with the character moments in
this game was how they were integrated into the experience. Not all were
marooned in the fantastic cutscenes as they traditionally would be, but some,
even the most important ones were integrated into the gameplay through prompted
conversation moments, these made me feel even more involved in what was being
said, giving me an owner ship in how these characters that I have loved for
years are evolving and shows the brilliantly sophisticated storytellers that
the people at Naughtydog are.
(Image sourced from http://www.gamespot.com/articles/uncharted-4-single-player-is-1080p30fps-photo-mode/1100-6428583/)
And it’s a damn good thing that the character moments and
plot of the story were so compelling because this Uncarted has a lot slower
pace than the last 3 by a large margin. This game feels like a more thoughtful
addition to the series where you are allowed to ponder on either the newest
jigsaw piece that is making slowly uncovering the plot of the missing pirate
treasure, or the heartfelt character moment that you have just witnessed. The game
definitely has a different feeling to the others, but that’s not such a bad
thing, giving the game a fresh feeling and the farewell to the series and the
characters a more sombre note.
And thankfully it is in these comparatively quieter moments
from the roar of gun fire and building demolition that the gameplay of
Uncharted 4 also shines. The exploration and problem solving in this game is
the best in the series and made walking around the ruins of a old pirate
outpost or solving the next convoluted puzzle left by the narcissistic pirate
captain a real treat to play. This paired with the series’ iconic platforming,
which has been given an intuitive twist as you no longer just fling Nate up a
ledge at a time but can actually have him naturally ascend a cliff-face, stretching
from ledge to ledge as you actually see his individual fingers poise and finally
grasp onto the next ledge one by one. This new look and feel to climbing made
the experience not only a highlight of playing Uncharted 4 to me but also gave the
game another boost of realism and immersion.
Another small but great addition to the Uncharted formula is
the game’s more open feel and approach to situations. Instead of the one corridor
you can only and must go down to get to the next part of the game, Uncharted 4
has more of a branching path approach. While all paths lead to the same point,
obviously, there seemed to be a surprising wealth of ways to traverse, explore
and battle my way through the landscapes of the game, with different ways to
climb the up to the peak of a mountain and a host of locations to scavenge that
you could simply walk past and ignore or dive into spiked hair first.
This amount of choice of how to get to or go through a given environment,
paired with the intuitive climbing system, intriguing plot and immersive
character interactions all amount to make the player feel the most like they
are in Nates shoes than ever before. You feel like you are on the adventure
with him, solving the next puzzle or working out just how to scale yet another half
broken stairway; which all makes you completely absorbed in the experience.
(Image sourced from http://gematsu.com/2016/03/making-uncharted-4-episode-1)
However I did have some problems with the game, and these
were problems I never thought I would have with an Uncharted game. I never
fully clicked with the action like I had in previous games, but I think I know
why. With the games slower pace the action in the game feels more fleeting, never
really letting you completely commit to the fast pace needed for the onslaught of
goons that stand in Nates way. Also, for the majority of the areas where combat
does take place, the maps are too big and convoluted to really make a good and
smooth action experience. I never really had a good idea of where I, or the
enemy was and either walked into a narrow dead end to be blasted to pieces by 5
goons just around the corner apparently, or left out in the open flailing
around like a fish out of water.
The maps were constructed in this way because the action, for
the most part, is reared toward the much more fleshed out stealth route of the
gameplay. With directors Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley just coming off the
other mega success under Naughtydog’s belt, The Last Of Us, this wasn’t much of
a surprise as that games action centred a lot more round stealth than all out
explosive warfare. So in this way the maps are very helpful, giving you plenty
of nooks and crannies to hide and grab your next victim of neck breakage from.
But when inevitably you didn’t account for that one far off guard to see your
spikey hair poking out of the tall grass and the more traditional gun play of
the Uncharted series kicks in I was always left with no clear sight of who was
shooting me, leaving me dead I the
water.
However while the action scenarios of the game aren’t the high
calibre I wanted from the game, the mechanics behind the actual action are
superb. From the surprisingly smart and deadly AI you are put up against to the
marvellous new aiming system where the reticle for your aim takes into account
the sway and kickback of your gun a lot more intuitively, making the gun play
feel not only more realistic but also makes actually firing the gun feel a lot more
awesome and immersive.
Another amazing aspect of the action is the hand to hand
combat of the game. While the system hasn’t really been that much iterated from
Uncharted 3’s similarly badass mechanics, the moves and animations of the
fight, as well as the way you can make Nate counter attacks from enemies for
devastating and honestly really cool pay offs is a glorious sight to behold.
While this same mechanic can become a little bit clunky when incorporated into
the bullet storms that most of the combat scenarios turn into, when you get a
move timed exactly right you feel like the legend Nate is professed to be.
Similar to the action of the game, the big destructive set
pieces also feel disappointingly fleeting and never reach the heights set out
by previous jaw dropping moments in the Uncharted series such as being inside
of a building collapsing to nothing but rubble or being violently ejected from
a still flying and simultaneously burning plane. Except for one standout
sequence that had my eyes wide in awe of what the game was having me do and how
epic the whole situation looked and felt, the other set pieces felt either too
passive or too minor to get much of a reaction out of me.
While the set pieces were, on the whole, a disappointment you
can’t deny that they look flippin’ fantastic. And that goes for literally every
other pixel of the game. From breathtaking far off lands that are drenched in
sun to a point where I was even feeling hot just from association to the incredibly
facial animation of the characters, this game is without a doubt the best looking
game out there and time and time again my eyes just couldn’t compute how
beautiful this game was. In most games the graphical prouesse gets old and doesn’t
really impress after the first 2 hours but Uncharted 4’s beauty never got hold
and will always be a sight to behold.
And the amazingly realistic look of the characters makes the
already brilliant performances of the characters that much better. Each and every
role in this game was phenomenally acted, from the fan-cheer inducing returning
cast of industry legend Nolan North as funny and loveable Nathan Drake, Emily
Rose as Elena and Richard McGonagle as Victor God-Damn Sullivan. Each character
returned with even more charm and wit than ever and gave stellar closing
performances. And that can also be said of the new cast with other industry
legend Troy Baker joining as Nates brother Sam and quickly becoming one of my favourite
characters as his character is not only great on his own but also gives us a
living gateway into Nates mysterious past and what influenced him to become the
man he is today, seeing the two interact is amazing to see each time and showcase
just how fantastic the writing of these games truly are. Also the villains of
this game, Rafe Adler and Nadine Ross, are the most realised and realistic of
the series, with their actions completely making sense, as well as their
motivations and character defects adding some interesting layers to roles that could’ve
been just the traditional, moustache twirling fanfare.
So overall this is a weird one for me. I went into the game
expecting to love it for its explosive action and series’ iconic set pieces but
instead left leaving this game loving it for how immersed and hooked I was on
the journey not only of the characters but of the over aching, mystery woven,
plot. The fact that this is the last Uncharted had me an emotional blob throughout
and the ending of the game left me not only satisfied, and a little teary eyed,
but extremely happy to be a part of this phenomenal series. Goodbye Uncharted,
you will be missed.
Uncharted 4 A Thief’s End Campaign = 9/10
Why not check out my YouTube channel, BurtonReviews, where I
upload awesome gaming montages put to badass songs or scores every Sunday.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.
Comments
Post a Comment