A spectacular blockbuster in video game form. Uncharted 4 is the most refined of Nathan Drake’s adventures, while also looking and playing spectacularly.
While other games have had extravagant plots with supernatural elements, secret societies and end of world scenarios, Uncharted 4 takes a step back and keeps it simple: pirate treasure. A myth about the world’s greatest pirates forming a colony and their combined worth, and people racing to find it first (your main opponent hiring a mercenary company to help him). I find this works great for two reasons.
First is that it means more focus can be on the characters, the relationship between Nate and his long lost brother, Nate’s marriage with Elaine and the struggles of settling down with a mundane job after a life of adventure. This feels like the most personal Uncharted story. Another benefit also means that there is more information on the myth itself, the people behind the myth and what happened to them.
Gameplay is very solid, with the grappling hook adding some fast paced movement. There are some more open levels which are still a set path, you can kind of go to the sides a bit more. However, both these and the more traditional “linear” sections are extremely well made, and never feel like you’re following a specific determined path- the way forwards feels natural enough that it feels like you’re doing the exploration.
