Reviews

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - PS4 Review

Posted on: 2016-05-17

The graphics are beautiful with stunning animations from characters and the environments; you really feel that you?re there with Nate, Sam and Sully on their adventures.

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When the first instalment of Uncharted was released back 2007 it was seen as a clone of Tomb Raider with a male protagonist. However, it proved itself to be different with great platforming gameplay, gunplay, puzzles and likeable characters. Nathan Drake’s last adventure is certainly a fitting end for the swash buckling adventurer.

You once again step into the shoes of Nathan Drake, an adventurer and thief who wants nothing more than the most exquisite treasures from around the world. However, in this game he is trying to lead a normal and legal life with his wife Elena, but Nathan grows tired of the normal life and with the mundanity of it. His brother Sam turns up after 15 years when Nathan thought he was dead and he is in trouble with a warlord, so they track down the hidden treasure of the pirate Henry Avery. Nathan calls up an old partner Victor Sullivan his father figure and mentor so the three go on a globetrotting adventure to tack down Henry Avery’s secrets.  The story is engaging from start to finish with superb performances from Nolan North as Nathan and Troy Baker as Sam, the chemistry between them is excellent from them being jolly and having a drink together to angry and heated arguments between the two.

The gameplay is very familiar if you’ve played the Nathan Drake Collection recently, but they have tweaked things to perfection and it doesn’t feel as clunky like the previous instalments. Drake has more tools to help him traverse dangerous cliff sides like a spike tool that he can hammer into rocks where there is no ledge to grab, to a grapple hook which can help you swing over huge chasms.

The gunplay has been given a boost where characters will actually flinch when they get shot which they didn’t in Uncharted 3 for some reason which was my biggest beef with that game. The firefights get tense and exciting you can’t stay in one position because the enemies will flank you and flush you out of your position encouraging you to move around a lot. You can avoid confrontation all together in some segments in the game where it will give you the option to take a stealthy approach which can help conserve ammunition and avoid unnecessary conflicts.

The visuals are the star of the show in this game. Naughty Dog had a lot trouble getting it right with this game, but time and hard work proved that they could deliver. The graphics are beautiful with stunning animations from characters and the environments; you really feel that you’re there with Nate, Sam and Sully on their adventures. The moment that stands out to me is when you’re in Madagascar and you’re given the freedom to travel around in a jeep in this big and wide open environment with wildlife and beautiful plains that stretch for miles. Even the subtle details are ridiculous like when Nate has been in a tense situation where he has been running around a lot you can see the sweat running down his face and I was absolutely stunned when I saw that. There is so much effort gone into the visuals and unlike The Order 1886 it’s not just about the graphics there is a game under all the flashy visuals.

Uncharted 4 A Thief’s End is a perfect end to the series as you see Nathan Drake trying to live a normal life and getting out of the business which is a perfect metaphor of Naughty Dog moving on and starting on something new and fresh.

5/5

Reviewed by Sam Coles - The Bristolian Gamer - For 365Bristol.com - the biggest events and entertainment website in the city.

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