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Uncharted 4 - A Thief's |Reviews Thread| Nateness Awaits

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Are we seriously back to "Nate is a Mass Murderer"? Actually, this has always been an interesting question because I always felt that uncharted as a pulpy treasure hunting game would've been better served as a more pure platformer brawler rather than a 3rd person shooter with platforming esque elements.

I love the insane pulpy action of the games, though in UC4 it might clash more with the slightly more somber nature of the story.

That being said, the games were always slightly aware that Nate is a mass murderer even it isn't a focal point.
 
Fo real fo real. I was expecting it to be sitting at 88 average by now but gladly was proven wrong. This game is the real deal but deep down we all knew this if we kept up with ND progress.

Nah with Bruce and Neil at the helm it was always going to be a hit. Just a little cautious they could do what they did with TLoU and bring it to UC4 after UC3 polarized the audience a little. Well, it looks like they can, and did. Whatever they needed the delays for, thank Sony for seeing sense and not rushing them.
 
Argh, ok, this is the last thing I'll say about this topic.

Maybe the criticism is because people have a bias against Uncharted. Why? You'll have to tell me.

Or maybe it's because Nathan Drake is such a fleshed out and believable character otherwise that people associate with him the characteristics that would define his actions.

It's a pitfall of a narrative focus. If you want to have great characters they'll be scrutinized all the more. It's the reason why people will call Narthan Drake a mass-murderer and not Call of Duty dude.

From the very first UC we see nathan has no problem killing people .
Even more so with them also trying to kill him .
And the cutscenes don't change that aspect of him at all .
Also it's a game so of course he going to be killing a lot .
 
Argh, ok, this is the last thing I'll say about this topic.

Maybe the criticism is because people have a bias against Uncharted. Why? You'll have to tell me.

Or maybe it's because Nathan Drake is such a fleshed out and believable character otherwise that people associate with him the real world characteristics that would define his actions.

It's a pitfall of a narrative focus. If you want to have great characters they'll be scrutinized all the more. It's the reason why people will call Narthan Drake a mass-murderer and not Call of Duty dude.

well, since Uncharted is basically like Summer blockbuster movie you see I think there's no point explain why he kills enemies. Do audience ask why Indiana Jones kill his enemies despite he has "real world characteristics that would define his actions"? Maybe people disagree with me but I think it's a dumb question because the story doesn't emphasize on this, like every action heroes movie you see.
 
People who have played and beat the game already, does the game have more intense action sequences like the official extended gameplay demo of last year's E3? Because if yes holy shit I might end up buying a PS4 this weekend for this game.

I'm going to spoiler tag this.

the one shown already is the longest, loudest set piece in the game by a stretch. But there are several, several others that are jaw-dropping and special in unexpected, remarkable ways. Game is a masterpiece
 
okay im gonna contact metacritic customer service this shit unacceptable
Now we talking ahaha. Make sure you drop that "I'm a representative of the biggest video game forum on the internets, Neogaf" line in there so they know who they fucking with.

Nah with Bruce and Neil at the helm it was always going to be a hit. Just a little cautious they could do what they did with TLoU and bring it to UC4 after UC3 polarized the audience a little. Well, it looks like they can, and did. Whatever they needed the delays for, thank Sony for seeing sense and not rushing them.
Yup yup, I'm glad Sony gave them the extra time they asked for to finish the game properly and not rush it out to meet deadline. Bruce & Neil are the dream team though, god damn.
 
As much as I want to be right about my 94 MC prediction, when all is said and done I'm pretty confident the final MC score will be 93 (even if EDGE gives the game a 10).

If EDGE gives it a 10 it will hold the 94.

Guys it's not like IGN gave it a 6, and it's not like IGN's review is being calculated as "(IGN+ current MC)/2", let's not over exaggerate with their review, they have the biggest weight but let's not forget about all the other publishers, no reason for IGN score to lower the MC if EDGE gives it a 10.
 
Agreed. Why is this criticism only levied when Uncharted comes out? I didn't see this kind of criticism when TR and RotTR released and that has Laura killing enemies in more gruesome ways than Nathan.
The most dominant story criticism that TR2013 received was for the disconnect between Lara's initial aversion to violence and her immediate gameplay shift to bloodthirsty killer as soon as she picked up a gun.
 
Awesome reviews all around, cannot wait.

Going to start up The Last of Us tonight after work.

I recommend hitting up Just Cause 3 (specfically if you have a good enough PC) to tide over through the hype.

I booted it up there (a few hours in) and it has great shootfeel, awesome graphics, crazy emergent spectacles, and loads of content. More than enough to keep going through the weekend and it's not unlike open world Uncharted :)
 
? Have you literally never read a single thread thing about tomb raider then? Its one of the most damn common complainers about it.

I have which is why I asked the question. People seem to sweep it under the rug because Lara is defending herself or something. Like someone just pointed out, in TR she had a hard time killing a deer and then a few hits later she's ripping out throats with a ice pick, etc. it just doesn't seem like a legit criticism for UC when we've known from literally the first 5 minutes of the series that Drake is a treasure hunter who gets into trouble with bad guys all the time. It makes no sense.
 
Love this quote from GB
The jump in quality from Uncharted 3 to 4 is similar to the ways the second entry trounced the original. It’s still the same Nathan Drake partaking in the same ludicrous, death-defying action as before, but everything is done with so much more panache. I haven’t gone into detail about the specifics of the setpiece moments, as I’d hate to rob readers of the “Oh, WOW” feeling that I had so many times during my dozen-plus hours with the campaign. There was a steady stream of moments that I loved, from insane action sequences that literally dropped my jaw to somber storyline moments in between bombastic firefights. Uncharted 4 isn’t a perfect game...it runs a couple of chapters too long, some of the puzzles feel uninspired, and its multiplayer component is serviceable but largely forgettable. Those nitpicks are in no way significant enough for me to consider A Thief’s End as anything but the best entry in the Uncharted franchise, though. It’s not even just the best Uncharted game. This is one of the most fully-realized action campaigns of all time, and it sets a new bar of quality for what’s possible in the genre.
http://www.giantbomb.com/reviews/uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end-review/1900-744/
 
I recommend hitting up Just Cause 3 (specfically if you have a good enough PC) to tide over through the hype.

I booted it up there (a few hours in) and it has great shootfeel, awesome graphics, crazy emergent spectacles, and loads of content. More than enough to keep going through the weekend and it's not unlike open world Uncharted :)

No PC, plus I just powered through Uncharted Collection, so I am going to complete the Naughty Dog PS3 experience before UC4.
 
People who have played and beat the game already, does the game have more intense action sequences like the official extended gameplay demo of last year's E3? Because if yes holy shit I might end up buying a PS4 this weekend for this game.

Yea, there's some really intense stuff in there. But that setpiece, man, playing is believing.

That right there is the best setpiece in all of Uncharted. That entire chapter is one of the best in the series.
 
Yea, there's some really intense stuff in there. But that setpiece, man, playing is believing.

That right there is the best setpiece in all of Uncharted. That entire chapter is one of the best in the series.

I second this. And I'll also say...just because you've "seen" this set piece, you haven't really seen it. It's different than what was shown previously. You won't be disappointed.
 
well, since Uncharted is basically like Summer blockbuster movie you see I think there's no point explain why he kills enemies. Do audience ask why Indiana Jones kill his enemies despite he has "real world characteristics that would define his actions"? Maybe people disagree with me but I think it's a dumb question because the story doesn't emphasize on this, like every action heroes movie you see.

Movies don't have player agency, different medium.
 
As much as I want to be right about my 94 MC prediction, when all is said and done I'm pretty confident the final MC score will be 93 (even if EDGE gives the game a 10).

Don't be so sure about that. Based on 67 reviews that are in now, I have calculated that the average score is 94,462. Another 10 bring the average score to 94,544... I don't how metacritic works but common sense would be bringing 94.544 to 95. The usually bring the gameinformers reviews up from 9.25 to 9.3. But lets say we get two 8s instead, well then we have 69 reviews and the average score would go down to 94,04. Based my on my calculations, its more likely the game goes up to 95 then 93. But then again, if we get 20 more reviews and most of them are 8s and 9s then we most likely see it decrease to 93. Hope this cleared up a thing or two, peace!

Edit: Been noticing , metacritic is a bit slow when it comes to updating the average score. Battlebornes average score right now is 74 when it should be 72. Five reviews in, total score of 370. 370/5= 74 not 72.
 
If EDGE gives it a 10 it will hold the 94.

Guys it's not like IGN gave it a 6, and it's not like IGN's review is being calculated as "(IGN+ current MC)/2", let's not over exaggerate with their review, they have the biggest weight but let's not forget about all the other publishers, no reason for IGN score to lower the MC if EDGE gives it a 10.

Don't be so sure about that. Based on 67 reviews that are in now, I have calculated that the average score is 94,462. Another 10 bring the average score to 94,544... I don't how metacritic works but common sense would be bringing 94.544 to 95. The usually bring the gameinformers reviews up från 9.25 to 9.3. But lets say we get two 8s instead, well then we have 69 reviews and the average score would go down to 94,04. Based my on my calculations, its more likely the game goes up to 95 then 93. But then again, if we get 20 more reviews and most of them are 8s and 9s then we most likely see it decrease to 93. Hope this cleared up a thing or two, peace!

But we still have quite a few more reviews to come. It's still early days. All it takes is a few more 8's for the average to drop. And we're all still assuming EDGE will give it a 10. I mean it could get a 9.


The whole murderer criticism is the dumbest shit I've ever heard tbh

Yep.
 
The most dominant story criticism that TR2013 received was for the disconnect between Lara's initial aversion to violence and her immediate gameplay shift to bloodthirsty killer as soon as she picked up a gun.

I wish I could remember that hilarious YouTube video that contrasted vulnerable Lara with 'jam arrow in anonymous guy's throat and twist' Lara.
 
Don't be so sure about that. Based on 67 reviews that are in now, I have calculated that the average score is 94,462. Another 10 bring the average score to 94,544... I don't how metacritic works but common sense would be bringing 94.544 to 95. The usually bring the gameinformers reviews up från 9.25 to 9.3. But lets say we get two 8s instead, well then we have 69 reviews and the average score would go down to 94,04. Based my on my calculations, its more likely the game goes up to 95 then 93. But then again, if we get 20 more reviews and most of them are 8s and 9s then we most likely see it decrease to 93. Hope this cleared up a thing or two, peace!

I also think it'll land at a 95.
 
Don't be so sure about that. Based on 67 reviews that are in now, I have calculated that the average score is 94,462. Another 10 bring the average score to 94,544... I don't how metacritic works but common sense would be bringing 94.544 to 95. The usually bring the gameinformers reviews up från 9.25 to 9.3. But lets say we get two 8s instead, well then we have 69 reviews and the average score would go down to 94,04. Based my on my calculations, its more likely the game goes up to 95 then 93. But then again, if we get 20 more reviews and most of them are 8s and 9s then we most likely see it decrease to 93. Hope this cleared up a thing or two, peace!

Good to hear that, hopefully EDGE is 10 because a 10 from EDGE would put it at 95 easilly.
 
The whole murderer criticism is the dumbest shit I've ever heard tbh
The game needs to service the player so yes, it's padded with a lot of people to shoot.

"Bububut the disconnect from the story..."

Disconnect? How is the badguy hiring a bunch of goons who'd prefer to shoot you than be shot not part of the story?

Dumb criticism.
 
I have which is why I asked the question. People seem to sweep it under the rug because Lara is defending herself or something. Like someone just pointed out, in TR she had a hard time killing a deer and then a few hits later she's ripping out throats with a ice pick, etc. it just doesn't seem like a legit criticism for UC when we've known from literally the first 5 minutes of the series that Drake is a treasure hunter who gets into trouble with bad guys all the time. It makes no sense.
But it doesn't get swept under the rug. People criticize the hell out of Tomb Raider because of it. Where does this dumb narrative that only Uncharted gets it comes from?
 
But we still have quite a few more reviews to come. It's still early days. All it takes is a few more 8's for the average to drop. And we're all still assuming EDGE will give it a 10. I mean it could get a 9.




Yep.
I did mention that it could decrase depending on the reviews coming in, if lots of 8s and 9s then yes , more likely 93.
 
I read the Eurogamer review for some reason, I really don't like how the guy tries to claim past Uncharted games are all about the surface with nothing under Neath, that is incredibly reductive and down plays the brilliant level design, pacing and encounters the series has produced. Frankly it's bullshit.
 
I don't claim to understand it fully and it is a pretty deep topic. I just don't want it to become a taboosubject and dismissed with 'lol, stupid reviewer with stupid feelings'.

I do know that story free killing games like nuclear throne are enjoyed by my wife; as are story games like tlou Elly dlc; but character games with emotional stories with that disconnect are not. It would be awesome to read a great analysis of this topic comparing tlou with UC4.

I think this is a really interesting topic. And it would be great to hear people that (genuinely) have problems with the character talk about why they feel this way.

Maybe it's something that was already discussed to death, but i don't remember if it got to anything meaningful.
 
It's hard to find non-spoilery pictures in my massive collection of photos, but here's one:
lHMERaB.png

I think people aren't ready to see how amazing this game looks in person. Official media didn't do it justice.
 
But it doesn't get swept under the rug. People criticize the hell out of Tomb Raider because of it. Where does this dumb narrative that only Uncharted gets it comes from?

Probably from the same place the dumb narrative that Naughty Dog gets a free pass (while studios like Ubisoft don't) comes from.
 
Nice reviews. I still haven't played 3 so I will hold off on this one. Probably going to pick up the collection on PS4 before this one. I am pretty surprised it hasn't been on sale before 4 released.
 
But it doesn't get swept under the rug. People criticize the hell out of Tomb Raider because of it. Where does this dumb narrative that only Uncharted gets it comes from?

Really?

Show me the wealth of 'Murder Simulator' memes tied to Tomb Raider like it is for Uncharted... I will wait patiently.

Does it have that criticism of her being so savage? Yes, but not nearly a staple dead horse meme for over 5 years like Uncharted is. And it was mostly started as a Lara Too™ thing as well, since nobody really brought it up for any game, like they do with Uncharted.

On a side note, Best Buy is preparing my pre-order Pirate's Booty!!!

 
You're oversimplifying it.

If a large part of a game is its story, and elements of the game work against (or even just not in favour of) the story then I understand why that might be an issue for some.

Just as The Last of Us' gameplay worked to further the narrative; to present Joel as someone who is brutal, unrelenting and willing to do anything to survive, it makes sense that gameplay working against a game's narrative would be a complaint. I wouldn't know if that's the case for Uncharted 4, but I think saying "just suspend your disbelief" is overly dismissive.

I have the same problem with the Marvel films and their hand-waving attempts at showing how the civilians are somehow all safely evacuated. And yet no one makes mention of how the whole city is left in shambles. Or how there's bound to be civilians who were caught in the crossfire and have been critically injured. There's no voices of (reasonable) dissent. Everyone loves them. Sureee.

People tell me that it's a light-hearted Marvel superhero movie but it bugs me to no end.(No, I have not watched Civil War so I have no idea if they addresed that in that movie).

With UC though , I do find the whole mass-murderer complaint to be mostly overblown. 1) Unlike these Superhero movies where saving the world/innocent people is the protaganist's main goal, Uncharted's main narrative pull takes on a more self-aggrandizing approach. It's a fun globe-trotting adventure that focuses more on the glitz of TREASURE, THIEVERY & oooh some possibly LONG-LOST CIVILISATION thrown into the mix. The emphasis throughout the game on the importance of the self's own indulgent desires in turn, de-emphasizes the whole morality issue. Similarly, it's the aame reason why people don't think twice about how immoral it might be for Indiana Jones to just keep mowing down whatever mooks that he's facing.

2) It's a video game and thus, this being a medium that requires the active participation of its said audience, it'll be hard for ND to skirt around the issue without making the whole game seem ludicrous. Only allow Nate to use tranquilizer guns? Make Nate go through some ephiphany that killing is wrong? An action adventure game that centers around a solemn non-wise-cracking pacifist doesn't sound as compelling of a game to me.

Still, even though I might joke about the mass murderer complaints, I can get how annoying it might be for someone who isn't able to just 'suspend their disbelie'f. It's the same with me and the Marvel movies. I get you guys/gals.
 
The game needs to service the player so yes, it's padded with a lot of people to shoot.

"Bububut the disconnect from the story..."

Disconnect? How is the badguy hiring a bunch of goons who'd prefer to shoot you than be shot not part of the story?

Dumb criticism.

People need to get over that disconnect. Neil said it best that one time when he said it's purposefully exaggerated for gameplay purposes and doesn't reflect 100% what might be reality because it's a VIDEO GAME.
 
But it doesn't get swept under the rug. People criticize the hell out of Tomb Raider because of it. Where does this dumb narrative that only Uncharted gets it comes from?

I don't think anyone is saying that Uncharted is the only game that gets the criticism, but the "ludonarrative dissonance" meme is strongly associated with Uncharted
 
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