Out of curiosity, why? The enemies are all generic hitscan archetypes that have not really evolved since the first Uncharted game. The new "stealth" mechanic is overly simplistic (no distraction mechanic, seriously?) and also completely unnecessary. The grappling hook system is even more arbitrary and restrictive than Bioshock Infinite, and on any difficulty higher than normal it becomes useless because you're killed instantly by the hitscan enemies with perfect aim. I feel like people who think the combat in UC4 is great must not have played many other action games.
Ooo do I have to prove my video game cred? I've never had to do that before! RE4 is the best game ever made, the OG Doom is pretty close to perfection too (new one is pretty fun too but like a 7/10), The Evil Within, Uncharted 2 and TLOU obvi, MGSV, Bloodborne (and Dark Souls), Transformers: Devastation, Gears of War (I only really dig the first one), RE5, RE6 (almost entirely due to mechankcs and enemy variety), and Ninja Gaiden are all action games I dig a lot (or at least dig the mechanics of in some cases).
Now that that silliness is out of the way, I don't think hitscan enemies or simplicity of mechanics are inherently bad things at all. Hitscan just changes the nature of combat less from using constant mobility to avoid projectiles, to using it in quick bursts to strategically decisive plays within the level. The fluidity of U4's controls and the vast amount of climable points, slides, and rope swings facilitate rapid movements to either get in, or out of combat, and health regeneration makes it so hitscan is a manageable pressure that you keep track of in combat. You expend health like a resource to make quick power plays, get to high ground and a power weapon, take a dude out, or swing out of a combat zone. This all works in tandem to make the game feel like the embodiment of scrappy indiana jones combat perfection. You're constantly sloppy, and on the verge of death, but you're running around making leaps of faith and the game often rewards it. And it actively punishes players who just hang around behind cover. Enemies are almost as mobile as you are, and can get to any point you can except ropes, their AI is quite good at flanking, most cover can be destroyed, you can't throw back grenades so those can flush you out, the sandbox level design means you constantly have to reorient yourself to take on the enemies, and sniper and armored enemies also force you to stay on the move, only briefly taking cover to regain some health or make some potshots.
I agree that I think they could make enemy fire while on the rope more lenient, but I still found I could use it plenty on hard difficulty.
The stealth is super simple, but it's not a stealth game. It's just a simple little tool to even the odds, and let you lose enemies in the heat of battle. I guess it could have more options for people who want to stralth the game, but that's not what makes Uncharted fun for me.
Other things that make it excellent:
-you have so many melee options. Not only does it look awesome and feel great, but you can melee from above, from across cover, from below, from a rope, from behind...and so it encourages positioning in the level use of climbable surfaces and the rope to do instant KO's.
-The controls are super fluid and precise. There's a little bit of animation prioritization, but it's the most fluid TPS I've played alongside MGSV.
-Weapon feedback is great. Weapons sounds, look, and feel exceptional, and enemy hit reactions and ragdoll make killing them satisfying. That flintlock pistol explosion too...
-Again gotta emphasize that almost no other TPS has the combat/mobility blend that Uncharted has. You can hip fire while running and jumping, you can shoot and melee from climbing (and use the climbing that's available on all the levels for cover as well as to navigate the awesomely verticle levels), the rope feels amazing, you can shoot while sliding...basically the mechanics allow for combat in basically every movement state, and the levels do a good job of incorporating tons of these navigational options in them. And the controls remain very simple so you can switch between all this stuff on the fly while keeping track of the swarms of enemies.
- The set pieces incorporate the full suite of combat and mobility options in them too, and aren't eye candy like most games (4 needed more though sadly).
-The animations are amazing, which may just be an aesthetic thing, but I think it's important to the combat by making it look as good as it feels.
