Auto_aim1
MeisaMcCaffrey
Have you played Horizon? What UC4 does is not impressive at all.
LTTP: Uncharted 4 is a mediocre game that is really pretty.
- Thread starter dr3upmushroom
- Start date
Ricky Ricardo
Member
A skewed impressions of what? That there are people who don't think Uncharted 4 is amazing, 10/10, GOTY, etc?
This is simply another face to the "Know your place, dissenters" argument that another poster made. The point is not that the game is popular, the point is that people react to it in different ways.
Saying "Look at how popular and loved this game is, you guys are just a minority" is a pointless dismissal that handwaves people's opinions on the game (Which GASP happen to be all the reviews and user reviews on all the major sites too!) as insignificant and somehow even deceiving in relation to Uncharted 4. It is disingenuous as all hell.
Teletraan1
Banned
I don't understand why the language people use to describe something that they didn't really care for has to be so hyperbolic. If the game missed the mark for you that is fine but thoroughly mediocre is not a phrase I would use for this particular game.
Haloid1177
Banned
I booted it back up over the weekend for the hell of it, and overall I thought it was still a fun romp. Characters are still great, I love the set pieces within the game, the falling tower and clock tower ranking pretty highly in my gaming set piece list overall. Yeah gameplay was a bit stale but I think as a whole it's still a very good game.
GOTY award to it though still has me shook.
GOTY award to it though still has me shook.
I wouldn't mind it if they replaced it with something as engaging, but I don't think they did. I like the premise, but not so much the execution.
The Last Guardian was the better game about a relationship in 2016, imo.
travisbickle
Member
It's a streamlined game, a lot of games in the same genre are convoluted with unnecessary mechanics that are sometimes game breaking if not properly tested.
RedlineRonin
Member
Do you think it's the gameplay being stale that should have kept it off GOTY lists?
Similarly, what parts of the story, design or entertainment did you not find very good?
TissueBox
Member
It's not outta spite or simply to stir the pot when I express my disappointment as well. I do so as a fan of Naughty Dog hoping ND does take some criticisms genuinely and learn from them for the future.
UC4...it's pretty and its presentation is a revelation but if it ends up representing the pinnacle of games as story, design, or entertainment despite not fulfilling these qualities as satisfactorily as I think its reputation implies then it's gonna set a standard other games can follow, presumably. Maybe Uncharted is just one of those series that automatically attracts GOTY's, like one of the posts in first page says, concocted with the "GOTY formula" (compare Oscar-bait) regardless of how other parts stack up in the end. Even so, I don't think this game is better than TLOU, Uncharted 2, Crash Bandicoot 2, or Jak II. Could it have been worse? Sure, much worse, but ND always works towards a certain pedigree, and as seen by their award count, critics were always gonna acknowledge that. It's just when they're operating from the bottom of that talent-fused barrel that it seems like a misuse of potential.
Making games is hard...and I love that ND is trying to push the envelope. AAA is the challenge of making a game functional, then appealing, then personally meaningful in the context of big-boned design outlines and a million assets and code...so stuff like UC4, FFXV, MGSV, even when messes, are small miracles and the result of plenty of blood and sweat and tears. But sheesh does it just feel a bit jarring to see a game lauded so in reviews when it feels like a different kind of game in reality. But then how are you gonna criticize something like that? A game with so much work put into it? And would ND be able to tackle that criticism without feeling cornered in a lose-lose situation? It's hard but they can do it. Just hoping for the best for Part II, and that they find the best of both worlds.
UC4...it's pretty and its presentation is a revelation but if it ends up representing the pinnacle of games as story, design, or entertainment despite not fulfilling these qualities as satisfactorily as I think its reputation implies then it's gonna set a standard other games can follow, presumably. Maybe Uncharted is just one of those series that automatically attracts GOTY's, like one of the posts in first page says, concocted with the "GOTY formula" (compare Oscar-bait) regardless of how other parts stack up in the end. Even so, I don't think this game is better than TLOU, Uncharted 2, Crash Bandicoot 2, or Jak II. Could it have been worse? Sure, much worse, but ND always works towards a certain pedigree, and as seen by their award count, critics were always gonna acknowledge that. It's just when they're operating from the bottom of that talent-fused barrel that it seems like a misuse of potential.
Making games is hard...and I love that ND is trying to push the envelope. AAA is the challenge of making a game functional, then appealing, then personally meaningful in the context of big-boned design outlines and a million assets and code...so stuff like UC4, FFXV, MGSV, even when messes, are small miracles and the result of plenty of blood and sweat and tears. But sheesh does it just feel a bit jarring to see a game lauded so in reviews when it feels like a different kind of game in reality. But then how are you gonna criticize something like that? A game with so much work put into it? And would ND be able to tackle that criticism without feeling cornered in a lose-lose situation? It's hard but they can do it. Just hoping for the best for Part II, and that they find the best of both worlds.
Brerlappin
Member
.UC4 was a game that needed an editor, fucking BADLY. Its flabbier around the midsection than most 40 year old office workers, its po-faced to the point of parody, its gameplay is almost exactly the same in hour 1 as it is in hour 21, and its a shame because if you trimmed most of the fat off it and made it a 12 hour thrill ride, it wouldve been great
So what if it's a small minority? We are not holding a vote on whether the game sucks or not. We are just discussing and expressing our views. Chest thumping about game of the year awards isn't really that productive.
UC4 has the best pacing of any game I've ever played. The criticisms of that aspect are absolutely dumbfounding. It's like people are so used to the shit games that come out that they've learned to accept it as virtue.
Uncharted 4 is masterful on a myriad of levels and easily the best in the series. The only "weak point" is that the gameplay isn't elite, but it certainly gets the job done.
Uncharted 4 is masterful on a myriad of levels and easily the best in the series. The only "weak point" is that the gameplay isn't elite, but it certainly gets the job done.
I agree on every possible level
Concerning U4, my opinion is that it is a "forgettable" experience. But graphics are still to be beaten on ps4
(Horizon maybe? Not seen yet)
Before Uncharted 4, I was like "I can't wait to see how they've improved the climbing sections and turned that into real gameplay." Naughty Dog: "Have some rolling down gravel slopes sections."
The fact that it hadn't advanced at all from Uncharted 2 was really disappointing. That combined with a brilliantly executed but somewhat lacklustre story with odd pacing and tone issues made it just kinda underwhelming.
However the gunplay, voice acting and visuals were all so good that I'd still consider it a damn fine game. Just didn't progress the game design as much as I'd have liked.
The fact that it hadn't advanced at all from Uncharted 2 was really disappointing. That combined with a brilliantly executed but somewhat lacklustre story with odd pacing and tone issues made it just kinda underwhelming.
However the gunplay, voice acting and visuals were all so good that I'd still consider it a damn fine game. Just didn't progress the game design as much as I'd have liked.
I agree it's underrated. I don't know if TLOU's gameplay is better than the story; both are excellent.
For the record the gameplay in Uncharted is underrated too. People act as though it's the series huge flaw. It's genuinely really fun on a fundamental level.
Stabby McSter
Member
what is this post
not liking uncharted 4 makes people hipsters? because they don't like popular thing? that's dumb and contributes nothing to the conversation.
i don't like the gunplay. i think it's mediocre. the aiming is clunky and shooting things don't give a satisfying reaction. there's no real weight to anything. uncharted 4 is a game with unbelievable presentation wrapped around not-so-good shooting mechanics.
FOH with that "alternative facts" bullshit. hyperbole? maybe, but to say UC4 is objectively a GOTY game or whatever your "facts" are, is dumb and undermines what "alternative facts" actually means
phant0m
Member
I think the things that made 2 so exciting can't be redone now. The series has tropes that are so predictable now:
Climbing on stuff and one of your hand or footholds comes loose. ALMOST FELL! Close one!
Nate getting to the "treasure" and BIG SURPRISE, it's nothing. Or just some other insane "clue".
Having to find or save Elena/Sully/Chloe/
I enjoyed playing through the game, but it hasn't been genuinely new or interesting since 2.
Climbing on stuff and one of your hand or footholds comes loose. ALMOST FELL! Close one!
Nate getting to the "treasure" and BIG SURPRISE, it's nothing. Or just some other insane "clue".
Having to find or save Elena/Sully/Chloe/
Sam
I enjoyed playing through the game, but it hasn't been genuinely new or interesting since 2.
0ptimusPayne
Member
Completely disagree. UC4 was a very well rounded conclusion to Drakes story arc, especially If you've been invested in this characters for the last 10 years. I will say though that I wish there were more shootout encounters like uncharted 2, because UC4 has one of the best shooting mechanics for a third person shooter so far IMO. I hope they bring it back for TLOU2, because the dot sway reticle for recoil is perfect.
I'm with OP, this game at best is a 8 or even a seven, the pacing at the beginning just sucks, and it was a big issue for me. It is like the game focused more on production values than gameplay. Now, I only played this game on normal. I dunno if it gets better if the difficulty is set up higher.
WhiskerFrisker
Member
Gunplay was amazing, there should've been more of it.
Dude its a joke the "" are there for a reason.
People can dislike a product as much as they want. Its their opinion.
Its just that sometimes people make it sound here like some games are absolute TRASH (yes with all letters capitalized).
That is not intended towards the OP here, but in these types of threads people express their opinion in a very hyperbolic way.
I can understand not liking Uncharted 4. But calling it a bad game, without acknowledging that it does anything good is hyperbolic.
Same thing happens with a lot of other games here as well, like DAI for example. People sometimes refer to games that are generally considered very good (even great) as if they are absolutely disgusted by their existence altogether.
So yeah I make fun of that situation.
There are great games I dont like as well, but I wont act as if the devs have no idea wtf they are doing, as if I am the awesomely talented dude that would do better... there is a reason why their games are considered great. The fact that I dont like them is another thing.
reggieandTFE
Member
I fell asleep 4 times playing this game. I might be done with the series unless they mix something up. On the other hand, I've played the Last of Us 4 times despite not being a huge 'zombie' fan and loving the Indiana Jones/swashbuckler universe of Uncharted so much more.
formasymphonic
Member
While 4 is indeed the technical superior of bunch, I enjoyed 2 + 3 more when I played them in the UC collection.
Yeh I said it. I liked 2 and 3 more than 4.
Yeh I said it. I liked 2 and 3 more than 4.
In my mind there are two major criticisms that Uncharted 4 deserves; the gunplay is great but theres not nearly enough of it, and that the climbing isn't especially challenging.
Saying "mediocre" broadly dismisses the craftsmanship of the game, and dismisses the fact that, in some way, Naughty Dog was limited by working on another Uncharted game. The climbing is essential to what is Uncharted, and it wouldn't feel right dropping it for the fourth and final (and extremely self-aware) sendoff.
I doubt Naughty Dog would be upset with this. Uncharted 1 and 4 are the adventure bookends to the pulpy action of 2 and 3. It is no surprise that some people are going to be bigger fans of the heavier emphasis on action in those games.
Saying "mediocre" broadly dismisses the craftsmanship of the game, and dismisses the fact that, in some way, Naughty Dog was limited by working on another Uncharted game. The climbing is essential to what is Uncharted, and it wouldn't feel right dropping it for the fourth and final (and extremely self-aware) sendoff.
I doubt Naughty Dog would be upset with this. Uncharted 1 and 4 are the adventure bookends to the pulpy action of 2 and 3. It is no surprise that some people are going to be bigger fans of the heavier emphasis on action in those games.
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
On an initial playthrough 14-18 hours was around average iirc
Brerlappin
Member
That drove me fucking mad in UC4. They were only short of saying "Sorry nate, but our treasure is in another castle!!". Like the amount of Pirate towns, Pirate hideouts, Pirate coves, medieval pirate churches, pirate gated communites, fucking PIRATE BEVERLY HILLS you go to only for the game to tell you "sorry! no treasure here!" is ludicrous
Man, I like the Vita one more than 4, haha.
1 (at least the remaster) > 2 > 3 > GA > 4, to me.
I disagree, i think UC4 together with 2 was the best of the series.
That doesnt mean I dont have complaints from the game, like the absurd enemy AI aiming, or the difficulty which really needed better tweaking.
But what this game does for what it is is great. It has compelling characters an interesting story line, nice writing and witty dialogue.
It has charm, it looks gorgeous and has a great ending.
I did not mind the pacing and I will never understand the complaints about climbing.
This game was never supposed to be challenging while climbing and that is because climbing is an essential part of combat and level design. If climbing was a complex and tricky mechaninc then combat would have been incredibly frustrating.
Game focuses on cinematic encounters where climbing , shooting and melee all come together to offer a movie like experience. The climbing cant be anything else other than simple in order to serve this purpose.
The setpieces are really the best of the business the locations you visit are incredibly rich both in scale and variety, so really it fits all the action adventures aspects of what I consider "great game".
I can understand why people might not like this game, but objectively its a fine product.
That doesnt mean I dont have complaints from the game, like the absurd enemy AI aiming, or the difficulty which really needed better tweaking.
But what this game does for what it is is great. It has compelling characters an interesting story line, nice writing and witty dialogue.
It has charm, it looks gorgeous and has a great ending.
I did not mind the pacing and I will never understand the complaints about climbing.
This game was never supposed to be challenging while climbing and that is because climbing is an essential part of combat and level design. If climbing was a complex and tricky mechaninc then combat would have been incredibly frustrating.
Game focuses on cinematic encounters where climbing , shooting and melee all come together to offer a movie like experience. The climbing cant be anything else other than simple in order to serve this purpose.
The setpieces are really the best of the business the locations you visit are incredibly rich both in scale and variety, so really it fits all the action adventures aspects of what I consider "great game".
I can understand why people might not like this game, but objectively its a fine product.
John Wick
Member
Let me know when you make or release a mediocre critically acclaimed game????
You've explained nothing in detail to what makes the game so mediocre. It's your opinion and your entitled to it but please......
Its a bad game, Just because a game have good production values it doesnt mean that its a good game.
I Finished Rise of the tomb raider recently and felt the same (although that game had fun puzzles in the side tombs).
Kinda sad when people overlook games with insanely tight and amazing gameplay like Titanfall 2 (with very good production value) and praise this type of games. I guess being an exclusive game played a part in that.
I Finished Rise of the tomb raider recently and felt the same (although that game had fun puzzles in the side tombs).
Kinda sad when people overlook games with insanely tight and amazing gameplay like Titanfall 2 (with very good production value) and praise this type of games. I guess being an exclusive game played a part in that.
psynergylover
Member
I would say the build up was way to long but after that, the game becomes GOAT-teir
i'm not naughty dog's biggest fan, but i liked uncharted 4 for the most part. i think it goes on a bit too long - by the end it felt like there had been 2-3 hours that could have been cut. i really appreciated that naughty dog tried to make this a swashbuckling adventure, with effort put into the action-adventure/puzzle-solving parts of it rather than just the shooty parts of it. against my expectation, i came away having fun with it.
nathan drake is surprisingly interesting too - he is done with this shit and honestly wants no more of it. i think that is neat. if this was the only uncharted game in the series and if he still wasn't so very lethal in all his confrontations, i think i could even like the character. i think that overall the story has a good reason to pull him back into the mix, although it gets muddied up with unnecessary marital drama and ends with a bow that's a little too nice for its main characters (on the other hand, i guess death and more drama would have been worse).
out of uncharted 2 and uncharted 4, the two games i've played in the series, i gotta say that uncharted 4 was a lot better than uncharted 2, and it gives me hope that with this game and the last of us, naughty dog is finally past their growing pains in finding how to marry cinematic storytelling with video games.
nathan drake is surprisingly interesting too - he is done with this shit and honestly wants no more of it. i think that is neat. if this was the only uncharted game in the series and if he still wasn't so very lethal in all his confrontations, i think i could even like the character. i think that overall the story has a good reason to pull him back into the mix, although it gets muddied up with unnecessary marital drama and ends with a bow that's a little too nice for its main characters (on the other hand, i guess death and more drama would have been worse).
out of uncharted 2 and uncharted 4, the two games i've played in the series, i gotta say that uncharted 4 was a lot better than uncharted 2, and it gives me hope that with this game and the last of us, naughty dog is finally past their growing pains in finding how to marry cinematic storytelling with video games.
TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
Or perhaps people don't have the same opinion as you and don't speak from their ass.
I am playing through Rise of the Tomb Raider and it's nauseating me. I don't like the open environment and the fetch quests are killing me. Snow environment is pretty sterile to boot. Fighting enemies also truly sucks given the delay and very loose controls. Compared to Uncharted 4 which had much more precise aiming and the best gameplay in the series, it's a no-brainer why I thoroughly enjoyed it over Tomb Raider. I also enjoyed the narrative considerably more than 3 and about the same as 1. But despite this, I can appreciate what Tomb Raider does and I understand why others truly enjoy the game despite not enjoying it myself.
"Just a bad game." You wouldn't know a bad game even if it smacked you in the face.
Indeed. Gameplay it's definitely mediocre. And I'm a big fan of the series.
I totally agree. More you tried it to replay and more the flaws become evident. The first time the story it's a good incentive to finish it. But when the dust is settled, gameplay it's far from satisfying. I have to admit, I'm totally scared about TLOU 2 after Uncharted 4. The Walker simulator approach of some parts, it's incredibly annoying from my perspective.
Just to say, I hate with all myself the new gameplay feaure during the exploration, when you can take some object to just look it closely. What exactly it's fun about it?
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Agreed. It was overall a pretty dull experience to me. I may get to finish it one day, but I moved on around chapter 10. Didn't really offer anything new from games 1-3 and story was just another predictable cliche that fell flat for me after the precious titles (at least up to ch 10). If I had to slide down one more rocky hill, I was going to fall asleep.
I was a bit bummed by it actually
I was a bit bummed by it actually
momshotdad
Member
I would put it over 3 but under 2. Pretty good game, but nothing insane outside of the visually.
Spring-Loaded
Member
The problem is 4 doesn't consistently focus on bringing the traversal and combat together. There are numerous, frequent and lengthy pure climbing sequences throughout the entire game. They are exceedingly simple, rarely offer any choice of approach for the player, and don't require any thought as how to progress. They are overall too basic to be engaging to play through, are too frequent to be considered welcome downtime, and aren't always accompanied by interesting or meaningful character moments or story development. Outside of a couple traversal/light-exploration sequences (e.g. island hopping post-Madagascar car chase where Elena rightfully takes the wind of Drake's sails), they are empty of meaning, sense of progression, intrigue ... they're fluff, more often than not.
Not sure how you acknowledge how the climbing needs to be basic to work well with the combat and setpieces sequences, yet you somehow can't understand why people find a super basic aspect of gameplay non-engaging when it's stripped away from the actually fleshed out, engaging part of the gameplay.
I have tons of more fun with the 3. Trying to replay the 4. It's a torture in different spot. Let's not talk about the hardest difficult. That's a mess completely unbalanced and it's unplayable without infinite ammo.
Raptomex
Member
The gunplay in UC4 is definitely the best in the series. The problem is the game needs more of it. I thought the game was disappointing overall, myself. I enjoyed the story, it looked great, but all the trekking and climbing got old after a while. Whenever I got into combat I had a great time but it would be over so fast. It felt like the game was 70% trekking and climbing and 30% combat. It was too much. I got bored after a while but the story kept me engaged. I still think UC2 is the best.
Oh come now. Only 1 of the 5 games you listed you listed is "bad".
Don't take things so personally. I was making a hyperbolic statement. Uncharted 4 is the weakest of the 4 games though. And it's okay to like it if you do. I just don't agree with that. Relax.
TissueBox
Member
Okay explaining my problems with the game is not easy lol, because it's SO close to being great in each area it's like...hard to make the distinction.
For story it's a bit of a somersault to explain, and I had to take down a word wall of a post (still ended up being a word wall anyway)...to put it simply it's inconsequential and a bit disjointed, without any real cohesive arc. I don't even think TLOU is the best-ever story in recent gaming but it's a strong example of constant mindfulness, constant thematic weight. It's as tight as a rope.
But in UC4, for example, Sam says something about so-and-so, Nate replies saying this-and-that. Just like TLOU and Uncharted 2. Except in those games this is utilized to develop greater connections to the characters' established plight. In UC4, only like a tenth of these exchanges felt like anything beyond forced chit-chat for me. Reason? The story doesn't give them anything profound to talk about.
By that I mean, the storytelling is fine form, they're doing what's worked before. But the material there is the problem -- it's just not interesting, dynamic enough. It doesn't pull or draw me in with small nuggets of banter gold or witty references to what's happening on the screen. In UC2, for instance, Nate and Flynn's teasing was conextualized by the environment around them in funny and interesting ways while also shedding light on their relationship and their current position in the story. It was multilayered and sharp. This kept me interested. UC4's issue for me is that it simply isn't creative enough in this regard. And it doesn't stop there; it in fact spends more time with the walking and talking than any Uncharted game...despite not being willing enough to do anything more interesting with it. This is just one aspect I'm touting here, but that's a general idea.
It's a story that lingers constantly on the surface without earning the emotional beats in the way it thinks it does imo. It's like TLOU's nuance without the TLOU/story/resonance/depth. There's a difference between patience and investment and UC4 walks that thin line and falls over to the former too many times...even if somewhere in there it's trying its best.
Design-wise, it's a bit more simple. Pacing problems emerge because the story doesn't justify its approach, as the gameplay isn't there to even it out. The gameplay tries to make room for a story that isn't really there and thus we don't get enough of it in the gunplay and action department. The zones are well-mapped and this is arguably the best we've seen of Uncharted's third-person shooter and platform hybrid gameplay. But because it lacks the same tension provided in stuff like TLOU it doesn't feel as memorable in the sporadic moment we do get them, and it doesn't get employed enough to break up the constant walking and talking and auto-platforming and etc. that we do end up remembering...for better or worse.
The entertainment factor, on the other hand, well...okay so fun is as subjective as ever, yeah. But let's just say for many people, this was the most padded Uncharted yet lol. It has its moments, but once again those moments (bell tower sequence, jeep exploration, Madagascar pursuit, heist, plenty of the Madagascar shootouts) are outweighed by the other blander bits. And the meat and bones of the gameplay isn't diverse enough to be impressive on that alone; it sort of works better as a well-executed series of portions which we got like half of. The action ramps up in the later half of the game but mostly in spurts and once again relying on the story to carry through emotionally, which is a hit-and-miss.
The thing with UC4 is that it's a game pulled in several directions and it walks in each one simultaneously without ever getting anywhere for me, at least on an emotional level. One day I'll write an essay or something, but for now I think UC4 has too many seams in its pacing and story and not enough boldness or daring to redeem that (like, say, MGS4). This makes it a rough game made by experts. No denying the talent that ND has. Just feeling like this is less magnum opus, more well-intended sinker. I know some people can look past this and call it GOTY, etc., but for me it just doesn't feel like it. ND's done better before and I'm betting they'll do so in the future as well iyam.
visiblemode
Member
Mediocre? Hypebole.
People who don't like this game and other highly praised AAA games should consider that just because you don't like something doesn't make it mediocre. It just means that you, personally, didn't like it.
Sure the whole thing is by definition subjective, I just think ignoring the massive amounts of acclaim a game has to brand it as weak or boring is illogical.
To me, I just say "not for me" when that sort of disparity occurs.
People who don't like this game and other highly praised AAA games should consider that just because you don't like something doesn't make it mediocre. It just means that you, personally, didn't like it.
Sure the whole thing is by definition subjective, I just think ignoring the massive amounts of acclaim a game has to brand it as weak or boring is illogical.
To me, I just say "not for me" when that sort of disparity occurs.