The pacing of Uncharted 4 is just unfortunate

I don't remember climbing sections being as boring as that ridiculous boat crash chapter in 4 it was horrible, also 4 barely had combat encounters compared to 2.

It had plenty of combat encounters. I feel like people play this game on Easy and expect to fight enemies all day every day.

Play on Crushing without auto aim. You'll be singing a different tune.

The point of this game was to make it like you were exploring things. Any more enemies in this game and it would have been ridiculous. They hit the right encounter rate for me. When I came to battles I wanted a battle. Otherwise I was looking for treasure and marveling at the graphics.
 
Opinions I guess... Because I thought UC4 was well paced and the young Nate parts were well done, actually really ejoyable to me and integral to the story ND wanted to tell. I came to like and understand Nate and especially Sam a lot more there.
Am I really the only one who also actually liked the beefy length of the game? XD I couldn't get enough of it.
 
Opinions I guess... Because I thought UC4 was well paced and the young Nate parts were well done, actually really ejoyable to me and integral to the story ND wanted to tell. I came to like and understand Nate and especially Sam a lot more there.
Am I really the only one who also actually liked the beefy length of the game? XD I couldn't get enough of it.

No, I enjoyed it too. I played most of the game on Crushing with no auto aim, and there were plenty of great battles for me. The pace was perfect for like 5 or 6 play sessions. I don't even get what people want anymore.

First Nate kills too many people. He's unrealistic. Now he doesn't kill enough. The pacing accommodates the realistic nature of this exploration. Fuck it guys I'm bored.

You can't satisfy these people, so I hope they always make the game they want to make. Satisfying all gamers is pointless these days.
 
It had plenty of combat encounters. I feel like people play this game on Easy and expect to fight enemies all day every day.

Play on Crushing without auto aim. You'll be singing a different tune.

The point of this game was to make it like you were exploring things. Any more enemies in this game and it would have been ridiculous. They hit the right encounter rate for me. When I came to battles I wanted a battle. Otherwise I was looking for treasure and marveling at the graphics.

I did play it on crushing and finished it, i already finished every uncharted game to platinum, the encounters in 4 were few and weak imo.
 
I love how it's paced, never found offensive at all.

If you want combat and not story then this isn't the series for you.

Uncharted 1 has large shootouts in almost every single new area you enter. Uncharted 2 is also incredibly action packed.

Its really 4 and also TLOU where things started to changed rather than "the series isn't for you".
 
I've seen a lot of people say this. To me it felt like just another cover shooter. The only thing I can think of that stood out was the grappling hook and how you can do some cool looking stuff with that but I don't think that made up for the lack of the dynamic enemy encounters from the previous games.

But I agree that the pacing was very unfortunate considering the rest of the game.

As always, play on a harder difficulty. On the harder difficulties you literally cannot stay in cover for more than a few seconds at a time.

You'll find yourself becoming a swashbuckling acrobat marksman. It's incredible.
 
I thought the story in 4 was so much better than all the other games. So much more believable. It really did turn into an action film with this one.
The personal story of 4 is superb and a really neat contrast. Games just simply don't explore relationships in such a realistic way. It's sublime. A Thief's End is one of the only times I've ever played a game where I started viewing the characters as actual people instead of graphics. The performances and dialogue are that good. For example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwuPgc-CDtk

The direction is this scene is insane for a video game. The positioning and movement of Sam in the background. Elena, in disbelief looking over to Sully and his reaction is just utterly heartbreaking and feels incredibly real. You can glean so much from their personal history just from his apology.

While I don't think the series ever portrayed Nate as a purely 'good guy', I think it's pretty significant that a series of this stature would use it's swan song to break their protagonist down for 2/3 of the game in a couple different ways and then redeem him in a way that felt earned and not forced almost completely through contrition.

It's another step forward to me in the type of storytelling and character work we should demand out of games, especially ones of this type. Sorry there wasn't enough shoot bang to keep people from picking up their phones. This was always a series about the people and it was fitting that A Thief's End was the game that we got to conclude it.
 
can't say agree with the OP, it's why U4 is by far and away my favorite uncharted. but then i tend to go against the grain with this series in general since i prefer 3 over 2, although they are very close.

basically i think they got better and better with each release.
 
I did play it on crushing and finished it, i already finished every uncharted game to platinum, the encounters in 4 were few and weak imo.

The massive multi-area jungle encounter was weak? The Madagascar bridge and tower were weak? Clambering around a crate while goons shoot at you was weak? The Scotland sandboxes were weak? The interactive Madagascar convoy chase was weak? Come on. To this day I literally boot the game up to play these segments from the main menu and every time each encounter plays out totally different.
 
I love how it's paced, never found offensive at all.

If you want combat and not story then this isn't the series for you.

Agreed. It gave me just what I wanted, more emphasis on adventure over action. That being said, the first chapters did feel a bit tedious, particularly the one in the prison, but it got better when the game opened up for more exploration.
 
I love how it's paced, never found offensive at all.

If you want combat and not story then this isn't the series for you.

What the hell ? The first game is like 95% shooting and the other ones like 70%. How is this dude not supposed to expect combat ?

Edit : beaten by like everybody.
 
Uncharted 4 is the Dark Knight Rises of the series.

It's an aimless franchise capper that meanders and doesn't have much to say or explore thematically. It executes on a few cool ideas, but it never really makes it out of the shadow of its predecessors.

Since people are doing rankings:
2>3≥1>4
 
Uncharted 4 is the Dark Knight Rises of the series.

It's an aimless franchise capper that meanders and doesn't have much to say or explore thematically. It executes on a few cool ideas, but it never really makes it out of the shadow of its predecessors.

Since people are doing rankings:
2>3≥1>4

It's still more meaningful, fun and well put together than TDKR though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Plus it far outshines 1's over-egged wavey combat encounters and 3's wreck of a story and encounter design.

2 still the best one IMO.
 
Since people are doing rankings:
2>3≥1>4

Mine would be 4>3>2. Only played the demo of the first. The reason for why I rank 3 higher than 2 is because I played them in that order, and the second one seemed more tedious to me. Particularly the Yeti sequences and the last boss fight. That's something it has in common with the 4th, as both have awful end bosses.
 
The massive multi-area jungle encounter was weak? The Madagascar bridge and tower were weak? Clambering around a crate while goons shoot at you was weak? The Scotland sandboxes were weak? The interactive Madagascar convoy chase was weak? Come on. To this day I literally boot the game up to play these segments from the main menu and every time each encounter plays out totally different.

Yes wow, those 5 encounters sure were great...
 
The massive multi-area jungle encounter was weak? The Madagascar bridge and tower were weak? Clambering around a crate while goons shoot at you was weak? The Scotland sandboxes were weak? The interactive Madagascar convoy chase was weak? Come on. To this day I literally boot the game up to play these segments from the main menu and every time each encounter plays out totally different.
You're wrong. Clearly the corridor and waist high cover jungle sequences of Drake's Fortune were the high water mark for the series. I prefer this:

https://youtu.be/rn4ELBe0Zpc?t=4m20s

To actual movement and large areas where I get to choose how to tackle the combat instead of playing peek-a-boo.

It's weird to see people praising the 'murder rooms' and Drake's Fortune of all games when I distinctly remember all the complaints about the combat when those came out.
 
Oh good, another 'here's what I don't like about Uncharted 4 but don't want to put it in any of the other 500 threads on here' thread!
 
The previous 3 games disagree with you.

3 had horrible pacing.

The lost in the desert sequence was incredibly long and unnecessary.

As well as the first hallucination run through the city streets.

They were not fun and severely detracted from the game.
 
It's an aimless franchise capper that meanders and doesn't have much to say or explore thematically.
I don't think I've ever disagreed with a post on GAF more.

The usual treasure hunting hijinks are in the background (intentionally) but the character work and relationships are laser focused. There is nothing 'meandering' about A Thief's End's story. Your lack of interest isn't a legitimate indictment of it's writing.
 
The personal story of 4 is superb and a really neat contrast. Games just simply don't explore relationships in such a realistic way. It's sublime. A Thief's End is one of the only times I've ever played a game where I started viewing the characters as actual people instead of graphics. The performances and dialogue are that good. For example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwuPgc-CDtk

The direction is this scene is insane for a video game. The positioning and movement of Sam in the background. Elena, in disbelief looking over to Sully and his reaction is just utterly heartbreaking and feels incredibly real. You can glean so much from their personal history just from his apology.

While I don't think the series ever portrayed Nate as a purely 'good guy', I think it's pretty significant that a series of this stature would use it's swan song to break their protagonist down for 2/3 of the game in a couple different ways and then redeem him in a way that felt earned and not forced almost completely through contrition.

It's another step forward to me in the type of storytelling and character work we should demand out of games, especially ones of this type. Sorry there wasn't enough shoot bang to keep people from picking up their phones. This was always a series about the people and it was fitting that A Thief's End was the game that we got to conclude it.

Word, you got it right, and that is exactly what I took away from this version. It was really the Uncharted they wanted to make all along if you ask me. Stories need time. And rushing things or having too many battles creates an atmosphere that pushes the story out of the way.

And this is why a lot of people in this thread don't know what they are talking about, and clearly have never designed or should design a game with an important story.

3 had horrible pacing.

The lost in the desert sequence was incredibly long and unnecessary.

As well as the first hallucination run through the city streets.

They were not fun and severely detracted from the game.

I had a lot of fun with the remaster of 3. I am glad it exists the way it does. I would not change it. But I didn't want 3 to be 4. I wanted 4 to be its own creation with a more serious tone and that is exactly what I got.
 
I love how it's paced, never found offensive at all.

If you want combat and not story then this isn't the series for you.

Agreed. If you want a game to actually make you care about the characters, you need to take the time to develop them. With the standard set by TLoU and UC4, it feels like they're the only games that do this.
 
I wish the series would abandon the recurring Indiana Jones cliché, where the bad guys emerge every time the hero solves a puzzle and finds a crucial item or information. It has become predictable and tiresome.
 
Uncharted 4 is the Dark Knight Rises of the series.

It's an aimless franchise capper that meanders and doesn't have much to say or explore thematically. It executes on a few cool ideas, but it never really makes it out of the shadow of its predecessors.

Since people are doing rankings:
2>3≥1>4

You have no idea what you are talking about. Not only does 4 have the tightest and most believable script by a mile, the whole point of the story and its themes is succinctly driven home again and again through sharp dialogue and interactions with the entire cast. This post is just void of logic.
 
3 had horrible pacing.

The lost in the desert sequence was incredibly long and unnecessary.

As well as the first hallucination run through the city streets.

They were not fun and severely detracted from the game.
The Rub' al Khali is 10 minutes.

How does a guy crossing a literal desert to save the father figure in his life (and one of the biggest things in that game, and in 4, is Nate coming to terms with being abandoned by his father and wanting to do right by his mother) 'detract' from the story? That's what the entire game is about!

Game's shouldn't be limited to being strictly about 'fun' when they have actual story and plot. The point of that section certainly isn't about 'fun', it's showcasing the lengths a guy would go to (the preceding 30 minutes before that part are some of the most action packed in the entire series) for someone he cares about. Nate's literally dying trying to save him.

We give games as a medium an extremely low ceiling if 10 minutes of something different is labeled as detracting from the game. Especially when it is so integral to what the game is trying to convey.
 
The Rub' al Khali is 10 minutes.

How does a guy crossing a literal desert to save the father figure in his life (and one of the biggest things in that game, and in 4, is Nate coming to terms with being abandoned by his father and wanting to do right by his mother) 'detract' from the story? That's what the entire game is about!

Game's shouldn't be limited to being strictly about 'fun' when they have actual story and plot. The point of that section certainly isn't about 'fun', it's showcasing the lengths a guy would go to (the preceding 30 minutes before that part are some of the most action packed in the entire series) for someone he cares about. Nate's literally dying trying to save him.

We give games as a medium an extremely low ceiling if 10 minutes of something different is labeled as detracting from the game. Especially when it is so integral to what the game is trying to convey.

3 is my favorite uncharted.
But the sequence is so long my friends sitting on the couch with me started laughing. It's way too long. It reaches the okay.... we get it now... point and then just keeps on going.

There are better ways to portray Drake's will power to save a friend.
 
Second worst uncharted after the first one, if I rate them:

UC2>UC3>UC GA>UC4>UC

The DLC looks promising though, I hope it'll be better and more of an Uncharted game than 4.
 
Yes wow, those 5 encounters sure were great...

The point being there are only 5 of them? Or is that an actual agreement?

Because there are technically another 10 or 15 and I think they're all great, too.

Besides, my post was a response to the idea that the combat was limited and bad - we were having an argument of quality, not quantity.
 
My only disappointment with the game is that ND pretty much perfected the shooting for the series, but barely utilized it compared to 2,3. Great game, that offers more than just being a get behind cover shooting gallery for 10+hours. Still hype for lost legacy!
 
That's subjective. I didn't have issues with the game pacing at all because I enjoy such stories and I like the atmosphere and exploring but if you are not into such things or you don't have the patience or you tend to skip dialogue or cutscenes etc, then of course your are gonna have a lot of issues in this game.

My only issue with the game is the
old lady that died minutes after she told them the story, that was done very bad
everything else was just fantastic.

I guess they also reveal a lot of cool things before the game release which really tone down the surprise
 
3 is my favorite uncharted.
But the sequence is so long my friends sitting on the couch with me started laughing. It's way too long. It reaches the okay.... we get it now... point and then just keeps on going.

There are better ways to portray Drake's will power to save a friend.
I'm sorry 10 minutes was an endurance test for you. There is no better way for a video game to convey a character's struggle than for the player to actually control the character through the entirety of it. At the time that was sort of startling to me because its the type of thing that would normally be reserved for a cutscene. The impact was ten fold when I was the one moving Nate.
My only issue with the game is the
old lady that died minutes after she told them the story, that was done very bad
everything else was just fantastic.
It's not the most elegant but
as you are rummaging through her house the game is basically hitting you over the head with indicators that she's essentially in hospice care. Couple that with thinking she's being robbed and pulling a gun on them, it's a lot of trauma for someone in that condition.
 
GA over 4 lol. Just no.

euh yes, the pacing is better, the gameplay is top and the visuals for a portable game are huge, the story is simple and fun, Nate is funny and the general humour is as good as it was in the trilogy, those things were lacking in UC4, humour and fun, that's why I put it over 4.
 
3 is my favorite uncharted.
But the sequence is so long my friends sitting on the couch with me started laughing. It's way too long. It reaches the okay.... we get it now... point and then just keeps on going.

What's even worse is that Drake goes from being completely physically exhausted and dehydrated one minute, and running-and-gunning all over the place the next.

I didn't even mind the desert scene that much, but that transition was incredibly jarring and unrealistic.
 
I'm sorry 10 minutes was an endurance test for you. There is no better way for a video game to convey a character's struggle than for the player to actually control the character through the entirety of it. At the time that was sort of startling to me because its the type of thing that would normally be reserved for a cutscene. The impact was ten fold when I was the one moving Nate.

It's not the most elegant but
as you are rummaging through her house the game is basically hitting you over the head with indicators that she's essentially in hospice care. Couple that with thinking she's being robbed and pulling a gun on them, it's a lot of trauma for someone in that condition.

The sequence wasn't fun and was way too long.

We get to see sand dunes, a mirage, a well,night time, a mirage again, the well again, a sully hallucination, a big red rock to sleep under, and a slow walk all the way to the village.

Even if this was a good sequence, (it wasn't) it was completely undermined by drake suddenly going from dying of dehydration to combat ready without even getting any water.
 
I learned to love the pacing of U4

I thought it was boring and self-indulgent

Played it later, under the guise that smarter people than me make my life better

Finished, Platinum, a beautiful game, one which deserves all the accolades
 
What's even worse is that Drake goes from being completely physically exhausted and dehydrated one minute, and running-and-gunning all over the place the next.

I didn't even mind the desert scene that much, but that transition was incredibly jarring and unrealistic.

Exactly. What s the significance of a long, drawn out, and absurdly boring wandering the desert and dying of dehydration sequence if he just suddenly shakes it off at the end?

There is none.
 
What's even worse is that Drake goes from being completely physically exhausted and dehydrated one minute, and running-and-gunning all over the place the next.

I didn't even mind the desert scene that much, but that transition was incredibly jarring and unrealistic.
The sequence wasn't fun and was way too long.

We get to see sand dunes, a mirage, a well,night time, a mirage again, the well again, a sully hallucination, a big red rock to sleep under, and a slow walk all the way to the village.

Even if this was a good sequence, (it wasn't) it was completely undermined by drake suddenly going from dying of dehydration to combat ready without even getting any water.
lol, I'm glad that 25 hours in to the Uncharted series, it was the dehydration that people started drawing the line for realism.
 
I love how it's paced, never found offensive at all.

If you want combat and not story then this isn't the series for you.
You always got plenty of both until UC4.

Its one hell of an achievement in a great many ways, but felt like too much of a departure from what the series was for me up until that point, at least in terms of the balance of story and combat and overall pace. By the end I felt both amazed by what it got right and let down by it at the same time.
 
You are right OP. Pacing and replayability of UC4 is awful.

I'd rather play UC2, UC3 ten times than play UC4 a second time

Not enough fun action gameplay in a action game and more forced slow walking talking and climbing parts + lots of unnecessary padding and filler to make it artificially longer......

The worst Uncharted game yet it bored me to death despite all the hype I had preordering it from day 1, such a disappointment outside of graphics. That's it.
I couldn't even finish it,yet I loved UC2 😞
 
I love how it's paced, never found offensive at all.

If you want combat and not story then this isn't the series for you.

You killed like 1000 dudes each in the previous games, so this is absolutely not true. You were shooting stuff all the damn time.
 
It's paced differently compared to the previous entry's that's for sure, but I appreciated what they were going for - Uncharted 2 will forever remain the absolute gem of the series, but I'd rank Uncharted 4 right behind it.
 
I agree, there is a huge pacing problem.
Needed more combat and less "walking around" sequences.I almost dropped the game on the whole kids on the house stuff. So long and boring.

Actually the reason I have the game is because a friend of mine Gave up on it because of all the boring sequênces where you barely play.
 
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