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[James Sawyer Ford]

Charted.

Highlights:
+ Best Story in the Uncharted series.
+ Well handled ending
+ Unbelievable visuals and locations
+ Great combat mechanics

Negatives:
- Not enough set piece moments.

- Poor pacing, too much traversal. The down moments are simply far too frequent, and much of the game is simply exploring the environments, which would be OK if not for....

- Not enough to do in the game. TLOU introduced reason to explore and scavenge. With such a YUGE emphasis on exploration, the only benefit are logs and relics which do nothing to further the game. Would have really liked additional gameplay systems to make this bits feel more worthwhile.

-I never got the feeling that the game amped up the intensity, and the combat sequences don't linger on long enough to feel satisfied after a gunfight.

-The combat, while great mechanically, doesn't seem to be well balanced with the enemy behaviors. Too many enemies come nailing shots down at you from once, spawn from behind you in many instances, and make the sandbox feel far less interesting and limited than it otherwise could be. Something just seems slightly off with the balance.

- The ending boss battle

Spoiler

is no different than the others in the series. Really disappointing and barely above a QTE. It would have been far more interesting if it were a chase or gunfight sequence instead. The lack of a supernatural element was also a bit of a let down...I really enjoyed having things changed up, late-game

.

- The villains, while better than previous games, are still not fleshed out enough and are incredibly one dimensional.

Naughty Dog really needs to step their game up in the mechanics department. I fear that they are relying too much on their cinematic strengths and amazing visual team after TLOU at the expense of really fleshing out what they could do to improve the core gameplay experience. I'm all for cinematic gaming, but the vast majority of this game doesn't involve hardly any player engagement whatsoever. They're going far too much in the David Cage direction and it'll backfire on their next title if they push it again.

Design the CORE GAME systems first, and then great a game around it. I felt there were a lot of MISSED OPPORTUNITIES for improvements in the series, but it ultimately boiled down to another, more refined Uncharted game.

Overall, it may seem like I'm down on the game, but I truly did enjoy it. I'm in the Wesker camp of wanting more action, because I was let down that 75% of the game involves very little player engagement.

Rankings: Adjusting for time of release, Uncharted 2 is the best paced, most replayable Naughty Dog game, and offered the most groundbreaking improvements.

U2 > U4 = TLOU > UC1 >> UC3

 

[MaybeBurger]

Just finished it in slightly under 14 hours. Great game with minor flaws. It's still the best of the series. As previously mentioned UC4>UC2>>UC3>>>>UC1.


What I would like to see next:

Spoiler

I think a spin-off game/expansion with Sam and Sully getting into mischief would be fantastic. Honestly, I think Sam is a more interesting character than Nate, and they could go a lot of different ways with him.

Oh and also what happened with

Spoiler

Nadine? Obviously she's alive, but they seemed to have left her whereabouts open ended.

re:

Spoiler

spin off with sam - not sure if sam is enough to anchor a game

uncharted works quite centrally because drake is such a personality - he's inherently charismatic and amusing. A large part of this has to do with Nolan North's voice work

if they had to do a sequel -

Spoiler

I think they can start with with cassie spelunking, and then she gets in trouble and then drake and elena comes back into the story or something to that effect

The game has been about relationships and this could work


re:

Spoiler

Nadine - there's something to be said about a villian who's sensible enough to say fuck it and leaves.

Pretty happy with it. Nothing more needs to be done.

 

[pmunk]

Finished it here this evening.

Druckmann and Staley sure know how to stick a landing.

Also, IMO Single player DLC addition with

Spoiler

Sam and Sully exploits

I'm in.

 

[Ricky_R]

Well... Got home today from a trip and I can finally sit down and play the game.

Will take my sweet ass time with it. I gotta say though, I envy NO ONE who already got to play this game.

 

[MaybeBurger]

Spoiler

The Final Boss in this was alright but I don't hate it as much as the boss in

UC2.

loved fighting lazarvich. He was the only truly menacing boss in the UC series and loved the fight.

 

[SSReborn]

Overall, it may seem like I'm down on the game, but I truly did enjoy it. I'm in the Wesker camp of wanting more action, because I was let down that 75% of the game involves very little player engagement.

Rankings: Adjusting for time of release, Uncharted 2 is the best paced, most replayable Naughty Dog game, and offered the most groundbreaking improvements.

U2 > U4 = TLOU > UC1 >> UC3

Yeah I think I agree with UC2 being the superior game based upon the time of release.

I feel like that game executed on all cylinders, it knew exactly what it wanted to be and executed tremendously in all respects.

I feel like due to the influence of the TLOU this game suffered a bit of a loss of direction with regard to what it wanted to be so you have some thing that didn't quite pan out as well as hoped.

 

[Insane Metal]

The only review that matters.

 

[Ishida]

U2 > U4 = TLOU > UC1 >> UC3

My ranking:

UC3 > UC2 = UC4 > UC1.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Finally finished. My thoughts in ten seconds.

Spoiler

That was amazing. 10/10. Nearing the end I was getting annoyed that they kept teasing a supernatural twist that never happened (when your flashlight goes out in the tunnels) and I found the final fight to be annoying. But man, that epilogue made it all better. Worth it for that alone.

I'm so glad they didn't kill Sam or anyone and they all got their happy endings.

To jump on the ranking bandwagon.

UC4 = UC2 > UC3 > UC1 = GA


All fantastic games though. The emotional resonance of UC4 makes it the best, how could it not though? It's the culmination of the entire series.

 

[lt519]

I'd probably have to go 2 > 4 > 3 > 1. 3 might have had the best set piece with the plane, IMO. 4's story grabbed me the most. 2 was the best overall package but focused too much on fighting. I liked the more traversal in 4 but the pacing of the open area'd combat really drew me out of the narrative and broke the flow for me. I'd have liked more set piece combat like the train versus the open areas. I enjoyed the heavy platforming mostly because as I was doing it I was mostly gawking at the beautiful world, might not replay as well.

Just something about Drake hiding in the grass hunting down mercenaries and being a killer just broke the immersion. I guess he's always been a psychopathic murdered (this isn't war, he's killing mercs), but I felt it more this game.

how to delete post?

Click edit and just change the text, can't delete it. Not sure why you'd want to delete it though? Unless that was a double post.

 

[MaybeBurger]

U2 > U4 > U1 > U3

Uncharted 2 did everything right and a lot of the notion of chases + setpieces were established here. Its a pinnacle and hard to match and because it did all of it first, its gonna be the most impressive.

Ucharted 4 is a refinement of 2, with updates on visuals, story telling and gameplay (rope) etc. It also adds vehicle and open world.

Uncharted 1 funnily enough sits above 3. It might not look as good (that said I've yet to play my copy of the collection with the jazzed up visuals) but it had a better overall arc than 3

Uncharted 3. Soured by horrible aiming at launch, drakes touchy feeliness, and weak villian and final act.


not gonna put TLOU in here. Its a totally different game. Not even sure why so many people want to put TLOU in their comparisons.

 

[MaybeBurger]

how to delete post? n/m

 

[Kevin Shields]

I agree with a lot of this, not just the pacing, but in particular the fact that the

Spoiler

elevator

fight was the best in the game and the game desperately needed more inventive combat scenarios like this, and that Chapter

Spoiler

19

was just straight-up garbage. Just a shocking chapter.

Agree with you an net wrecker completely. They lost direction and they just needed more inventive segments but everything was been there done that besides the jaw dropping visuals.

 

[Lunafreya Nox Fleuret]

Uncharted 4 is definitely the best one. My ranking for the series is as follows: UC4 > UC3 > UC2 > UC1 > golden abyss. Uncharted 4 is brilliantly crafted and everything in the game was worth visiting.

 

[Neiteio]

Doom 2016 has kinda destroyed my will to continue UC4. But I feel obligated to complete UC4's story. Hopefully the pacing improves.

 

[Devilinthiscity]

Just saw the soundtrack posted on Iam8bit. It looks so cool!

I would have totally gotten it, but man, the OST was kind of a let down.. :/
There are some pretty nice tracks though.

 

[bananafactory]

Man it's blowing my mind reading criticism of the pacing. Of all the things I thought people might not like about it that was as the bottom of the list.

I thought the balance between combat, exploration, puzzles, and traversal was excellent.

 

[Keihart]

Mind Blown, after finishing it (i didn't notice it before at least) there is a select encounter menu. I'm gonna replay the shit out of some of this fights.

 

[Quonny]

Yo, chapter

Spoiler

15

was really good.

 

[lt519]

Man it's blowing my mind reading criticism of the pacing. Of all the things I thought people might not like about it that was as the bottom of the list.

I thought the balance between combat, exploration, puzzles, and traversal was excellent.

Yeah, I thought the pacing was superb. Not enough action for some I guess. I was waiting for that 2/3rd slog many people were talking about and before I knew it the game was over. I prefer different action than the kind that was in the game, but thought it had the perfect amount of everything.

 

[Spinluck]

As much as I love Uncharted 2, that game's main problem is at several points I want a break from the shooting, but Naughty Dog still manages to squeeze not one, not two, but at least that into any given stretch of playing the game. In Uncharted 4, everything feels right. Currently through the first half of the game through chapter 11 and I WANT to see what the next encounter holds for me because they're not shoved down your throat. There's a part in Uncharted 2 where right after the sequence where you're running away from Laz's men with Jeff on your shoulder, and then there's the heavy cutscene where he dies and Chloe gets "captured," you then are on you way to the train setpiece. Even in that small stretch of getting out of the city you have to fight a bunch of goons from the rooftops, and then in the trainyard. It's in those moments of that game that I can't help but feel like it's too much. Uncharted 4 ditches that mindset and makes it about balance.

UC2's pacing is great for the most part but goes to shit 2/3s in imo.

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

The honeymoon phase of the OT is over it would seem.

I beat the game a few days ago and still think it's the most impressive video game ever made. And am astounded at how well Naughty Dog toes the line with TLOU emotional stuff and the fun/exploration/comedy of Uncharted. It was such a fantastically well told story.

I also loved the pacing, but to be fair, I always loved the quiet exploration moments in previous games and was always sad when they turned into a shoe-horned in gun fight.

 

[MindGamingMantis]

Campaign is a masterpiece. The multiplayer is a sequel to 3's, which sucked.

 

[Gorillaz]

Finished it got about 18ish hours. A nice amount was looking at all of it and just taking it in.

This game is really meta for ND I bet.Or at least the higher ups. They are essentially coming back to a series that was their first big "cinematic" game as a studio for what might be the last time. Obviously Sony has different plans and probably won't sit on the series for too long. I bet on some level Uncharted represents what they were a decade ago and TLOU might be the road of what they are planning in terms of gameplay and build. The gameplay for Uncharted at least in terms of traversal still has that "genre baby steps" feeling and I wonder if they had to redo the entire thing now, how different might it be. Traversal was definitely the one thing holding this back the most.

Pacing was good on paper. The problems is even with the upgrades in all the areas traversal was always a pain in the ass in the series. Easiest the worst part of it for me alot of the times. The

Spoiler

Scottland

stuff was definitely the low point or me in this game. Like the updates with the hook was great really but it's that magnetic system of traveling to the point you have to feel out where the game wants you to land pretty much got old after 2. Gameplay got a much needed update coupled with a little bit of stealth. Making everything more open ended like that is probably one of the biggest highlights for the series and the main reason I would put this as the best of the Uncharted games. Like the

Spoiler

shipyard fight

along with the full E3 demo of the chase were honestly 2 of the best "moments" ND made in the series imo. Those were moments when they had all cylinders going from gameplay to presentation. Shit was 2nd to none.

Uncharted always being the "sum of it's parts" is rough because when it hits the lows like I mentioned in traversal shit honestly makes you want to just rush through it all. Likewise for the highs tho, those 2 big moments with the music playing in the background triumphs anything really out there gaming wise.



Great game, rough areas but I'll take it. Definitely take UC4 over other UC and TLOU in terms of overall package.

edit: best use of treasure hunting as well. Avery's story resonated well with Drake, Sam, and Rafe pretty well. I think that alone made me appreciate it compared to how they handled it in the PS3 ones.

 

[KiraXD]

I don't know why but Rafe felt like he could have been a villain in Point Break. I think it was the surfer dude hair and the black t shirts...

He also talked like Christian Slater...well in my mind.

i was trying to figure out who he sounded like... Charlie Sheen + Steve Buscemi. i cant not hear it now... XD


Also i finished the game... after chapter

Spoiler

Epilogue

... i cried... literal tears... fuck.

 

[erlim]

Spoiler

Two of my favorite franchises end in one wonderful experience.

Nathan Drake gets a wonderful beach life with a family and legitimate archeological business, and Guybrush Threepwood went out by getting taken advantage of and poisoned at a grand dinner party.

 

[MegaSackman]

I need to beat the campaign a third time before acepting my depression by playing the multiplayer knowing that the series is finished... there's still DLC tho.

 

[PeskyToaster]

Wow chapter 11. That was amazing.

 

[The Lamp]

Campaign is a masterpiece. The multiplayer is a sequel to 3's, which sucked.

The multiplayer is almost better than the campaign.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Just finished it. Loved the game and it felt like a great wrap up of the series. It's got a different feel than the others but I enjoyed it. The others were action/adventure games. While this was Adventure/ Action

But the action when it happened was a lot of fun. Great set pieces and a lot of almost Batman AA "predator" rooms. They made the encounters dynamic by forcing you to move, scale, etc. Some i went in for stealth others I deliberately got discovered to have a bang bang moment.

My Uncharted rankings
2 > 4 > 1 > 3 > GA

 

[KiraXD]

there's still DLC tho.

Spoiler

Give us a Cassie Chapter, and a Sam Chapter

!!

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Spoiler

Give us a Cassie Chapter, and a Sam Chapter

!!

I think one will be a

Spoiler

Nate and Chloe

Adventure

 

[J4mm1nJ03]

Finished it earlier today. Overall I liked it a lot!

Not going to say much about the presentation because I'm sure everyone has mentioned how great it is, but man. ND's output always feels like a generation ahead of the hardware they're running on. They never fail to impress.

I really enjoyed the story and characterization. Especially the ending. I found it to be about as perfect as possible for this series. There's a lot of DNA from TLOU in the storytelling and it's better for it. I kind of regret playing on hard, though. It's cool how open they went with this game, but some of the bigger and more populated combat arenas just become a big pain in the ass on harder difficulties, and it's a big part of the problem I had with 3 as well.

I found myself constantly getting flanked from every possible angle without enough cover to safely navigate around. Even evading in general while under fire can be a pretty big pain. I found myself dying a lot just because it takes some time for animations to finish, be it moving between cover, jumping over something, dropping down a wall, getting staggered by an explosion so I can't move and then getting popped by some guy while stunned still happens a lot too, and that always sucks, etc. When it works it can be a lot of fun: properly using the environment to (literally) get the drop on guys, losing heat only to sneak back up behind them and taking them out, etc. But more times than not it would just be kind of frustrating. I've seen some complaints about the pacing on here but given my mixed feelings on the bigger scale battles, the traversal and exploration was pretty much what I enjoyed the most. Interestingly, the sort of final big battle near the end that I've seen people have a lot of trouble with on here may have been the easiest one for me? I think I only died once or twice surprisingly. When I play this game again someday it'll probably be on moderate.

Not entirely sure where I stand on 2 or 4 being better. I'm kind of leaning towards 2 but 4 is still pretty close behind it. Some of the setpieces in 4 may not have been as grand as some people wanted but I still loved them. IIRC 3 was basically designed around the setpieces and trying to outdo the ones in 2 in terms of scale, and the overall game suffered for it. I wish I could get the option to select encounters in 3 though, like they added in this game. I plan on playing 2 and 4 back to back at some point, so that should be fun.

A lot of the time I spent with this game just made me want to play U2 and TLOU again. Not in a "those are better" way, but more of a "Man, this studio is awesome" kind of way, which is good. It really highlighted how much I love TLOU's combat, though. I love the combat and exploration in TLOU equally, while Uncharted's combat can be a mixed bag sometimes (I generally like 2's combat most of the way through, but 3 and 4 get a little too combat-heavy in the final third of both games for my liking, as I mentioned.)

Sorry to just kind of ramble, I just love me some Naughty Dog, and I'm extremely curious to see what they do next. Even if they do a TLOU 2 (No Joel and Ellie again please), I want to see what's after that. I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about what a sci-fi game from them would be like. I think I would be pretty interested in that. But I'll play whatever they release. They haven't failed me yet.


After finishing U4 today I went out and picked up DOOM, so that's next for me! Based on the few levels I've already gotten to play I already love it. I took a break from gaming for a few months, but I picked the perfect time to jump back in.

 

[MegaSackman]

I think one will be a

Spoiler

Nate and Chloe

Adventure

My money is on

Spoiler

Sam and Sullivan but I want to bet that they'll include Chloe in there too.

 

[Gorillaz]

I think one will be a

Spoiler

Nate and Chloe

Adventure

First thing I thought was

Spoiler

Sam and Sully

but having a throwback of that as well would be fun as hell

 

[Swimmer9800]

Can someone explain to me the exact part of the game where the pacing becomes an issue for them? Cause I just don't see it, the pacing is masterful in my mind.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Man it's blowing my mind reading criticism of the pacing. Of all the things I thought people might not like about it that was as the bottom of the list.

I thought the balance between combat, exploration, puzzles, and traversal was excellent.

Maybe it's excellent if you think the "exploration", puzzles, and traversal are engaging in this title, but I don't think they are. Exploration is slow and limited, and aside from the odd optional conversation offers nothing but treasures which are just empty collectables. The puzzles are piss easy, which has almost always been the case sure, but now they're not even grand, fun to interact with, and nice to look at. Just dirty old temple roadblocks. And the traversal is mindless aside from maybe Chapter 11 and a single platforming sequence all the way at the end, which, again, might have always been the case, but now there's like 200% more of it.

The main issue is that there's very little intensity or sense of urgency to most of this game, something that even UC3 got right (and if you've seen me post about that game, you'll know I have almost nothing positive to say about it). Every time it feels like the game's about to light a fire and get things going, it pours water on itself. Shouldn't come as a surprise to you that those of us who enjoyed Uncharted as a higher energy experience might be disappointed in the way UC4 plays out. There are long stretches here where I'm on auto-pilot. I could never say that about the previous games.

 

[J4mm1nJ03]

Small sidenote, I'm happy that we're getting a decent amount of pirate-themed stuff this gen. AC4, U4, Sea of Thieves, etc. It's a pretty cool setting and makes a good fit for games, I think. I'd be happy to see more of it over the next few years as long as it isn't overdone. Made for a great Uncharted setting, unsurprisingly.

 

[SaganIsGOAT]

After playing some more I will double down on this as my final, list.

TLoU>U2>U4>UC1~UC3

 

[Norwegian_Imposter]

You guys are some serious "I must like the opposite of what other people like" crowd. You're talking about pacing?! The pacing was fantastic. I am one of the people who don't like balls to wall action all the time in all my games. (I have doom for that) the way I felt for the story and the fact that it was confident to take the foot off the gas a little was refreshing and it really does elevate the medium of gaming to hardcore gamers and casuals alike.

 

[Zackat]

Can someone explain to me the exact part of the game where the pacing becomes an issue for them? Cause I just don't see it, the pacing is masterful in my mind.

There's parts of the game where you climb a little too much. That's about it. Other than that I think it was fine and I don't get it either.

 

[Gorillaz]

Can someone explain to me the exact part of the game where the pacing becomes an issue for them? Cause I just don't see it, the pacing is masterful in my mind.

On paper nothing is really wrong. It's great. The problem is the traversal isn't fun imo. So when you have as much of that as you do everything else it becomes a chore.

I wouldn't have had a problem with chapter

Spoiler

8?(I think 8)

if it wasn't for it

 

[dcelw540]

Regarding the ending

Spoiler

I still think they could do a sequel set up where his daughter is the main character and drake is almost like a sully position where he keeps her safe. I don't know this game still screams a sequel based around the daughter or his daughter get taken.

 

[Swimmer9800]

On paper nothing is really wrong. It's great. The problem is the traversal isn't fun imo. So when you have as much of that as you do everything else it becomes a chore.

Many of the traversal segments serve as character building moments in my eyes. Their conversation propels the platforming segments.

 

[RespectThySole]

Maybe it's excellent if you think the "exploration", puzzles, and traversal are engaging in this title, but I don't think they are. Exploration is slow and limited, and aside from the odd optional conversation offers nothing but treasures which are just empty collectables. The puzzles are piss easy, which has almost always been the case sure, but now they're not even grand and nice to look at. Just dirty old temple roadblocks. And the traversal is mindless aside from maybe Chapter 11 and a single platforming sequence all the way at the end, which, again, might have always been the case, but now there's like 200% more of it.

The main issue is that there's very little intensity or sense of urgency to most of this game, something that even UC3 got right (and if you've seen me post about that game, you'll know I have almost nothing positive to say about it). Every time it feels like the game's about to light a fire and get things going, it pours water on itself. Shouldn't come as a surprise to you that those of us who enjoyed Uncharted as a higher energy experience might be disappointed in the way UC4 plays out. There are long stretches here where I'm on auto-pilot. I could never say that about the previous games.

Nailed it.

 

[SaganIsGOAT]

I honestly would love for Naughty Dog to dump The Last of Us and Uncharted IPs for good and create another unique IP. The Last of Us being a one off story is fine by me and I'd love for them to start yet another new world. I guess I just noticed that the novelty of the Uncharted experience has been lost after 4 titles.

 

[RecRoulette]

Can't really decide whether I like 3 or 4 more. So here's how I rank them.

3=4>2>1>Fight for Fortune>Fortune Hunter>Golden Abyss

 

[SuitedforGaming]

Can someone explain to me the exact part of the game where the pacing becomes an issue for them? Cause I just don't see it, the pacing is masterful in my mind.

I plan to go in depth about this in my video review, as I feel there is a justification for the pacing issues however its hard to deny that it doesn't exist,

Spoiler

the impromptu flash back/flashforwards - the prison escape scene with Sam which turned out to be a complete waste of time since it didn't even turn out to be true...and the section where you're breaking into the house to get the journal and the game foces you to look through crap one by one until make your way through the entire house) - all of which could have easily been done with dialogue instead of making you play through those moments. In short, it went from extremely high to extremely low moments with no smooth transitions which can be jarring at times.

 

[WrenchNinja]

loved fighting lazarvich. He was the only truly menacing boss in the UC series and loved the right.

He's the only one that actually used all of Uncharted's gameplay. Constant traversal, running and gunning, grenade dropping, targetting the sap. I used to hate the boss but I've grown to really appreciate it compared to the other games.

 

[Gorillaz]

Many of the traversal segments serve as character building moments in my eyes. Their conversation propels the platforming segments.

On the first go around that is good but if you do replay this (which I prob will in a few days) it's a chore. That's more to do with the fact that when uncharted was first out they were still new to this style of platformer coming off of jak and daxter. It just hasn't aged well