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Uncharted 4: A Thief's End |OT| You're gonna miss this ass

Creaking

He touched the black heart of a mod
From Colin Thomas
colin-thomas-sam-5-1.jpg

Whoa, didn't notice he had a lower hairline pre-prison.
 

valkyre

Member
I was actually excited for it when I saw it in the trailers, but man was it disappointing. It's another one of those automatic set pieces that sort of plays itself. Simply drive and you will be funneled through the scene. You really can't fail it until you come to the shooting part.

The controls were horrendous and it didn't even feel like the boat was on water. Not only did the water look terrible, it behaved like cloth. I thought that Naughty Dog did better with Crash Bandicoot as the waves felt like waves and the boat moved much more realistically. Plus, it took skill.

maxresdefault.jpg

Wow. This is unbelievable. All of it.
 
If you want to limit your combat options to just one and be uncreative, sure, go ahead. I've tried fiddling around with the AI and it is a lot of fun. But this isn't an open world game from a certain company, so what do I know.

Funny. I don't remember seeing any comparisons to a Ubisoft game beyond Ricky_R's Splinter Cell reference ...
 

Mr-Joker

Banned
*Note I am yet to play the game and all my thought stems from a playthrough I watched on youtube.

So I just finished watching a let's play of the game and I have to say it was quite a ride and I enjoyed watching Sam and Nathan being on a brother adventure.

The grappling hook looks fun to play with and having the option to be stealthy looked to be interesting.

Though I think it was weak how after Nathan gives Sam a boost he has to find another way to get up when Sam could easily use his rope to pull Nathan up.

I also think that
we should have seen scene when Nathan phones Sully up saying that Sam is alive and they need his help, it just felt jarring how we went from a reunion to being in Italy with Sully being okay with this.

I do have a question though;

How did Elena know that Nathan was in Madagascar?
 

Javin98

Banned
Funny. I don't remember seeing any comparisons to a Ubisoft game beyond Ricky_R's Splinter Cell reference ...
Sorry, just a tongue in cheek comment. Sometimes I just find Crossing Eden's posts ridiculous. It doesn't help that he prefers to remain obstinate here and stick to one strategy when others have given him many other options in combat. I mean, it's fine if he just wants to stick to one strategy, but let's not pretend like the game doesn't provide multiple options. But I almost never agree with him on anything, so all is cool.
 

dLMN8R

Member
So, I'm sorry if this has been frequently discussed but I don't want to search through 9000-post thread...

...but how the hell am I supposed to handle stealth in this game? It seems like there are many situations where you could theoretically avoid everyone - especially during
The Grave of Henry Avery
in chapter 8 - since there is plenty of tall grass everywhere and opportunities to get around 99% of people.

But inevitably every time the only way to proceed is to go through some bottleneck where it's impossible to avoid an enemy. So I try to take them out quietly yet someone will always see me, alert everyone else, and here we are with yet another prolonged battle that's just not very fun.


My biggest frustration with this game is that it seems impossible to know when it's possible to use stealth. Am I missing something about this here?
 

Ricky_R

Member
Funny. I don't remember seeing any comparisons to a Ubisoft game beyond Ricky_R's Splinter Cell reference ...

Ironically enough, I didn't mention it because it was him/her. It just comes to mind whenever somebody talks about stealth stuff since Splinter Cell is top of mind for me. I love the franchise.
 

chogidogs

Member
...but how the hell am I supposed to handle stealth in this game?

Personally I find a critical path of dudes to take out in a specific order. Otherwise I let them find a dead body so they enemy will not follow their default path. When that happens I just hide and let them come to me.
 

CREMSteve

Member
So, I'm sorry if this has been frequently discussed but I don't want to search through 9000-post thread...

...but how the hell am I supposed to handle stealth in this game? It seems like there are many situations where you could theoretically avoid everyone - especially during
The Grave of Henry Avery
in chapter 8 - since there is plenty of tall grass everywhere and opportunities to get around 99% of people.

But inevitably every time the only way to proceed is to go through some bottleneck where it's impossible to avoid an enemy. So I try to take them out quietly yet someone will always see me, alert everyone else, and here we are with yet another prolonged battle that's just not very fun.


My biggest frustration with this game is that it seems impossible to know when it's possible to use stealth. Am I missing something about this here?
If there's tall grass, you can stealth it. There's even trophies for doing it through certain areas.
 

Nielm

Member
notsurey4uup.png

Finished the game with 67.0% Accuracy, lol. I knew this would happen.

I guess I will just do the glitch to get the Sharpshooter Trophy.
 

Peff

Member
So, I'm sorry if this has been frequently discussed but I don't want to search through 9000-post thread...

...but how the hell am I supposed to handle stealth in this game? It seems like there are many situations where you could theoretically avoid everyone - especially during
The Grave of Henry Avery
in chapter 8 - since there is plenty of tall grass everywhere and opportunities to get around 99% of people.

But inevitably every time the only way to proceed is to go through some bottleneck where it's impossible to avoid an enemy. So I try to take them out quietly yet someone will always see me, alert everyone else, and here we are with yet another prolonged battle that's just not very fun.


My biggest frustration with this game is that it seems impossible to know when it's possible to use stealth. Am I missing something about this here?

If an encounter starts with the enemy unaware of your presence, then you can either kill everyone stealthily or most of the time bypass it entirely by not being seen in your way to the exit. The thing is, the game REALLY doesn't want you to do that easily, so the way to achieve that is usually fairly strict. The good news is that you can restart the checkpoint and abuse that to slowly trial&error through if you really don't want to shoot your way out.
 
If an encounter starts with the enemy unaware of your presence, then you can either kill everyone stealthily or most of the time bypass it entirely by not being seen in your way to the exit. The thing is, the game REALLY doesn't want you to do that easily, so the way to achieve that is usually fairly strict. The good news is that you can restart the checkpoint and abuse that to slowly trial&error through if you really don't want to shoot your way out.

Generally, if you need to interact with something in order to proceed, you can't use stealth. Otherwise you can. For example, in Avery's chapter, there's the place where you use dynamite on 2 doors and then enemies come. You can't stealth there, because you have to push a box through the battlefield. After you come out of the grave, similar thing. You have to open a door at the end. Can't use stealth. In Madagascar, you have to lower a drawbridge. You have to open the crank wheel, so no stealth. If it's something you can just run past and get to the next area, then you can.
 

valkyre

Member
So, I'm sorry if this has been frequently discussed but I don't want to search through 9000-post thread...

...but how the hell am I supposed to handle stealth in this game? It seems like there are many situations where you could theoretically avoid everyone - especially during
The Grave of Henry Avery
in chapter 8 - since there is plenty of tall grass everywhere and opportunities to get around 99% of people.

But inevitably every time the only way to proceed is to go through some bottleneck where it's impossible to avoid an enemy. So I try to take them out quietly yet someone will always see me, alert everyone else, and here we are with yet another prolonged battle that's just not very fun.


My biggest frustration with this game is that it seems impossible to know when it's possible to use stealth. Am I missing something about this here?

First of all what difficulty are you on? On crushing stealth is kinda broken indeed. Those bottlenecks are indeed there to mess up stealth.

In lower difficulties though, moderate or even hard, it is indeed possible to stealthyour way through most encounters. I really didnt have much trouble. Ofcourse the game as it progresses it makes it even more challenging. But it is working fine imo.

In any case, even if you are spotted, just break line of sight with the enemies and you can resume stealth operations. In fact it will make things even easier because if they are alerted and looking out for you, they will leave their normal positions and spread out in the map, which in turn will make it easier for you to pick your targets and dispatch them.

I tend to start stealthing my way through but when i cause an alert, i go guns blazing, simply because it is so much fun mixing up all combat options. Remember this is Uncharted, i dont think it is meant to be played full stealth, although like i said most encounters can be completed in stealth and many can be completely avoided altogether.

Generally, if you need to interact with something in order to proceed, you can't use stealth. Otherwise you can. For example, in Avery's chapter, there's the place where you use dynamite on 2 doors and then enemies come. You can't stealth there, because you have to push a box through the battlefield. After you come out of the grave, similar thing. You have to open a door at the end. Can't use stealth. In Madagascar, you have to lower a drawbridge. You have to open the crank wheel, so no stealth. If it's something you can just run past and get to the next area, then you can.

Wait you are wrong here. What do you mean "no stealth"? All the above encounters you described can be completed fully stealth, dispatching the entire group of enemies without them being ever alerted. In fact, in Scotland that you mention specifically in the graves, there is even a trophy for completing the encounter without alerting any enemies...

Every single one of those encounters you describe can be done without the enemies ever being alerted to your presence. Some other encounters cant be done in stealth of course, by design.
 

Peff

Member
After you come out of the grave, similar thing. You have to open a door at the end. .

Actually :p

Can't use stealth. In Madagascar, you have to lower a drawbridge. You have to open the crank wheel, so no stealth. If it's something you can just run past and get to the next area, then you can

The ones like this you can't skip, yeah, but you can kill everyone without guns. It's just not particularly easy due to spotty lines of sight and enemy patterns.

Still, the amount of mandatory shootouts in the game is surprisingly small, probably around 6/7 off the top of my head.
 
First of all what difficulty are you on? On crushing stealth is kinda broken indeed. Those bottlenecks are indeed there to mess up stealth.

In lower difficulties though, moderate or even hard, it is indeed possible to stealthyour way through most encounters. I really didnt have much trouble. Ofcourse the game as it progresses it makes it even more challenging. But it is working fine imo.

In any case, even if you are spotted, just break line of sight with the enemies and you can resume stealth operations. In fact it will make things even easier because if they are alerted and looking out for you, they will leave their normal positions and spread out in the map, which in turn will make it easier for you to pick your targets and dispatch them.

I tend to start stealthing my way through but when i cause an alert, i go guns blazing, simply because it is so much fun mixing up all combat options. Remember this is Uncharted, i dont think it is meant to be played full stealth, although like i said most encounters can be completed in stealth and many can be completely avoided altogether.



Wait you are wrong here. What do you mean "no stealth"? All the above encounters you described can be completed fully stealth killing the entire group of enemies. In fact, in Scotland that you mention specifically in the graves, there is even a trophy for completing the encounter without alerting any enemies...

Every single one of those encounters can be done without the enemies ever being alerted to your presence.

Ahh sorry, but "completing the encounter in stealth" I assumed he meant avoiding the enemies entirely and sneaking past the encounter. But yea, you can kill the enemies in stealth.
 
Actually :p



The ones like this you can't skip, yeah, but you can kill everyone without guns. It's just not particularly easy due to spotty lines of sight and enemy patterns.

Still, the amount of mandatory shootouts in the game is surprisingly small, probably around 6/7 off the top of my head.

Damn, wish I had known about that on Crushing. Shit took me like 2 hours to beat :-/
 

CREMSteve

Member
Generally, if you need to interact with something in order to proceed, you can't use stealth. Otherwise you can. For example, in Avery's chapter, there's the place where you use dynamite on 2 doors and then enemies come. You can't stealth there, because you have to push a box through the battlefield. After you come out of the grave, similar thing. You have to open a door at the end. Can't use stealth. In Madagascar, you have to lower a drawbridge. You have to open the crank wheel, so no stealth. If it's something you can just run past and get to the next area, then you can.
I stealthed the whole drawbridge encounter. Once they spot you, just hide, once they lose you, go back to stealth killing them all.

Edit - just saw you meant sneaking past everyone. Yeah, you can't do that in those scenarios.
 

Veldin

Member
I'm pretty sure I'm a masochist or something trying to do this on Crushing. Damn I'm dumb.

Personally I don't think it's worth it all to trudge through unless you really want trophies. The game kinda collapses in on itself at that difficulty and the few things that make Uncharted unique get nullified.
 
Personally I don't think it's worth it all to trudge through unless you really want trophies. The game kinda collapses in on itself at that difficulty and the few things that make Uncharted unique get nullified.

I want the trophy, but I think I'll get killed in the end anyways.
 

Finnroth

Member
Man the story is nice, the presentation is godlike but holy hell ist the gameplay ass in this game. I really didn't expect that after TLoU, even though it's my first Uncharted.
 

lcap

Member
*Note I am yet to play the game and all my thought stems from a playthrough I watched on youtube.

So I just finished watching a let's play of the game and I have to say it was quite a ride and I enjoyed watching Sam and Nathan being on a brother adventure.

The grappling hook looks fun to play with and having the option to be stealthy looked to be interesting.

Though I think it was weak how after Nathan gives Sam a boost he has to find another way to get up when Sam could easily use his rope to pull Nathan up.

I also think that
we should have seen scene when Nathan phones Sully up saying that Sam is alive and they need his help, it just felt jarring how we went from a reunion to being in Italy with Sully being okay with this.

I do have a question though;

How did Elena know that Nathan was in Madagascar?

Sully told.
 

Peff

Member
Oh, right. I mostly meant completing in stealth while killing a smaller number of people, not just snapping a thousand necks instead of shooting a thousand dudes in the face.

This game still does the whole "reinforcements upon being spotted" thing from the others, so even in the enclosed encounters it's an interesting option.
 
ROTTR was a huge disappointment for me. I loved the first game but the sequel...I don't know.
And I agree with your complaints on both games though I don't think UC4 has boring sections...just too much "slow walking". The first chapters (the slow intro) are pretty short compared to the rest of the game so I don't think it would affect the replay value (imo).
But there is one thing missing so far...the great humor of the first three games. I know it's the last game and they made it more serious but....I don't think it was the right decision. While the first chapters were very slow they were also the most funny parts of the game...so far at least.

Edit: What I wanted to say (I know it will backfire): There is too much Neil Druckmann (from TLOU) in UC4

yep. just finished the game a couple hours ago, & a lot of the reason i was disappointed with it boiled down to one thing: sam...

having a character like sam (with all the accompanying baggage) in an uncharted game felt about as appropriate to me as it would've been having a character like nate in the last of us. i don't mind the usual little bits of series melodrama with elena, or sully, but sam was just waaay too much 'serious' for what's always mostly been a fun joyride of a series. &, if you don't like, or care about, sam (& i really didn't), then things only go from bad to worse...

good: stunning graphics, stealth option, combat scenarios, epilogue...

bad: pacing (overly-long lulls in the action), lack of an awesome set piece, terrible final boss fight, & all that sam...

my least-favorite uncharted (including golden abyss). should've known from the get-go, what with the absence of the traditional theme at the main menu (in favor of what? - some kinda reverent, 'heavy' silence?) that the series was gonna veer off into a direction i don't think it ever should've...
 

Poetaster

Banned
Arrrrg. I've already gone through the entire game like 4 times and collected all 109 treasures twice because my first go at it was bugged so the stat was stuck at 108/109. Now with the platinum within reach the all weapons trophy won't trigger for me.

I did all the bonus menu weapons, the powder keg, the exploding barrel, propane tank, dynamite, grenade, toy gun, turret, and the sword without using the encounter select. I'm cursed.
 

Caode

Member
Charted! Speedrun.. done! Just about managed it too, 5 hours and 51 minutes or so. I spent way too long admiring the environments, everything from Chapter 12 onward is insanely stunning.
 

LiK

Member
Also GAF don't kill me but after having replayed the collection I somehow prefer 30fps of UC4 when compared to the 60fps of the collection. Somehow it feels more serious and 60fps makes it look so.... gamey and almost a parody?

Really? I loved the 60fps. It made shooting much easier and quicker. 30fps in UC4 wasn't bad but movement did feel a lil more slower.
 

Ascenion

Member
yep. just finished the game a couple hours ago, & a lot of the reason i was disappointed with it boiled down to one thing: sam...

having a character like sam (with all the accompanying baggage) in an uncharted game felt about as appropriate to me as it would've been having a character like nate in the last of us. i don't mind the usual little bits of series melodrama with elena, or sully, but sam was just waaay too much 'serious' for what's always mostly been a fun joyride of a series. &, if you don't like, or care about, sam (& i really didn't), then things only go from bad to worse...

good: stunning graphics, stealth option, combat scenarios, epilogue...

bad: pacing (overly-long lulls in the action), lack of an awesome set piece, terrible final boss fight, & all that sam...

my least-favorite uncharted (including golden abyss). should've known from the get-go, what with the absence of the traditional theme at the main menu (in favor of what? - some kinda reverent, 'heavy' silence?) that the series was gonna veer off into a direction i don't think it ever should've...

I honestly think the issue with Sam is that he is a repurposed bad guy. The initial teaser from 2013 implies as much. He was converted to the light and I think the character shows that. Not to mention he never feels genuine across the entire game. He just reeks of lowlife sleezball. He is horribly written for his role, not to mention he's a living retcon almost.
 

meanspartan

Member
Enjoyed it but....

Druckmann had said this would somehow be a divisive ending I thought? It isnt that at all. Its totally happy ever after and the only "Thief" who ends is Raif, unless you count Nathan Drake retiring for real.

Its literally the opposite of divisive, it played it safe. Wonder if Druckmann was throwing our a red herring to make us think someone dies.
 

prwxv3

Member
I think the pacing is perfect. I am glad they did not try to do UC2 again with non stop action. I get that there are some that wanted more combat though.The crate sections never bothered me similar to the ladder/cart sections in TLOU. It's pretty minuscule when compared to the entire length of the game. I dont think the slower moments make the replayability worse personally. You can get through those slow moments pretty quickly.
 
I honestly think the issue with Sam is that he is a repurposed bad guy. The initial teaser from 2013 implies as much. He was converted to the light and I think the character shows that. Not to mention he never feels genuine across the entire game. He just reeks of lowlife sleezball. He is horribly written for his role, not to mention he's a living retcon almost.
I disagree with this. Sam was fantastic and well written. He turned out to be much more likeable than I expected.
 
I think the pacing is perfect. I am glad they did not try to do UC2 again with non stop action. I get that there are some that wanted more combat though.The crate sections never bothered me similar to the ladder/cart sections in TLOU. It's pretty minuscule when compared to the entire length of the game. I dont think the slower moments make the replayability worse personally. You can get through those slow moments pretty quickly.
You still have to get through them though


If there were always flintlock pistols and stuff off the beaten path, then I wouldn't mind exploring during a replay, but the game doesn't have much in the way of tangible gameplay benefit for wandering around. Once/if I find/see everything, I won't really want to really soak in those moments, and it'll be a chore rushing through them.
 
yep. just finished the game a couple hours ago, & a lot of the reason i was disappointed with it boiled down to one thing: sam...

having a character like sam (with all the accompanying baggage) in an uncharted game felt about as appropriate to me as it would've been having a character like nate in the last of us. i don't mind the usual little bits of series melodrama with elena, or sully, but sam was just waaay too much 'serious' for what's always mostly been a fun joyride of a series. &, if you don't like, or care about, sam (& i really didn't), then things only go from bad to worse...

good: stunning graphics, stealth option, combat scenarios, epilogue...

bad: pacing (overly-long lulls in the action), lack of an awesome set piece, terrible final boss fight, & all that sam...

my least-favorite uncharted (including golden abyss). should've known from the get-go, what with the absence of the traditional theme at the main menu (in favor of what? - some kinda reverent, 'heavy' silence?) that the series was gonna veer off into a direction i don't think it ever should've...

Sam is the most boring Uncharted companion. Sucked a lot of the trademark franchise humor out. I was surprised at how much of a step up
Elena
was. Really gave the game a boost from
17 onwards.
UC4 needed more
Sully, Chloe, etc.

I suppose that wouldn't work for the story, but the serious tone hampers the game especially since the story doesn't go anywhere particularly interesting. The ending works, but it feels like too much of a
straightforward happy ending after all that. No clue what Druckmann was talking about. Nothing divisive about it.
Accompanying it is a mostly bland soundtrack too :(
 

Ascenion

Member
Enjoyed it but....

Druckmann had said this would somehow be a divisive ending I thought? It isnt that at all. Its totally happy ever after and the only "Thief" who ends is Raif, unless you count Nathan Drake retiring for real.

Its literally the opposite of divisive, it played it safe. Wonder if Druckmann was throwing our a red herring to make us think someone dies.

Or look at it differently:
thief's end is a metaphor/allegory. It encompasses the entire conflict between Tew and Avery and through that Sam v. Nate v. Rafe. The thief's end is not realizing what truly matters, what is actually valuable. Not seeing beyond the gold. Nate realized this but was still hungry for it. Sam hadn't had the chance yet so made stupid choices and didn't know when to quit while Rafe was consumed on the level of Tew and Avery. The divisiveness of the ending comes through whether or not Drake deserved to be able to touch the fire a 4th time and get away clean. He and Sam should've died on that boat with Rafe, but instead they get the happy ending completely. Elena didn't even leave him. That's what pissed me off and that's why I get what Druckmann hinted at.
 

meanspartan

Member
also, the greed test where touching the gold cross destroys the whole room- what is the point of all that elaborate construction to make a test if just one person failing it destroys it all? Since the room was intact, not ONE person fucked up and grabbed the cross? Minor plot hole, but it bugs me
 

prwxv3

Member
You still have to get through them though


If there were always flintlock pistols and stuff off the beaten path, then I wouldn't mind exploring during a replay, but the game doesn't have much in the way of tangible gameplay benefit for wandering around. Once/if I find/see everything, I won't really want to really soak in those moments, and it'll be a chore rushing through them.

I can see that. I personally love the slower parts of the game just as much as the intense parts. I don't really think uncharted games as a series I want to replay over and over again shortly after beating it. I like to set them aside for a while and then come back to replay them to enjoy the entire experience again cutscenes included. I have encounter select if I want to experience certain encounters repeatingly.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
If you want to limit your combat options to just one and be uncreative, sure, go ahead. I've tried fiddling around with the AI and it is a lot of fun. But this isn't an open world game from a certain company, so what do I know.
I'd legitimately pay people on this forum to be mature enough to stop bringing up Ubisoft as a sort of ad hominem. Ffs it's so tired at this point. Am I not allowed to critique any other game ever without it being brought up or do I have to make a thread solely notching about Ubisoft to satisfy the continent of GAF who can't let it go that I like Ubi's games as if that's a bad thing. The fact that it's allowed is even more grating. Honestly, it's like you straight up didn't read my posts, o straight up said multiple times that I tried different strategies and still don't find the mechanics to be as deep as some are saying here especially compared to other games with similar mechanics and that includes mechanics in past ND games.
 
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