!) But one thing that bothers me is that the retcons in the plot feel wrong to me..it just doesn't "fit" and really annoys me. (I'm talking specifically about
the whole Sam character and how he's suddenly so well known like he existed all this time
This has to be my favorite game of all time. The graphics, the chemistry between every character, the story, fuck it everything is amazing so far. Shame I will finish this soon.
Seriously? No to brag but I found that entire gunfight crazy easy on Crushing. There are just so many ways to approach each segment, to stay out of sight or escape back in to stealth, even when you've been spotted. Ledges, platforms, long grass, ridges, different elevations etc galore. You can even grenade that big chain wielding heavy twice whilst remaining in stealth, so long as you spread those two grenades out. After that a single headshot with any weapon will down him.
Oh god no, I was just downloading the 5 gig update, fuck PSN and their shitty servers, the download literally took 9 hours with a 200mbps connection :|
Well, playing on crushing uncovers now a lot of problems. Can't count how often I clipped through walls and how often my companion blocked my sight and path all because it gets too frantic. It's really frustrating and I'm only at Chapter 14. What I've read things will only get worse. And yeah playing without infinity ammo cheat (at the later chapters) is almost impossible as there is not enough ammo lying around.
Seeing these gifs, feel like I would've enjoyed the game a lot more if I played on easy. It was mostly not possible to pull off crazy manuevers even on normal.
Wouldn't alleviate the lack of combat and setpieces, but the ones that do exist would've been a lot more exciting for me. Oh well.
The gifs are kinda misleading. I wonder how many attempts they had to use to get it looking like that, plus they cut off just as it looks like they're about to be killed.
It's a damn shame they gave us more options for traversal then made the enemy aim pin point accurate, negating much of it. Using the rope should severely lower enemy aim to Stormtrooper level.
If any game proves that old adage that you really can't please everyone, this is it.
The reality is that its basically one of the best games ever made from a technical, artistic and creative standpoint. Which isn't to say that everyone has to like it, just that it deserves an enormous amount of respect as a piece of work.
There is no doubt that it is a technical masterpiece. Naughty Dog is doing things here that no other developer has done in the past. At the same time, the Naughty Dog formula of doing TPS is starting to run a little thin from a gameplay perspective.
It could have used a lot more variety in the gameplay department. There is a little bit too much of that rinse and repeat gameplay with needless overuse of mechanics. I wish there was more new ideas and some of the ridiculous details were implemented in the game design as well. Too much of the game design is starting to feel passive.
I think it is easier to see the flaws because the game is stretched out. The other Naughty Dog games were just the right length. This one overstays its welcome. Uncharted 2 was a much better designed game and was a good mix of storytelling, setpieces, and gunplay. In Uncharted 4, it's a little weird because the gunplay is the best ever in an Uncharted game but the encounters are too thin and spaced out too much. The AI still has psychic abilities and feels like it is cheating the game's rules.
Uncharted 4 is good example of story telling done right but leans a little to heavily on telling that story through walking segments with very little room for exploration. The walking segments feel a lot like watching cutscenes and it would be nice if Naughty Dog let you skip them on repeat plays as they are unessential to the gameplay.
While the game has a lot of ridiculous little details, none of them really effect gameplay. While the environments look more expansive, anytime you try to explore, you are slapped on the hand. From an exploration point of view, the best part is actually taking photos. I think this is the most fun I had taking photos in a video game.
Uncharted 4 sets a new high watermark in animation, storytelling, and graphics that the rest of this generation will be judged by. In the end, it's not the best Uncharted game, but a fitting end to the series.
I have videos of all the set pieces on moderate for my second run of the game without failing, granted that I don't have such amazing performance but the action flows quite nicely.
You don't need to play an obscene amount of time to do something awesome.
I have videos of all the set pieces on moderate for my second run of the game without failing, granted that I don't have such amazing performance but the action flows quite nicely.
You don't need to play an obscene amount of time to do something awesome.
My fight wasn't as cool as SunhiLegend's fight but I've had plenty of really awesome scenes that I made videos of on the very first time I played the encounters.
I played those on the normal difficulty as I don't enjoy dying in singleplayer games. To suggest that you have to have many many tries to get awesome looking stuff is absolute nonsense.
I finished the game on monday, thought about it and i still have no idea how to feel about the game. In fact, while i replayed both UC1 and 2 about 4 or 5 times each, i shelved UC4 after my first playthrough since i'm not sure i would enjoy going through it again. Mainly because i already know the story and the locations and there doesn't seem to be all that much else to this game. Which is why i think i'll wait to replay until i forget some of it.
It's strange. It doesn't feel like GOTY material at all at this point. And still, i enjoyed it as the last game in a fantastic franchise. It feels like a seriously flawed game wrapped in a beautiful and dazzling package.
the game simply needed more fun, & fewer 'feels'. first, we got the new, 'feels' laden tomb raider, & now we get uncharted 4: the feels ...
seriously: this series's all about cheap pulp thrills, with a few sweet little moments here'n'there. & that's the version of uncharted i enjoy, & that, imo, is what went awol in u4...
the game simply needed more fun, & fewer 'feels'. first, we got the new, 'feels' laden tomb raider, & now we get uncharted 4: the feels ...
seriously: this series's all about cheap pulp thrills, with a few sweet little moments here'n'there. & that's the version of uncharted i enjoy, & that, imo, is what went awol in u4...
Keep the emotional stuff, but deliver on the high octane thrills as well. All the quieter moments are fine in isolation, but when there are five chapters with no combat scenarios, that's when it starts to feel overdone.
The game just needed to make more frequent use of its core gameplay.
I'm really taking my time with the game and just recently finished The Brothers Drake chapter and it was probably among my favorite chapters in the game so far.
Just loved the atmosphere at night with the full moon shining through the windows and just taking your time exploring this huge mysterious mansion. Really loved all the little details in the house and the fact you could listen to Beethoven with the gramophone
. I thought the chapter was a nice change of pace to the rest and added some great variety to the game. I can already say this will be my favorite game in the series and I just don't want it to end.
Also the game looks unbelievably good and I notice myself stopping constantly just to admire the views. Probably the best looking game I've ever played.
Keep the emotional stuff, but deliver on the high octane thrills as well. All the quieter moments are fine in isolation, but when there are five chapters with no combat scenarios, that's when it starts to feel overdone.
The game just needed to make more frequent use of its core gameplay.
gimme the funny stuff, the sarcastic stuff, the ball-busting stuff, which's what's always been part of what's propelled the characters & the stories. the series's never needed 'feels' to be enjoyable...
I beat this game last night, and I have a lot of feelings about it.
The positive:
-UC4 is by far the most technically impressive game Ive ever played.
-The surround sound (and accompanying options) is just phenomenal here; there were multiple times when I heard rustling in leaves behind me that alerted me to an enemy approaching me.
-The environments, oh my sweet sweet goodness, the environments. I loved the myriad of details sprinkled about. I loved the variety and scope of these wonderfully designed levels.
-Combat; when it was actually there; was great.
-The characters, Ive platinumed all three previous Uncharted games. Over the years Ive really grown to love these characters, and felt that ND did great service to this cast for their final send off. I also enjoyed the new characters introduced in this final game, and found them to be far more interesting villains than previous entries in the series.
-The story is the best of the series. I dont really have any complaints here; great stuff.
-I loved the last few chapters of the game. I felt genuine emotion at the end knowing that this was the last time wed be playing with the old gang thank you so much for this series ND. The epilogue was absolutely perfect; I could not have asked for anything better (also, the graphics on the epilogue were ridiculous the interior lighting was prob. the best in the game.)
The negative:
-This has been said a million times by now, but the pacing leaves a lot to be desired. Ive played the first three games multiple times each, and it never felt like they dragged, or had moments that were too slow for too long. I cant help but think that this will be the least fun Uncharted to play multiple times. There are chapters that Im literally dreading going through again. The speedrun trophy almost seems like a troll.
-They made the encounters in a way that you can't really go crazy and have fun trying the dif. mechanics unless you play on an easy difficulty.
In summary I think its a great game, that could have been perfect if they had resolved the pacing issues. I will miss the Uncharted Series very dearly I feel a little sad just thinking about it being over. Thanks again ND.
I can't rank the games b/c each one has been it's own amazing experience.
Alright it looks like U4 ended up with 34 perfect scores. Not bad for a 4th entry. U2 had 39, U3 had 24 and TLOU had 41. ND keeps killing it. And now begins the 3 year hype for their next game.
Alright it looks like U4 ended up with 34 perfect scores. Not bad for a 4th entry. U2 had 39, U3 had 24 and TLOU had 41. ND keeps killing it. And now begins the 3 year hype for their next game.
Seriously? No to brag but I found that entire gunfight crazy easy on Crushing. There are just so many ways to approach each segment, to stay out of sight or escape back in to stealth, even when you've been spotted. Ledges, platforms, long grass, ridges, different elevations etc galore. You can even grenade that big chain wielding heavy twice whilst remaining in stealth, so long as you spread those two grenades out. After that a single headshot with any weapon will down him.
Yeah, I thought I had a handle on it but it's just the checkpoint that's brutal. I just found myself running out of ammo etc. and you have to be so tactical. Oh well, I'll get through it eventually.
I must say I'm enjoying the slower pace of the game and the lesser amount of shooting and action scenes. Now they feel fresh and exciting almost every time. I just love to take my time and breath in that atmosphere and enjoy the amazing views.
I must say I'm enjoying the slower pace of the game and the lesser amount of shooting and action scenes. Now they feel fresh and exciting almost every time. I just love to take my time and breath in that atmosphere and enjoy the amazing views.
Until I hit chap. 19 or 20. I swear, there's not one end run of Uncharted games that I like.
There are some great sequences and sceneries in between, but the last couple of chapters were a really drag for me due to the amount of gunfights.
Especially Avery's caves and the port had way, way too many enemies IMO
On the plus side, I didn't downright hated the final boss this time around.
Yeah, I thought I had a handle on it but it's just the checkpoint that's brutal. I just found myself running out of ammo etc. and you have to be so tactical. Oh well, I'll get through it eventually.
Sorry dude. When you said it likely hadn't been play tested I couldn't help myself. Lol.
I think the trick is to hang off the edges of ledges, off the side of platforms, cliffs etc, clinging on to bricks and climbing extrusions etc, and moving around as such, as oppose to just staying in long grass or out in the open. On crushing it seems to often be a far more effective way of staying hidden, keeping behind cover or in stealth, and traversing arena's compared to other strategies. Don't forget you can still take people out and throw grenades whilst hanging off the edge of a ledge, platform or piece of a map etc, so it's pretty much as effective for stealth as long grass.
Just got round to completing the game. Overall I enjoyed it a lot but I will say it had a very different 'feel' somehow than previous games mainly with more story and a lot of traversal/climbing. I think this was a game balance choice/shift, though. I'm not sure if the disrupted development had any effect on how the game turned out and admit I'd love to hear that story in the future..
Not sure if the game is longer than the last one or I'm getting really slow in my old age but it took me 19 hours (albeit including 4 hours standing still!) on moderate and I definitely took more breaks than ever before, though. Uncharted 2/3 took me about ~15 all in.
The biggest compliment I can give ND is that I can't wait to see what they do next.
Just got round to completing the game. Overall I enjoyed it a lot but I will say it had a very different 'feel' somehow than previous games mainly with more story and a lot of traversal/climbing. I think this was a game balance choice/shift, though. I'm not sure if the disrupted development had any effect on how the game turned out and admit I'd love to hear that story in the future..
Not sure if the game is longer than the last one or I'm getting really slow in my old age but it took me 19 hours (albeit including 4 hours standing still!) on moderate and I definitely took more breaks than ever before, though. Uncharted 2/3 took me about ~15 all in.
The biggest compliment I can give ND is that I can't wait to see what they do next.
The game is definitely longer than the previous games. Took me 16 hours on moderate. There are some very long cutscenes though. And way more climbing...
I had people grab onto my legs a bunch in my playthrough. Also did the "steal long hun" move a lot. Never knew about the meleeing dudes over cover though.
The melee in this game is so good. Well, combat in general is.
on my first playthrough, then one more time when I replayed Chapter 8. Haven't seen it in any other part of the game, even the PSX demo encounter where I was pulling people off ledges like crazy.
I've seen some other moves that are much more rare for me though:
- Tackle + steal long gun: Steel fist an enemy while you only have a pistol. Did this in Chapter 5 on a 2nd playthrough. Looks so good.
- Cover hop drop kick: The one from Sunhi's
Scotland
gif. Running melee while an enemy is on the other side of chest high cover
- Cover springboard superman punch (this might actually be a pistol whip): Basically a ground level version of the rope smash. You jump onto the piece of cover an enemy is on and melee. Your pistol might have to be equipped. The animation is slightly different and more drawn out than the rope version.
Probably a few more I'm forgetting.
The real best move in this game is the tag team chokeslam though. I can't believe there aren't more scenarios where hand-to-hand and firearms are mixed in close quarters. So much crazy animation blending when you have AI with you (which is most of the game anyway)
Why isn't there more combat in this game gotdammit ffffffffffffff
Finished the game in a week, took me about 18 hours (double that if we count the time spent in photo mode). Missed tons of stuff.
I think exploration / encounters ratio was very good and it's part of what made encounters so fun and rewarding.
That's both because devs had the chance to better design those fewer action sequences and because by spreading them apart you were able to better savour them. That's how you celebrate your gunplay mechanics; by not turning them into a chore the game constantly throws between you and story progression.
I was kinda wishing they did the same with graphics.
I need to explain this probably.
The game is visually overwhelming. Sumptuous. U4 doesn't have players walk through generic, dull locations to reward them with the discovery of that one visually stunning area. Sure, there's a couple specific locations, but the journey is almost always just as beautiful.
There's only so much beauty i can endure before becoming numb to it and I could only manage short-ish sessions for this reason. Now this might sound like a "it's almost too good" kind of complaint, but I promise you it's valid I hated the game for making me feel guilty about leaving one area I thought deserved to be examined more thoroughly.
Incredible tech (for one, their AA solution is wizardry) and a humongous work: there's like 5 regular games worth of unique assets in U4.
Pity such a gigantic work on visuals wasn't matched by a decent effort to come up with mechanics other than "push crate" "push partner up a ledge" that got old very quick (they were old to begin with) or the new slide on your ass thing that was spammed throughout the game.
Loathed the
mummies
. Who the hell thought that was a good idea ?
Nothing memorable about the OST.
Overall really liked the game though. Not sure about a full replay - I very rarely replay games anyway - but considering a single playthrough is probably around 20 hours worth of entertainment everything considered, that's still pretty great value if you ask me.
Oh, really liked the ending and the epilogue. Glad ND
didn't go with something darker, now THAT would have felt forced
Now, Tlou 2.
Pregnant Ellie
could be a great idea, unless they are just playing with
Really? I liked chapter 16 and I didn't like "Left behind". Well, no...it was okay but not great.
Chapter 16 of UC4 isn't that long either. What's so bad about it?
Wrapped up last night. What a disjointed mess. This entry achieves a weird combination of treading more physical, mechanical, and emotional ground than any of the previous entries, but still ends up feeling the thinnest and most unfinished of the entire series.
Middle to late game and ending spoilers:
Chapter 12 finally makes the open environment feel like exploring. Sadly, this is the only part of the game that really achieves this. After some more of the same from 13 to 15, the Chapter 16 trainwreck hits. I appreciated the plot, but it really underscores just how poorly the game handles tension and buildup. The Sam twist was predictable, although not as dark as I expected, but to transition from finally getting interesting to another pacing slog was just about the dumbest thing they've done storytelling-wise since the beginning of the series.
Chapter 17 was basically a slightly more interesting rehash of chapter 10, then the game basically coasts along until Chapter 20 when it suddenly remembers it's Uncharted, and the really quite excellent stealth combat approach is abandoned for the last 3 chapters as it's back to the dull cover-shooting antics interspersed with forced mobility and bullet sponge encounters that are the trademark of the first 3 games.
The game wraps up with the most anti-climactic finish of the series, worse I think than even UC3, with a boss fight that feels roughly like what would happen if you tried to strip down Godhand for smartphones. I'm still on the fence as to whether the numbskull fistfight at the end of UC3 or this is the worst way to end either game.
Ultimately, the game just never felt like it knew what it wanted to be. Part an homage to the series, part an homage to Naughty Dog's other work, part open world, part setpieces, never fully feeling committed to justifying any of it.
The best parts of the game are where you choose how to approach a combat situation and then scramble to make the most of it - something done so much better and with so much more tension in TLoU, but still as to make the best parts of this game largely not feel like Uncharted at all. The worst parts of the game are the parts which also aped TLoU's worst qualities - walking around looking at scenery. However, in TLoU there was always tension, anticipation. There is none of that here. You always know you can survive an ambush, you always know something is going to crumble and you'll have to go jump around safely for another 30 minutes, seemingly for its own sake.
The Uncharted formula doesn't lend itself well to padding. The only justification for the mind-numbing traversal of the series was that it made the most sense to bookend setpieces and give a pause to combat without interfering with the pacing. In this entry, the traversal itself interferes with the pacing, and it leaves you cold and unsatisfied, and in the worst cases, bored. No game that had this much effort and care put into it deserves to end up boring.
For all its best intentions and massive production values, UC4 feels incomplete. It's an odd product that is so obviously not a combination of first ideas, not (just) a cash grab, and makes an honest attempt to not be a cynical spoon-fed experience, but somehow ends up feeling less cohesive and nearly as unsatisfying as any of the above. It almost feels as if an attempt was made to address the critics of the series while not turning its back on long-time fans, and the result is something that fully satisfies neither camp.
Ultimately the pacing is called out as the game's main flaw as it is the net result of all of the game's offenses. More stealth encounters, more enemy variety, more puzzles, leaning more heavily on the rope and less on walking along walls for half of Chapter - these things would have improved the whole experience enormously I think. I'd go so far as to say less also could have been more. Heavily editing individual chapters - even without providing more of them with greater variety to make up the difference - might have made a stronger game.
Great post. I also felt that the game was 'incomplete.' As absurd as that may sound given the level of detail in this game. I just didn't feel satisfied at the end despite the obvious quality of certain aspects. Chapter 21 in particular felt like total padding and like they ran out of ideas. The boss fight was okay for a
QTE-like. Much better than those useless Nadine fights at least,
but I can understand the disappointment.
It's funny that we both agree on Chapter 12 being a good chapter individually. I dislike it in the context of what comes after, but I'm fine with the chapter itself, although it was slightly too long. It also featured that piss easy puzzle that Nate gives the damn answer too before you even start it.
That transition was from 15 to 16 was a terrible idea. Heavy editing to some of chapters and even tossing a few out, would've made it a much better game.
Really? I liked chapter 16 and I didn't like "Left behind". Well, no...it was okay but not great.
Chapter 16 of UC4 isn't that long either. What's so bad about it?
Really? I liked chapter 16 and I didn't like "Left behind". Well, no...it was okay but not great.
Chapter 16 of UC4 isn't that long either. What's so bad about it?
.
