• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

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.

Heh. I took a ton of pictures too. Although
Libertalia
wore out its welcome for me a little too early due to every
chapter from 12-21 being a big green, jungle-like area(except 16&20) Some were actually difficult to tell apart at times especially certain areas of 12, 13 and 21.
I very much enjoyed taking screenshots, but the strong scenery and storytelling(despite it's flaws) aren't enough to carry the game through subsequent playthroughs once you already know what's going to happen.

I wish you could skip through those slow walk sections as well. I know you can critical path it once you know the areas, but a skip would be much preferable.

'Passive' is the perfect word to describe playing the game at times. The platforming, slow walking and puzzles make up far too much of the gametime. It would make sense if these qualities were fun(when is slow walking ever fun?), but they're not. They're pretty mindless activities for the most part.

The percentage of 'engaging interactivity' as I like to call it, is too low. Now what that entails will obviously differ from person to person, but I know that there's not enough of it in this game for me to be satisfied. One of the differences with the downtime in TLoU is that with the scavenging, at least you were actually building towards something.

In UC4, the exploration is mostly just there for the worthless treasures and more platforming padding.(Chapter 10 is one of the few exceptions) I'd probably feel a bit better about them if they added a story behind them or a nice description, but nope.

Game should've actually made use of all that space by having more optional encounters so that players who don't care about combat or want less firefights could've avoided them.
 
Game should've actually made use of all that space by having more optional encounters so that players who don't care about combat or want less firefights could've avoided them.

ND don't want you to have additional fights and "take a tour away from the story" this is not Far Cry, that's why the game has multiplayer and will have additional content outside the campaign to please people than want other things. Uncharted 4 is all about the story, ND didn't make any mistake about it, they did exactly what they wanted to do or at least that's what I take from interviews and how the game is.
 

Philippo

Member
I'm in the middle of the final cutscene, all emotional because it's the end of Nate's last adventure and guess what? A fucking blackout hit the neighborhood.

FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUUUCK

I AM SO PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW
 
ND don't want you to have additional fights and "take a tour away from the story" this is not Far Cry, that's why the game has multiplayer and will have additional content outside the campaign to please people than want other things. Uncharted 4 is all about the story, ND didn't make any mistake about it, they did exactly what they wanted to do or at least that's what I take from interviews and how the game is.

Multiplayer combat =/= single player combat

We don't know what the DLC will consist of

There's a lot of back-to-back straight-up climbing, or "just walking around" segments that people don't want to replay
 
ND don't want you to have additional fights and "take a tour away from the story" this is not Far Cry, that's why the game has multiplayer and will have additional content outside the campaign to please people than want other things. Uncharted 4 is all about the story, ND didn't make any mistake about it, they did exactly what they wanted to do or at least that's what I take from interviews and how the game is.

I totally believe that this is exactly what they wanted to make, but it didn't make for the most fun game imo. They actually did do the optional encounter thing in Chapter 10 and the game was no lesser for it. There would've been no harm done if there was something similar in Chapter 9,12,15, 21, etc. Maybe I'd be okay with it being this story-focused if I felt that the story went anywhere particularly interesting, but I don't. The
straightforward
ending didn't have anywhere near the impact of TLoU and while there were a few nice moments like the table in
Chapter 18 and the end of 19.
I don't feel like there's enough there to justify the pacing.

The DLC could be Left Behind again for all we know and I don't see the multiplayer having a lot of lasting power with me, that was never really Uncharted's strong suit anyway. It's quite limited in it's current state as well. I'd love a horde mode though.
 
So,
Libertalia
may just be the best looking thing I've ever seen in a videogame. I must've spent close to an hour wondering around in awe taking shots, I couldn't believe how amazing the visuals were.* It really felt believable too, lived in, and after only just finishing Black Sails season 3 it had me all giddy.

And the enemy encounter later on...holy shit did they improve the gameplay in this game. The improved level design and mechanics are resulting in me having way more fun than I did in the past three games. The verticality/rope changed everything for the better. I just wish there was more gameplay overall so far. Lots of downtime. Shame.

Hopefully gameplay ramps up in the last third to make up for it.

* And the design of the place also had me thinking how well this bodes for the next Last of Us... :O
 

valkyre

Member
On my 3rd playthrough and this game keeps getting better and better. I now have become quite good with the combat system and I can do some pretty crazy shit... I just finished a big encounter in chapter 10 and omg it felt like it was some kind of action set piece.

The combat is simple but -dare I say- complex at the same time, stealthing your way through the top of the tower then use the rope to kick some ass while throwing grenades to the building below, engaging in a fist fight on your way down and then use the rope again to break line of sight and go back to stealth...

Its just pure awesomeness... folks who claim that gameplay hasnt improved much are dead wrong.

Even the quite moments dont feel dull on my 3rd playthrough because the god damn details are so many and gorgeous that each time you discover something new...

I just love this game more and more... and I think that the main reason I love it is because of the way it tells the story it wants to tell. Its beautiful.
 
...

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.

Agreed. After sitting on the experience for a few days, the game didn't leave a strong impression. Bloat was the biggest problem. A 12 hour game with the majority of mid-chapter traversal removed would've hummed along nicely.

I assume, having put such great effort into the (admittedly beautiful) visuals, they were worried people wouldn't notice if they weren't forced to slowly traverse through the environments. Certainly didn't feel like these long stretches were for character or plot development, as with few exceptions nothing of interest is said or happens in these sections.

My other big complaint is the way they used their villains. I just don't think ND can do a good antagonist. Having the game structured as a running contest against Rafe doesn't work when Rafe is a cliched, under-developed, and fundamentally boring foil. He's well acted, but so what? There's no there there. TLoU succeeds narratively without a primary central antagonist -- wish they didn't always shoe-horn one into Uncharted.
 

nib95

Banned
So the extras in this game are incredible, from the add ons through to the concept art. I also think the set piece that got cut out might have been something to do with Elena and Drake going through the jungle swamps on a mini inflatable boat, on to some river rapids. There's at least 3 concept art pieces dedicated to this.
 

Endo Punk

Member
After thinking about it for a while UC2 opening with the train is a much stronger opening but the flashback to the museum is really weak so overall UC4 opening takes it but slightly.

Second playthrough on moderate so I can mess about and experiment a bit more. Im still at awe with the experience, first UC that feels comfortable with all its mechanics. UC1 had the odd sixaxis use, UC2 had pseudo stealth and UC3 tried to make melee "deeper" and forced terrible fights, also the need to be bigger and better even if it didn't serve the story, and ape UC2 setpieces with the final stretch. Almost makes wish ND would do UC5 because they nailed it now. Im gonna miss these awesome characters but what a way to go.
 

Wollan

Member
"Where did Everybody Go... have they all Raptured or something".

Probably old but heard this game reference on my second play-through.
 
So the extras in this game are incredible, from the add ons through to the concept art. I also think the set piece that got cut out might have been something to do with Elena and Drake going through the jungle swamps on a mini inflatable boat, on to some river rapids. There's at least 3 concept art pieces dedicated to this.

That inflatable boat also makes an appearance in New Devon's concept art. Man, these and the one in Scotland with the quad were some of my most anticipated levels. It doesn't take away from the masterpiece we had, but I kinda hate when it happens. I remember being "deceived" by some concept art from The Last of Us too.
 

LiK

Member
Got the Platinum! Good shit. Some really challenging ones that make you play differently. Now to check out Doom.
 

krae_man

Member
Okay this butterfingers trophy is bullshit. Even if I enable bullet time and shoot the enemy while they are in the grenade throwing animation, they either drop nothing or throw the grenade anyway 90% of the time.
 
Just finished.

Chloe is nowhere to be found so I really did miss that ass.

I have mixed feelings, but all in all it was a good ride
 

NYR94

Member
Okay this butterfingers trophy is bullshit. Even if I enable bullet time and shoot the enemy while they are in the grenade throwing animation, they either drop nothing or throw the grenade anyway 90% of the time.

Try waiting for the red grenade icon to show up before you shoot the enemy.
 

Hupsel

Member
Cool game so far, enjoying it. But it feels sooooo... old? It´s a very well made 3rd person shooter with good dialogue. Not sure I care too much about the mix of climbing and generic shooting anymore. At least the stealth is better now.

Also the amount of crazy stuff they climb with their bare hands continues to be incredible stupid and takes it away from any shot at a realistic story/scenario lol.
 

FiggyCal

Banned
In terms of gameplay, I think this is the only game in the franchise to nail the shifts in the types of actions you perform. The story pacing is not so great... it mostly crawls. But shifting from stealth, to shooting, to puzzles, to set-pieces has never felt more on point in the entire franchise. In the past games, I remember dreading the next time I come into a group of enemies or a puzzle sequence because it becomes a completely unsatisfying chore -- you just did too much.

I never spotted this. Was it Merele Dandrige's character who says this?

I'm pretty sure it was Drake. I didn't realize it was a game reference. The whole game makes a bunch of references to Catholicism and I thought this was just part of it.
 
Can someone please help me with the fucking
On Porpoise
trophy?

Been literally trying to get this thing for the past god damn 1/2 hour and nothing is working. I restarted the checkpoint 3 times in hopes that the "encounters" are glitched or something.

Currently, I found the second one but it won't chase me and I can never find the third one


Finally nevermind. Jesus christ, one of the dumbest trophies I have ever done.
 

KyleCross

Member
Did anyone else preorder at Best Buy? I just realized when I picked my copy up on release day that they didn't give me a receipt and there was suppose to be preorder DLC for MP. Didn't get any emails about it either.
 

Gsnap

Member
So I'm wondering why they decided to incorporate dialogue options. They don't add anything meaningful. They're kind of antithetical to what the entire series is about. They slow things down by popping up at unexpected times, making various scenes less impactful (I'd rather Nathan deliver a witty line on his own like he does during 90% of the game already, rather than pausing during a fist fight to hem and haw over which vague option I should choose). And there's only like 3 or 4 of them in the whole game. Like halfway through development they decided it was a bad idea but then forgot to take them out of the parts they already added them to. Really weird.
 
So I'm wondering why they decided to incorporate dialogue options. They don't add anything meaningful. They're kind of antithetical to what the entire series is about. They slow things down by popping up at unexpected times, making various scenes less impactful (I'd rather Nathan deliver a witty line on his own like he does during 90% of the game already, rather than pausing during a fist fight to hem and haw over which vague option I should choose). And there's only like 3 or 4 of them in the whole game. Like halfway through development they decided it was a bad idea but then forgot to take them out of the parts they already added them to. Really weird.

It's "light adventure game" mixed into the Uncharted formula. Like Firewatch or The Walking Dead where dialogue options don't have huge consequences, but flavour the experience slightly.

Whether that, along with the light exploration and light traversal, is a net benefit (considering how few shootouts/action scenes there are) is up to one's discretion.
 

Gsnap

Member
It's "light adventure game" mixed into the Uncharted formula. Like Firewatch or The Walking Dead where dialogue options don't have huge consequences, but flavour the experience slightly.

Whether that, along with the light exploration and light traversal, is a net benefit (considering how few shootouts/action scenes there are) is up to one's discretion.

Eh, I don't really consider it a net negative or positive. If they were consistent throughout the whole game then (although I'd still consider them unnecessary) I might be able to actually determine whether I think they're helpful or harmful (though I do think they'd end up being more harmful). Since there's so few of them all I can really do is wonder is why they decided to add them in the first place if they weren't going to commit to them like they did all the new additions.
 
So I'm wondering why they decided to incorporate dialogue options. They don't add anything meaningful. They're kind of antithetical to what the entire series is about. They slow things down by popping up at unexpected times, making various scenes less impactful (I'd rather Nathan deliver a witty line on his own like he does during 90% of the game already, rather than pausing during a fist fight to hem and haw over which vague option I should choose). And there's only like 3 or 4 of them in the whole game. Like halfway through development they decided it was a bad idea but then forgot to take them out of the parts they already added them to. Really weird.

I would say that the scenes they come up in all serve the purpose of strengthening the bond between the player and Drake. The best example of that is the scene where
Nate and Elena are talking through their day on the couch and the camera draws your focus towards the painting on the wall and away from Elena's voice and the dialogue options allow you to stumble through the ensuing awkwardness the way you would in that situation in real life. It immediately brought me to the same kind of situation when my wife and I do the same thing and brought me into that scene more because the way I would actually react was present in the dialogue choices.

I also enjoyed the optional dialogue between
Nate and Sam in Libertalia on the porch where they both take a seat and pick up empty mugs. You were given the option to call the conversation off at each point or to keep seeing it through. It came at a quiet moment in the game and was a nice optional way to build up some more backstory between the two of them.

For me, I thought they were used perfectly. Only a handful of times and all of them helped to bring me into the conversations a little bit more. I certainly wouldn't want them at every turn, but I thought they worked well in the way they were used.
 

Darkangel

Member
Just beat the game.

I was really into the first half of the game, but by the end I kind of just wanted it to be over. I really liked the ending though, and even the final boss fight was kind of neat. I'm too lazy to write out detailed impressions, so I'll just leave some bullets.

-Easily the best story in the series.
-I liked the first part of the game because it felt fresh with a lot of brand new scenarios
(Prison, Drake's daily life, heist that wasn't just a forced stealth section). By the time the game got to the island it felt like it was just retreading old ground.
-Gunplay finally felt somewhat satisfying.
-Gameplay was incredibly repetitive and borderline non-fun in a lot of places. The climbing sections were drawn out, and the walking sections outstayed their welcome. It felt like an endless cycle of crate moving, mud sliding, and hand catching. I would almost say that the gameplay was straight up bad.
-Swinging around on the rope was fun. I didn't find much use for it during combat though since it was a surefire way to get lit up.
-I found it jarring whenever the game tried to get "serious." You would have a scene where Drake is running down a collapsing tower while quipping and shotgunning people in the face, then the next thing you know he's having a deep conversation about his marriage or leaving this life behind or something like that. I know you have to suspend your disbelief with this kind of stuff, but it all seemed a little ridiculous to me.
-Flashback scenes made me want Bully 2 on PS4 (must have been that Northeastern town setting).
-I think Naughty Dog might have missed out on a potentially cool storyline. The original Uncharted 4 story seemed to have a vengeful Sam that was angry at Drake for leaving him to rot in prison. Not to get into the whole "Psycho Drake" meme, but Drake is certainly no angel. It would have been interesting if a villain had some kind of moral high ground or legitimate grievance with him. The final boss fight where Rafe is going on about how "great" Nathan Drake is kind of made me think about this whole thing.
-Not sure where I would place this game in the series ranking. I need to let it sit for a while and maybe do a replay. I'd say it's not as good as UC2, but a million times better than UC1.
 

Windforce

Member
-Gunplay finally felt somewhat satisfying.
-Gameplay was incredibly repetitive and borderline non-fun in a lot of places. The climbing sections were drawn out, and the walking sections outstayed their welcome. It felt like an endless cycle of crate moving, mud sliding, and hand catching. I would almost say that the gameplay was straight up bad.
-Swinging around on the rope was fun. I didn't find much use for it during combat though since it was a surefire way to get lit up.

Just beat the game too and felt exactly what you just said. Towards the late game I couldn't stand climbing shit anymore.

But yeah, game is good. I was so curious about getting to the end, I played the game everyday I had free time until I beat it, the story was really nice.
 

Vitacat

Member
I just finished an hour ago.

Wow.

Easily the best Uncharted game for me, and I played them all, both PS3 and remastered. But I understand why many will still prefer 2. In some ways 2 still is better (pacing for example).

I loved what they did with the story. It was just amazing. Looking forward to playing through it again in the future.

Regarding gameplay complaints -- OK, yeah, there are flaws if you want to dwell on them. But whatever... I had a blast.
 

oatmeal

Banned
Beat it today.

Best narrative but I felt U2 was a better game. My god if I have to move another fucking crate with wheels. What a terrible TERRIBLE mechanic that was so overused it's hilarious.

Epilogue was cute, though it ran a little long and a video probably would have sufficed as nothing was really learned in there until Nathan comes in.

But it was a nice stamp on the series.
 
I really want to start a third playthrough, but I think I might wait a week or two and play multiplayer during that time. I'm so fucking happy that this game turned out so amazing :)
 

oatmeal

Banned
Just beat the game.

I was really into the first half of the game, but by the end I kind of just wanted it to be over. I really liked the ending though, and even the final boss fight was kind of neat. I'm too lazy to write out detailed impressions, so I'll just leave some bullets.

-Easily the best story in the series.
-I liked the first part of the game because it felt fresh with a lot of brand new scenarios
(Prison, Drake's daily life, heist that wasn't just a forced stealth section). By the time the game got to the island it felt like it was just retreading old ground.
-Gunplay finally felt somewhat satisfying.
-Gameplay was incredibly repetitive and borderline non-fun in a lot of places. The climbing sections were drawn out, and the walking sections outstayed their welcome. It felt like an endless cycle of crate moving, mud sliding, and hand catching. I would almost say that the gameplay was straight up bad.
-Swinging around on the rope was fun. I didn't find much use for it during combat though since it was a surefire way to get lit up.
-I found it jarring whenever the game tried to get "serious." You would have a scene where Drake is running down a collapsing tower while quipping and shotgunning people in the face, then the next thing you know he's having a deep conversation about his marriage or leaving this life behind or something like that. I know you have to suspend your disbelief with this kind of stuff, but it all seemed a little ridiculous to me.
-Flashback scenes made me want Bully 2 on PS4 (must have been that Northeastern town setting).
-I think Naughty Dog might have missed out on a potentially cool storyline. The original Uncharted 4 story seemed to have a vengeful Sam that was angry at Drake for leaving him to rot in prison. Not to get into the whole "Psycho Drake" meme, but Drake is certainly no angel. It would have been interesting if a villain had some kind of moral high ground or legitimate grievance with him. The final boss fight where Rafe is going on about how "great" Nathan Drake is kind of made me think about this whole thing.
-Not sure where I would place this game in the series ranking. I need to let it sit for a while and maybe do a replay. I'd say it's not as good as UC2, but a million times better than UC1.
Good summary.

The non movie, non fighting bits were mostly boring and spamming X to climb is annoying. At least the pick made climbing interesting for a second.

The game bits were not great but everything else was.
 
Just finished it tonight. Echoing some of the other recent thoughts here too:

Best story in the series by far! I loved the more "impactful" gunplay. Really liked the different paths and options for exploring/traversing/climbing the environment. Thought the graphics, environments, art direction was astoundingly jaw-dropping!! Stunning... Multiple times I'd just be wide-eyed looking at the scenery, at some distance place, like "I'm supposed to climb THAT?!?" Really immersive! I took so many screenshots with the included photo mode. They're currently cycling though as my laptop backgrounds.

I think I might differ from some, I really didn't want the game/story to end when I knew it was wrapping up. I'm going to miss these charatcters and this is such a high note for them to go out on. Bravo! I didn't feel the gameplay repetitive. I liked all the new wrinkles, I thought it was really polished on all fronts (but reading others comments I guess I can see their viewpoints on some people's issues). The graphics again, were lifelike amazing!!

And one last thought, maybe it's my age (30ish), but the story and underlying themes of marriage, longing for "one last adventure", their "normal life," brotherly bonds, ect... Really ALL hit home, and really really made the entire game something special for me. Probably the BEST PS4 game I've ever played. And I don't see how another game could top it for my personal GOTY. I'm ready to start it back up again and Platinum it, just as the first Uncharted was my very first Platinmum, way waaaay back on the PS3. :)

Congrats Naughty Gods! And thank you Nathan Drake!
 

Ratrat

Member
Beat it today on Hard.

Pros:
Best story
Mind-blowing graphics.
Surprisingly enjoyable 'walking simulator' sections
Better puzzles than previous games

Cons:
Ridiculously awful boss fight
The stealth
Platforming still sucks
Combat is still boring.

Just glad I can get to the multiplayer now.

Edit: the game froze on me 2 times and I had to reboot it. You know its a Naughty Dog game when your ps4 is struggling. :D
 

TitusTroy

Member
playing on Hard difficulty is annoying as enemies are constantly spamming grenades/dynamite/explosives...why is Nate always hunched over?...taking a good screenshot is tricky because Nate always seems slouched over
 
Chapter 17 has to be one of my all time favorite video game levels. Such a good game. I'm sorry but Naughty Dog is just running circles around the rest of the industry.
 

Kaversmed

Member
Beat it today on Hard.

Pros:
Best story
Mind-blowing graphics.
Surprisingly enjoyable 'walking simulator' sections
Better puzzles than previous games

Cons:
Ridiculously awful boss fight
The stealth
Platforming still sucks
Combat is still boring.

So based on these cons, I assume you only liked walking around in UC4? :D
 

Ratrat

Member
So based on these cons, I assume you only liked walking around in UC4? :D
Thankfully there are plenty of them. Cutscenes and puzzles were pretty enjoyable too. I dont hate the rest, just didn't enjoy them enough to want to replay the game on Crushing like I did with 2&3. Also, screw the speedrun throphy.
Anytime I see "terrible boss fight" I immediately assume they were awful at it and didn't understand what they were doing.
Especially those crying "new mechanic bs"
You just dodge until the game prompts you to press square. There is no point in moving around the room or pressing the attack. Its a qte disguised to look like more.
 
Anytime I see "terrible boss fight" I immediately assume they were awful at it and didn't understand what they were doing.
Especially those crying "new mechanic bs"
 
Top Bottom