Available on PlayStation 4
I’ll be upfront right away. I haven’t completed any of the past Uncharted games. I played a portion of the first game. I wasn’t against the games, they were just some of those games that I never got around to. But playing Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has shown me that I’ve really been missing out. This game is a wonderful mix of action-adventure gameplay with a great story and a healthy sense of humor. I love it.
The Story
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End once again stars Nathan Drake. He’s a man that’s been tracking down numerous treasures throughout the world. (All of these treasures are rooted in real-life lore, by the way.) In the latest game, he’s after the booty of the notorious pirate Henry Avery. He’s actually been looking for this treasure for many. many years, even before the setting of the other Uncharted games. A Thief’s End’s story jumps back and forth between the past and present, and features some well-known characters like Victor Sullivan and Elena, who is now married to Drake. While it’s clear that there is some real stormy pasts between these characters, I didn’t find it difficult to “get” the story without in-depth knowledge of the past games. This means if you’re reluctant to pick up a game “in the middle” in terms of story, you shouldn’t be afraid of that here. A Thief’s End also features Nathan’s older brother Sam as a main character.
The characters have distinct personalities and feel like “real” people.
The Uncharted series features one of the best stories in games to date. It’s beautifully written in a way that makes the characters believable and with distinct personalities. There’s also a good amount of light humor in the games that adds to those personalities.
Gameplay
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End features a great combination of world traversal, puzzles and combat. It’s very much like the gameplay in the recent Tomb Raider games. I loved those games, so it’s no surprise I loved Uncharted just as much. I felt like all of the elements were completely balanced. There wasn’t too much of any specific gameplay (combat, puzzles, etc.) so I never felt like I was grinding through anything to get to the next part.
The world traversal can be challenging, but it’s still a whole lot of fun.
The puzzles and traversal are challenging in places, but never to the point of frustration. The beautiful environments help to make finding your away around the world and great experience.The combat was also dealt with a great way, especially if you’re like me and really just want to play the other stuff. If you play the game on the easier difficulties, you get an auto-lock for your weapon, which makes the combat pretty simple, but doesn’t affect the rest of the gameplay. If shooting’s your thing, there are multiple higher difficulties that beef up that part of the gameplay and make aiming completely manual.
The game also features online multiplayer in pretty standard form including team deathmatch and a version of capture the flag. More maps and weapons are scheduled to be released as free updates throughout 2016 and into the spring of 2017.
The Rating
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is rated T with descriptors for Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, and Violence. When you’re shot, some streaks of blood appear around the edges of the screen to inform you that you’ve been injured. Enemies give off a small amount of blood, but it’s not gratuitous. While there is swearing in the game, it’s not excessive. It’s about what you would expect from a movie rated PG 13. Multiple characters in the game smoke and consuming alcohol appears a number of times, but again it’s not excessive. During the game you’re required to shoot or throw grenades at a number of enemies in order to progress.
The Takeaway
I love Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. It’s got everything I love about games wrapped up in one beautiful experience. The story is one of the best I’ve ever encountered in a game, with believable characters who have strengths and weaknesses. The action adventure gameplay is well-executed and balanced. I never felt like I was doing too much of one thing. Even if you haven’t been following the series, it’s still a great game to check out. I haven’t played the previous games and the story felt completely understandable to me. I really can’t say enough about how great this game. If you’ve got a PlayStation 4, go out and buy (or download) this game immediately. You won’t be disappointed.
