Finally Naughty Dog gives
us a new Uncharted but is 4 installments just too much for Drake? Is
the formula getting old? Let's find out.
Nathan Drake comes out of
retirement to go on a treasure hunt with his brother Sam and his best
friend Sully.
Let's start of talking
about Nathan Drake(played by Nolan North who is know for his work on
video games like Batman Arkham City/Origin/Knight, Deadpool and The
Last of Us). He hasn't really changed a lot as a character since the
last game. He has retired from the treasure hunting and is living a
quiet life with his wife now but you can see he misses the action and
adventure. Nathan goes through a lot of emotions in this one and gets
put in a lot of impossible positions but it's never forced. You might
not agree with everything but it's not forced so it fits within the
story the game is telling. Nathan won't change a lot through the game
but that's fine, it's his fourth game, how much more can he change.
He still have the great humor as he always has had and the jumping
skills of a god. As I said, Nathan is living with his wife Elena
Fisher(played by Emily Rose who is know for her work on
Graceland(TV-Series), Secret Summer(TV-Movie) and The Thanksgiving
house(TV-Movie)). This is also a character from the other games and
it's also the girl you hoped Nathan would end up with. She's strong,
clever, funny and more. She's also the same character as
before(luckily) but she does create some interesting inner turmoil
for out hero. New to the series is Nathans brother Samuel
Drake(played by Troy Baker who is know for his on video games like
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Far Cry 4 and The Last of Us).
First of, I must say that he looks like Quentin Lance from the
TV-Show Arrow. I just had to put it out there, fine, moving on. I
have seen him getting some flak online and I don't really see why. I
can agree with him not being the best character and it's hard when
you are in the same game as characters like Nathan Drake and Elena
Fisher but he is not a bad character. He can be annoying, stubborn
and stupid but he's far from a bad character. I think people sees all
the other great characters and conclude with Sam being a bad
character because he is maybe the worst of the characters in this
game. As I said, I don't think he's a bad character. But that's my
opinion. Nathans best friend is also back, is Victor Sullivan(played
by Richard McGonagle who is know for his work on video games like
Prototype, Jak 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater). He hasn't
changed at all. Always looking for an adventure, Cigar smoking smooth
talker and the great dry humor. No change to him, no change needed.
Over too the more shady characters and we start off with Rafe
Adler(played by Warren Kole who is know for his work on Common
Law(TV-Series), Shades of Blue(TV-Series) and Stalker(TV-Series)).
From the first second you see him you know he's a shady guy. The way
he talk, the way he moves, the way he looks and the way he thinks
tells you that you should probably not trust this guy. Not much to
say here, he want's a treasure, is not as good as Nathan and there's
nothing he won't do to get to the treasure first. With him he has the
help of Nadine Ross(played by Laura Bailey who is know for her work
on video games like World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Mass
Effect 3 and Gears of War 4), a really strong no-nonsense female
character who kicks ass and wants a treasure. She is the less crazy
one while Rafe is kinda unstable, which is probably why they work so
well together on screen. The kinda compliment each other. So there
you have it. A lot of great characters with some of the best voice
acting you can find anywhere.
The story in this game is
fantastic. I love this kind of adventure story so it's not really a
huge surprise I say that. But as all stories this one too has some
problems. First thing that I hate, and everyone who have read some of
my opinions knows, is that the game starts in medias res(In medias rs
is Latin for “into the middle of things”. It usually describes a
narrative that begins, not at the beginning of a story, but somewhere
in the middle, usually at some crucial point in the action). It's not
a huge problem in this game because it doesn't spoil anything and so
on but it's so useless. I mean, I'll get there when I get there. No
need to show me what I will get to in 5 hours. One thing you must
know before you play this game is that it's a game. It's not going to
be a simulation of life and so on. Nathan take a lot of abuse and
just walks it of. He has some of the most insane jumps ever. He can
fall a long way and the just grab a piece of the mountain without any
problem. This is not something you can do in real life. If you want
to see something more realistic go play The Sims. This is an
adventure with all that comes with that. Clues are easy for us too
see and hard for the bad guys, insane traps and contraptions, and you
kill a lot of people. And when I say a lot I mean A LOT. The game
takes you some great locations like Madagascar, Italy and Scotland.
Also, again Naughty Dog gives us a story you kinda know of and you
didn't know you wanted more of, the story of infamous pirate Henry
Avery. The story takes you from nice beautiful landscapes too dark
caves with some of the coolest traps in the series. There are also
some really dark moments too in the narrative. I don't wanna spoil to
much of the story but for me it was almost perfect. I got completely
hooked and just couldn't stop playing it. The graphics might be the
best I have seen on the Playstation 4 too. You really feel like you
are almost there. Also, the facial animations in cut-scenes are
fantastic. Some of the most powerful scenes in the game are those
without words and that is a really hard ting to do in a video game.
Extremely impressive. The ending of the game is one of the best
endings I have seen in a long time. Not necessarily because of what
happens but more because of what it says and what it does and more
importantly how it shows it. It's hard to explain without spoiling it
but you will know what I'm talking about if you ever see it.
When it comes too the
mechanics of the game most of the are some of the greatest in the
series. Jumping and climbing and so on feels like second nature. No
problems or anything. The cover-system kinda pissed me of at times
but all cover-systems do that for me. It's fine, it was probably just
my bad. New to the series is the grappling hook and damn this thing
is useful. You can't go and use it where ever you want but it don't
think any game does that. You can grapple and swing to walls, climb
up or even jump of on a guy and superman-punch him. It's a really
good tool that fits the series well. Now over too the worst thing
about the entire game, the gun-play. So, no matter what of the newer
Naughty Dog games you play you have probably yelled at the TV because
of the gun mechanics but this game takes that too a knew low. I
played without auto-aim but with aim-assist but I struggled. I can't
just say what's wrong with it, it just doesn't work as it should. I
have heard multiple people saying that they turned on auto-aim and it
was a better game for it. If Naughty Dog ever make another game with
guns they need to get someone to make a way better system then what
they have. Maybe the aim has to work like this for a reason but I
don't think anything worth giving up such an important piece of the
game. The only reason I can look past this is because of all the
other things with the game. My recommendation for you, turn on
auto-aim, relax and enjoy the ride.
I have hear the question
“is this game worth buying a Playstation 4 for?” and my answer to
that is no, hell no. I don't think any game is worth buying a console
for. A playstation 4 in Norway costs 3400 NOK (which is 416 USD), the
game cost 700 NOK(which is 86 USD). That means that you would spend
502 USD to play one game for 12 – 14 hours. Not worth it at all.
That's just too much money to use for one game. However I do
recommend the game. I loved every second of it. One of the best
experiences I have had the last 6 months. If you have a Playstation 4
I recommend that you buy and play it, if you don't have a Playstation
4 I recommend you buy the game, borrow a Playstation 4 from a buddy
and play the game. Bottom line is I can't say what you must do or
don't do but what I say is that I recommend that you play it,
especially if you are a fan of the earlier games.
TL;DR
Fantastic game. Fantastic
Story. Great characters. Impressive voice acting. Horrible gun
mechanics. 12 – 14 hours length. A great adventure that hooked me
in from start to finish. Impressive animations. Cut scenes show
emotions on faces in a very impressive way. I recommend this for all
but especially for people who are fans of the Uncharted series and
for people who enjoy action adventure games.
My question for you:
What do you think of console-exclusive games?
What do you think about this being the last Uncharted with Nathan
Drake?
What do you want to see next from Naughty Dog?
Please
leave a comment(negative,positive, suggestions or/and answers).
Until
next time, stay fresh.
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