Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) Review

One Last Adventure.

 The supposed final entry of the Uncharted series is finally upon us, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Nathan Drake is back and is looking better than ever on the PlayStation 4 system. Packing an engaging narrative (as always), big areas to explore, and some of the best production values ever to graces the system, developer Naughty Dog sure did put in a lot of effort into the game. I've already covered Drake's last three adventures, so only Uncharted 4 remains. Well... I haven't reviewed Golden Abyss nor Fight for Fortune, but those are for another time.

STORY- Set many years after Drake's Deception, we follow retired treasure hunter Nathan Drake living a normal life with his wife Elena Fisher. However, He's dragged back into the life of adventure when he meets his lost brother Sam, who is in debt to a drug lord. Having no choice but to help his brother, Nate searches for Henry Avery's treasure, said to house a fortune of 400 million dollars. We're also introduced to two of the game's antagonists: Rafe Adler, millionaire treasure hunter and a former partner of the brothers, and Nadine Ross, leader of a powerful military company, Shoreline. Sully's also back and is supporting Nate and Sam on their journey. 

Nathan Drake is back in action.

 I overall enjoyed Uncharted 4's story. It was great seeing Nate, Sully, and Elena back in action and I liked Sam as well. Despite them being one-dimensional, the villains were OK. I liked Rafe the most compared to Nadine, whose main purpose in the story was just to accompany Rafe and occasionally kick Nate's ass. Nevertheless, the ending was well-executed and is a great send-off to one of PlayStation's iconic stars, Nathan Drake.

GAMEPLAY- If you've played the previous three adventures, you know what to expect here. Uncharted 4 is third-person shooter with some platforming elements. You mainly control Nathan Drake as he shoots his way through enemies by using many weapons scattered through the areas. The platforming aspects of the game has Nate swimming, climbing, and more. He'll be using his new grappling hook the most to pull objects and swing from one area to another. There are also the occasional puzzles Nate has to solve, though I found them to be pretty easy.

Although he's a bit old now, Nate's still got it. 

 The biggest new addition is the large open areas compared to the small linear one of previous games. While Uncharted 4 is linear, there's plenty of room to navigate through. This comes especially helpful when trying to sneak past enemies. Speaking of enemies, they're smarter than before and tend to work in groups to take out Nate. Thankfully, his companions' AI have also been given a tweak and will help cover him. Nate can now have some conversation with his companions during gameplay by pressing triangle when the icon appears next to them. It's a nice little mechanic that was introduced in Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us.

Driving through the big areas is pretty sweet.

 The game also features a multiplayer mode similar to those of Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3. You can play as Nate, Elena, Sully, and other characters in the series against the opposing team. I'm not much of an online multiplayer person but it's a nice distraction after finishing the main game.

 Despite all the good said, I had some gripes with the game. Other than collecting journals and treasures, the large areas felt empty. Speaking of treasures, for some reason they're glowing white orbs again compared to Uncharted 3's fully modeled ones. This made them a pain to find in the game's large areas. However, most baffling of all is the absence of the grenade throwback feature that was introduced. I don't know the reason for its exclusion but it could have been helpful in the many gunfights of the game, especially on higher difficulties.  

PRESENTATION- Uncharted 4 is one of the best looking PS4 game of the year. The production values here are superb. Character models, backgrounds are well-detailed and are some of the most impressive to come out of the system. Do I even need to talk about the voice-work? Nolan North (Natahn Drake), Emily Rose (Elena Fisher), Richard McGongale (Victor Sullivan) deliver excellent performances as always. Troy Baker (Sam Drake), Laura Bailey (Nadine Ross), and Warren Kole (Rafe Adler) all equally deliver great performances as well. I also liked the soundtrack, which packs lots of adventurous tracks that fits the atmosphere of the game. 

The production values here sky-high.

OVERALL- Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is one of the best games on the PS4 and of developer Naughty Dog. A lot of attention and care went into Nathan Drake's last adventure and it shows. The story, gameplay (mostly), and presentation are all top-notch. While I had some negatives with the game, it's my second favorite in the series after Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. If you're new to the series, start off with The Nathan Drake Collection so you can get up to speed. If you're a fan of Uncharted... What are you waiting for?