There are very few moments in my life that literally take my breath away; that make me feel puny in the grand scheme of everything. One of the most recent memories of such an incident had occurred during the black hole scene in Interstellar, for it wasn’t just the vivid aesthetics that drew my complete focus but it was the grandiosity of such a thing existing that made me feel puny in the grand scheme of it all. Rarely have I ever had such an experience. However, I got to the full rush of that feeling this past weekend when I had my run-through of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
The tone of the whole game is set right from the start with flashbacks painting us an image of a young Nathan Drake breaking out of his orphanage with the aid and guidance of his elder brother Sam. Right from there we see a relationship marked not by excessive affection but by the subtle hints of admiration, especially from Nathan to Sam. It’s quite clear that a huge part of who Nathan is comes from his adoration of his elder brother. Fast forward a bit and we see the duo, teamed up with another treasure hunter Rafe Adler, on the hunt for the fabled treasure of Captain Avery. However, during this endeavour Sam is shot and left for dead, all while Nathan watches in dismay. All this occurred before the first Uncharted title. Fast forward again, two years after Drake’s Deception, and we see a more level-headed and sombre Nathan drake. Gone is the drive for him to strap on his weapon holsters and run into the face of unknown danger, as he is now a grounded man sharing a home with wife Elena Fisher. But this would not be a satisfying video game if the main objectives were to complete house chores. Thus, comes about Sam, who to Nathan’s surprise somehow survived the grasp of death. Yet, this return is not a pleasant one, for Sam requires Nathan’s assistance to find Captain Avery’s treasure in order to pay off a debt he owes to a mob kingpin. And thus, the adventure begins.
The beauty of the story lies in its narrative nuances. It was a common place issue with the previous Uncharted titles that they lacked depth in their fictive renditions, leaving them with trite set pieces and even more banal characters. But this time around Naughty Dog have decided to create a more human story. Throughout the adventure you see the guilt Nathan carries for having abandoned his brother but at the same time you see the dissonance he faces for lying to Elena in order to go on an expedition which could possibly get him killed. Even the antagonists are driven by human motives and this makes their actions more understandable. Furthermore there are the few rare instances where the player can step-aside from all the platforming and action and just interact with their side characters, most of the time being Sam, and these two minute sequences do a lot to show the dynamics between Nathan and those around him. Naughty Dog have taken a page from their previous project – The Last of Us – and it has worked wonders for this series finale (coincidentally, Thieves End was directed by the same people who directed Last of Us).
It’s not just the story-telling that is taken up a few notches but even the gameplay and environment has been upgraded. Be it from the far-reaching muddy terrains of the Madagascar to the catacombs of Scotland, Naughty Dog have done a superb job of making each place feel distinct in its own way. Lighting and colours set the tone for each location you call at, but they still manage to create this air of wonder for each of those locations. It’s not often in a video game that a graveyard can be described as aesthetic but that’s what Naughty Dog has managed to pull off. To accentuate these vistas even further is the addition of semi-sandbox mechanics, for this time around the terrain of each area is a bit more widespread, thus allowing gamers a chance to explore the environment. This added expansion of terrain only intensifies the vividness and adds to the immersion that the player experiences.
An Uncharted game is equal parts environmental settings and gameplay. The series did always have a good traversal mechanic but that’s what it was – only good. However, this time around it’s more than good, it’s near perfect. Scaling the ledges of derelict towers, swinging across crumbling walls, and tight roping across bottomless caverns feels more effortful which only drives the sense of realism further. There is also a great amount of attention paid to little details, such as when Nathan is traversing between two ledge; if you position him in an awkward manner, you can actually see him struggle to stay on the ledge (such as him extending his leg out to the other ledge in order to get a better footing). Even the way the side characters react to your daring feat, such as letting out a sigh of relief as you barely make it too a ledge, adds to the immersion.
Even the transition between combat and platforming is fluid as can be, for the predecessors all faced the problem of creating combat environments and platforming environments that felt overtly disparate. But in Thieve’s End, it feels like one massive extension and ensures coherence is maintained. The combat is a bit more refined as well, with hand-to-hand combat being the most satisfying bit of all. Players will often find themselves in arena-style moments, where there will be a bunch of baddies roaming the area, and it’s up to the players to either take them guns-blazing or go for a more covert approach. The stealth is what really shines during these set pieces and the different ways the player can approach the situation is innumerable. But if stealth isn’t your forte, then the game is just as rewarding for all-out gunplay with the environment littered with interactive elements that help takedown enemies. You can find yourself trading fisticuffs with one combatant, then running and grappling onto the nearest hook point which you can use to swing towards an enemy around the corner, knocking that enemy down as you pounce on top off him, then picking up his shotgun and using it against the fool that tried to charge towards you.
It all feels cinematic in the best ways possible and the game is littered with such moments. Furthermore, all of this is neatly packaged within a great soundtrack that perpetuates the action and excitement of each situation the player finds themselves in. It’s not often that a score gets your heart pumping faster than the actual chase of a chase sequence. The music doesn’t just do wonders for the combat but even for exploration. The environments instil this sense of curiosity while at the same time causing goosebumps because your next step could be your last and all of this heightened with the highs and lows of the instruments playing in the background.
The puzzles that Nathan has to solve are tricky but not in a mind-boggling manner and the placement of these puzzles throughout the game feel right because they don’t halt the overall momentum. They offer the right amount of challenge and at the same time are quite visually appealing. Too often I found myself not starting the solving process because I was too busy scanning and cooing over the details and structure of some of the puzzles the game has to offer.
I never got the chance to experience Uncharted 4’s multiplayer but regardless of that, this game is a must-have for any fan of the franchise or any fan of the adventure-action genre. The game has its low moments such as suffering from a faulty cover system or even that the stealth aspects of the game are not rewarding and often get repetitive. Furthermore the enemy AI is quite daft and doesn’t offer too much of a challenge as the game progresses. But these can be overlooked to an extent because this is an adventure that needs to be experienced.
You will find yourself enthralled in the story of the characters, the thrill of the action, the complexity of the puzzles and the beauty of the environment, all at the same time. This game is nothing less than overwhelming. Uncharted 4 manages to keep every set piece it has to offer fresh, enticing and fluid. Momentum is what drives this game. Naughty Dog took their time creating this masterpiece, one I’m glad I purchased, for they knew this would be the swansong of the Uncharted series. Instead of bringing a four-piece quartet, they brought a whole god damn orchestra.
