By Its the end of an Era, Naughty Dog has released their latest entry in long lasting Uncharted franchise. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is a remarkable achievement in all of gaming. Naughty Dog has once again created a masterpiece that not only manages to excel in the graphics department over its predecessors but it manages to all grow up story wise as well.
Story
Taking place many years after Uncharted 3, we find Nathan Drake living a normal life with his wife Elena. The story in the beginning of the game is very slowly paced though that is not an issue. Since Uncharted 4 was made by the same group who made The Last of Us you can clearly see that they decided to focus more on story the most which is hard to think about since the previous games were more action driven. The best part about the story is between Nate and Elena. Their chemistry together is just perfect and the performances really sell their love for each other. In all of the games I have played there hasn’t been a more perfect couple than these two. They bicker at each other, play jokes on each other, they act like couples should. The motion capture used for this game really shows the range of emotions that these characters can emit and its just fantastic.
One new character introduced is Drake’s brother Sam. Sam’s intro is what kicks the main story of the game. Sam is in trouble due to owing someone a lot of money for breaking him out of prison. Drake believed Sam was dead all these years so after consideration he decided to go on this expedition to find a famous pirates treasure. One of the most interesting aspects of the story is that everything s grounded in reality where in previous games there was some type of supernatural element integrated. There are no ghosts, zombies, or all powerful gods, just Pirates ( which you don’t fight). Throughout the story Drake has many great interactions between Sully, Sam and Elena. Every conversation they have feel real, its emotional, its funny. Naughty Dog laid out a perfect script for the actors and you can tell everything flows naturally. Finally without any spoilers the Epilogue is a fitting end to the series and the characters. Most series usually end on a note that there could be future installments however Uncharted 4 nailed it with a true ending to the series.
Gameplay and Graphics
On the gameplay front Uncharted received a nice upgrade in terms of features. Guns have a nice feel to them. When shooting you can feel the weight behind them and the sound as natural as possible. One of the best new features is the grappling hook. Most of the areas in the game are very open giving you options on how you want to proceed with the fights. When engaged in a firefight you can find tree branches or stone walkways that you can use your grappling hook on so you can traverse the area quicker. However you can also use that to your advantage by shooting enemies while swinging around or if you are above an enemy you can let go and land an awesome takedown. Though that is not the only way to play, for the first time in the series you can actually use stealth to avoid most of the firefights and it adds a nice change of pace if you are the strategist type of plater.
One of the best things about the series has not changed and that is the massive action set pieces. There are a few fantastic action sequences ranging from being dragged from behind a car taking out others to houses blowing up on the side of a mountain while you have to navigate through them to get to the other side. These sequences are breathtaking and the power of the PS4 really helps create a massive scope of the environment to truly make an epic scene. Of course none of this would be as great to watch if it wasn’t for the graphics. Naughty Dog has a really great reputation for their graphics and A Thief’s End is no exception. Expectations were pretty high before the game released and Naughty Dog managed to exceed those expectation. Motion capture is not anywhere close to being new in Video games however the facial recognition and range of emotions portrayed by these characters have to be the best in the industry. When Elena is angry you know she’s angry, when Drake is sad or uncertain no words are needed, everything is told in the expressions.
The character models are also great. This being set quite a few years later everyone has gotten older and you can tell instantly without any context given. You can see wrinkles, freckles, every tiny grey hair, dirt after a fire fight or sliding in mud or swimming in water. The attention to detail is extraordinary and not only for the characters but also for the environment. The story is about pirates so is obvious that a lot of locations take place on islands and villages. Everything is gorgeous, the lighting in every location is perfect, the water shines bright and even under water there is an entire new site to see. Buildings are modeled after those from that time period so the size, the color, the interior furniture, everything that you would think a pirate village would look like. Like many other PS4 exclusive games there is a feature called Photo mode that allows you freeze the game at any location and create you own picture. Photo mode is perfect for a game like this, there were many instances where I’m looking out into the horizon and I capture the perfect shot. With Photo mode I am allowed to edit the photo as much as I want. You can change the coloring, the filter, add grain effects, there are many options out to create the perfect picture to share with everyone. All of these features combined help create one of the most gorgeous games of all time and to think that it was all made on a console.
Multiplayer
Of course the fun doesn’t end after you beat the main story, there is an entire robust multiplayer to play around with. If you have played an Uncharted multiplayer game before then you should be familiar with this one. However its the new features that make this one a must play. New to this game are the enhancements and loadouts. When playing a match you get money you can spend on item during the match. When you have enough money you press the touch pad to bring up a small wheel that gives you special powers to use to your advantage. One of the options are basic powers like medic kits, extra ammo, Rocket Launcher etc.
However the two new features are the best, Sidekicks and Mysticals. Summoning a sidekick is just like it sounds, you pick between a Brute to mow enemies down, Sniper to cover you while you go for an objective, Medic to heal you and Hunter to find the nearest enemy and put them in hold position so you can go for the kill. Sidekicks are a great addition to help newcomers and pros get a handle of the game. The best new feature are the mysticals, powers that are taken from previous Uncharted games to help turn the tides of the match. The new mysticals are Wrath of El Dorado which helps clear out any enemies nearby, Spirit of Djinn which allows to teleport short distances to get to objectives faster, Cintamani Stone which instantly revives fallen allies, Staff of Ayar Manco which shows all enemies on the map, and Indra’s Eternity that slows down any enemy that enters is area of effect. These abilities are great and can easily help turn a losing battle into a winning one and to make it fair you can only have one of these from each category equipped in a load out at once. For the modes there are the normal Team Deathmatch and Command mode which is basically Capture points. New to the series is Plunder mode, which is basically grab the treasure and bring it back to your base and Trials which is an offline mode where you fight against NPC’s while trying to get the high score using mechanics used in Multiplayer.
Finally you have the unlockables . Every character has different outfits you can unlock mostly based off of designs from previous games. You can also buy accessories for each character ranging from sun glasses to hats, scarf to make them look goofy. The best though are the taunts. These are hilarious gestures you can make during a match that can make any situation funny. Ranging from certain pop culture dances, to funny faces and bursting out laughing poses these are the unlockables that are worth playing for.
The Verdict
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is a masterpiece in terms of graphical design and story telling. Naughty Dog always somehow manages to exceed all expectations and deliver the best game that they can. There is a reason why Naughty Dog is considered one of the best companies in the world and there is a reason for that. Uncharted 4 manages to masterfully combine great story telling with phenomenal performances to great gameplay and photorealistic graphics. It may not be the best feeling in the world to know that this my be the final time we see Nathan Drake and company however the Epilogue manages to close out the story on a heartfelt note that will be remember for quite sometime. Its not easy ending a series, however this was done perfectly.
10/10 Masterpiece
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