When I was 12 years old I was the only person in my class with a Playstation 1. Everyone else owned a Nintendo 64. It’s something that is even more clear in the ” 90s nostalgia” world we live in today. How often do you see a post/meme on social media or reddit talking about Goldeneye, Zelda, Mario Kart or Smash Brothers in comparison to any PS1 game?
It almost looks like the Playstation didn’t have any exclusives (it sure didn’t have a mascot like Nintendo had since the beginning of time with Mario..) but.. damn.. look at this snapshot of games for the PS1:
- Final Fantasy
- Crash Bandicoot
- Tekken
- Gran Turismo
- Tomb Raider
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
- And probably the greatest game of the generation: Metal Gear Solid
Skipping a couple of generations, the amount of exclusives released for a console is less (between Xbox and PS4 that is) but the importance is higher then ever. What is the difference between the PS4 and the Xbox One? A bit of graphical power sure but the exclusives make a console stand out.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is that exclusive. A game that has the perfect balance between story, gameplay and graphics.
“I don’t know why people get into video games.” – Nathan Drake
After the previous 3 (not counting the portable console version) instalments of Uncharted. Nathan Drake finds himself into one last mission. After finding out that his older brother, Sam, isn’t dead and the two get reunited. The Drake bros need to find a way to pay of Sam’s debt.. or so the story goes.
What I love about the final Uncharted game is that we learn more and more about the Drake family and Nathan himself. Where the Uncharted 1 till 3 was about adventure and finding treasure with a little bit of love story here and there. Uncharted 4 goes deeper, it talks about the relationship of Nathan with the rest of his friends and family. The problems he had growing up, lying against his wife and disappointing his friends.
Alright, it’s not Citzen Kane or Casablanca level of story writing but it’s better then what we got before. If the X-Men movies are Uncharted 1,2 and 3. Then Uncharted 4 is more like Logan.
A quick side note, my most beloved game series, Monkey Island and it’s most “mighty pirate” Guybrush Threepwood is being honoured into the game.
Guybrush’s statue
“Nathan Drake is a legend! You know, I shot the man who told me that.” – Rafe
Just like in all the previous Uncharted games, the gameplay is smooth. Jumping, running and shooting all work really well. The camera isn’t much of an issue in most cases (probably because the game is linear). Unlike in the older Uncharted games you can but auto-aim on. And of course this is not completely auto but it does help with some difficult situations.
The best part of the game happens during the over-the-top actions scenes. From being dragged behind a truck and shooting yourself to safety, to escaping a collapsing tower. The way Naughty Dog balances the intense scenes with more quite action or stealth scenes is very well done.
“Great, power’s out, and a girl’s trapped. I swear to God, if there’s a zombie around the next corner…” – Nathan Drake
And then we have the graphics, oh. my. god. This is, by far the best looking game I’ve played on the PS4. From the colourful flora of Madagascar to the big cement prison in Panama. One of the best things to do is just stop for a second and look into the distance. Just like in The Witcher 3, just having a great colour palette makes the difference here.
The animations are top notch, the emotion on all the characters faces are easy to recognise and draw you even deeper into the story.
tl:dr and the end bit
If you haven’t played the game yet go get it now and if you don’t own a PS4 then this game should be the reason to buy one. It’s an experience that isn’t as long as The Witcher 3. You can probably finish the game within 20 hours on hard difficulty (which is the best way to play, everything lower is way to easy and to higher is just frustrating).
