AndiC.uk

First of all this contains many, many spoilers. If you plan on playing the Uncharted games, play them before reading this. If not, read this to hear why Uncharted is a such a fantastic single player adventure. And if you have played them, see if you agree with my series ranking at the end.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

The original Uncharted debuted in 2007 but it wasn't a must buy game. It reviewed well but I didn't actually pick it up until the critical success of Uncharted 2. After this game was storming up the charts I had to play the original.

The first standout scene was chapter 4 - "A Surprising Find". Seeing the German u-boat in the middle of the jungle was so different and begged to be explored. It was also memorable for Sully getting shot and certainly thinking he was dead at the time. You grow to like Sully immediately after he's introduced when saving you from the pirates in chapter 1. Another great scene is the chase sequence with Nate and Elena being hunted down by Eddie. I now realise how much developer Naughty Dog love their reverse run scenes. The underground chapters and the mutants of El Dorado were also memorable. The dark corridors around the generator rooms turned out to be fairly scary stuff especially if you don't play horror games.

The most common negative on Uncharted 1 is the default grenade system because it used the PS3 controller's sixaxis motion controls. I say fair play to Naughty Dog for using all the tech at their disposal. I thought it was fine and a rare use of the technology.

On the whole the original Uncharted is a great single player adventure, with brilliant voice acting, and a nice villain switch at the end. It was the first game in this genre of the PS3/Xbox 360 generation so there was nothing to really compare it with. More importantly it provided the grounding and character base for some truly incredible sequels.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Why was this game receiving so much critical praise? Well the very opening chapter is one of the most memorable in recent gaming history. Nate wakes up in an empty cold train, with objects suddenly flying over his shoulders. When the camera pans out he's sat face down, strapped in his seat, in a carriage hanging perilously off a cliff face. Your first involvement is to save Nate and somehow climb the outside of the train carriages to safety. I don't think I'll ever forget this scene.

The next chapter we meet instantly interesting new characters in Chloe and Flynn. In the sewers of chapter 2 you can clearly see visual improvement in Nate's movement and the water effects. Then there is the epic train ride chapter "Locomotion". Whenever I'm playing a game that requires your character to traverse a moving train outside of the carriages, I think back to Uncharted 2. Hurtling through stunning jungle and mountain backdrops. Nate picking off goons while avoiding deadly signal posts. And finishing with taking down an enemy helicopter, it is a brilliant chapter.

This game also features the intriguing love triangle with Nate, Elena and Chloe. Elena introducing herself to Chloe as "last year's model" was an obvious but classic line. There is the similar mystical theme to Uncharted 1 with Shambala and the blue 'guardians' I think they were called. The place was gorgeous but a little too far fetched with the whole place supposedly below the Himalayas.

Uncharted 2 also features the best bad guy in Zoran Lazarovic. Just a complete badass who didn't mess around. The final boss fight was a little lacklustre but ultimately a great escape scene with Nate and Elena defying all odds to escape. Finally the very last scene is another special one with Nate and Elena together at long last.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

After the success of Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog had earned its reputation as a top tier developer and with that added huge pressure to their future titles. Despite this, Uncharted 3 was another blockbuster of a single player adventure game with some truly stunning sequences.

The truck flying out the back of the cargo plane with Nate latching onto some netting, thousands of feet in the sky, still shooting at enemies is right up there with Uncharted's best ever moments. The overturning cruise ship is another brilliant sequence. One scene often forgotten though is the build up to catching the cargo plane in the first place. Nate hops a fence preventing Elena from following him, which leads to a tempered but ultimately fond farewell between the pair. Drake then runs after the plane, knows it's out of reach, when Elena storms to the rescue, picks up Nate in the jeep, and a miracle jump gets him on the plane's wheel. It reminded me of the similarly epic Toy Story 2 scene. I also loved the young Drake flashback chapters in Colombia, showing how he and Sully become the pals they are today.

But despite these great moments, there are two serious drawbacks to the game for me. The first being the end of the desert sequence. Drake has walked the baron sands for hours and is on his last legs, dying of thirst. He somehow finds a village, and when Mercenaries suddenly show up, Nate sparks into full health with his shooting and agility unaffected. The second is in the final gameplay scene within the hidden city of Ubar. Drake fires a rocket launcher at the crane pulling up the mysterious vessel, which in turn, destroys the entire city! Really!? With these two flaws, Uncharted 2 is certainly the better game.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

So fast forward 5 years to the launch of Uncharted 4 and what were we to expect? Another blockbuster title with the best graphics in the series was guaranteed. Primarily because this was Naughty Dog's first game built solely for the PS4. But the game had experienced more delays than any other title they've released so was it a late rush to get the game out the door? Was the game truly finished? Of course the answer here was yes, and wow was it worth the wait! Firstly the graphics in Uncharted 4 are unbelievably good. Just so good. I've never captured more screenshots while playing a single game. Every chapter either the location, or the weather, or the lighting changed, and the visuals were stunning every time. See my capture gallery here.

The major new character to the series, Nate's brother Sam (voiced by the fantastic Troy Baker) was an excellent addition and Naughty Dog nailed the brotherly relationship. One example being towards the end of the chapter 11 - the chase scene with Nate in the jeep and Sam on the bike - both shout "Hop on!" as they think of them self as the better driver and want to save the other. Playing Uncharted 4 also made me realise how much I love Sully. He was a little under used but the man must be approaching his 70's in this game. His intro was brilliant - sat like James Bond in a dark room, and even more like 007 when playing it cool with Nadine.

Speaking of which the villains in this game were a bit hit and miss. It did feel weird engaging in fist fights with a female henchman (henchwoman?), especially the two on one scene, but Nadine added very little else. Rafe was a well acted, fairly stereotypical bad guy, that I actually couldn't wait to kill by the end.

As for the big set piece moments, there were plenty. The bell falling through the clock tower, the jeep chase scene from the E3 demo, the armoured truck chasing Nate and Sam on the bike... This was all in one chapter! I also loved the ambush scene from the tower in Libertalia. One minute you're taking in a gorgeous 360 degree view, the next you're grappling up to a collapsing tower and scampering across it.

But despite these epic moments, the real reason I so highly rank this game is its slow story telling cutscenes. The whole pirate captain plot was the best mythological thread in the series, because it contained nothing mystical and it was easy to follow. It was great to see the Pirates slowly turning on each other, leading up to the fantastic dinner table scene. However Chapter 4 "A Normal Life" is the real stunning chapter that is unlike anything in the series. Drake has settled down into married life with Elena, has a routine job, and we get to explore his house. Picking up the plastic toy gun in the attic felt fantastic with Nate reliving his action hero past. And heading downstairs you see a typical evening for the couple. The character animation and voice acting here is absolutely spot on and the best I've seen in a video game. Then, on arguing who should clean the dishes, Drake challenges Elena at her "TV game thing" as he brilliantly puts it. Initially I thought it would be an unbranded Nintendo Wii giving this is Elena's. But no, the camera sweeps up to reveal an original PlayStation (which put one hell of a smile on my face) and then the game she is playing is revealed... The original Crash Bandicoot! One of my favourite childhood games and of course Naughty Dog's first PlayStation game. I thought this couldn't get any better, but it could! You as Drake (who has no clue on video games) play through the Boulder Dash level with Elena guiding him. This was one of my favourite moments in gaming let alone Uncharted 4.

And finally there is the Epilogue which is similarly sublime. Firstly there's the chance to play Crash Bandicoot again (to my complete delight) but then it reveals your character - a young teenage girl with glasses. Who is this? It turns out to be the daughter of Nate and Elena, Cassie. You're free to explore the house (very similar to chapter 4), finding all sorts of references to the previous games in the series, and also finding photo albums and letters showing you how Sully and Sam are getting along for example. It was the nicest way to end an epic video game series and I couldn't fault it at all. It even provides a way to continue the Drake story if need be. Just imagine the reaction to an E3 teaser in say 10 years time.

To summarise, the Uncharted series has been incredible. From an initial game that many people weren't interest in (myself included) the series has become the biggest exclusive in PlayStation's recent history. The expectation on Naughty Dog to deliver the best single player adventure experience ever since Uncharted 2 has been so high and they've met those expectations every time.

It's clear to see the influence that The Last Of Us had on Uncharted 4 too. The game features very similar top class emotional moments, just like when Elena discovers the lie on the Malaysia Job.

On ranking the Uncharted games, it has to be 4, 2, 3, 1. And if I have to include The Last Of Us, that slots into a solid second place. The nostalgia in Uncharted 4 makes it insurmountable. But even with ignoring Crash, Uncharted 4 is a truly epic game. It tells the most complete story in the most beautiful setting, and is the perfect way to end the series.

Charting the Uncharted Series