There's nothing quite like a good adventure. And Uncharted 4 is one good adventure - a globe trotting, treasure hunting, Indiana Jones aping adventure, filled with the spirit of exploration. A third person action-adventure game, Uncharted 4 has long been one of the PS4's most wanted titles - and with good reason. As close to a Tomb-Raider-game-with-a-bloke as you're going to get (only perhaps with more shooting), the games have become known for their gripping storylines, cinematic style, and eye-popping action sequences. And, luckily for us, even if you're brand new to the series, it's even easy to pick up and play.
The story begins in the office of perennial explorer and adventure-seeker Nathan Drake, who's sat behind a desk stamping paper - a far cry from the thrilling life he prefers. Interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door, he puts down the paper, and is nothing short of gobsmacked to be greeted by his brother, Sam. You see, Sam has long been thought to be dead, having been shot during the pair's escape from a jail in Panama - but it turns out, with the help from another inmate, Sam managed to find his way out - and now, he brings with him a lead about some long-lost treasure. The notorious pirate, Captain Henry Avery had long been rumoured to have left behind a stash of gold - and Sam thinks he knows where it is. With a whiff of treasure in the air, Nathan can't help but go out on another treasure hunt - especially since Sam also informs Nathan that he's being blackmailed by the man who helped him break out of the prison. It's up to him to find the treasure, and deliver it to the drug lord Hector Alcazar, or face the consequences. With no way of gracefully declining, they set off on another globe trotting adventure, on the hunt for treasure.
We were literally thrown into the deep end from the word go!
In terms of gameplay, Uncharted is about as far away from a claustrophobic, corridor shooter as it's possibly to get. The levels are fairly free-form, whether you're climbing, navigating up the side of a mountain, defending yourself from bloodthirsty mercenaries, reading through ancient letters and journal entries to discover clues, or solving the odd puzzle or two.
In fact, in terms of gameplay, it probably sits somewhere between the ancient puzzle solving exploration of Tomb Raider, and the parkour cliff-scaling of Assassin's Creed series. Nathan even carries around his own grappling hook and rope for extra assistance with climbing up a steep mountainside or two, much like the rope launcher the protagonists in Assassin's Creed Syndicate use (but without the added mechanical assist, unfortunately for Nate.)
Always nice to get a trophy for just hanging around!
However, Nathan Drake is no indestructible god, and exploration isn't without its risks. You'll need to be careful where you're climbing, and be careful not to let him fall from too great a height, lest you come to a stick end. Luckily, this isn't the end of the game for you, as Uncharted has regular checkpoints, and the game will just reload at the last time one occurred. This can be frustrating if you find yourself struggling and having to repeat the same parts repeatedly, but you'll soon learn from your mistakes and figure it out. The game encourages you to just give it a go and jump, and if you die, ah well - just give it another go!
Along with your main quest for treasure, there's plenty of other collectibles to find too. From journal entries left behind by Captain Avery and his long dead acquaintances, supplying useful information and clues to help you on your journey to find his treasure, to rare trinkets, from an antique pocket watch, to a Viking cloak clasp; the collectibles are hard to spot, but with a keen eye you can collect them all - and you'll get a trophy for finding them.
If you like to be thorough with your exploration, then, there's plenty in Uncharted 4 to keep you coming back. You can even find yourself better weapons (represented by their gold colour) to use in your fight against the mercenaries you'll come up against. We actually almost missed out on a piece of treasure and a good weapon at one point - but, as luck would have it, we decided to backtrack across an area randomly, just to see what was there, and found a little underground cave area. It's these little hidden treasures that make Uncharted so great - and after that, we were meticulous with our exploring.
Reminiscing about the good ol' days.
Another nice nod is that Uncharted 4 comes with a range of different difficulty levels - so if you're like us, and you don't want the story interrupted by the inevitable frustration of dying constantly, you can tone it down a bit. With three settings - Explorer, Light and Hard (and once you complete your first playthrough, you unlock Crushing…) the settings let players adapt the game to suit their play style.
Overall, Uncharted 4 is an exciting journey to go on, and a satisfying ending to Nathan's long journey on another epic adventure. Perhaps the only negative thing we have to say about the game is that it felt a little short - however, this may not be the case on a higher difficulty setting, where you have to replay sections more.
Still, with a great variety of gameplay, ranging from fighting, to solving puzzles, and watching the game's eye-meltingly gorgeous cutscenes, helping keep your interest, as you follow the clues to Captain Avery's treasure. With his latest adventure behind us, perhaps we'll have to catch up on Nathan's earlier quests now, in the handy Uncharted collection....
Format Reviewed: Playstation 4
