Thursday, June 16, 2016

Naughty Dog did it again with Uncharted: A Thief's End.



The Uncharted franchise has been a wonderful ride over the last 9 years. Each game was all the best parts of a playable movie - intense action, funny quips, likable characters and fast gameplay. Each game was something of a technical feat, usually bringing top-notch animation together with the best motion capture and great voice talent. Naughty Dog always adds details in the environment, and goes the extra mile in having storylines that are easy to follow.

Uncharted 1234 graphical evolution over two consoles.
Uncharted 4 might not have the crystal clearest graphics that other PS4 titles have, but the signature Naughty Dog detail is there. From the dynamic mud/rain splattering that dries in the sun to the the always-different bullet holes in the windshield of your truck earned in a fight that stay through the entire segments of the game. From climbing onto your brother's shoulders when trying to pass him dangling from a cliff to reaching your hand out to touch something as your character is sneaking around in a dark mansion, this game has some great touches.

Three blokes in a truck in Madagascar, shootin the breeze.
One of the newest details is when a character is telling a story during one of the free range parts, if you get out of the truck in the middle of the story and come back to the vehicle, one character will prompt the other, "What were you saying?" and pickup where the story left off. The speaking animations are actually one of the worst parts - games have been shaping character mouths for a long time now, and this game doesn't seem to do that very well.

C'mon Sully, help a brother out!
The characters are fun and vibrant in their 4th appearance, and it's nice that neither of the two main female characters are solely eye-candy. Elena very clearly keeps Nathan grounded, saves his life, and kicks ass during her stealth parts. Nadine Ross is a ruthless mercenary general who provides the muscle to main antagonist, but has her limits.  The other new character to the story, Sam Drake, is even more of a knucklehead than his brother Nate. However, despite both of them being reckless and wild troublemakers, the Drakes are very educated in their history. The brothers are great to watch interact and solve puzzles, but one of my favorite dynamics is Sully and Nadine. They had a past that may or may not have been romantic, but she still beats the shit out of Nate and Sam, and Sully isn't willing to intervene. It's pretty selfish, but interesting that Sully probably doesn't want to experience what it's like to resist Nadine Ross.


In terms of trophies, I did the platinum trophy over about 2.5 weeks and maybe 40 hours total. The first time through the story, I soaked up the graphics, had little difficulty with puzzles, and took liberties with gunplay in about 15 hours. My second playthrough was on the hardest difficulty, where I did 3/4ths of the game mostly in stealth and picked up missed collectibles. Then, I discovered that after you beat the game once, you can unlock bonuses like ultra powerful weapons any time, use them and still get the trophy for beating it on Crushing. My last playthrough was the 6 hour speedrun, which I did in one 5h45m sitting.

Sorry, Nate's fingers, I have a screenshot to take!
The Uncharted franchise is such an easy recommend for anyone who has ever held a controller, and my non-gamer girlfriend definitely enjoyed watching me play for the gorgeous graphics, compelling cutscenes, and well-written characters. I'm glad that Naughty Dog is done with the series, and hope that they develop a game in a space or fantasy setting, though I'll pretty much play and enjoy anything with their name on it at this point. Bring it on, Naughty Dog!

For the record of frugality, I sold this game for a cool $35 after I beat it, having pre-ordered it for $48 through Amazon.

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I am one of those people that uses the word  perfect subjectively. I think something is perfect if it does what it's intended to do ...