#job alert cliff diver

[lbh-remedy]

it’s just so cool what matt and trey did with casa bonita, these guys are great

[retrorendum-blog]

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End - Review

Title: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Available On: Playstation 4

Reviewed On: Playstation 4

Info: Naughty Dog, 2016

WARNING MINOR SPOILERS FOR UNCHARTED 4

Uncharted 4 is the Uncharted game for Uncharted fans. The story revolves almost entirely around the characters relationships this time, and there aren’t any supernatural twists or really insane villains. That being said, I’m sure you can enjoy this game perfectly fine without having played the first three games, since the visuals and story are engaging enough without context, but there are multiple scenes so filled to the brim with references to the other games that it really would be a shame to miss out on the pure nostalgia you can get from these tiny tidbits. 

Story: Uncharted 4 takes place about 5 years after the conclusion of Drake’s Deception, and in those years a lot changed. Nate and Elena are now officially married, (no more BS breakups at the end of the game) and Nate has a steady job as a diver for a wreckage cleanup company. The real story begins when Nate discovers that his brother Samuel Drake, who’s been in prison in South America for the last 15 years, has been broken out by a drug cartel leader called Alcazar. Alcazar was Sam’s cellmate for a number of years, and during that time Sam told him about the great pirate treasure of Henry Avery that he and Nate had been searching for. When Alcazar breaks Sam out of prison he gives him two options to repay him, bring him Avery’s treasure, or give him his life. Nate, Sam and Sully are then thrown headfirst into a quest to follow clues that will lead to the treasure of Avery, to save Sam’s life. As you progress through the story, you learn more about the game’s antagonists/ treasure hunting competitors, Rafe Adler and Nadine Ross. Both of them serve as villains who are significantly more memorable and believable than Lazaravic, Talbot, or the rich white guy from Drake’s Fortune. Rafe is a rich boy obsessed with outdoing the Drake brothers, who he has a bit of a history with, and Nadine and her mercenary company Shoreline are hired by Rafe to help him get Avery’s Treasure before Nate and Sam can. In the end, this story is pretty great since it deviates from the normal Uncharted formula and gives us a new main character to worry about, but because of that it loses some Uncharted adventurous charm that the other games were so famous for. Uncharted 4′s story gets a 7/10.

Visuals/ Music: Visuals are one thing that the Uncharted franchise has never had to fret about. They consistently push the limits of realism and high quality graphics that their systems can handle, and Uncharted 4 takes this push to an entirely new level. Every area you enter is incredibly detailed, and in some places it’s almost difficult to believe that the design gods at Naughty Dog actually made this rather than just scanning in a real city or forest. On your adventure you’ll visit the plains of Madagascar, the forests of various tropical islands, and the snow capped peaks of Scotland. Each location is meticulously crafted, and there aren’t any rocks, plants or buildings that don’t look absolutely stunning. Keep in mind that I played this on a normal PS4 on a 720p TV, so I can’t imagine how great it would be in 4K on a PS4 Pro. The music in this game is excellent as well, but unfortunately it comes off as not very original or memorable since there isn’t much but orchestral background music. Overall Uncharted 4 is a sight to behold, and likely will be the best looking game I’ve ever played for a while, or at least until I pick up Horizon Zero Dawn in the future. That being said I absolutely love the game’s art style and the soundtrack is decent as well, so the visuals/music get a 10/10

Gameplay: Gameplay has never been exactly what the Uncharted series is known for, but this entry changes up the physics and mechanics just enough so it feels like it’s own thing. The classic Uncharted platforming is back in full force, but this time each area has branching paths to get you from point A to point B, which makes it feel as if you really are making your way across cliffsides by your own inginuity. There are three new mechanics introduced in Uncharted 4, and they’re all great ways to make the environments slightly more varied. The first is sliding, and it comes into play when you encounter a slippery slope, such as a mudslide, a gravelly hill, or a wet rooftop. When you’re sliding you have a little bit of horizontal control, but you mostly just slide down until you’re about to fall off a cliff, then you jump to safety. Next is the grappling hook, and it is by far the biggest change to the gameplay. Nate now carries around a grappling hook which you activate by pressing L1, and it can be used for multiple purposes. You can use it to swing across large pits by attaching it to a branch, pull crates with it by tying it to them, or using it in combat to pull mix ups on your enemies. The final new mechanic is this metal spike you find about 75% through the game, which you can use to jab into cliffsides as an extra hand hold. Aside from new traversal methods, the stealth has also been upgraded tremendously. Nate now has the ability to sneak around enemies inside of tall grass or brush, and perform takedowns without alerting the surrounding bad guys. You can also have your enemies lose track of you and cease aggression by hiding in tall grass where they can’t see you. Gunplay is virtually unchanged from the other games, aside from changing reload from R1 to triangle (which takes some serious getting used to if you’re fresh off the original trilogy). The final gameplay change is the classic Uncharted set pieces, or the lack thereof. Uncharted 4 feels different from the other games in that it is focused on character development, but because of that it loses the sense of adventure. There aren’t too many memorable scenes or set pieces in Uncharted 4, and those that are memorable, such as the final boss fight or the bell tower sequence, don’t have the power that scenes like the plane, cruise ship and burning house from Uncharted 3 have, or the long lasting impact of the opening train from Uncharted 2. This really is disappointing, since it’s those incredible large scale moments that really make the Uncharted series so unique. The gameplay overall takes a step back from what Uncharted 2 and 3 did, and even though it innovated in some ways, the gameplay doesn’t feel as cohesive as it did before. Uncharted 4′s gameplay gets an 8/10.

Verdict: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is a great game in it’s own right, but the conclusion it brings to Nathan Drake’s adventures is what will really make it stand out down the road. The game is stunning to look at, fun to play, and has a story that really makes you feel for the characters you’ve spent time with, but in the end it comes off as not much more than a conclusion since the epic scale of adventure is lost in the folds of it’s character arcs. I recommend Uncharted 4 to anyone who has played the rest of the series, but if you haven’t and don’t have any connection to the world and characters, it will probably just feel like an average platforming adventure game. I did enjoy my time with Uncharted 4, but after everything they changed and comparing it to the high points of the franchise, Uncharted 4 doesn’t hold much water. Uncharted 4 receives an 8.5/10.