Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS4
Tested on: PS4
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – Review
When you think about adventure games with some puzzles to solve, franchises like Lara Croft and Uncharted pop up. Nathan Drake has had a few runs, with the latest game being A Thief’s End. Naughty Dog didn’t want to disappoint the fans and came up with a title that is based on the latest installment of this franchise. Are you ready for some female power?
Story
During the adventures of Nathan Drake, he met a lot of interesting people. In Uncharted: The Lost Legacy we follow the story of Chloe Frazer. This young lady is a quite notorious treasure hunter and in this game, she’s back at it again. Together with Nadine Ross, they must fight up against rebellion leader Asav and prevent a war by finding the Golden Tusk of Ganesh before it falls into his hands. To do so, they have to venture to lost civilizations and face several difficulties. But, is everything like it seems or are there some secrecies going on?
In this spin-off of the popular series, it is clear that the story is a rather important aspect of the game. There are several short conversations while driving, deepening the relationship and giving you some extra info. This makes it a nice narrative but if you haven’t played the previous games, you might actually be left in the dark. Both of the ladies have ties with the Drake family and this is sometimes mentioned but not really explained.
Graphics
If the story might not persuade you to play the game, then the amazing environments might. The different areas you’ll venture to will blow you away. These settings are just so amazingly well done and some of the views are just to die for. They have so many details, just as the elements in close-range. Of course, don’t expect real-life visuals but they will get rather close. To keep these memories, you can take pictures with your phone at certain locations in the game. This is a fun aspect and shows that the way we’re living now is seeping through in everything.
Chloe and Nadine stand out in the environment thanks to their rather colourful clothing, while the soldiers blend in more with their matching outfits. The facial expressions aren’t badly done, but they just don’t feel natural all the time. But, in the end, you won’t notice it that much with all that other beauty around you.
Sound
The music might pale a bit in comparison with the stunning views, but it surely helps to get immersed into the game. Each location has its distinctive tune, while explosions and gunfire create a fun extra effect. In the end, it all helps to get that raw feeling of excitement, both during gunfights or when you’re trying to get your butt safely across a way-too-big gap.
Voice acting wise, you’re in for a treat. Each of the voices really fit the character and the emotions are really hearable depending on how the conversation goes. A fun aspect is that the two girls are having some small talk while driving around. Although there is a lot of background noise, you can still understand them completely and it’s just a cool extra to have.
Gameplay
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is an action adventure game where you need to win the race against an evil warmonger. To do so, you have to travel around the world and find the Golden Tusk. Of course, the road is bumpy and there are a lot of obstacles you need to keep in mind and overcome. Sometimes these can be puzzles, while at other times you just must get safely across some open space. At least Chloe and Nadine have been working out, as they can jump and climb like little monkeys. Some gaps might be a bit too big to cross over by just jumping, this is where your rope hook is rather important. This tool will help you to swing yourself to safety, so keep an eye out for these locations.
Your bare hands might not always be enough to get the job done. At least you have your trusty jeep to help you out during these moments. Rubble might have blocked the doors and the hook is rather nifty tool to get these open. Thank goodness this car is made from some indestructible materials as you can drive across almost everything and even in rather deep water.
Of course, you won’t have it your way and enemy fire is inbound sooner than later. Thank goodness you can protect yourself with some weaponry. Next to your normal rifle you can also take a gun with you and if you find something with a silencer, be sure to take it. When you spot some enemies, you can hide in nearby grass patches and let the games begin. You can mark enemies so you can see them walking around. This gives you the opportunity to plan who you’re going to kill first and what you will do afterwards. If you don’t have any silencer, you’ll be spotted from the first shot so keep this in mind. You can also go with a bang and throw a grenade or you could focus on somethiing flammable to get some people down in one swoop.
Next to the main quest, you can also collect some extras along the way. For instance, you can find several coins to get a nifty upgrade while there are other collectibles as well. Some of them are in plain sight while others are hidden away. It seems that Asav’s men are also into artefacts, as some of them have some put inside of munition crates. To open them, and other locks, you can use your hairpin. To open it, you have to turn your left stick around to find the right angle. When you have all the steps picked, you can enjoy your sweet loot.
Next to the story, you can also dive into some multiplayer or co-op fun. For starters, you can go online and show your skills to other people. You can even go ranked if you think you’re good enough. You might recognize the online mode from Uncharted 4, and you’re right! It was taken from this game, just like the Survival mode and all the DLC updates. In Survival, you can go rogue and try to survive the waves alone or you can invite some friends and go ballistic on enemies.
Conclusion
With this game, you get another view on the Uncharted story. You will be able to get the point of view from Chloe Frazer in her treasure hunting adventure, while you can enjoy some really nice locations with stunning sceneries. The voice acting and music will get you immersed smoothly, while the gameplay itself isn’t hard to master and fun to do. If you want to dive in yet another Uncharted game, don’t forget to check this one.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - Review,
No Comments