Uncharted 4: A Thief`s End review

Are they going to kill off Drake? Is this the last in the series? Is the multiplayer going to be any good? These questions and more have been doing the rounds endlessly since Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was confirmed.

You know the question that wasn’t being asked? “Is it going to be any good?” Such is Naughty Dog’s track record, the assumption has always been that Uncharted 4 will be great.

A small part of me wishes I could tell you that it isn’t. That despite all the odds and all the anticipation, Naughty Dog has somehow screwed the pooch. It would just be nice to be able to surprise everyone with a revelation like that.

Bad news on that front: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is ace.

ONE LAST JOB

That’s not to say that everything the game does is perfect. The basic premise, that Drake is drawn out of retirement for one last job by his imperiled long-lost brother, is a cliche as old as cinema itself.

Brother? Why yes; despite having never been mentioned in four other Uncharted games. You see, it turns out that Nathan Drake has an older brother called Sam, who he witnessed being shot and apparently killed during a prison break 15 years before the events of Uncharted 4. Considering how dramatic this whole episode turns out to have been (you get to play it) and the apparent guilt Nathan has been carrying ever since, it seems ludicrous that it hasn’t come up before. Especially as Nate’s sidekick Sully also knew him.

YOUNG MONEY

Even putting the rewriting of series history to one side, suddenly introducing Sam Drake and making him such a key part of the new game means a lot of backstory needs to be crammed in, and while much of this is playable, it’s not all brilliant. Controlling a young Nathan as he and his teenaged brother break into and explore a house full of archeological treasures feels especially long-winded. What’s more, despite the efforts Naughty Dog has gone to in padding out the brothers’ relationship, I never found myself particularly caring what happened to Sam.

The good news is that Nathan Drake and his wife, Elena, more than make up for Sam in the empathetic stakes. Their relationship feels very real, and because she’s been in the games since the very start, there’s a history between them that doesn’t need explaining. The scenes at home where we get to see the pair enjoying a normal life simply add texture and context to that.

It’s clear that Nathan’s pretty bored with retired life, but it’s also clear why he’s hung up his holster for a peaceful life with the woman he loves. And also why he doesn’t tell her the truth when he leaves town to help Sam hunt down the legendary lost treasure of pirate Henry Avery.

It takes quite a while for the adventure proper to begin, but once it does all thoughts of the sluggish build-up drift away.

You begin by attempting to steal an artefact said to contain a clue as to the whereabouts of Avery’s treasure from a glamorous auction, and here you meet the game’s two main antagonists, Rafe Adler and Nadine Ross. The first is a vicious, deep-pocketed ex-partner of Sam and Nathan, while the second is the tough head of a private military organisation, and the two of them have partnered up to hunt for Avery’s treasure. The race is on, then, and no punches are pulled in either side’s attempts to take the lead - Nadine boots Nathan out of a window during a nasty fist-fight during the very first chapter that we meet her.

This chapter also serves as a great introduction to the extra stealthiness in Uncharted 4. It’s always been possible to creep up and silently take down an enemy, but here stealth is given more emphasis through the setting and level design.

For a start, stealth is made more tempting by the sheer number of enemies you face. You can go all guns blazing pretty much whenever you like, but at many times you’ll find yourself too heavily outnumbered to survive, which makes the sneaky approach far more tempting.

Areas are designed with greater width and height, so moving around, above or below enemies is much more feasible. Naughty Dog has also introduced areas of long grass that you can use to hide yourself in before you pounce on an unsuspecting enemy and take him down with a stomach-churning crack of the neck.

Some firefights can be avoided altogether with a few sneaky takedowns and creative ledge-shuffles, but you’ll still get spotted by a guard frequently, at which point all hell tends to break loose. Thankfully, the gunplay here is more enjoyable than ever before in the series. Combat feels faster, tighter and more fluid than before. It’s more visceral, too, with the weapons having a greater sense of weight and punch. What’s most noticeable, though, is how much you have to quickly adapt to your enemies and situations.