So, what was the deal with the really high scores for Uncharted 4?

[stroopwafel]

This game had scores of pretty much 9s and 10s on review sites so with the game on sale on PSN I decided to try it out. Now, it?s been a while since I played Uncharted but remember not really being that impressed by it. To start with the good: the game looks absolutely spectacular. Just everything from the graphics to the quality of the animations. Everything looks so well realized and detailed with characters that are mo-capped into perfection; from the way they move to their facial expressions and gestures. When it comes to sheer production values no other game really comes close(the only other game I can really think of is The Order 1886).

Now the game itself. It?s pretty obvious early on that the game is basically a heavily scripted hallway(again like Order 1886) that creates a kind of illusion of player freedom which ironically dissipates once you trigger one of the game?s iconic setpiece moments. Atleast for me it was a continuous reminder that yeah, I?m just playing an interactive movie here. One that is incredibly tame to boot. If this were an actual movie it would be one of those family get-together movies that is so excruciatingly inoffensive it makes you want to get in front of the TV and pull out your schlong in a pathetic attempt to rebel against the sappy garbage that is on screen.

As for the gameplay: I hope you like hugging walls. I swear, everytime I entered a new area I was like *sigh* look at all those walls I need to hug just to find the right one that Nate will eventually stick to. It doesn?t end here however as then you need to push the analog stick and press X in every direction just to figure out which direction is Nate?s next sticky point. 90% of this game is searching for sticky points. If you push through however eventually you reach an ?open? area with enemies and some actual gunplay(which follows the game?s formula: cutscene, wall hugging, cutscene, ?open? area, wall hugging, cutscene, lame puzzle, wall hugging, cutscene etc.) Now, these gunplay parts aren?t bad. Ofcourse this being family entertainment there is no weight or impact in the shoot-outs and enemies come in just one variety but they are still decently fun. Unfortunately they are over quick and than it?s back to, you guessed it, hugging walls.

When the credits rolled I was pretty disappoint but I guess also relieved that this really long and boring cutscene was finally over. It do makes me wonder though if reviewers only care about production values and pretty graphics since it's impossible to claim there is a lot(if any) substantive quality to this game.

 

[Saelune]

Uncharted is a series that just really hits it off with a TON of people.

I am with you in that I dont get it, but alot of people just love it to death.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

I don't get it either, I bought the Uncharted Collection so I could get a little more depth before playing Uncharted 4, but after playing through 1-4 I still don't really care for its characters or story.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

I like the Uncharted games, but I completely agree that they don't deserve the praise they get. To me, they are solid 7/10 games - decent, but hardly groundbreaking. I suspect they do so well precisely because the are tame, simple, and visually appealing. They appeal to people like my friend who hardly ever plays games, but wants to every now and then; he has no patience for difficulty or learning controls or systems, he just wants to kill things and do cool stuff, and Uncharted scratches that itch perfectly.

 

[CaitSeith]

I would try to give reasonable arguments in favor of Uncharted 4 high scores, and how lame is to focus so much on the scores without presenting the reasoning behind them (the reason someone finds the game enjoyable is different between people). But I think it will be more fun not to. I'll better say it's to keep the Uncharted fans happy, because even an 8.5 is cause of low-scoring backlash and click-bait accusations.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

They're the videogame equivalent of Indiana Jones: silly yet spectacular action-adventure blockbusters set in exotic locales and starring an asshat protagonist you either love or hate (Indy doing a considerably better job than Drake: he shoots a guy with a knife and gets cheered; Drake shoots back at the people shooting at him and is boo'd). They're the jack of all trades of entertainment, you get a little bit of everything and everything looks great.

And if nothing else, they helped forward the art of mo-cap and made games like The Last of Us possible.

I suspect they do so well precisely because the are tame, simple, and visually appealing.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Because their production value is top notch, the gameplay is as good as it comes in the action-adventure genre, blending third person shooting, platforming/climbing, exploring and puzzles, the set pieces are exhilarating and it feels just like playing a constant highlight reel of all the best moments you wish were in an Indiana Jones movie?

The Uncharted games are incredibly adept at doing what they do, which is why they are the leading games in the action adventure genre. You obviously don't care for the genre, OP, so naturally you are not going to have a good time. Just like I don't have a good time in JPRGs, no matter how well received they are by their fans.

 

[Saelune]

Because their production value is top notch, the gameplay is as good as it comes in the action-adventure genre, blending third person shooting, platforming/climbing, exploring and puzzles, the set pieces are exhilarating and it feels just like playing a constant highlight reel of all the best moments you wish were in an Indiana Jones movie?

The Uncharted games are incredibly adept at doing what they do, which is why they are the leading games in the action adventure genre. You obviously don't care for the genre, OP, so naturally you are not going to have a good time. Just like I don't have a good time in JPRGs, no matter how well received they are by their fans.

I cant speak for the OP, but for me, I played and beat the first game. It was...ok. I did enjoy exploring and climbing, but the shooting was garbage. The main parts that killed the game for me were -always- the combat parts...and the painfully cliche'd obvious plot.

Maybe these things have been improved in later games but...the hype of the guy who sold my brother the game really made the mediocre game taste extra sour.

I can understand the idea behind it, but I feel action-adventure games are too broad and varied to so easily write off merely disliking the genre.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's a nice game that at every turn shows you all that money that went into making it, but it has some severe problems. The first being that it takes forever to get going. It has, like, three intros, which drags down the pacing to a crawl. This series is about giving you that blockbuster experience, so it should get you there as fast as possible. Spending the first almost one and a half hours walking around doing nothing is not the way to do that. I really liked Drake in his mundane home life, but before we get there the game needs to spend all this time setting up his brother. The game doesn't really get started till you get to Scotland, and even then you're traversing across a dreary landscape

I love story in games, but in Uncharted 4 the story overtakes the action (which is what we're here for), not unlike Uncharted 3. And I fear The Last of Us has had a negative impact on this game. Certain aspect of TLoU, that work perfectly for that game, have bled into Uncharted 4 and it simply doesn't mesh well with the franchise. We don't play Uncharted to collect and read notes, and we don't play Uncharted to trigger optional conversations that lock us into walking speed (something TLoU didn't even do).

And since there are so many more stretches of uninterupted climbing in this entry the automatism of it really stands out. I know Naughty Dog doesn't want you to have to think too much about the climbing once you're bouncing around collapsing ruines and across jeeps while trading shots and punches with goons, but beyond those moments it makes the climbing feel very boring. This game could've benefited a lot from a hold button, or stamina system that prevents you from X-jumping everywhere with ease.

And the forced fist fight sections/Boss fights were attrocious. Don't ever do this again Naughty Dog, you're better than that. You showed this in Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us.

I like the franchise overall, and Uncharted 2 is still one of their best, but let's hope with 4 Naughty Dog can lay it to rest and focus on something new. Prefereably something that doesn't take place in a contemporary environment overgrown with plants. They've made three games back-to-back with that setting now, and it's starting to wear thin with me.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I'm afraid this is another case of "game isn't for you". What you complain about, other people adore. What you find boring, others find thrilling. The simple fact of the matter is that Uncharted 4, and the series, just didn't hit the right buttons for you. Yahtzee is the same way about the series.

I like Drake and his relationships with Sully and Elena. I think Elena and Drake's relationship is probably the most believable one I've ever seen in a game, especially by the time the4 rolls around. But I can totally understand why people find him annoying too.

As for the gameplay, I'll be honest: It sounds like you played an entirely different game than I did. Yeah, I was ducking behind walls, but I was also moving for better vantage points, and doing plenty of run and gun as well. And the times I was in cover, I never had problems telling where Nate was, which was he was facing, or having trouble getting him to "stick" in cover or walls.

My biggest complaint about 4 is the fact that, after a supernatural element in all the other games, there was nothing in this one. No ancient curse, no zombie pirates, so special weapon that made the pirate lords invincible. It really did just boil down to everyone go greedy, which I found to be a huge letdown.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I totally agree, Uncharted is so overrated outside of the 2nd game. The 1st game is just a tech demo with quite awful whack-a-mole shooting. The 3rd game's story is awful with setpieces that make no sense along with characters that directly contradict themselves from the last game (especially Sully). Not to mention the tone of the game was so wrong; Uncharted 3 was like Indiana Jones 3 but where every character was nagging Indy about how dangerous it is to bring his father along so every shootout is not longer fun due to being overly concerned about Sean Connery. The 4th game is way way not enough action with a rather poor story about Drake's brother that was never mentioned ever before. There's only maybe 2 setpieces in the whole game, a LOT of climbing, and a wannabe stealth game. You even play through a chapter (a boring one at that) that never actually happened due to it being a lie. To finish up, Uncharted's controls have always been rather poor (O for cover & roll has never worked yet never fixed), you could never change the camera sensitivity until the 4th game (a huge no-no for a shooter), the shoulder swap never has worked properly, the god awful aim-assist, etc.

I do really dig what Uncharted is trying to do and Uncharted 2 nailed it outside of not having a great villain. I love Drake, Elena, and Sully but they just haven't gotten games that have matched what great characters they are.

Now the game itself. It?s pretty obvious early on that the game is basically a heavily scripted hallway(again like Order 1886) that creates a kind of illusion of player freedom which ironically dissipates once you trigger one of the game?s iconic setpiece moments.

You can have really great setpieces that aren't interactive movies like Uncharted 2 did. Those train levels were amazing. Just the rather short section where the building starts falling as your in it while having a shootout was great. To me, there was only 1 setpiece in Uncharted 4, which was the chase scene. I guess maybe the elevator scene was one too. The only other things I recall were running out of falling buildings, which aren't really setpieces.

Because their production value is top notch, the gameplay is as good as it comes in the action-adventure genre, blending third person shooting, platforming/climbing, exploring and puzzles, the set pieces are exhilarating and it feels just like playing a constant highlight reel of all the best moments you wish were in an Indiana Jones movie?

The Uncharted games are incredibly adept at doing what they do, which is why they are the leading games in the action adventure genre. You obviously don't care for the genre, OP, so naturally you are not going to have a good time. Just like I don't have a good time in JPRGs, no matter how well received they are by their fans.

Uncharted's core gameplay is very lackluster with rather poor controls as well. Vanquish "out-Uncharted" every Uncharted besides possibly Uncharted 2. Even though the Tomb Raider reboot is nothing too special, I had a LOT more fun with that game than any Uncharted without a "2" in it. The combat was a lot more fun in Tomb Raider vs the last 2 Uncharteds IMO.

And since there are so many more stretches of uninterupted climbing in this entry the automatism of it really stands out. I know Naughty Dog doesn't want you to have to think too much about the climbing once you're bouncing around collapsing ruines and across jeeps while trading shots and punches with goons, but beyond those moments it makes the climbing feel very boring. This game could've benefited a lot from a hold button, or stamina system that prevents you from X-jumping everywhere with ease.

On the PSP game, you can just draw a line from Point A to Point B and Drake will auto-climb.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Uncharted's core gameplay is very lackluster with rather poor controls as well. Vanquish "out-Uncharted" every Uncharted besides possibly Uncharted 2. Even though the Tomb Raider reboot is nothing too special, I had a LOT more fun with that game than any Uncharted without a "2" in it. The combat was a lot more fun in Tomb Raider vs the last 2 Uncharteds IMO.

The problem with Uncharted's action gameplay is that it contridicts itself. It's designed for you to keep on the move; running, jumping, punching, shooting. Going for that sort of scrappy Indiana Jones type action. But it punishes you for doing so by quickly whittling your health away once you reveal yourself, forcing you to bunker down behind cover 80% of the time like it's a tactical shooter, and waiting for your health to regenerate.

The Last of Us made this type of scrappy combat work, because it gave you control over your health regeneration through health packs. You didn't have to wait for the game to heal you up, you could decide whether you'd take the risk with a fraction of health or use resources to heal up just to be sure. A better comparison would probably be inFAMOUS. It too had regenerating health, but you could heal up instantly by absorbing electricity. This made for a risk/reward system where you could risk coming out of cover when badly hurt to look for an electrical source, or wait for 15 seconds to have the game auto-heal you. I think inFAMOUS 2 even had a combo move you could acquire that would partially heal you once performed correctly.

This is something Uncharted could've used; A special combo or sequence of attack that would reset your damage/danger indicator partly or all the way. This would give the jack-of-all-trades combat a chance to shine better. Uncharted 4 was a slight step in the right direction by making the arenas more open, giving you a chance to pull back once things got too fierce. But the health system was still crummy.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Not sure what you were going on about sticky walls and such, but yeah. I don't disagree, but at the same time, when I played UC4, I was constantly amazed at everything. Pretty much everything in the game is fun. Shooting, climbing, following the story, setpiece-ing. None of these are particularly amazing, but they are all produced amazingly and obviously have had care put into them.

Some of us also happen to really enjoy the characters. I never cared for Nate himself too much, but the supporting cast are endearing and well-rounded.

For Uncharted 4 itself, I do think that it was much more story focused than the others. I personally enjoyed it, the last section with the abandoned pirate island was creepy and the hidden details about what happened to the inhabitants painted an interesting tale. Gameplay wise, I admit that there is less action, but perhaps only due to you being able to stealth it up. I am currently on a playthrough where I am just shooting everything that moves, and its quite enjoyable.

Honestly, if you didn't like the last three (technically 4) games, then you won't like this one. But those of us who did really enjoyed it and I personally think it does deserve a 9 or 10, if I gave a shit about number ratings.

 

[stroopwafel]

Did you play the previous Uncharted games, since this game really is one of the best endings to a series I've ever played and it works best when you have connection with the characters that developed through (otherwise the cutscenes fall flat).

Yeah, I played the first and the second one on PS3. The characters didn't really do anything for me(I always found them fake and idealized archetypes with a dry and predictable Indiana Jones plot through a kiddie filter) and this kind of game fared better in 2009 when I originally played Uncharted 2 and setpiece moments still had the ability to impress instead of annoy.

The games(atleast the ones I've played) never really impressed me but I wasn't so incredibly bored by them either, which I definitely was with Uncharted 4. It's been like seven years since I played Uncharted 2 but in my recollection the game had much more action and a better pace. Yeah, the gunplay in Uncharted isn't great but it's still the most fun part about the game but instead Uncharted 4 just have you incessantly figure out this really narrow path to get to your next destination to trigger the next cutscene. It's the most boring part but it's like 80% of the game in Uncharted 4.

I won't deny however that there wasn't a lot of skill involved creating this game. The way it guides the player and sets up invisible walls by making you almost unaware of them(despite the levels being so tightly scripted with just one narrow path of progression) is really well done. You curve along mountain ranges and dense forests and it makes perfect sense you can only follow the path you're on. Then opens up a bit to create a fighting arena for the enemy encounters then closes down again for you to hug walls(most of the time) and trigger setpieces in an increasingly predictable method to break up the monotony. The game feels a lot more 'open' then it really is.

Games like Uncharted 4 wouldn't be able to look this good without being tightly constrained and heavily scripted. Every bit of processing power is used to render this stamp size area you're in. Uncharted 4 actually reminds me a lot of The Order 1886 which got hammered in reviews for almost the same reasons Uncharted 4 got praised. Sure, The Order 1886 is a shit game and more of a 'tech demo' but it follows the exact same structure and Order atleast had a more interesting premise.

I enjoyed The Last of Us a lot more but even here the story and characters didn't really grip me. However the journey of old grump and annoying brat was just a lot more interesting and the gameplay also felt much more realized and less scripted. With Uncharted however there is more mechanical depth and complexity in the Lego games, and these are essentially made for children.

 

[BrawlMan]

It's a nice game that at every turn shows you all that money that went into making it, but it has some severe problems. The first being that it takes forever to get going. It has, like, three intros, which drags down the pacing to a crawl. This series is about giving you that blockbuster experience, so it should get you there as fast as possible. Spending the first almost one and a half hours walking around doing nothing is not the way to do that. I really liked Drake in his mundane home life, but before we get there the game needs to spend all this time setting up his brother. The game doesn't really get started till you get to Scotland, and even then you're traversing across a dreary landscape

I love story in games, but in Uncharted 4 the story overtakes the action (which is what we're here for), not unlike Uncharted 3. And I fear The Last of Us has had a negative impact on this game. Certain aspect of TLoU, that work perfectly for that game, have bled into Uncharted 4 and it simply doesn't mesh well with the franchise. We don't play Uncharted to collect and read notes, and we don't play Uncharted to trigger optional conversations that lock us into walking speed (something TLoU didn't even do).

And since there are so many more stretches of uninterupted climbing in this entry the automatism of it really stands out. I know Naughty Dog doesn't want you to have to think too much about the climbing once you're bouncing around collapsing ruines and across jeeps while trading shots and punches with goons, but beyond those moments it makes the climbing feel very boring. This game could've benefited a lot from a hold button, or stamina system that prevents you from X-jumping everywhere with ease.

And the forced fist fight sections/Boss fights were attrocious. Don't ever do this again Naughty Dog, you're better than that. You showed this in Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us.

I like the franchise overall, and Uncharted 2 is still one of their best, but let's hope with 4 Naughty Dog can lay it to rest and focus on something new. Prefereably something that doesn't take place in a contemporary environment overgrown with plants. They've made three games back-to-back with that setting now, and it's starting to wear thin with me.

^This. It's why I have not gotten Uncharted 4 yet. I was never a big fan to begin with, but I didn't hate the series nor Drake. It just wasn't for me. UC4 takes forever to get started and introduces a characters that never existed at that point. It's like a bad fan fic writer got hired into the writing staff and inserted your typical OC character who's related to the protagonist unmentioned relative/sibling. Sam, I didn't find all that interesting nor care for that much. The graphics are top notch, but the staying power won't last forever, and things will become standard within the next couple of years.

 

[Casual Shinji]

^This. It's why I have not gotten Uncharted 4 yet. I was never a big fan to begin with, but I didn't hate the series nor Drake. It just wasn't for me. UC4 takes forever to get started and introduces a characters that never existed at that point. It's like a bad fan fic writer got hired into the writing staff and inserted your typical OC character who's related to the protagonist unmentioned relative/sibling. Sam, I didn't find all that interesting nor care for that much. The graphics are top notch, but the staying power won't last forever, and things will become standard within the next couple of years.

Sam could've worked as 'a character out of nowhere' if he was written as someone Drake abandoned long ago, as opposed to someone who he thought died. Give us a scene where young Drake leaves Sam to his fate for whatever reason (fear, inexperience), and it could function as a dirty little secret Drake's been carrying around all these years. This would have Elena and maybe even Sully question him, and automatically make Sam more sympathetic, too.

Also get rid of the whole 'adventuring/archeology is in your blood/family' nonsense. The one good thing about Uncharted 3 was that it exposed Drake for being just some kid off the streets with no family who measured himself the persona of Nathan Drake. But then Uncharted 4 has to come along and make him part of this whole family legacy, where his mother was some freaking genuis or whatever.

 

[King Billi]

I love Uncharted.

I've played through all three previous titles multiple times and had a blast every time, its like playing through my favourite kind of movie.

Haven't played Uncharted 4 yet but I suspect I'll love it too.

Who exactly is it that deserves Uncharted 4s high scores more? What exactly equals "substantive" quality in your mind?

 

[stroopwafel]

What exactly equals "substantive" quality in your mind?

When I play a game I like my input to make a difference, that I am(atleast partially) creating the entertainment for myself. It's what makes a game different from a movie(or any other passive form of entertainment). With Uncharted you can only follow the exact steps that Naughty Dog laid out for you with zero deviation from the beaten path. It's an interactive movie that pretends to not be an interactive movie. Uncharted is worse even, as interactive movies atleast gives you some choice during certain moments and Uncharted gives you none. And even as a movie, Uncharted would have been a real shitty one.