Zero Punctuation: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

[NerfedFalcon]

*sigh*

Uncharted seems to have joined everything Nintendo ever made on the pile of 'why?' You don't have a single new observation or quip to make, unlike Nate, and you don't even sound like you care in the slightest whether it was good or bad. I know you can do better than this, Yahtzee, so please just stop giving into peer pressure for reviewing new AAA titles. Why didn't you go with Doom instead?

 

[DrownedAmmet]

It's funny, I agree with everything Yahtzee says about Uncharted on paper, but when I play the games all that goes away and I end up really enjoying them.

Maybe it's the voice acting, the writing, animations, or the cut scene direction, but the Uncharted characters feel more like real people than just about any other game I've played

Hell, I'd play the shit out of a game that was just about Drake and Sully going grocery shopping together and arguing about what flavor Twizzlers to buy

 

[gorfias]

I think it would've benefited the story and Nate's character if he and Sam weren't blood related and were just two kids from an orphanage that became as close as brothers. I always kinda liked the idea that Nate made up his name and his heritage, because he's actually just a nobody from the streets. The subplot with his mother being a "brilliant researcher", and that this "gift" is in his blood turns it into another generic hero's origin.

Errrrgh. Sounds too much like cloromidians. Still, I can't wait to play the game to experience some of the visuals and game play I'm seeing.

I understand there is a multiplayer component. Anyone playing that? Any good?

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Awww, you spoiled the Crash Bandicoot easter egg for people, Yahtzee! I found that shit genuinely funny.

 

[darkrage6]

It says something about Uncharted 4 itself that I'd rather hear more about Crash Bandicoot. I remember playing one of his games on the PS2, and still angry they didn't program him to grab ledges, which Mario's been doing since the N64 days.

Um, Crash Bandicoot did outlive the PS1 Yahtzee.

Crash Bandicoot did out outlive the playstation one, it's got several games on playstation 2 doesn't it?

I think he might be referring to Naughty Dog's involvement with the franchise. After Crash Team Racing, they lost the rights to the series and Universal Studio passed on the rights to other developers, but the games weren't very good or as good as they used to be, except Twinsanity, that was probably the last good Crash game, before the series went off the rails

I thought Mind over Mutant and Crash of the Titans were decent games. I liked Twinsanity but I absolutely despised it's irritating soundtrack(sorry, not a fan of Acapella at all).

I lost track, how long has the Crash Bandicoot series been going on since the last one? When was the last one, and on which system?

The last Crash game released was Mind over Mutant in 2008.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I understand there is a multiplayer component. Anyone playing that? Any good?

It's fine, it's fun. It's cool to dick around with the various magic items and and sidekicks. They got rid of the horde mode though, which is a shame.

 

[Spider RedNight]

Still disappointed that Naughty have foregone their tradition of the 4th game in a series being a kart racer.

And they'll call it "UnKarted" and there'd be cameos from Last of Us characters

But seriously though, I'm fine with it not being a kart racer xD

 

[Dalisclock]

While I don't drool over the franchise by any means, and I can see why people find Nathan smug and annoying, I enjoy the games and I like him. I didn't think 4 was going to change Yahtzee's mind in the slightest because it really is just more of the same, but I was curious to see if he was going to like the part where you're just playing regular Nate diving for salvage at the beginning--and sure enough, he did.

I played the first 3 back to back a year or so ago. The first game I found so-so and Drake came across as obnoxious as shit. He grew on me as the series progressed, however, and the games seemed to get more enjoyable as the series went on.

I do plan to play 4...someday, when I eventually break down and buy a PS4. The problem being, that with UC4, there are now all of 2 games that make me want to buy the system....and the other is Bloodborne(and frankly, that'll probably get a PC version before I see enough games to make me pony up for a PS4).

 

[gorfias]

I understand there is a multiplayer component. Anyone playing that? Any good?

It's fine, it's fun. It's cool to dick around with the various magic items and and sidekicks. They got rid of the horde mode though, which is a shame.

I'll spin up my Uncharted 3 and try out that horde mode ASAP. Hoping there is still someone out there still playing it (weird when online games die for lack of interest!)

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

What i never got about Nathan Drake was why people compared him to indiana jones when the two would probably be eachothers mirror universe version. Indiana Jones had devotion, sincerity, principles and was willing to leave fortune and glory behind in order to save the innocent. He was first and foremost an archeologist who wanted to uncover the mysteries of the past for all to see because it is something he genuinely loves himself. Nathan Drake is a cynical grave robber who only cares about the shiny stuff he can sell on the black market to get filthy rich while casually destroying the ruins of lost civilisations. His enemies are no less justified in what they are doing. The equivalent would be if star wars as about Emperor Palpatine fought Plamperor Empatine with the exact same motivations, weapons and third reich implications

So he's kind of Temple of Doom Indy then? Pre-"free the child slaves" Temple of Doom Indy anyway

 

[COMaestro]

What i never got about Nathan Drake was why people compared him to indiana jones when the two would probably be eachothers mirror universe version. Indiana Jones had devotion, sincerity, principles and was willing to leave fortune and glory behind in order to save the innocent. He was first and foremost an archeologist who wanted to uncover the mysteries of the past for all to see because it is something he genuinely loves himself. Nathan Drake is a cynical grave robber who only cares about the shiny stuff he can sell on the black market to get filthy rich while casually destroying the ruins of lost civilisations. His enemies are no less justified in what they are doing. The equivalent would be if star wars as about Emperor Palpatine fought Plamperor Empatine with the exact same motivations, weapons and third reich implications

So he's kind of Temple of Doom Indy then? Pre-"free the child slaves" Temple of Doom Indy anyway

This is pretty much exactly right, and in every game Nate goes from Pre- to Post-"free the child slaves" Indy.

In the first game, once Nate learns how the statue is cursed and makes people crazy, he does everything he can to stop it leaving the island. This isn't something he does for his personal gain, but in order to stop a mercenary from getting away with what would be a very dangerous weapon.

In the second game, a Serbian war criminal with his own private army is threatening to become invincible using the sap of the Tree of Life. Nate had lost interest in pursuing the treasure until faced with this and the knowledge that his presence endangered the Tibetan village that had rescued him, risking his life to defend it and then going alone to stop Lazarevic, to no real benefit to himself.

The third game is the weakest storywise, IMO, but it does show Nate leaving his pursuit of treasure to go after his friend, Sully. He also chooses to risk his life to prevent the antagonists from achieving their goals, which again does not really benefit him directly.

So your description is pretty apt. Nate is after "fortune and glory", but from what Uncharted 4 tells us he really only got a bunch of rumored glory among the treasure hunting community with little or nothing to show for it, choosing to do the "right thing" when called upon. U4 really has the most personal stakes for Nate, with no "saving the world" motivation.

 

[CyanCat47_v1legacy]

What i never got about Nathan Drake was why people compared him to indiana jones when the two would probably be eachothers mirror universe version. Indiana Jones had devotion, sincerity, principles and was willing to leave fortune and glory behind in order to save the innocent. He was first and foremost an archeologist who wanted to uncover the mysteries of the past for all to see because it is something he genuinely loves himself. Nathan Drake is a cynical grave robber who only cares about the shiny stuff he can sell on the black market to get filthy rich while casually destroying the ruins of lost civilisations. His enemies are no less justified in what they are doing. The equivalent would be if star wars as about Emperor Palpatine fought Plamperor Empatine with the exact same motivations, weapons and third reich implications

So he's kind of Temple of Doom Indy then? Pre-"free the child slaves" Temple of Doom Indy anyway

A bit. it's kind of difficult ot pin down because on the one hand he was kind of a grave robber at the beginning, selling to the mafia and what not but on the other hand we see a different origin story in the last crusade. the continuity of that trilogy was kind of a mess. the main difference in temple of doom was that nathan drake has a regard for the preservation of cultural and historical heritage only slightly higher than the islamic state

 

[Jang]

I really, really, really wish they would fix that permanently running add thing. One thing is that I don't get to see the episode, but it is just an add that reminds me how many awesome shows the escapist used to host :/

 

[COMaestro]

That's another thing; if this were an Indiana Jones film than Drake would be the bad guy. The kind of stuff Indy found or sought was HUGE, like the Arc of the Covenant, the Sivalinga, and the Holy Grail, stuff that historians and scholars would love to have to study and give to future generations. Drak would be the greedy, slimy grave robber who would steal those artifacts and either hoard them or sell them to someone who was hoarding them. How the hell are we supposed to root for this guy? I suppose his enemies are worse, but it doesn't make things morally complex so much as it makes me hope they all kill each other and leave priceless artifacts in peace.

You mean like that golden idol at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Or maybe the Cross of Coronado in The Last Crusade? Indy didn't only go after the huge items, he went after anything of interest. It's just that the big things are the ones that are worth making movies about.

And it wasn't always for some noble cause. While Indy would likely make sure anything he retrieved went to a museum, you can be damn sure that he was selling the items at first. It was only later after his "fortune and glory" phase that he would donate such things.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

"It was only later after his "fortune and glory" phase that he would donate such things."

Which was why we thankfully never saw that phase of him. Because no one wants to see a smug, greedy, lunkhead douchebag get away with grave robbing. Now an educated, cultured, witty professor going around the world to uncover the mysteries of the past is more interesting. Even if Indy should probably take his duties as a professor more seriously.

 

[Dr. Crawver]

Still disappointed that Naughty have foregone their tradition of the 4th game in a series being a kart racer.

We shall all mourn the fact that unkarted shall never exist.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

For a long time, I feared that I was the only one who thought Nathan Drake was an insufferable smug pillock, but I'm pleased to discover I'm in good company.

 

[Tommy1138]

Was anyone else just a tad disappointed that Drake didn't break out into a stripper pole routine in the credit sequence?

 

[elvor0]

This is exactly what I was expecting from Yahtzee. I actually avoided the first two Uncharted games because he really didn't like Nathan and made him sound terrible in his videos. Finally picked up the first one when it was super cheap, and I ended up enjoying it enough that I bought the other two.

Actually had a similar scenario, although I ended up with "all" three. I was really expecting Nate to be an insufferable git, but I actually enjoyed the characters quite a bit; Villians are a bit stock, but who doesn't love Simon Templeman? Sully was fun, Nate was a pretty realistic and rounded character, certainly not what I was expecting. Gameplay on the first one was a bit creaky though, controls are a bit floaty, the aiming is slightly off center with the camera and there's enough clown cars and jack in the boxes to make Krusty the Clown blush. Definitely shows that it was their first foray into shooter territory. Need to play the second one.

 

[The Great JT]

And now all I can see is about a team of 120 game developers playing Icky Cookie with a copy of Uncharted 4...