This review contains spoilers
Easily my favorite Uncharted game. It's also the longest of them, so that's cool. Gameplay, UI, and graphics kinda gave me the feeling that this was The Last of Us Part 2 with an Uncharted skin and a climbing mechanic. Not that that's bad, in fact I liked how this entry felt much more than the previous ones.
Gunplay feels great, minus the classic Uncharted-isms of trying to dodge away from something and accidentally taking cover in direct gunfire.
Vehicle sections were a tossup between either really fun action sequences, or kinda tedious semi-open-world exploration areas with not much reward for exploring instead of going straight for the objective.
Climbing got a makeover. Feels a lot more smooth and natural than it did in previous games, and the inclusion of the rope and piton were a great choice.
Writing was fantastic, in my opinion. The way this narrative was presented and told gave me a whole new level of involvement with the characters that I hadn't got since Uncharted 2. I really enjoyed the inclusion of Sam, and I thought Rafe was a pretty great villain.
Graphics were incredible. This and Lost Legacy both have some of the best area reveals and vistas in the series. Downright incredible level and environment design.
The music has been great all throughout the series. Great atmosphere and narrative quality. Definitely gives me the impression that Naughty Dog likes jungle-y type themes. Some parts of the soundtrack reminded me a bit of Jak and Daxter's instrumentation. The sound design was also on point. Gun sounds are killer, environment noises and walking are immersive, etc.
Combat encounters felt more balanced here. Still plenty difficult even on the normal setting, but this time the crazy encounters were offset by plenty of ways to take cover and refill ammo, while still being punishing if you decide to go in guns blazing.
SPOILERS BELOW
As for the ending, it was great to see a happy ending for Nate and Elena (and the rest of the gang). I was scared that, since Neil Druckmann was the main writer and director, something would happen to one of the main characters and there would be a bittersweet ending, but nope. All was well in the end, and that felt great. I had to remember that this wasn't a TLOU game!
Definitely recommend this one. It's a blast!
Gunplay feels great, minus the classic Uncharted-isms of trying to dodge away from something and accidentally taking cover in direct gunfire.
Vehicle sections were a tossup between either really fun action sequences, or kinda tedious semi-open-world exploration areas with not much reward for exploring instead of going straight for the objective.
Climbing got a makeover. Feels a lot more smooth and natural than it did in previous games, and the inclusion of the rope and piton were a great choice.
Writing was fantastic, in my opinion. The way this narrative was presented and told gave me a whole new level of involvement with the characters that I hadn't got since Uncharted 2. I really enjoyed the inclusion of Sam, and I thought Rafe was a pretty great villain.
Graphics were incredible. This and Lost Legacy both have some of the best area reveals and vistas in the series. Downright incredible level and environment design.
The music has been great all throughout the series. Great atmosphere and narrative quality. Definitely gives me the impression that Naughty Dog likes jungle-y type themes. Some parts of the soundtrack reminded me a bit of Jak and Daxter's instrumentation. The sound design was also on point. Gun sounds are killer, environment noises and walking are immersive, etc.
Combat encounters felt more balanced here. Still plenty difficult even on the normal setting, but this time the crazy encounters were offset by plenty of ways to take cover and refill ammo, while still being punishing if you decide to go in guns blazing.
SPOILERS BELOW
As for the ending, it was great to see a happy ending for Nate and Elena (and the rest of the gang). I was scared that, since Neil Druckmann was the main writer and director, something would happen to one of the main characters and there would be a bittersweet ending, but nope. All was well in the end, and that felt great. I had to remember that this wasn't a TLOU game!
Definitely recommend this one. It's a blast!