Greatness from Small Beginnings….What a way to finish off an incredible journey. Playing through these games back to back really helped me appreciate the references and little inside jokes sprinkled throughout the title. Best mechanics out of the entire series, climbing, swinging to the next cliff while shooting a assault rifle never has felt so good. The story is unarguably the best as well, antagonist actually have compelling motivations and the treasure this time around had a lot more lore revolving around it, making it all the more interesting to find the next clue. Nolan North nailed it, hell, he slaughtered it, he understood what makes Nate such a great character and his performance made this a staple when it comes to the medium of Voice Acting. Sam, performed by Troy Baker, (yeah he’s great, always is) what a great addition to the main cast, throughout the series Nathan would have these moments when he completely geeks out over discoveries, leaving the rest of the cast to be completely lost on what is going on, but now with his brother, Sam was equally as engaged on what was happening with his little brother and it was so fun to listen too. Elena, if it werent for the former, would easily have my favorite moments in the game, I dont believe I have never cared more about a companion to the protagonist than her, she completely holds her own and through this whole series is able to bounce off Nathans witty energy with such intensity, shoutout Emily Rose. I love Nathan and Elena, they have given me some of my favorite character interactions in gaming. The set pieces, though it wasnt as in your face as navigating through a moving locomotive or fighting tooth and nail to not fall out of a deteriorating airplane, they had a constant build up, exploring Madagascar or discovering Libertalia, the sheer scope of these locations is astounding, making them some if not the best in the series. Puzzles were incredibly digestible, allowing you yourself to get more involved with Drake’s journal without it just telling you what the answer is. With jumping from location, to location, to location, I simply could not put this game down. And now I can see why so many third person adventure games have tried to find success in the same formula, all because of how truly great the Uncharted series is. Side note, limited the FPS to 40 and its fantastic on the Steam Deck, its how i played the entire playthrough. Probably will knock out Lost Legacy soon.

As solid of a movie game as you can get. On a gameplay perspective, what more could you need? Grand set pieces to more fluid mechanics compared the first 2. On a story…IT STARTED SO STRONG, intriguing setup and motives were put into place. But…. once you eventually split off from Cutter and Chole it starts to take a small nose dive into mediocre territory. In parts though, through interactions with the main cast, there is really good writing and performances, but as a whole game it comes out like, well, quite one noted. The villains, secret society that has been around for centuries with ties to Sully and Nate, seemed like a interesting plot point and then, decided not to be. Super vague in intentions and morality, near nonexistent in presence throughout the game besides the 1000s of henchmen thrown at you and are killed off in a very, VERY, bland fashion , easily the worst part of the game. And if I have ever seen a rushed ending, made me smile though with good writing (Naughty Dog knows the best character moments are with Nate and Elena damnit). One thing that cant be argued is, as far as the ps3 trilogy is concerned, easily has the best cinematography and environments. The score has become one of my favorites from this era as well. (THE FRENCH HORNS IN DRAKES THEME 3.0???? GAS!) Oh and puzzles did actually take some thought and were fun to figure out without the game itself showing you the answers. Overall I enjoyed my time, great gameplay, lackluster story, yet I love these characters.

Took me 25 hours to beat 1-3, so its time to finish it off with 4 and Lost Legacy, cant wait!

HOLY HEATER! The pace of this game is incredible, from set piece to set piece, this title makes it incredibly difficult not to be engaged. Weapon variety was also great, every gun had its strengths in certain situations and felt like I could tackle even the biggest of Guardians. The puzzles were so much better, nothing mind bending but nothing like a shape peg puzzle either. This game just makes me smile, it itches that little adventurer in me that watched Last Crusade years ago. I love the writing this go around, and also the chemistry between Nathan and Elena, never a dull moment.