Game On: 'Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'

The Gist
There's a moment that occurs as Uncharted 4: A Thief's End enters its third act when it hits you: This is the last adventure for Nathan Drake and crew. We've followed Drake’s exploits for nearly a decade and lived through the discovery of El Dorado (a statue, by the way, not a city), found the Cintamani Stone hidden away in Shambhala (another name for Shangri-La) and traced the footsteps of TE Lawrence across the Rub' Al Khali desert (we almost died). With Drake, we have traipsed the globe fighting armies and monsters, searching for and then finding lost treasures and cities, and solving history's greatest mysteries, and it has been incredible. The difference here when compared to previous games in the series, however, is that the developers at Naughty Dog have taken their particular brand of artful cinematic/interactive storytelling to another level. Of course, it isn't that the series has failed in that regard up till now, far from it, but rather that the lessons learned while producing the excellent 2013 post-apocalyptic game, The Last of Us, have served them well.

When we rejoin Drake, it’s been some time since he thwarted Katherine Marlowe and her attempts to uncover the mythical djinn in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Our hero (the iconic and always fantastic Nolan North) has given up his roguish and swashbuckling lifestyle for dull domesticity with his original adventure mate and longtime love interest, Elena Fisher (played to new heights of complexity and sensitivity by Emily Rose). 

It's a perfectly fine life in New Orleans, but as Drake tries to settle into a humdrum job with a marine salvage company, he constantly feels the pull of adventure. And then his brother Sam (the brilliant Troy Baker) shows up. Assumed dead following a Panamanian prison break attempt gone awry, Sam has actually been rotting in said prison for the last 15 years, and in order to spare his life from a ruthless drug lord who helped him escape, the brothers Drake must pull off one last history heist worth someplace in the neighborhood of 400 million bucks. Drake puts his entire new life on hold, lying to his wife and risking his marriage in the process, and sets off to find the treasure in question—that of a fearsome pirate named Avery. Nate and Sam had actually attempted to find Avery's millions before, along with a miserable jerk of a millionaire named Rafe Adler (Warren Kole of The Following, who makes us love to hate him). It was a complicated matter last time, and it’s no different now. Things never pan out as simply as people wish, and what is meant to be an easy job sets into motion a series of globe-trotting escapades the likes of which make Drake come alive again for the first time since he hung up his holster. Rafe is after the treasure as well, but this time he’s got an army for hire at his side, led by the enigmatic and badass Nadine Ross (Bioshock Infinite's incredible Laura Bailey). The cat-and-mouse race to the treasure is a similar setup to the three previous games, but originality aside, it works. When Uncharted first skyrocketed onto PlayStation consoles nine years ago, it was like a more successful stab at the Tomb Raider formula (prior to the fantastic Crystal Dynamics 2013 reboot, of course), and as a character, Drake exists someplace between Indiana Jones and a smart-alecky street hustler. He's a magnetic, dynamic personality, and illuminating glimpses into his past finally begin to answer questions brought up way back in the first game, 2007’s Drake’s Fortune. 

Uncharted 4 represents a new graphical benchmark for the series, which is actually not an easy feat, given the straight-up bonkers look of previous games. Facial animations are some of the best in the medium, and background assets are undeniably gorgeous. This is a title with major set pieces that, unlike certain other games (looking at you, Call of Duty), occur in real time. Take, for example, the well-publicized car chase sequence in Madagascar. Drake leaps from truck to truck, grapples along cranes and bridges, and is dragged through the mud behind motorcycles, and the whole thing never wrestles control from the player. It’s just one of many jaw-dropping events that break up benchmark elements such as exploration, vertical traversal, gunplay and puzzle solving. Everything has been updated, from intuitive new climbing additions to tightened gun mechanics. Leaping from a cliff and throwing out a grappling hook never gets dull, and multiple pathways—which can be a big deal in an arguably very linear series—spice things up. Even better, the shooting mechanics received a complete overhaul and work better than ever before. There’s a heft to the firing of weapons, and a nifty crosshair color switch allows you to know the precise moment you’ve dispatched a bad guy. Puzzles are every bit as clever as they've always been but aren't so complex as to be impossible, and looting hidden collectibles throughout the environments is still enjoyable. 

The main thing to keep in mind here, though, is that Uncharted 4 is a farewell to these beloved characters, and it’s the human element and quieter moments wherein directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann have excelled. Previous games were mile-a-minute affairs that were absolutely fun, but they lacked any sort of truly tangible emotional component. After so many years with these people, however, we’ve grown attached to them, and it’s wonderful to see performances that convey how far they’ve come or just how much is at risk. Elena and Drake are particularly exciting to watch, and the idea that she loves the adventure as much as he does, even as she struggles against it, gives depth to their situation. Nate’s brother Sam is fantastic as well, and Troy Baker’s performance perfectly captures how he is maybe not to be trusted (even though we still root for him). They’re just plain well-written characters, and the chemistry between them is palpable.

But it isn’t all good, and Uncharted can start to feel a tad stretched out at times. There are moments when the closing chapters seem specifically designed to lengthen playtime, and that could be problematic for some, and it's kind of a drag that we're forced into Quick Time Event scenarios. But it is important to keep in mind that as hard as it must be for longtime fans to say goodbye, it is surely harder for series caretakers. 

The cutscenes and conversational moments have never been quite this dense, but for everything that seems pointless or tacked on, there is ultimately a good reason. Bearing that in mind, this isn’t a great entry title to the series, as newcomers won’t understand nods to the universe such as in-jokes or interactive items placed throughout. When we remember that this is the very end, those befuddling exchanges that seem too long or cutscenes that feel like they drag on actually become very important. Naughty Dog has learned to take its time, and the slow burn becomes completely worth it by the time the credits roll.  

The Multiplayer
For these people, though, there is always the multiplayer suite. A Thief’s End has borrowed extensively from previous Uncharted titles but has also thrown in a healthy amount of ideas from The Last of Us. Across three of the available modes, Team Deathmatch, Command (capturing hardpoints) and Plunder (capture the flag, basically), there are clever maps with countless traversal and cover options, gorgeous backdrops and brilliantly designed sight lines. Along with the new and improved shooting mechanics and myriad customization options, it becomes the best competitive online experience in the series, without question. 

It is possible to play in so many ways, from the most aggressive loners to the more strategic team players. Easy-to-understand and -execute special moves and boosters can provide a much-needed edge during combat, and one needn’t be an online gaming fanatic to jump in and play well. More importantly, it’s fun, and the vast majority of matches played by this reviewer were neck-and-neck till the very end. Naughty Dog has already announced that downloadable content (DLC for my noobs) is on the horizon, and if The Last of Us is any indication, they’ll be supporting the online modes for some time to come. A Thief’s End will also feature the first campaign-driven DLC in series history, and though details are currently sketchy, we can apparently expect an alternate ending, answers to even more questions and who knows what else? It’s exciting.

The Bottom Line
This is absolutely the Uncharted experience you know and love, with enough new elements mixed with what has worked in the past. There are minimal disappointments, like borderline-tedious third-act issues and some seemingly missed mechanical opportunities for late-game traversal additions. But given the feverish hype surrounding this particular series and the fact that it’s a conclusion to characters we’ve known and loved for nearly a decade, it’s a resounding success. Newcomers may wish to go back and experience the three previous games, but the good news with that is there’s hardly a more exciting game series in the entire medium. The capabilities of PlayStation 4 have allowed Naughty Dog to improve everything from the look of the world to the feel of the controls, and the answering of so many longtime questions is almost criminally satisfying. Hell, we even learn where Drake got his name. Multiplayer matches are a complete blast to play, and everything else from voice acting to music and all points in between is the best we’ve ever seen from the series. By the time we reach the final cutscene and allow the emotional weight to hit us in earnest, we have discovered lost cities, unearthed buried treasures and felt the humanity of these ironically pixilated people. This isn’t just one of the best games of the current console generation, it’s one of the best games in the history of the medium. Our hero, Nathan Drake, shares a motto with the legendary British explorer Sir Francis Drake, a Latin phrase that so perfectly describes what Uncharted has accomplished throughout its existence: Sic Parvus Magna—greatness from small beginnings. Nailed it.