AndiC.uk

I never thought I'd write a game review but Uncharted: The Lost Legacy provoked a ton of intriguing thoughts throughout my playthrough, so here we are. There's a section without spoilers and one filled with them, so you can read whichever you fancy.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is set after the events of Uncharted 4, starring Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross. Introduced in Uncharted 2 and 4 respectively. This is the first Uncharted game not to feature series protagonist Nathan Drake, which feels odd at first, but Chloe proves to be an excellent lead character.

Since the game's reveal at PSX in 2016, The Lost Legacy was promoted as a standalone title. However after completing the game, it is absolutely worth playing Uncharted 4 beforehand, as the characters and their motives are all driven from the previous game.

Having said that, it is also obvious that The Lost Legacy spawned from Uncharted 4, as there are so many similar gameplay moments. I found that I enjoyed every gun fight and action sequence, but the vast majority of it was gameplay I've experienced before in the previous games. Lock-picking is the one new game mechanic, or the one new skill for Chloe, which is a nice addition and becomes tense when surrounded by enemies.

Regardless of the similar gameplay, The Lost Legacy is a stunningly beautiful game. The back-drops to each chapter are fantastic landscapes. I spent so much time trying to capture perfect screenshots in the game's detailed photo mode. Which heavily reminded me of the similar feature in Horizon Zero Dawn. See my capture gallery here (does contain spoilers).

The character art, cutscenes, and voice acting are all top class too. This is still where Naughty Dog reigns supreme. They add emotion and facial animations to characters like no other developer. The relationship between Chloe and Nadine is brilliant throughout. There are also plenty of funny, witty lines bounced between the two mid-gameplay, that reminded me of the similar banter between Nate and Sully.

On the whole, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a great game. It's scenery, character development and cutscenes are best in the business. It's just a shame so many gameplay elements have been copied from the epic Uncharted 4.

Filled with Spoilers

So as I said, I think Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a great game. It's a fitting entry in the highly acclaimed Uncharted series. The appearance of Sam Drake was a welcomed surprise in the latter half of the game, which really added a third wheel to the cutscenes and gameplay. But despite everything the game does so well, it's also so easy to criticise in such minor ways.

When I said there are similar gameplay moments, there are some that are identical. In the final chapter "End of the Line", it firstly reminded of the awesome Uncharted 2 train sequence. Which was very similar but a nice throwback. What I found most disappointing was the fact that Naughty Dog used the exact same grappling-to-a-truck mechanic from the epic Uncharted 4 chapter "Hidden in Plain Sight". Chloe being dragged through the mud and eventually pulling herself up to take out enemies on the vehicle, felt blatantly copied from a game I only played just over a year ago.

Another obviously re-used asset was the rental 4x4 for exploring the open area. I believe it was the exact same red jeep with the winch from Uncharted 4. I did enjoy the expansive "Western Ghats" chapter so I wouldn't class it as a negative.

This leads to the point of purely re-skinning a character model. Chloe has all the same physical abilities as Nathan Drake, if not more, which loses some of the realism factor for me. For example, Chloe surely does not have the same strength and jump distance as Nate. She can take out fully armoured enemies in stealth with her bare fists from the outset. And I couldn't believe some of the gaps she was able to jump. It would have been perfect if her abilities had been toned down a fraction from those of Drake. Other attributes could have increased to compromise such as stealth.

Possibly the biggest flaw to this game is the enemy AI and grenades. I played through the Story on Hard mode, which does make gun fights more difficult but not when you have grenades. Enemies have no concept of them. They don't move an inch when one lands near them or even directly on top of them! From memory this was roughly the same in the previous Uncharted games, it just seems much more noticeable now in 2017.

One last gripe I have is on Chloe's knowledge. She knows everything about Indian history, gods and goddesses. But just after the riding the elephant scene, she doesn't know the difference between Indian and African Elephants!? If this was a sarcastic question to Nadine then it would have been great. But Nadine gave a genuine correct answer and that was it. It just baffled me, and I almost had doubts over Chloe from that point onwards.

So that concludes my thoughts on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. A great game that I would recommend to fans of the Uncharted series for two reasons. One so they can experience the usual highest quality video game story telling from Naughty Dog. And two, to see if they have the exact same pain points as me. Which we may never experience again if this is to be the last ever Uncharted game?

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Review