Kevin Shields
Member
Radiohead's new album and Uncharted 4 were at the top of my hype list in 2016 and they both came out around the same time. I was so excited to play the new Nate Drake adventure and I finished it the first week it came out. My first impression of the game was... this is a damn disaster.
Now I did appreciate a lot of the things about the game, but measuring it against my hype levels and my love for the series, it was a major dissapointment for me. My reasoning you have probably heard before...
It starts so damn slow...
The pacing is god-awful...
Why am I freaking climbing so much...?
Where are my set pieces?
Where is the action?
Is this MGS4 level of cutscenes?
Another crate? Are you kidding me?
On and on and on I thought this was way worse than 2 and 3 and maybe even worse than the first one (which has a myriad of its own problems).
After finishing my replay of the game an hour ago, and collecting my thoughts, I think I was way off base.
I was right about one thing... The pacing. But its actually not as game ruining as I thought it was and could be fixed in two simple ways.
1. The first 5 chapters should not keep bouncing all over different timelines. I think the opening should have been Nate scuba diving in the water where you think he is on some awesome adventure but he's just living a normal life... Then do the classic Nate and Elena relationship... Then introduce the brother and flashback and tell the beginning of Nate and Sam's relationship as kids, then the prison and the introduction of the crosses, and then the alcatraz breakout. Over course connect this in solid Naughty Dog fashion but that beginning would have flowed better and cut off about 25 minutes from the beginning.
2. There is simply a lack of combat encounters from Chapters 12-18. Take or leave chapter 16 (I actually enjoyed it this time even though i screamed at the tv the first time i played the game). However, the more grievous sin thatn chapter 16 is having so much climbing in chapter 17 and only two encounters. In those chapters add maybe 3 or 4 combat encounters that are sprinkled throughout and this game could be infinitely better.
Those may seem like big things, but number 1 is rearranging the cutscenes and number 2 is more content, but it wouldn't be that difficult. Just add some men to the already awesome places you have... New Devon should have had another gunfight for sure. Anyway, these are not huge additions, which made me think, the pacing cannot ruin this game.
Now what changed my mind to make me believe that Uncharted 4 is equal to or greater than the 2 and 3 and definitely greater than 1? From least important to most important
4. The Story
Now I wasn't a huge fan of the story the first time through and it did not think it deserved the focus or the amount of cutscenes. However, this playthrough I really appreciated the unfolding of Avery and Drake's story. The connections, the pirate lore, the descent into madness and obsession. The pirate story carefully unfolds piece by piece in character and environmental storytelling to tell you how "pirates will be pirates" and "thieves will be thieves" and it parallels it nicely with how pirates famously weren't family men. All in all, it was not flashy with huge twists and turns, but it was a well slow cooked story for a video game. Up there with Last of Us in story department for me. I like it better probably but thats because im not a Zombie guy.
3. The Set Pieces
Lord knows I missed me a hefty amount of set pieces like the train, the cruise, the plane etc. Uncharted 4 is lacking big set piece moment, but the one it has is the best one ever no doubt in my mind. The chase, crane, car chase blows me away every time I play it. Its transitions, the graphics, the openess of how an action scene plays out, the interactiveness of basically a playable movie is unrivaled in Uncharted and unrivaled in video games. I'm not succumbing to Gaf hyperbole, but it is the greatest 20-30 minutes I've ever played in a game. Yes, one more in chapters 12-18 would have been great, but I can't put it below the other games when it has chapter 11, I simply can't.
2. The Variety of Gameplay
I am not a "sight seeing" simulator kind of guy and the walking parts in Uncharted 2 and 3 weren't my favorite, and they really weren't my favorite in Last of Us. The crates and ladders in that game were bad and they are also really bad in Uncharted 4. I forgot to mention as this is one area where Naughty Dog needs to get their freaking act together. However, on this playthrough I really told myself to let the adventure take me where it takes me. I told myself to just go along for the ride. You know I actually enjoyed myself in the first few chapters. I snuck around nuns and priests, I fought in prison, I scuba dived, I played an old game and cooked dinner with my wife, and I was part of a heist. What I was frustrated at in my first playthrough, I really enjoyed this time. There is a lot of cool gameplay situations that are just one and done, and if they fixed the pacing like I mentioned above, these gameplay scenarios would have been more refreshing.
1. Combat, Combat, Combat, Combat
This is it. There is not enough of it, but what is there is so head and shoulders above the rest of the series, that it changed my perspective on this game entirely. I liked the combat on my first go around, but playing it through a second time I realized how different my encounters were. The size, scope and rope make this game one of the best playing 3rd person shooters ever. I realized after I replayed the original trilogy, that not one encounter in those games (even in their variety and excitement) was more fun then playing a combat arena in UC4. The guns sound better, the destruction is awesome, the movement is crisper, the moves are more plentiful and the swinging and shooting is pin point perfect for Uncharted. Some people say the Scotland part is boring but Chapter 8 was amazing for me with combat encounter after encounter and each were different and exciting. No there was not the variety of design like UC2 had, but you had your own story to tell because there was so many ways an encounter could play out. The linear combat sections were the perfect amount of time and they were great at mixing those up with the larger arenas. Again if they added 3 or 4 more during chapters 12-18, this could have been such a better game.
As it is, I don't know where it will rank in the series, I got the HD collection coming for Father's Day. I do know I was wrong and my hate and dissapointment was over-the-top. In individual components, this is one of the best games I have ever played. It falters because of the reasons I first mentioned, but it is still an excellent, excellent game.
P.S.
I've said my peace... Is a crushing playthrough worth it or is it super unfun?
Edit: Wow, I forgot one of the most important points!! To fix the pacing put the boat scene as a set piece after chapter 12. Elongate it but it's basically already there or at least have us replay it. Again, not a lot of work and they already have what they need in the game. Pacing could be fixed pretty easily with a few tweaks. I'm gonna add this to OP
Now I did appreciate a lot of the things about the game, but measuring it against my hype levels and my love for the series, it was a major dissapointment for me. My reasoning you have probably heard before...
It starts so damn slow...
The pacing is god-awful...
Why am I freaking climbing so much...?
Where are my set pieces?
Where is the action?
Is this MGS4 level of cutscenes?
Another crate? Are you kidding me?
On and on and on I thought this was way worse than 2 and 3 and maybe even worse than the first one (which has a myriad of its own problems).
After finishing my replay of the game an hour ago, and collecting my thoughts, I think I was way off base.
I was right about one thing... The pacing. But its actually not as game ruining as I thought it was and could be fixed in two simple ways.
1. The first 5 chapters should not keep bouncing all over different timelines. I think the opening should have been Nate scuba diving in the water where you think he is on some awesome adventure but he's just living a normal life... Then do the classic Nate and Elena relationship... Then introduce the brother and flashback and tell the beginning of Nate and Sam's relationship as kids, then the prison and the introduction of the crosses, and then the alcatraz breakout. Over course connect this in solid Naughty Dog fashion but that beginning would have flowed better and cut off about 25 minutes from the beginning.
2. There is simply a lack of combat encounters from Chapters 12-18. Take or leave chapter 16 (I actually enjoyed it this time even though i screamed at the tv the first time i played the game). However, the more grievous sin thatn chapter 16 is having so much climbing in chapter 17 and only two encounters. In those chapters add maybe 3 or 4 combat encounters that are sprinkled throughout and this game could be infinitely better.
Those may seem like big things, but number 1 is rearranging the cutscenes and number 2 is more content, but it wouldn't be that difficult. Just add some men to the already awesome places you have... New Devon should have had another gunfight for sure. Anyway, these are not huge additions, which made me think, the pacing cannot ruin this game.
Now what changed my mind to make me believe that Uncharted 4 is equal to or greater than the 2 and 3 and definitely greater than 1? From least important to most important
4. The Story
Now I wasn't a huge fan of the story the first time through and it did not think it deserved the focus or the amount of cutscenes. However, this playthrough I really appreciated the unfolding of Avery and Drake's story. The connections, the pirate lore, the descent into madness and obsession. The pirate story carefully unfolds piece by piece in character and environmental storytelling to tell you how "pirates will be pirates" and "thieves will be thieves" and it parallels it nicely with how pirates famously weren't family men. All in all, it was not flashy with huge twists and turns, but it was a well slow cooked story for a video game. Up there with Last of Us in story department for me. I like it better probably but thats because im not a Zombie guy.
3. The Set Pieces
Lord knows I missed me a hefty amount of set pieces like the train, the cruise, the plane etc. Uncharted 4 is lacking big set piece moment, but the one it has is the best one ever no doubt in my mind. The chase, crane, car chase blows me away every time I play it. Its transitions, the graphics, the openess of how an action scene plays out, the interactiveness of basically a playable movie is unrivaled in Uncharted and unrivaled in video games. I'm not succumbing to Gaf hyperbole, but it is the greatest 20-30 minutes I've ever played in a game. Yes, one more in chapters 12-18 would have been great, but I can't put it below the other games when it has chapter 11, I simply can't.
2. The Variety of Gameplay
I am not a "sight seeing" simulator kind of guy and the walking parts in Uncharted 2 and 3 weren't my favorite, and they really weren't my favorite in Last of Us. The crates and ladders in that game were bad and they are also really bad in Uncharted 4. I forgot to mention as this is one area where Naughty Dog needs to get their freaking act together. However, on this playthrough I really told myself to let the adventure take me where it takes me. I told myself to just go along for the ride. You know I actually enjoyed myself in the first few chapters. I snuck around nuns and priests, I fought in prison, I scuba dived, I played an old game and cooked dinner with my wife, and I was part of a heist. What I was frustrated at in my first playthrough, I really enjoyed this time. There is a lot of cool gameplay situations that are just one and done, and if they fixed the pacing like I mentioned above, these gameplay scenarios would have been more refreshing.
1. Combat, Combat, Combat, Combat
This is it. There is not enough of it, but what is there is so head and shoulders above the rest of the series, that it changed my perspective on this game entirely. I liked the combat on my first go around, but playing it through a second time I realized how different my encounters were. The size, scope and rope make this game one of the best playing 3rd person shooters ever. I realized after I replayed the original trilogy, that not one encounter in those games (even in their variety and excitement) was more fun then playing a combat arena in UC4. The guns sound better, the destruction is awesome, the movement is crisper, the moves are more plentiful and the swinging and shooting is pin point perfect for Uncharted. Some people say the Scotland part is boring but Chapter 8 was amazing for me with combat encounter after encounter and each were different and exciting. No there was not the variety of design like UC2 had, but you had your own story to tell because there was so many ways an encounter could play out. The linear combat sections were the perfect amount of time and they were great at mixing those up with the larger arenas. Again if they added 3 or 4 more during chapters 12-18, this could have been such a better game.
As it is, I don't know where it will rank in the series, I got the HD collection coming for Father's Day. I do know I was wrong and my hate and dissapointment was over-the-top. In individual components, this is one of the best games I have ever played. It falters because of the reasons I first mentioned, but it is still an excellent, excellent game.
P.S.
I've said my peace... Is a crushing playthrough worth it or is it super unfun?
Edit: Wow, I forgot one of the most important points!! To fix the pacing put the boat scene as a set piece after chapter 12. Elongate it but it's basically already there or at least have us replay it. Again, not a lot of work and they already have what they need in the game. Pacing could be fixed pretty easily with a few tweaks. I'm gonna add this to OP
