Many were disappointed when Naughty Dog said that Uncharted 4th Thief’s End was most likely the end of Nathan Drake, but now we know there is no reason to worry. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy continues for the series in a very good way, and the series can live on this.
For even without Nathan, Elena, and Sully in the picture, the studio once again gives an entertaining story of interesting characters. I feared that the developers would try to transfer their personality to Chloe and Nadine, but the strange couple stands fine on their own. This time we can not only see the slightly broader Chloe we saw in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , but she also shows a deeper side of herself. The same goes for Nadine. Both of them open more and more beyond the game, giving an insight into how they’ve ended up where they are in life. Little details make them feel more real than before. Occasionally, they are really impressed with what they see, so you often get the chance to take pictures of the surroundings with Chloe’s mobile phone as a memory of life. At the same time, the development of their relationship naturally feels that it changes gradually as a result of the things they are experiencing together. Excuse me, there is a lot of humor in the game as well. The relationship between them is a little tense at the start, but gradually it goes from scattered single sequences with humor, to a tone that reminds me a little about it between Nathan and Sully.
These small changes are also reflected in the gameplay. Almost everything simply feels like a small upgrade. The surroundings are bigger, the riddles more interesting, and the fighting more engaging. When it comes to the first, this mainly concerns what may be considered as the main area of the game. Madagascar is just child food in relation to this. Here we are free to explore what we want whenever we want. This got the signant to really feel like a treasure hunter. The area consists not only of five points we must visit in what order we want to move on in history, but also hidden treasures we must solve puzzles or challenges to find. Then I mean in addition to the usual treasures that are scattered around. Each of these special treasures offers unique challenges. One may require that you only execute the currently used up climb, while others require you to use your physics in an interesting way, use your senses, and a variety of other things. Some of these are also somehow references to the puzzles and challenges of the predecessors, which made an enthusiast like me to humre a little. Nevertheless, Naughty Dog should be a little careful with too many references and known mechanics.
The Lost Legacy continues to follow the Uncharted recipe to a very large extent, which may cause you to start to get a bit satisfied with the series fast, to get a sense of déjà vu. You will still use the same climbing mechanics in long sequences, escape from shooting enemies, sneak between the small holes in the high grass and other things you’ve done several times before in the series. True, the new dike mechanics are exciting to do when there are enemies nearby, but do not make up much on the whole. I understand that most of the studio wants a break from the series, too much begins to feel exhausted now.
Nevertheless, it’s fun to see how many things The Lost Legacy improves, which I have not thought about before. As mentioned, the sites are filled with more secrets and the challenges are more varied and engaging. At the same time, the life design has improved. With such large areas one would think that there would be some trash in the same environment, but as a rule, a new road will open when, for example, you have traveled far to find something. Maybe it’s a secret door that opens, a tree falling down, or something similar. Either way, you will often end up with a shortcut to where you started. Now it is said that this occasionally made me look like I could climb some things when that was not the case, which either led to a boring death or just a ridiculous jumping animation. Given that the outstanding graphics must take some blame for this, I will not complain too much.
Beyond the length, which is somewhere between six and nine hours, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a full-fledged Uncharted game. The story and the characters are very engaging, the riddle design brought to new heights, and the surroundings filled with interesting details. Naughty Dog really shows that the Uncharted series can continue without Nathan Drake. This is probably not a game for you who has begun to get tired of the familiar formula, but feel the least desire for more of the amazing universe, this is clearly worth the purchase price.
