Date played: May 10th
Platform: PS4
Uncharted 4 is here!
I'm a huge fan of anything Naughty Dog puts out. I loved Crash Bandicoot back on the PS1, I enjoyed what little I played of Jak and Daxter, had tons of fun with The Last of Us and of course, I've played the hell out of all the Uncharted games, including the oft forgotten Golden Abyss on Vita. I've been very excited to play Uncharted 4 since it was announced, so I jumped in last night and played the first 5 chapters.
The game begins with a little prologue where the hero, Nathan Drake, is driving a boat in the middle of a tropical storm during the night. He's trying to reach a large island on the horizon, and a man named Sam is in the boat with him. They are attacked by armed men who are chasing them with their own little boats. Sam shoots at the pursuers while Drake drives. At one point, I got thrown off the boat, then when I climbed back in, I had to help fight the attackers by shooting at them with a pistol. A larger boat then crashed into us, then the game cut to black.
The first chapter shows Nathan as a child, about 12 or 13 years old. He lives in an orphanage and is being chastised by a nun because he got in a fight with another kid. After the nun left, he saw his brother outside the orphanage, flashing a light at him, calling at him to come out and meet him. This was no easy process, since Drake is not supposed to leave his room. This whole sequence served as a tutorial on cover as I avoided the orphanage's staff to escape through a window.
It turns out, the dude in the boat, Sam, is Nathan's older brother and he's got a surprise for him, but they have to climb the rooftops of the orphanage to escape. Again, this was more of a tutorial mission. I learned how to navigate the world and use one of the new additions to the game, a grappling hook. After many perilous jumps and other acrobatics, the brothers were outside the grounds. The details of the story here don't matter much, but it's clear that Sam has always had a big influence on Nathan.
The next chapter begins with a young Nathan Drake, probably in his early twenties. He's in the middle of a fist fight with a thug in some sort of South American prison. Here I learned how to fight unarmed, a system that seems to work pretty well. The prison guards break up the bloody fight and one of them takes Nathan to an underground portion of the prison. It's quickly revealed that the guard was an accomplice who was being paid to get Drake to a piece of land that sits right next to the prison.
Apparently, a nearby castle had been used as a prison when pirates were a thing, and clues led Drake to believe that a fabulous treasure was hidden in one of the cells. This is where I played my first real "level" as I climbed my way towards the tower, jumping from ledge to ledge and using he grappling hook to progress. Then at the end there was a little puzzle, nothing too complicated, though I didn't see the solution right away. While there was no treasure to be found, Drake picked up a little ornament.
I went back to the prison with my prison guard ally, Vargas, and went to meet my accomplices. It turns out, Sam is in the prison with Nathan, as is another man named Rafe. Vargas has been asking for a a portion of the treasure instead of his agreed upon pay, so the group is a bit distraught. As they moved through the prison, they were ambushed by the guys Nathan had been fighting at the start of the chapter. I had another big melee battle here, then the guards came in and stopped the fighting.
When the guards searched Drake, they found the artifact he picked up in the prison cell, so Vargas got real angry and took the group away to an office. He then pointed a gun at them and insisted on 25% of the treasure. That's when Rafe stabbed him in the gut with a knife, killing him violently... The next sequence had the trio of thieves running through the prison to escape. At the end of the big action scene, Sam was shot and was left for dead. Nathan, riddled with grief, still managed to escape with Rafe.
I should stop here and point out that Uncharted 4 is quite simply the best looking video game I've ever played! The game is just so incredibly detailed, the framerate is solid and everything is just so fucking pretty. It's really a technological marvel, and if every game looks this good in the future, I will be a very happy gamer.
A good example of this was the beginning of chapter 3, which begins with Drake in scuba diving gear, swimming through beautiful underwater scenery. He's apparently diving for salvage. He finds the cargo he was looking for, a bunch of crates inside a crashed semi truck. I had to carry a few of the boxes into the semi, then call my colleagues to lift the loot back to the surface. It turns out, Drake is out of the treasure hunting business and has been working for this salvage company for a while. His boss offers him an illegal job in Malaysia, which Drake politely refuses.
The next chapter begins with Nathan in his attic where a bunch of old artifacts and souvenirs are stored from his previous adventures. I looked at the items a little bit, then played with a toy gun, shooting at targets in the room. When he went back down into the house, it became clear that Drake has settled down and married Elena, his on and off love in the previous games.
Elena, the beautiful blonde adventurer, was sitting on the couch, apparently writing an article about Thailand. As the couple eats, they discuss their lives a little bit. It's apparent that they miss adventure, but also don't want to end up in prison. The acting here is absolutely wonderful, it's easily the best in the video game business. Every word, every movement, every facial expression is perfectly captured and believable. Uncharted 4 is a very special game that's for sure.
After eating, the couple decides to play a video game. In a wonderful little nod to the history of Naughty Dog, they boot up an original Playstation 1 and play the first level of Crash Bandicoot! It was a really cool moment... Later, Drake back to the office to do some paperwork, when an unexpected visitor showed up, his brother Sam.
Nathan thought that his brother was dead, so he was very happy to see him alive. After they caught up, Sam told Nathan that he needed help. The game then cut to a scene where I controlled Sam during his time in the prison. One of his cell mates turned out to be a very important drug lord who organized his own escape. He offered Sam to join him in exchange for getting the treasure that he was always babbling on about.
The level had me fighting prison guards with a pistol, and later an assault rifle. It was nice to finally get into a real firefight, and the whole scene was filled with action and huge explosions. The group made it out safely, but now Sam must find the treasure within 3 months or the drug lord will kill him... Drake reluctantly agrees to help his brother, and even lies to Elena in the process, telling her he had finally agreed to the Malaysian job.
I fucking love Uncharted 4, I think it's a real milestone in video games that will be remembered for years to come.
Platform: PS4
Uncharted 4 is here!
I'm a huge fan of anything Naughty Dog puts out. I loved Crash Bandicoot back on the PS1, I enjoyed what little I played of Jak and Daxter, had tons of fun with The Last of Us and of course, I've played the hell out of all the Uncharted games, including the oft forgotten Golden Abyss on Vita. I've been very excited to play Uncharted 4 since it was announced, so I jumped in last night and played the first 5 chapters.
The game begins with a little prologue where the hero, Nathan Drake, is driving a boat in the middle of a tropical storm during the night. He's trying to reach a large island on the horizon, and a man named Sam is in the boat with him. They are attacked by armed men who are chasing them with their own little boats. Sam shoots at the pursuers while Drake drives. At one point, I got thrown off the boat, then when I climbed back in, I had to help fight the attackers by shooting at them with a pistol. A larger boat then crashed into us, then the game cut to black.
The first chapter shows Nathan as a child, about 12 or 13 years old. He lives in an orphanage and is being chastised by a nun because he got in a fight with another kid. After the nun left, he saw his brother outside the orphanage, flashing a light at him, calling at him to come out and meet him. This was no easy process, since Drake is not supposed to leave his room. This whole sequence served as a tutorial on cover as I avoided the orphanage's staff to escape through a window.
It turns out, the dude in the boat, Sam, is Nathan's older brother and he's got a surprise for him, but they have to climb the rooftops of the orphanage to escape. Again, this was more of a tutorial mission. I learned how to navigate the world and use one of the new additions to the game, a grappling hook. After many perilous jumps and other acrobatics, the brothers were outside the grounds. The details of the story here don't matter much, but it's clear that Sam has always had a big influence on Nathan.
The next chapter begins with a young Nathan Drake, probably in his early twenties. He's in the middle of a fist fight with a thug in some sort of South American prison. Here I learned how to fight unarmed, a system that seems to work pretty well. The prison guards break up the bloody fight and one of them takes Nathan to an underground portion of the prison. It's quickly revealed that the guard was an accomplice who was being paid to get Drake to a piece of land that sits right next to the prison.
Apparently, a nearby castle had been used as a prison when pirates were a thing, and clues led Drake to believe that a fabulous treasure was hidden in one of the cells. This is where I played my first real "level" as I climbed my way towards the tower, jumping from ledge to ledge and using he grappling hook to progress. Then at the end there was a little puzzle, nothing too complicated, though I didn't see the solution right away. While there was no treasure to be found, Drake picked up a little ornament.
I went back to the prison with my prison guard ally, Vargas, and went to meet my accomplices. It turns out, Sam is in the prison with Nathan, as is another man named Rafe. Vargas has been asking for a a portion of the treasure instead of his agreed upon pay, so the group is a bit distraught. As they moved through the prison, they were ambushed by the guys Nathan had been fighting at the start of the chapter. I had another big melee battle here, then the guards came in and stopped the fighting.
When the guards searched Drake, they found the artifact he picked up in the prison cell, so Vargas got real angry and took the group away to an office. He then pointed a gun at them and insisted on 25% of the treasure. That's when Rafe stabbed him in the gut with a knife, killing him violently... The next sequence had the trio of thieves running through the prison to escape. At the end of the big action scene, Sam was shot and was left for dead. Nathan, riddled with grief, still managed to escape with Rafe.
I should stop here and point out that Uncharted 4 is quite simply the best looking video game I've ever played! The game is just so incredibly detailed, the framerate is solid and everything is just so fucking pretty. It's really a technological marvel, and if every game looks this good in the future, I will be a very happy gamer.
A good example of this was the beginning of chapter 3, which begins with Drake in scuba diving gear, swimming through beautiful underwater scenery. He's apparently diving for salvage. He finds the cargo he was looking for, a bunch of crates inside a crashed semi truck. I had to carry a few of the boxes into the semi, then call my colleagues to lift the loot back to the surface. It turns out, Drake is out of the treasure hunting business and has been working for this salvage company for a while. His boss offers him an illegal job in Malaysia, which Drake politely refuses.
The next chapter begins with Nathan in his attic where a bunch of old artifacts and souvenirs are stored from his previous adventures. I looked at the items a little bit, then played with a toy gun, shooting at targets in the room. When he went back down into the house, it became clear that Drake has settled down and married Elena, his on and off love in the previous games.
 |
| Nathan and Elena play Crash Bandicoot |
After eating, the couple decides to play a video game. In a wonderful little nod to the history of Naughty Dog, they boot up an original Playstation 1 and play the first level of Crash Bandicoot! It was a really cool moment... Later, Drake back to the office to do some paperwork, when an unexpected visitor showed up, his brother Sam.
Nathan thought that his brother was dead, so he was very happy to see him alive. After they caught up, Sam told Nathan that he needed help. The game then cut to a scene where I controlled Sam during his time in the prison. One of his cell mates turned out to be a very important drug lord who organized his own escape. He offered Sam to join him in exchange for getting the treasure that he was always babbling on about.
The level had me fighting prison guards with a pistol, and later an assault rifle. It was nice to finally get into a real firefight, and the whole scene was filled with action and huge explosions. The group made it out safely, but now Sam must find the treasure within 3 months or the drug lord will kill him... Drake reluctantly agrees to help his brother, and even lies to Elena in the process, telling her he had finally agreed to the Malaysian job.
I fucking love Uncharted 4, I think it's a real milestone in video games that will be remembered for years to come.
