Uncharted 4 is a game about the high cost of obsession. It's a straightforward bounty, but it's refreshingly grounded, focusing more on the parties chasing Libertalia than some mystical MacGuffin waiting at the end of their quest. There are no warlords seeking ancient weapons of mass destruction, no sunken cities with immortal mutant guardians - there's just the lost pirate colony of Libertalia and a literal boatload of treasure hidden within. Uncharted 4 has the most cogent campaign of the series. Nate acquiesces, and, under questionable pretenses, sets off on his final adventure. Sam's life is in danger, he explains, and the only way he can be saved is if he and Nate pick up that job where they left off. Nate's retirement is interrupted by the return of his brother Sam, a former accomplice who was seemingly killed while on a job 15 years prior.
They're both given countless opportunities to do stellar character work, and every scene they share carries a lovely, hilarious, heartbreaking emotional payload. The chemistry between the two characters, fostered by returning actors Nolan North and Emily Rose, is the best it's ever been. Uncharted 4 opens with an obligatory in medias res cliffhanger, but quickly pivots to show the life that Nathan and Elena - now reconciled as husband and wife - have built together in the years following Uncharted 3. Past games tossed Nathan Drake into a capsized boat or a crashing cargo plane, but in this final chapter, he's subjected to a far more dangerous ordeal: a thorough exploration of the fact that he can, at times, be kind of an asshole.
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The memorable, exploding setpieces the series is known for are sparsely used in Uncharted 4. It's as cathartic an ending as you could hope for, and then some.īut that catharsis is built around a game that's so much more intimate and - shockingly - quiet than the other Uncharted adventures. There are no threads left unresolved, no relationships left unexplored and no shirts left partially untucked. Quite the opposite, actually: A Thief's End presents a pitch-perfect conclusion to the Uncharted series, and should serve as a benchmark for other franchises approaching their twilight years. It's not that Uncharted 4 left me exasperated or unsatisfied. By the time I reached the closing credits of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, I never wanted to set foot into an ancient tomb or long-lost treasure trove with Nathan Drake again.