Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Review (PS4)

1) Introduction



This is a HD remastered collection for PS4 of original PS3 versions of all three Uncharted games, which are Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Uncharted: Golden Abyss for PS Vita is not included in this collection.

This collection sports remastered graphics for all three Uncharted games, such as 1080p and 60 fps support, Speedrun feature, Brutal Mode difficulty, and tweaked Trophy sets for each game. Multipplayers modes from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception are not included.

2) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered


The first of Nathan Drake's great adventures.

This is the first Unxharted game in the series, and also the one benefits with the most enhancements. Nate's character model is changed to an even more detailed character model, resembling more of his appearances in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Grenade throwing control is also changed to play the same as in Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3. Overall gameplay is unchanged as well.

The story goes like this. Nate is on a hunt to a treasure that was assumed to found by Sir Francis Drake. Among the people accompany him are Sully, his good friend and Elena, a reporter. During his journey, he will encounter lots of enemies while pursuing the treasure found by Sir Francis Drake, which is the mysterious El Dorado.

The basic story premise is simple, but the characters what made the story so interesting despite it's simple setup. The characters in this game are very interesting, and I like all of their personalities. Nate is a very believable character with clever wits and historical knowledge, Elena is a spunky reporter who can handle herself, and Sully is an old man in debt yet always loyal to Nate. Villains like Gabriel Roman and Eddy Raja are also memorable, for their distinct personalities. Different characters' motivations help made the story more interesting than a basic adventure story.

The gameplay is a mix of third person shooter, platforming, and adventure. You can control Nate and jump towards ledges, climb around it, swinging on ropes, and many more actions. Progression is fairly simple as you may have to complete certain puzzles, platforming sections, and combat sections.

Combat is divided by two types, melee combat and gun combat. You may use melee attacks to defeat enemies. You may use fast melee combo or Brutal Combo. Defeating an enemy with Brutal Combo will yield more ammo than usual. You may also take out enemies from behind stealthily.

Gun combat requires you to use firearms to kill enemies. You may aim your weapon and fire it in normal third person view, or fire it blindly from cover and running. You will find a variety of weapons in the game, with different capabilities. For example, AK-47 has more ammo capacity than most weapons in the game, but require more ammo to kill enemies via body shots. Taking cover and aiming for headshots may guarantee your victory against most enemies, but some enemies will flank you from your blindsides or by throwing grenades at you. In harder difficulties, getting shot few times is enough guaranteeing Nate's death, so cover is very important to prevent that as much as possible and to recover his health. You may pick up new weapons in case you have run out of ammo or pick up ammo while retaining the same weapon.

Exploration in this game is fairly limited, as all chapters in the game are fairly linear to avoid pacing issues. However, this game has some puzzles where it require you to use some wits and refer to Nate's journal to solve it. They are not incredibly tough to solve, and only few of them are included in the game.

Graphics of the original PS3 version was actually one of the best looking PS3 games, and this game sports remastered graphics that put it very highly among great looking PS4 games. Cutscens, environments, and character models are very well-done. Nate himself has newer character model, which makes him look even better than his PS3 counterpart. In-game animations are still the same in the PS3 version, so don't expect there are redone animations in this remastered game. The original PS3 version also has some screentearing early in the game, and fortunately the PS4 version does not have the issue.

The soundtrack is fitting, and Nate's theme in the game is the most memorable theme in the game. However, this is not my favourite Uncharted soundtrack, but it is still good. The voice acting is also amazing, featuring many talented voice actors like Nolan North, Simon Templeman, and all of the rest of the cast. Thanks to their voice actors, the story in this game is made to be more interesting than usual adventure stories.

Replay value is fairly moderate. You can play the game again in harder difficulties such as Crushing mode and Brutal mode, play the game again in a Speedrun playthrough, collect all Treasures, and collect all Trophies.

This game is great, sporting most enhancements compared to other two games. However, this game still has some issues. Lack of enemy variety to be fought is one combat issue that I have with this game, and the platforming sections can be somewhat too linear. In-game animations can be too goofy at times such as enemy's death scenes, A.I. of your allies can be somewhat unhelpful at times during gunfights, and there are too few puzzles in the game. Fortunately, the different design levels in the game with different enemy waves encourage improvisation when confronting against them.

In conclusion, this game is great despite some issues. With simple and interesting plot, great likable characters, great mix of platforming and third person shooting, and excellent voice acting made this game worth playing all over again. A great remaster of a solid adventure game.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered Final Score: 9.0/10


3) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered


Improved sequel over the first game.

This is the second remastered Uncharted game, and despite it's original 2009 release, this game still stand out as one of the most gorgeous looking game on PS3 and PS4. Other than enhanced graphics, there are no other enhancements except tweaked Trophy set and improved graphics.

This game takes place after Nate's adventure in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Nate is on a quest to find another lost city, called Shambhala along it's legendary treasure, the Cintamani Stone. He will enlist a lot of help from both new and old friends, and he is also ready to get some payback on some of his enemies in the game.

Again, the story premise is simple. However, the pretty environments journeyed and amazing cast of characters what drove the story to be another entertaining adventure story. Nate is still the regular and likable treasure hunter, who reacts to absurd things with believable reactions and humour at times. All other supporting characters made their presence in the game equivalent likable, such as Sully, Chloe and others. Even the main villain Lazarevich is a likable evil and motivated villain, with his ruthlessness demonstrated in the game very clearly.

Gameplay plays largely similarly to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered's gameplay. This time however, the controls are slightly more tighter with some minor enhancements. First of all, the melee combat is tweaked where you can counter enemy attacks. Stealth attacks are also more viable as you can take enemies out from covers and ledges as well. The stealth takedowns are highly useful in harder difficulties such as Crushing difficulty, and can be a life-saving technique as well as saving your ammo. Enemies have a bit more variety, where you will encounter two different armoured soldiers who wield devastating weapons such as a shotgun and a mnigun. They will not go down easily and you may require stronger weapons to take them down.

Exploration and platforming sections are similar, where Nate can freerun on buildings, climb walls, and do other platforming actions. You may also opt to collect Treasures in the game, which is the double of the amount of Treasures in the first game. Puzzles are also available in the game, and you can refer to your Nate's journal to find clues to solve it. A few of it are quite creatively designed, so you may need to flip Nate's journal pages to get more clues.

Back in 2009, this game is one of the best looking games, even to this very day. The improved graphical performance and the sheer beauty of the characters and environments designs are shown with the PS4 console perfectly. No bugs and glitches encountered so far, and the game is a beauty to look at, such as the mountains of Tibet, Nepal ruins, and others.

The voice acting is simply phenomenal, and all voice actors did amazing job as their roles. The talent and their performances on making each character believable is a job well done. The soundtrack is also excellent and pleasant to hear, with more oriental styled music and instruments used in the game.

Replay value in this game is also fairly moderate. You may try to play the game again in harder difficulties such as Crushing and Brutal modes, collect all 100 Treasures scattered through the Chapters, play Speedrun playthroughs, or collect all Trophies in the game.

This game exceed the first game a lot, with more variety of sequences, more Treasures, slightly improved gameplay controls, improved stealth takedowns, and amazing graphics. There are also slightly more variety of enemies, with different weaponry and difficulty. The game may be linear for some players, but that what drives the pacing and story very smoothly. This worked well in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and it doesn't stop now. Animations are also improved compared to last game, with enemies reacting more realistically to your actions such as when you are firing at them. This is a game that is worth playing at least once, especially for new players who are looking for good adventure game.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered Final Score: 9.5/10

4) Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Remastered


Retained the same quality as the two previous games.

This is the third game of the series, and was the final one developed for the PS3 generation. Like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered, this game has minimal enhancements except improved graphics and tweaked Trophy list.

This game takes place after the events of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Nate is now on a hunt to find the lost Atlantis of the Sands, said to be hidden in the Rub Al Khali desert. Om his journey there however, he has to fight his way against some of his toughest foes compared to before, as his main rival, Marlowe has been hunting for Drake's ring for many years, as well as for the lost city.

The plot and story promise are relatively simple, yet interesting due to several factors. The pacing of the story progression is rather smooth, and the character interactions are rather entertaining to see as well. Again, the characters' developments what drove the story to be another strong one. All characters are also interesting, with different yet likable quirks and personalities. It is a shame that one of my favourite characters in this game only appeared until midway of the game, and I would really love it if he appears in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End again. Nate is still the same guy as ever, but his interactions and relationships with Sully are fully explored in this game, showing deeper relationship between these two. Of all three games, this game has my least favourite story, due to somewhat weak development of certain number of characters. However, this game has my most favourite cast of characters, like Marlowe and Talbot edging out to be my favourite villains in Uncharted series so far.

The gameplay is similar to previous Uncharted games, but certain combat aspects are enhanced in this game. Stealth takedowns are improved further, where you can take down enemies by dropping on them from above platform. You may also able to throwback enemy grenades if you time it right. Melee combat is totally changed compared to previous games, where you can hit enemies with objects when you are attacking them at walls, counterattacking while being grabbed by enemies, and other combat moves. Only two new types of enemies introduced in this game, and one of it are Brutes. Brutes are larger sized human enemies who will often fight you in melee combat. They are very tough and will take more than five hits to knock them out compared to regular enemies. They may also try to grab you and use highly damaging physical attacks. Disposing them first is highly recommended.

Again, the exploration and platforming sections are similar to previous two games. Platforming sections in this game are somewhat less linear, but still fun to do so. Compared to previous two games, Treasures are a bit more harder to collect, as some of them require guides to find them easily. This game has the most number and elaborate puzzles compared to previous two games, and they are equally fun to solve and ponder to. Again, you can refer to Nate's journal pages to find clues on how to solve them.

Like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, this game has amazing graphics back to it's year of release. Amazing looking environments such as the ruins and desert, great looking character models, and solid game performance. With the PS4's Share feature, recording gameplay videos and taking screenshots of the game itself are a joy to behold.

The voice acting quality is similarly high, with amazing voice and motion capture performances by all voice actors. Again, I would really love one of the character introduced in this game to return in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, as the character is solidly introduced with likable personality. Nate is still the main star of the Uncharted games, with his humour, toughness, and likable personality made the three games' stories to be highly entertaining. Other villains and supporting characters are no slouch either, as they carry their own weight and presence in this game as well as other villains and supporting characters from previous two Uncharted games. This game soundtrack is also my favourite Uncharted soundtrack, with great mix of action tracks and Middle East music used during exploration.

The third game also has moderate replay value. Playing harder difficulties such as Crushing and Brutal modes, collect all Treasures, and playing Speedrun playthroughs are doable in this game. Collecting all Trophies is also optional yet fun to do so.

Overall, this game has my favourite gameplay feature. Improved melee combat, exciting gunfights, more incentive to use stealth attacks, and more unique puzzles. Some of the game sequences can be a bit dragged on, such as the first hallucination sequence. This game still has issues however, as gun combat rarely evolves like previous two games, and there aren't many new features introduced in the sequels. However, the game elements are so mixed well together that playing each game gives you the feeling of playing consistent quality of adventure. This is my second favourite Uncharted game of all time, and very high in my top games list along with other two Uncharted games.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Remastered Final Score: 9.3/10

5) Conclusion


Solid remastered collection of three amazing games, but not a definitive or complete collection.

This is a solid remastered collection of three great adventure games, as each game provide different game settings, solid and consistent gameplay, entertaining characters and amazing combat. Uncharted; Drake's Fortune remastered has the most enhancements compared to other two Uncharted games, with updated Nate character model and improved gameplay controls. However, there are some issues with this collection's contents.

First of all, the bonus content is somewhat lacking. Sony could have put more effort to give more incentive to buy this game other than improved graphics, such as digital soundtracks for all three games or three PS4 themes representing each Uncharted game. Personally, the soundtracks are immersive and what will make a game to be enjoyable throughout the adventure. Otherwise, people will just mute the sound and unable to enjoy other elements of the games. Behind the scenes videos for each game are also noticeably removed, and the multiplayer modes for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. 

As opposed to open world games, the Uncharted games are more linear yet more story driven. Another good comparison is Metal Gear Solid games, where many of the Metal Gear Solid games are very story driven, with high emphasis on story cutscenes and radio conversations. Uncharted games mix both story cutscenes and gameplay elements well together, with neither of if overshadowing the other. Metal Gear Solid games however, are in a different genre compared to Uncharted games.

Although the quality of each game is very high, the quality of this collection is not. If you are interested with the multiplayer modes of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, you can get the Game of the Year editions for both games with affordable price. This collection is solely for players who like singleplayer games, and it has done well exceptionally for that thanks to Naughty Dog and Bluepoint Games. Any PS4 players should give this collection a try as each game is equally fun to enjoy and play. You may also try out the upcoming Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta in December if you have this collection.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Final Score: 9.0/10

Pros and Cons

Pros

- Amazing remastered graphics on all three games.
- Solid combat for all three games.
- Simple, yet interesting storylines for all three games.
- Very likable cast of characters, especially Nathan Drake.
- Fun platforming sections.
- Amazing looking cutscenes.
- Variety of weapons to be used in each game.
- Impressive voice acting for all three games.
- Great music.
- Speedrun mode and new difficulty inclusions. 

Cons

- Severely lack of other bonus contents such as digital soundtracks and PS4 themes for each game.
- Few missing cutscenes in the cutscene viewer in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Remastered.

**Images source: Gematsu

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