Uncharted : The Lost Legacy (PS4)
Ever since it's inception, the Uncharted series has been a flagship exclusive title for the Sony consoles. Beautifully rendered (and highly detailed) graphics that seamlessly blend between gameplay, to cutscene, and back again, along with a strong mixture of platforming, gunplay, and puzzle solving allows this series to hit in multiple genres. And boy do they hit hard. Uncharted 4 : A Thief's End was promoted as the end of Nathan Drake's story before it even had a release date. Yet, just over a year later, The Lost Legacy slid onto the game shelves.
A new Uncharted title, without Nathan Drake? How was this possible? Well, he makes his stage exit, allowing for Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross to take the helm. If those names seem familiar at all, it's because you've played the previous games in the series. Fans met Chloe in Uncharted 2, while Nadine comes in for Uncharted 4. Now, their paths cross but it begs the question...can they carry the name of the game without Nate?
While everyone else may be crazy-hyped for all the other stuff, it's these relationships between the characters that have always stood out while I played. It not only makes the experience of the game more enjoyable, it makes the people feel more real. It's what took these games from feeling like just games, and pushing them up into full, vivid stories.
Without spoiling anything, there are some twists and turns between the two along the way (I mean hey, we're telling a story here for crying out loud). Watching Chloe and Nadine go from barely being able to call themselves partners in "the business" to friends, and the whole journey in between, is just icing on the cake.
A new Uncharted title, without Nathan Drake? How was this possible? Well, he makes his stage exit, allowing for Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross to take the helm. If those names seem familiar at all, it's because you've played the previous games in the series. Fans met Chloe in Uncharted 2, while Nadine comes in for Uncharted 4. Now, their paths cross but it begs the question...can they carry the name of the game without Nate?
Old Names and Faces, Going New Places
The greatest thing about this game is that it moves on. The Lost Legacy does an amazing job of honoring the ending of the previous title in that it's Nate's last adventure. Rather than backtrack and find a missing adventure of Nate's that takes place before or in between any of the other games, it moves on. Yes, I repeated that. While we have seen these characters before, we hadn't seen a lot of them, so my skepticism was limited to whether or not they were the right characters to bring to the foreground in this series.
Taking place within a year after the events of A Thief's End, we follow Chloe and Nadine (initially just Chloe, but Nadine comes in fairly quickly) through a war-torn India. The hunt for the tusk had consumed Chloe's father's life up until his passing, and she jumps in to finish off the hunt. Enlisting the aid of Nadine, they work there way through the Indian streets to the office of Asav, the leader of a group of insurgents. Asav is also after the Tusk, hoping to use it and fuel a civil war in the country, and Chloe plans on stealing all his research thus far.
Combatting with Asav and his men along the way, Nadine and Chloe follow his information to the Western Ghats mountain range, delving into a slew of Hindu-weapon emblazoned temples that seem to point closer and closer to the final resting place of the tusk which, according to legend, was lost by Ganesh as he defended his father Shiva's temple.
Same Old Mechanics
One of my favorite things about this series is that it always introduced something new with each game's release. Whether it was a new weapon, a new gadget, there was always something fresh and fun. I waited, and I waited, but it never came in The Lost Legacy.
Now, it's not a horrible thing. Every mechanic you know from the previous games is back, and they feel just as great. I was a little upset though to not see anything new. Don't get me wrong, I love how the game feels and plays. But, the closest I got to experiencing any sort of "newness" was the first time I got to use to grapple-rope in The Lost Legacy and that was only because I'd forgotten about it from the last game. It's been a while since I played it, bit of a brain fart.
Instead, the new "feature" you get is photo opportunities. Chloe apparently likes to document her journeys while she's on her treasure hunts, so the game provides you with a plethora of chances to take some photos. These scenes are just...gorgeous, and they provide a unique chance at soaking in things you wouldn't naturally see. Most of the time, no matter how much you're drooling over how great a game looks, you're really only focused on the path ahead of you. Some of the photos you take are of places you're headed towards, but a lot of the times it's in a complete opposite direction and something you wouldn't even think to look at. So look for these photo-ops and let your jaw hang.
Even something small as just giving a different appearance of an old feature would have been nice. I loved in Drake's Deception during the bar fight early in the game when I got to first see the new overlay for the fighting and countering during hand-to-hand combat. Either way though, it all feels great. Gunplay, platforming and climbing, it all has the same feel that Naughty Dog has built on over the last ten years.
One thing that was brought into A Thief's End was a section of the game that felt "open". Instead of the usual "hallway" feel of following one single path, there was a portion of the game where Nate and his gang were just driving around in search of things while dealing with the baddies. This returned for The Lost Legacy and it's incredible. It serves as the point during the game where things really open up. You get a feel for the depth of the mythology that is woven around Chloe and Nadine's story, and it also builds in more backstory for Asav and his place in things.
A Strong Relationship
Aside from the epic gameplay and the beautiful graphics, one thing Uncharted has always been known for is it's humor. Nate is always with Sully and or Elena on his adventures, and while you can always see the characters loves for the history they are following, there's also a banter between them. Whether it's cracking jokes about themselves, each other, or the remnants of the past they uncover, someone's wit always finds it's way to the surface for a well-deserved chuckle from the player.
While everyone else may be crazy-hyped for all the other stuff, it's these relationships between the characters that have always stood out while I played. It not only makes the experience of the game more enjoyable, it makes the people feel more real. It's what took these games from feeling like just games, and pushing them up into full, vivid stories.
Thankfully, this wasn't left out between Chloe and Nadine. The two start off in the game at each other's throats and I was worried that I'd be spending the whole game feeling like I was torn between mommy and daddy going through a rough divorce. Instead, what starts off in rough patches slowly blossoms into a strong bond between these two leading women.
Without spoiling anything, there are some twists and turns between the two along the way (I mean hey, we're telling a story here for crying out loud). Watching Chloe and Nadine go from barely being able to call themselves partners in "the business" to friends, and the whole journey in between, is just icing on the cake. Fulfilling Experience to the End
Absolutely every moment of The Lost Legacy is completely enjoyable. What's more than that though, is it fits perfectly in the universe of Uncharted. It was sad hearing that Nate's story would be closing, and as I mentioned before I was a bit skeptical about the announcement of this title, but I was equally excited.
My biggest question before playing was if Chloe and Nadine's story would fit, or if it would feel more like jamming a puzzle piece into the wrong spot. Now, having played it, I can say without a doubt that this does more than hold up it's place in the franchise. Not even just in the sense of "Oh the Uncharted games are great and then there's this one..." . No. The Lost Legacy belongs with this series, and any fan of the first four games should definitely continue the adventure into this one. The only thing that has me hesitant to completely consider this a part of the main series is the fact that Nate isn't here.
Don't worry though, you'll hear familiar names and might even see a familiar face or two (you'll have to play it to see exactly who...or yknow, Google it and spoil the fun). One thing I will note is that it felt a lot shorter than Nathan's games. I know this is due to the fact that it's really an expansion on A Thief's End but even labeling it just as an expansion I feel takes away from it. This game could definitely stand tall on it's own.
Final Feelings
There's no question about it, this game is a must play for any fan of the Uncharted series. You're getting a full-game experience for the price of an expansion ($39.99 if you pick it up brand new). At this point, the game has been out for almost a year so it will most certainly be prone to a price drop at some point, as well as being available during sales and deals. It is a bit shorter than one of the full games as I said before, but while playing it the intensity keeps on enough to not feel like it.
You'll get to enjoy all of the normal goodies from the franchise as well. Chloe can find and obtain quite a bit of extra treasures, as well as the numerous photo opportunities. Non-stop action with humor spliced in, both in the game and outside of it for the players to enjoy. For instance there's a trophy in the game for finding a certain number of the photo-ops, and the name of the trophy is #nofilter. There's even a trophy for driving over a cliff in the mountain range "open" section of the game.
Nothing was left out in this game and I can't say enough how perfectly I feel like it fits in to the series. I would be totally okay with Chloe and/or Nadine getting their own focused spin-off series of games. It's still available at it's $39.99 price (a bit cheaper if you go to GameStop to get a pre-owned copy), but you might also be able to find it even lower somewhere in the wild or on eBay.
No matter where you find it though, this game is worth it. Even if you haven't played any of the rest of the series, this is a great way to introduce yourself. Things are hinted at in the past, but nothing ends up being spoiled so anybody can enjoy this incredible game. If you'd rather watch and not play it, feel free to visit my YouTube channel and watch the videos there.
Rating : 9.5/10
You'll get to enjoy all of the normal goodies from the franchise as well. Chloe can find and obtain quite a bit of extra treasures, as well as the numerous photo opportunities. Non-stop action with humor spliced in, both in the game and outside of it for the players to enjoy. For instance there's a trophy in the game for finding a certain number of the photo-ops, and the name of the trophy is #nofilter. There's even a trophy for driving over a cliff in the mountain range "open" section of the game.
Nothing was left out in this game and I can't say enough how perfectly I feel like it fits in to the series. I would be totally okay with Chloe and/or Nadine getting their own focused spin-off series of games. It's still available at it's $39.99 price (a bit cheaper if you go to GameStop to get a pre-owned copy), but you might also be able to find it even lower somewhere in the wild or on eBay.
No matter where you find it though, this game is worth it. Even if you haven't played any of the rest of the series, this is a great way to introduce yourself. Things are hinted at in the past, but nothing ends up being spoiled so anybody can enjoy this incredible game. If you'd rather watch and not play it, feel free to visit my YouTube channel and watch the videos there.
