Uncharted

Introduction

The Uncharted series was one of those areas of the gaming lexicon that I was always aware of but had little experience with, a lot like The Last of Us. Last year I dove headfirst into Part 1 and 2 and came away quite impressed, it wasn't all sunshine, but the game's characters, story, and atmosphere really stuck with me. I still listen to the soundtracks quite frequently and my desktop wallpapers is a revolving slideshow of The Last of Us' most scenic post-apocalyptic vistas. So, for two reasons Uncharted suddenly looked enticing to me: first it's developed by Naughty Dog and second, I was starting to warm up to more linear, narrative-driven games. For this article I'm going to review each game in the series in sequence. So, I'm going to review each as they come, only doing comparisons back to previous entries. After I've made it through all the games, I plan to wrap things up with a look at the series as a whole. So, without any further delay let's get into the world of Uncharted.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

A Rough Start

If I didn't know anything thing else about this series or its developer, my playthrough of the Uncharted series may have stopped here. Drake's Fortune is a rough first entry for the iconic action-adventure series. If it wasn't for the relatively good production value and shorter run time, I might've abandoned ship part way through and never looked back.

Cover-Shooter Coma

The biggest downfall of this first installment is the tedium of the cover-shooter combat. Never before have I realized the significance of stealth gameplay in its relationship to action-heavy combat. Without stealth, direct combat is the only thing left to the fill up levels. Without stealth every enemy encounter starts and ends the same way. You are almost always being shot at when an encounter starts, and it always ends with everyone dead. The cover-shooter gameplay is exhausting because that's all there is. There's no tricking the enemy and ducking out of sight, no silently entering an arena to assess the situation, no tension and release, it's all just AKs ringing out across the island. And when you put one assault rifle wielding goon down another magically descends from the jungle ruins to replace him.

The body count Drake racks up in this eight-hour game is astonishing and all in a day's work. That fact clashes pretty hard with the lighter, more comical tone the game goes for. Bad guys tease and joke with Drake like they were old backyard pals despite Drake just merking fifty members of their squad minutes before. While beautiful, levels are just shooting galleries for Drake. They're not camped out here, they aren't guarding anything really, they're just sort milling about in these ruins waiting for you to show up. It's not very immersive. The enemy's plan here just doesn't make sense. It's like their commander just decided to evenly sprinkle men into random locations around the island so that Drake can come across them in neat little groups of five to seven.

The actual shooting mechanics aren't half bad. It's a little floaty, but the aim assist and controller vibration felt tuned well and made for simple but fun shootouts. Guns feel unique to handle, the sub machine gun feels light as its bullets pepper the enemy, when you get a desert eagle towards the end, enemies fail like they got hit by a knockout punch. The way enemies handle cover is pretty nice too. They slowly peak a tight angle when they know you're looking, sometimes shotgunners will aggressively flank you making things really uncomfortable, it's a little goofy but guys with automatic weapons will step out of cover and just unload with the gun at their hip. The problem is that it's just too much of the same thing. 90% of the time its humans with guns and 90% of the time you're dueling it out in jungle ruins crouched behind waist-high cover. Looking at my post-completion statistics, I had over 600 kills in this eight-hour campaign. That shit made me feel a little psychopathic. At least diversify my murder next time please.

Oh Yeah, the Story

There's also a story here too, I guess. It just floats to the back of your mind though because it's just so simplistic and most of your time is spent killing. Nathan Drake wants to be video games' version of Indiana Jones really bad. He's not without charm but he's also nowhere near levels that would let him get away with these lame one-liners. His partner Sully fits the part too: an old-timer that doesn't take any shit and always has a cigar hanging out of his mouth. Elena as the reporter who gets swept up into this adventure is alright too. She somehow manages to tag along through the whole endeavor and not come looking like she spent six days in Fallujah.

It's clear Naughty Dog were still years away from being able consistently put a believable AI partner next to you at all times. Drake often has to go it on his own for one reason or another and it hurts the storytelling potential in my opinion. Outside of cutscenes there's not a lot of banter or character stuff. I actually could've done with more walking and talking and less cover-shooting.

The story is a basic as they come. Treasure hunter looks for treasure, other parties are interested and conflict ensues. Bad guy is bad because he's rich and has an accent, I guess? Nathan Drake is good because we play as him and nope that's it.

What Else is There?

A genius developer at Naughty Dog came up with the idea to make the world's worst jet ski as a way to distract you from the rest of the game being below average. You can tell this was intentional design because it wasn't fixed in the remaster. Words cannot do justice in describing how sloppy the controls are. And just when you thought it couldn't get worse, they put you back in the jet ski and force you upstream as explosive barrels drift down at you. Good fucking luck. To get through this section I didn't even bother try to steer around the barrels. I just stopped the jet ski and shot them from afar... What a fun way to play a jet ski section, stopping and starting every ten seconds...

There's a jeep section that is comical but more in a fun, action movie way. You don't drive, you man the mounted machine gun and boy is this thing special. There are about fifty enemy vehicles on your tail but fortunately they are all primed to blow. One bullet and these things are popping off in a flurry of explosions. It's hilarious.

Another gap filler is the light traversal and platforming sections. For the most part this stuff is easy, but the controls are pretty limited and stiff. Every now and then there are jumps that don't make sense and some unclear markings that make dying frustrating. The guide rails on this one are pretty strong though. It's pretty difficult to actually die to a mistake. What it comes down to though, is that if you're on the path the developers intended, the platforming feels passable.

Verdict

★⯪☆☆☆

Forgettable action movies usually only last 100 minutes and don't have any fail states. Forgettable action video games like Uncharted here feel like they have to last much longer. Morally grey action movie protagonists maybe take out bad guys on the order of ten to twentyish. Our protagonist, Nathan Drake, scoffs at the rookie numbers as he mows down several hundred in an afternoon. Uncharted's combat is tedious, the story is by the books, and the characters don't make any of sense in the context of the gameplay. Let's see if the sequel can take a step in the right direction or will it be more of the same?

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

A Highly Anticipated Sequel

I was very close to cutting ties with series at multiple points during the first game, but the dangling carrot that was the 2nd in the series was part of my motivation to continue. Among Thieves is one of the best received video games ever and people still talk fondly about it to this day. What did I think though?

Wow! Some Substantial Improvements Were Made

Well, I was impressed right off the bat, several big improvements were made! In the very first mission there are some significant changes. First off, you have a partner for the whole duration. There's a lot of banter between Drake and a new character named Flynn that fills traversal sections. This is perfect, that is exactly what was missing in the first entry. The entire sequence is a stealth mission where the game now introduces stealth takedowns, and you have a silenced tranquilizer dart gun. What a refreshing switch-up from all the loud, gunfights in Drake's Fortune. The location is instantly distinct from the prior's monotonous jungles, an ornately decorated museum in Istanbul. And even past this, the game switches up locales fairly regularly, from Istanbul to Borneo to a Nepalese city and finally up into the Himalayas. The environmental detail and color palate are improved too. Spaces feel more lived in and worn down; colors pop off the screen and catch your eyes. It's a really nice step up in quality in a relatively short period of time.

The Star of the Show

Now all those things are nice improvements, but the real change that is something to write home about is the step up in set piece quality. Gone are the days of the world's worst jet ski, now we have a train dangling off a cliff, a night heist in Istanbul, a chopper tracking you across rooftops, the legendary train sequence, a much-improved car chase, and the tank mission. For all the struggles with monotony I talked about with the first game, these are the memorable sequences I was hoping for, and they almost lived up to my expectations if not for...

A Rotten Core

Despite all the aforementioned steps in the right direction I continued to struggle enjoying this series. Honestly, one of the only reasons I finished this game was out of curiosity. Curiosity in figuring out why I don't enjoy these games. And let's just say, the games are lucky that they are so short, otherwise there's no chance I'd be finishing them. But what is this rotten core that I've been struggling with for two games now? I've settled on that it's two-fold with the first and foremost aspect being the gameplay. To cut to the chase, this cover-shooting thing is just not working for me. It's totally functional but entirely brainless. I think I'm forever scared by the mere sight of a room full of waist-high cover. I hate that as you move through the world you see weapons litter every room, grenades piled up on the kitchen counter, M4s stacked in the doorway, and the neighbors are doing the same thing. So, while there are exciting set pieces mixed in, this cover-shooter, walk around and harvest weapons shit still takes up most of your time in Uncharted.

The other aspect of this rotten core is the completely flaccid story with its unremarkable characters. It's crazy to imagine anyone older than 18 finding this story and these characters compelling. If you like the gameplay that's fine, I get it but liking when we cut away from Drake killing thirty mercs to him making the world's most overused boner joke with his girlfriend is... YIKES. And this led me to the core of my issues with this series. It's that stark disconnect between Drake's actions and his characterization. Drake's your classic swashbuckling, rogue-type, but in gameplay he's the most lethal man on the planet. I don't really care that they're all "bad guys" either, killing over 800 would weigh on any normal human being. One of the funniest cutscenes in the game highlights the dual identities of Drake perfectly. Close to the end of the game, after killing over 800 of the main baddies' mercenaries, Drake sneaks up behind his entourage and grabs one of his guys and holds him at gunpoint. Now that's fucking funny. At least the bad guy knows the deal and shoots his guy dead on the spot.

Regardless, that disconnect is really it though, particularly Drake's characterization which, while unoriginal, was fairly unique for video games at that time. Killing things certainly isn't unique to Uncharted, killing things is what video games generally do best. So, I believe it's this mashup of likeable rogue with a lot of killing that is at the core of my issues. But hey, if the gameplay was any good maybe I could've given this a pass. And hey, maybe if the story wasn't just searching for a big ass sapphire, the self-defense argument could actually work in Nate's favor.

Verdict

★★☆☆☆

An improvement over the first entry in the series that still suffers from all the same major issues. I now have little faith that I will actually enjoy a single entry in the Uncharted franchise. Do I keep playing on? Or do I cut my losses?

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

What Am I Doing Still Playing This Series?

Like I said, these games are really lucky that they're so short. For much of my time with the series, I've been within a hair of quitting the playthrough altogether. Pretty much every time I've died during a silly platforming sequence, I was ready to be done. Since the midway point of the first game, the difficulty has been on easy, so deaths are few and far between. But when they do happen it feels like a stab to my soul. Checkpoints are really generous too, so you're rarely more than a minute from where you just left off. Regardless, I really don't find enjoyment in replaying even a small section of these games. My playthroughs of each of these games have all clocked in at under ten hours but boy did I have trouble stomaching more than a 45 minute play session. All this being said... I did end up finishing Drake's Deception after a bunch of bite-sized play sessions, and surprisingly, it might be my favorite of the bunch. That's not saying much though...

The Best of the Series?

Many of the same criticisms I had of the first two entries in the series remain here in third. The formula really hasn't changed. I do believe that the developers did a little better of a job balancing the pacing of game as to not exhaust a player like myself. Story cutscenes, platforming, puzzling solving, and combat feel properly spaced out with no single pillar overstaying its welcome. The set pieces in the back of the game again are the star of the show. The cruise ship sequence, catching the plane, and the horseback/convoy chase back-to-back was really quite exhilarating. But importantly these are balanced out with the reunion with Elena, the cinematic desert sequence, and some decent combat/stealth sections with Elena and Sully. And that takes me to my main point being, that maybe this entry is my favorite because it feels like the shortest and therefore grinding on my patience the least of the three.

It's Not All Gravy

The only other area I have to comment on is the overall visual presentation. I'd describe it has boundary pushing but unfortunately inconsistent. Some levels look absolutely brilliant for a 15 year old game. The French chateau, the unnamed Yemen city, the sinking cruise ship having stunning levels of detail for the time. This level just doesn't maintain itself, like the Yemen airport cutscene looks completely flat, with blocky textures, washed out colors, and boring lighting. The wrecked shipyard right before the cruise ship is a sea of greys and browns, blegh...

Also, what happened to the movement here? The previous entries weren't phenomenal but at the same time Drake wasn't a drunk on skates. Drake's inertia combined with the way he interacts with the environment creates a sloppier movement system than before. Stairs look so awkward as he misses steps and clips through the rest. Touching a wall means Drake resorts to a little side stumble that isn't necessary. I've played the later Naughty Dog titles and have basked in the glorious movement. The sublime combination of weightiness and tight handling, the perfect sense of place as a hand brushes a wall and ferns turn aside as a leg passes by. Maybe this was the first baby step towards that final form. I think Drake's Deception had to be a sloppy drunk so that The Last of Us Part II could be a master of its craft.

A thought I had that may be part of the truth but definitely isn't the whole story is that these types of games rely partially on cutting edge graphical fidelity and taking the medium in a new direction. Ten, twenty years later, they don't age the best because they are inherently reliant on being product of their time. A game that sells itself as a pioneer in graphical improvements is destined to be outdone by a successor. Many games get around this by having a distinct, stylized art style or tone, but that isn't Uncharted. The ironic part is that I think, for me, it was Naughty Dog's own titles, TLOU Part 1 and 2, that clearly make this series obsolete. I'll have to see what I think of Uncharted 4, but for me, playing these Naughty Dog titles after playing TLOU games and over a decade late has certainly negatively impacted what was once a strong selling point back in 2011.

Verdict

★★☆☆☆

Welp that's it for the original Uncharted trilogy. What a bunch milk toast games that I'll certainly never go back to, and Drake's Deception wasn't an exception.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Finally, A Step Up

A Thief's End is simply a decent improvement in every category over the prior three games. It has a better story, better characters, better writing, better cutscenes, better graphics, better atmosphere, better gameplay, better shooting, better traversal, better puzzles, and most importantly better pacing. Uncharted 4 makes me feel like a bit of a hypocrite though. I ragged on the previous entries for how dissonant the characters and gameplay were with how Drake was supposed to be a likeable rogue but also the most lethal man on the planet. But here, I sort of just stopped caring about those things. Drake's still doing all the same stuff... shooting down hordes of mercenaries, putting countless civilians lives at risk, but because the execution is just outright better, I found myself all of a sudden making excuses for the game. The modern production value had me subconsciously flipping the script. But just now I did put some extra emphasis on the pacing because I think this is the key to it all. I know I got all caught up in the whole 'Drake's a mass murderer' debate previously, but the true sin all along was the atrocious pacing.

They Learned A LOT from The Last of Us

Half an hour into Uncharted 4 I knew this game was going to be a big step up in quality. The Last of Us had sold me on a game's ability to create a world with believable, gripping characters and a story that forward momentum. To my utter disbelief, the first three Uncharted games had essentially none of these qualities. I knew they were going to be rough around the edges, but I had no idea Naughty Dog's character writing was so bare bones in the past. Within the first couple hours of Uncharted 4, they completely turned around the franchise, setting up characters and a story that have real human weight and meaning. This isn't just a romp in the jungle looking for treasure. Suddenly, characters with meaningful relationships and complex emotions were being depicted on screen. Games with good gameplay can get away with simplistic setups, but for this, I'm really looking for something that grabs me. And characters that feel authentic and engaging is a great place to start.

With all that being said, much like The Last of Us, Uncharted 4's story and characters are nothing revolutionary. It's the old guy "reluctantly" coming out of retirement for an important cause to the chagrin of a significant other. But guess what? These opening scenes between Drake and his brother and Drake and Elena are really charming. Sam helping Drake escape boarding school, seeing Drake's day-in-a-life with Elena, it brings life to someone who was once a one-dimensional, wise-cracking rogue. This intro is a little long in the tooth for my taste, don't expect to be playing a game for the first hour or two. But I get that they had a lot of setup work to do, see my previous criticisms of the series.

The plot follows Nathan primarily alongside his back-from-the-dead brother Sam and his wife Elena. Sam's back but not for free, he's indebted to a drug lord, kingpin type and needs to make good on a promise of treasure. The treasure in question is long-lost pirate gold that Nate and his brother have long sought after. Since the time of the third game, Nate has settled down, having gotten out of the treasure-hunting game, particularly the battling it out with mercenaries part. With what's at stake though, he lies to Elena and runs off to help his older brother. It's a compelling and emotionally complex start that the other games completely lack. And as the story unfolds, we learn more about Nate's brother and his connection to the other mercenaries after the treasure. We get to spend quite a lot of time, albeit tumultuous time, with Elena. And we learn a lot about the pirate who's treasure we after. That pirate's story has quite the commentary on the current path Nate is on, making this Uncharted by far the most introspective of the series.

A huge boon towards creating this more engaging story is the incredible graphical fidelity put into the character models. This game had me absolutely kicking myself that I didn't play The Last of Us Parts 1/2 on a massive OLED 4k screen. I was absolutely blown away by the visuals on offer here. I'll share some screenshots later, but know as good as the environments are, the facial animation is even better. It's incredible stuff and really hard to describe, you just have to see it for yourself. Unsurprisingly, you can imagine how this tech helps you connect with these characters as every wrinkle and droplet of sweat can be seen in excruciating detail.

Is Drake Still a Murderous Psycho?

Yes, and I am now a hypocrite because I'm ok with it. But why the change of heart? Well, I think it all goes back to that crucial thing called pacing. Just some quick stats to put this in perspective. The game for me ran just over fifteen hours and in my first playthrough Drake tallied up around 450 kills. Comparing those numbers to Uncharted 2, which ran nine hours long and where Drake tallied over 800 kills, Uncharted 4 starts to seem tame. The feel certainly backs this up as the density of combat encounters feels substantially less than previous entries. Not only that, but combat encounters are more varied as stealth has been fully integrated into the series. Combat arenas have more of an 'assault the outpost' feel as opposed to the wave-based arenas seen before. Instead of being shot at on sight, 4 allows you to approach an encounter how you want to. Many encounters for me started out in stealth as I was able to take down a handful of enemies, before someone spotted me and all hell broke loose. And when this does happen, the combat itself feels the best it has to date. Shooting is still sloppy and haphazard but sounds and animations are punchy and the aiming is forgiving. Melee can be an absolute blast. The contextual melee animations are legitimately incredible, and I wish I could see more. The way a takedown can differ based on the surroundings and if you have an ally around generates a ton of variety. Sometimes you'll vault legs first over a table punting a dude off a ledge, the next time Sam will be nearby and you'll tag-team, suplex a poor merc. And I wish I was looking out more for grapple hook opportunities, because swinging into an arena, drop-punching a merc, and grabbing their gun as it pops out of their hands is certified action gaming gold.

So, yes, Drake still kills a lot of people this time around... but the game is more fun, so I stopped worrying about it so much. Nate's still a super soldier though and the mercs carry on their stormtrooper legacy of not being able to hit jack shit. So, while the game is more fun and the story is more engaging and human, the combat stuff is still absolutely ridiculous and unrealistic, but I don't know if you can have it any other way.

The Best Looking Game Ever Made?

Like I said, I really regret not playing The Last of Us games at 4k on an OLED screen. This game consistently blew my socks off with its graphics. It's comprehensive too, the character models and facial animations are best in class, the environments are stunning with jaw dropping scale and detail, close-up objects have intricately formed textures and 3d models, the effects like rain, dust, and mud glisten and texture the environments just right, I could keep going on. You have to see this to believe it, preferably on a 4k OLED screen. And while The Last of Us games are more grounded and realistic, Uncharted 4 doesn't care and absolutely thrives in its epic locations. That's why the big screen is so important because it helps capture the sense of thrill and awe found in these remote locations.

Improved Traversal Sections

Remember the jet ski from Drake's Fortune and how horribly implemented it was? Yeah, those days are long behind us because the jeeps in A Thief's End are just incredible. What a great addition to flow of the game these jeep sections are. The driving is sloppy and precise at the same time as you navigate tight ridge-lines and spin your tires in thick, oozy mud. There are extra seats, so you'll be partnered up with the usual suspects during these sections leading to fun banter and character-building moments. The jeeps have winches and can be jumped on, so they are handy for platforming and puzzles too. At the end of the day, it's just nice to switch it up and not just walk everywhere.

I think the climbing has had some nice improvements too. It's a subtle change, but I really like how Drake now holds out his hand in the intuitive direction and allows you to control it with the right stick. It feels like you're actively searching and reaching for a handhold as opposed to just mashing the jump button left and right. The grapple hook is a fun addition too that adds a more dynamic 'wooooaaahh' feeling traversal, something that really came only in the form of scripted falls or traps before. The same old boosting your partner over a wall or finding the convenient crate on wheels stuff is still here too and just as tired as before, but at least it's more of a side dish, with the climbing and driving being the main course.

Verdict

★★★☆☆

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is the ultimate turn your brain off and press forward game. It's perhaps a touch long for my taste, but this entry in the series really strikes a nice balance between the story, character-building, combat, and traversal portions of the game. However, those pillars, while executed at a super high level, are not the most compelling. Don't expect intricate gameplay systems, original characters, or a unique atmosphere out of Uncharted. It's the big, blockbuster Hollywood action movie in video game form through and through.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

More of the Same

Did you like Uncharted 4? I hope so, because The Lost Legacy is essentially Uncharted 4 minus Nathan Drake. Instead of Nathan and his companions, Chloe Frazier returns from Among Thieves and Nadine Ross returns from A Thief's End to form a new treasure-hunting duo for the series. Outside of the changing faces, The Lost Legacy sticks to the series' guns and barely deviates from the tried-and-true Uncharted formula. You're in a jungle, you're looking for treasure, there's mercenaries also looking for the treasure, and the treasure bares some familial significance. There's tactical stealth and shoot-outs, jeep-driving and set-pieces, puzzle-solving and traversal sections, and plenty of character-building in between. The quality of the production is still off the charts so, if you liked the previous entries in the series, this one is a no-brainer.

For me though, while I was fine with more of the same, I was quietly hoping Naughty Dog would switch things up a little more. The jungles of India, while gorgeously detailed, feel like a well-worn path after all that time we spent in Libertalia in A Thief's End. The exploration-based jeep section mimics Nate's arrival in Madagascar. The ending train sequence, while very fun, is cut and paste from Among Thieves. While I definitely did not want to return to Drake's Fortune's zombie ghouls, facing off with yet another mercenary group was pretty exhausting. Are there really no other options out there? I'm not going to draw this out any longer, what The Lost Legacy comes down to is that it's an Uncharted 4 spinoff. All the things I said about that one apply here, strengths and weaknesses. If you liked Uncharted 4, you'll like The Lost Legacy.

Verdict

★★★☆☆

It's Uncharted 4 but with more Chloe stuff and less Drake stuff.

Series Recap

Not every game you play in your life is going to be memorable or have a distinct impact. I have come accept that it's fine to play a good game, enjoy it, and move on. Not everything you play has to be a banger and sometimes playing a middle-of-the-road type game helps puts things in perspective. With that being said, I don't know if the Uncharted series even qualifies for that classification. The Uncharted series is a perfect example of games that I don't know if I would've played if not for my interest in understanding why I dislike them through my writing. Relatively early on in Among Thieves I was already feeling that this series wasn't for me but had the curiosity to investigate why and if that could change with later entries. I think the series did eventually get there, A Thief's End fell into that "good game, glad I played it" category, but I don't know if it was worth the time and effort.

My recommendation to those who are cautiously interested in the series is to just jump right into Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. This goes against pretty much all the recommendations I read online. But in 2026, if you don't already have a relationship to that original trilogy, I find it difficult to think many people would find them worth their time. Uncharted 4 is good and I know people claim it's a story-based game that won't hit as hard without the context of the first three, but I just flat-out disagree. The story of the original trilogy is uninteresting at best, while A Thief's End does the work to setup its own adventure.