5/5 ★ – Endless_backlog's review of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

14hrs Uncharted 4: A thief’s end is the final instalment in Nathan Drakes story and the first for PS4. The most notable difference from the original trilogy is in the graphics. The character models look fantastic and the environments are beautiful. This is captured brilliantly in cinematic cut scenes, of which there is a significant volume of throughout the game. The story is great and really feels like it is establishing a conclusion to the franchise. I found this adventure to be the most interesting of them all and was fully engaged in the plot as you search for the long lost treasure of pirate Henry Avery. The previous voice actors reprise their roles as their loveable characters and do a fantastic job of bringing a really convincing emotional element to the game. At its core it is a platformer just like the previous games, with much smoother transitions such as moving an analogue stick to climb walls instead of bashing the same X button. The new grappling hook allows you to swing from various points to continue your climbing. There is also a focus on stealth and sneak attacks (sometimes in tall grass) and driving levels where you control a 4x4. Uncharted 4 was developed not long after The Last of Us and it’s clear there is a lot of features taken from Naughty Dogs award winning game. From the gritty settings of the abandoned buildings taken by nature, as well as how you manoeuvre your way through them (boosting each other up ledges, lifting gates together). As is the case with the rest of the franchise, high octane set pieces are key to Uncharted’s gameplay. Although I felt they were more evenly dispersed rather than one memorable moment - such as the train sequence in the second or plane in the third. There is however a huge variety in environments, from sneaking into high class black market auctions to steal artefact’s, breaking into homes as a young Nate and escaping a prison in Panama. Overall I thought the step up from the last game to this was huge and this game really felt like a piece of art. The combination of a compelling story, incredible graphics and fantastic individual performances from the cast turned this from just another adventure game into an emotionally powerful playable movie. Side note - the scene where Nate powers up the iconic PS1 console was a huge nostalgia trip for me, and I thought being able to actually play one of the old games was a fantastic touch for long term PlayStation fans.