Uncharted 4’s Identity Problem Casts a Dark Cloud Over The Franchise
Going into what was likely my last adventure with Nathan Drake and a supporting cast of characters that have defined my gaming experience, I expected a slightly darker Uncharted tale that would clock in much longer than Uncharted 3’s 7-hour campaign. One that would tie the bow on the series before the final story DLC drops. If there were any errors, I thought it would be a lack of explanation regarding the events that unfolded in Drake’s Deception – particularly the point raised about who Nathan was. It was to my surprise then, that Uncharted 4’s fatal error is in its lack of identity. It’s really not an Uncharted game, besides Drake’s funny quips and banter as you travel across the globe. In its exclusion of series creator Amy Hennig, Uncharted 4 is bereft of what makes an Uncharted game, an Uncharted game.
_____________________________
“Uncharted 4 seems to be confused about what is important in the Uncharted formula.”
Having discussed the hotly contested debate between the ranking of Uncharted 2 and 3 as to which is the best game in the series, I expected the drama to die down after the release of A Thief’s End. And it has. But to my bewilderment, as fans don’t seem disappointed with the exclusion of so many of Uncharted’s unique attributes. Getting straight into things, there is not a single set-piece in Uncharted 4. Now, I understand how that might sound asinine to anyone that is not intimately connected with the series, but examining past titles shows a clear lack of ‘Uncharted set-pieces’. 2011’s Uncharted 3 had the player run across shipping containers and onto a runway chasing a fleeing plane. Just in time, Elena Fisher rides into view as the player jumps on the jeep and onto one of the wheels of the aircraft that tucks itself in as it takes flight. Then, as you fight a giant mercenary, the back door of the plane flies open causing you to be thrown out only to grasp onto some binding with one hand. Fast forward a little after defeating a few mercs on an aircraft that is now disintegrating in real-time, and the hull eventually breaks in half throwing you into the air overlooking the Rub’ al Khali desert and eventually grabbing hold of a flying craft suspended by a parachute.
That, is an ‘Uncharted set-piece’. Driving a jeep into an ferocious convoy barrelling down the Madagascar terrain in an attempt to make it to the front of the pack, as showcased during the King’s Bay level briefly shown off at E3 2015, is not an ‘Uncharted set-piece’. The same sequence was actually in both Uncharted 2 and 3, as Among Thieves had you jump from vehicle to vehicle across a ridgeline in the snow and Drake’s Deception featured a horse-riding bit through a similar convoy to save your old mentor Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan. As far as I know, nobody spoke about those two sections and hailed them as technical and cinematic marvels because both of those games featured infinitely better set-pieces. And that’s only the beginning. Uncharted 4 seems to be confused about what is important in the Uncharted formula.
Say what you will about Uncharted 3 and director Amy Hennig modelling the plot around the set-pieces, but Uncharted 4’s non-existent set-pieces are no better. And only one game got criticized. Furthermore, and what is most apparent when actually playing the game, is Uncharted 4’s messed up and confusing pacing. Narratively, the game hits the player with revelations and plot twists at a perfect rate, but the gameplay pacing is truly atrocious. Hours pass with minimal gun combat as puzzles and platforming sections are littered everywhere. Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley’s decision to open up the environments also effects the pacing in a negative way by both not giving players enough people to shoot at in those sections and further messing with the Uncharted’s identity that is entrenched in linearity without shame. It was great to get to an open area with immaculate level design and pick off targets, but it’s not so great to be done with it all – on hard difficulty – almost immediately. I would rather have tighter environments with more enemies to keep the pacing going than to gamble on larger environments with quick firefights. There is a moment in the game, after falling down the clock tower, where Drake and Rafe chat over the phone and it looks like a perfect set-up to open the door and get ready for a fight. But that doesn’t happen. Instead you get to the point of the previously mentioned E3 demo right before the truck slams into the building and, in my experience, kill 2 enemies before the action moves on. This is a game after all, and I’d like to actually fire my weapon every so often. To be fair though, that is more of a pacing issue than an identity crisis.
____________________________
“Furthermore, and what is most apparent when actually playing the game, is Uncharted 4’s messed up and confusing pacing.”
What certainly contradicts the series’ identity – going back to the set-pieces point – is the missing supernatural twist. I was indifferent about the decision and actually didn’t mind until the game ended without a grand spectacle of uncovering a lost city full of riches after unlocking a mile-high gate adorned with trinkets, akin to Uncharted 3’s ending, and escaping as the world crumbled around you. That’s all gone, and instead the player swims towards a ship and is done with it all. This is also after what seemed like a lifetime of platforming. When I entered the room with all the treasure I had been hunting throughout the campaign, I only took a cursory glance at it before making my way to the door and dueling Rafe Adler. That’s not how to end an Uncharted game. I understand Druckley’s – yes, that is a combination between Druckmann and Straley – creative need to change things up a little, but the change should improve on what was already there. And to change things so violently in the fourth and final entry of an established series just doesn’t work.
For all its good, especially in the narrative that is the best I have experienced in the medium, Uncharted 4 betrays its predecessors and tries to become something it’s not. Its lack of set-pieces, jarring gameplay pacing, and unorthodox ending are risks and missteps I did not expect from the premier developer in the games industry. Its identity problem could be attributed to Amy Hennig’s involvement, or lack thereof, in the project as so much of what made the trilogy unique seems to be misunderstood by the new leads. Drake’s farewell was perfect in how it was told, but not in how the play experience unfolded.