Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

A backlog replay that turned out better than the first time

I've played every mainline Uncharted, 1 through 4, on PS4, and I finished Uncharted 4: A Thief's End years ago. So why go back? Honestly, decision paralysis. There's so much coming out at the moment that I couldn't settle on what to play next, and after Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy I really wanted another great story campaign. Scrolling through my backlog, I spotted the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection sitting there on PC and thought: why not? Best impulse decision I've made in a while. It felt even better than the first time.

Story & Set Pieces

The story is incredible. I'll keep this spoiler-free, but the setup is simple enough: Nathan Drake has walked away from the treasure-hunting life, and then his brother Sam turns up and pulls him straight back in. From there it's a globe-trotting hunt for pirate treasure, and the writing, the performances and the relationships carry every single chapter.

And then there are the set pieces. This is Naughty Dog doing what Naughty Dog does best: big, loud, cinematic moments that you play through rather than just watch. Even knowing roughly what was coming, they still landed. Second time around I noticed more of the craft in how they're put together, which is probably why the whole thing hit harder.

Traversal & Gunplay

The traversal is amazing. Climbing, swinging and scrambling across the environments just flows, and in my entire playthrough I didn't run into a single bug. Not one. On PC, that's not something I take for granted these days.

My only frustration was the walk/run mechanic. Every now and then I'd press Shift to sprint and Nate would slow to a casual stroll right in the middle of a gunfight, which is not the energy you want with bullets flying. To be fair, that's probably a skill issue on my part. It's the only blemish I can point to.

The Look

The graphics hold up to this day. If you showed me this without any context, it could easily pass for a new release. For a game that first launched on PS4 back in 2016, that's remarkable.

How It Fits After Bedtime

This one fits after bedtime really well. The chapters make natural stopping points, so you can play one or two a night and comfortably finish it within a week. At around 15 hours it never overstays its welcome, and it never once felt like a chore to pick back up. The gunfights keep it mostly in after-the-kids-are-asleep territory, but that's when I'm playing anyway.

Final Dad Verdict

If you enjoy a relatively linear single-player campaign with some mild exploration and puzzles, this is the game you cannot miss. An incredible story, epic set pieces, bug-free traversal and graphics that still look current. Going back to it years later and having it feel better than the first time says everything you need to know.

Overall Dad Score: 10/10