‘Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection’ remaster review: Nathan Drake and Chloe Fraser thrive in the world of the next generation

There’s something about the Uncharted franchise that evokes a sense of adventure that very few other games do. While I yearned for the feeling of the wild outdoors during the pandemic, Uncharted games — from Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007) to Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017) — made for an enjoyable virtual travel experience, full of surprising worlds. Well, it’s an interesting story. and multifaceted characters.

(After all, there was a time in 2020—thanks PlayStation’s ‘Play at Home’ Initiative during the early months of the pandemic—when the same collection was available for free!) If I wanted to shove down a rock during thunderstorms in the tropics, I turned to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016), and If I wanted to solve life-threatening puzzles in an underground ruin of Hoysalas in South India, I immersed myself in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

As gamers’ standards continue to evolve with technology, the next generation experience often prompts a re-examination of any title. Ideally, remasters should reflect the time during which they were first created and the technology for which the remaster was created. nota benefitRemastered: Remasters are not remakes, so it’s unrealistic to expect a complete overhaul of these games.

So when Sony Interactive Entertainment and Naughty Dog announced the next-gen remaster of their bestselling Uncharted Legacy of Thieves collection (featuring Uncharted: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy), I was curious to see what happened in the past. What difference will it make in a few years? Both games offer equal measure of drama, mystery, and action, but what about the gameplay?

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I played these on PlayStation 5 and 4K televisions with a Sony PS5 Pulse 3D headset to get the full impact of the performance boost, visual appeal, and cinematic sound.

welcome back, chloe and nathan

A classic to the core, A Thief’s End also works well as a standalone game and is the perfect debate in the world of all things Uncharted. The play is the culmination of Nathan Drake’s (Nolan North) all-year effort, from going into the woods to find El Dorado and Sir Francis Drake’s coffin with journalist Elena Fischer, Lost Legacy’s Chloe Fraser (Claudia Black). including their complex relationships. and his brother Sam Drake (Troy Baker).

This particular game sees Nathan and Elena married in domestic bliss; But Nathan is paid to visit his long-lost brother Sam, who needs his help to find the treasure of the famous pirate Sir Henry Avery. The story spans multiple locations: Scotland, Madagascar, Italy and Panama, all with their own environmental challenges.

The Lost Legacy is certainly a great addition to the franchise, following treasure hunter and thief-for-hire Chloe Fraser and former mercenary Nadine Ross (Laura Bailey) as they find Ganesha’s tusk in the ruins of the Hoysala Empire. team up for.

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The two make their way through lush forests full of Asian elephants and langur monkeys, fighting insurgents led by the tyrannical Asav (Osman ally), who seeks Tusk for himself. Unlike A Thief’s End, Lost Legacy is set in a single location, but there is much to be gained from the environment.

performance to match, in the end

Given that the game features multiple combat styles, playing Remastered on PlayStation 5 shows faster loading times and responsive real-time gameplay – and no overheating or loud fan noises from overactive consoles.

While both games are gorgeous on the PlayStation 4 or 4 Pro, these cinematic games are given more justice in the remaster, thanks to the PlayStation 5’s custom Navi-based GPU, which results in higher performance than GPUs with more compute units. sees, but has a low clock speed. This means that as you explore the world, the surroundings load quickly and seamlessly down to the minute details.

With The Lost Legacy, for example, as I scaled two ancient Ganesha statues, the details—the cracks, the roots and creepers growing within the stone, the subtle carvings—were more vivid. And the characters look more detailed and their movements look more nuanced, courtesy of a graphics boost – could Nathan Drake be more handsome? Obviously.

A still from ‘Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection’ Games, for PlayStation 5. Available from January 28, 2022. Screenshot shows Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher in ‘Uncharted: A Thief’s End’. photo Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

During cinematic cutscenes, the PS5’s proprietary 3D audio engine Tempest delivers everything from landing punches during combat, to the rustle of leaves during stealth quests, to the satisfying sound of metal on rock when you’re scaling a delicate rock. Yes, offering lots of sound immersion. , for your 4×4 engine to appear. Also, Henry Jackman’s scores for both games are given his due score with surround sound experience.

Both the sports have an engaging off-roading experience; Ubisoft has invested a lot of physics here to create a realistic-style hybrid simulation so that you, as the gamer, enjoy the environment as well as the vehicle. A lot of this is reflected in the controller experience that you won’t get with the DualShock for PS4 or PS4 Pro.

A still from ‘Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection’ Games, for PlayStation 5. Available from January 28, 2022. Screenshot shows Chloe Fraser and Nadine Ross in 4×4 in ‘Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’. photo Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

With the remaster, the PS5 DualSense controller’s haptics mimic the tension and resistance you can feel when you plow your 4×4 vehicle into rivers or engage in combat, giving you both a sense of control and an immersive experience. Meets. The vibrations are satisfactory and prove to be a helpful indicator of whether you are failing miserably or moving forward successfully. When it rains, DualSense’s haptics mimic the patter-patter of raindrops, which sounds great. Some adaptive triggers release completely if, for example, your gun has no ammo, you feel defeated.

our decision

Did I get emotional playing these games? Absolutely. Nathan Drake’s world is filled with intrigue and immersive gameplay to match.

That said, given the cinematic expansion of comic books and games, the timing of the Uncharted remasters is remarkable; Actors Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Sofia Ali are currently in production for their roles as Nathan Drake, Victor Sullivan and Chloe Fraser, respectively. it would be exciting to see Spider-Man: No Way Home Star switch out skyscrapers for mountains.

The Remastered of the Uncharted Legacy of Thieves collection is a perfect buy for those who want to experience the classic game in a new way, or even those who are completely new to the franchise as a whole. But is it Sony’s cheeky excuse to consider getting a PlayStation 5. Sure.