Developed: Naughty Dog
Published: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released: August 22nd, 2017
Reviewed: October 28th, 2017
PlayStation 4
Just a heads up, since Uncharted: The Lost Legacy exists mostly as a stand-alone spinoff of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, this review is going to be smaller and largely comparative. I pay a bit more attention to the characters and the story, since the two games are practically identical in terms of the mechanics. Honestly, the Uncharted series has always been more focused on refinement, rather than any grand innovations to the core gameplay. I voiced my opinion of each preceding title in my prior reviews. In general, Uncharted games have steadily improved, and The Lost Legacy is no exception.
I want to start this review by thanking the lovely writers for avoiding Uncharted’s habit of breaking up the story with jump-cut nonlinearity. Sure, Uncharted 4 used the time jumps for character moments and clever-enough misdirection, but their storytelling did not improve as quickly as my patience ran out. Naughty Dog’s use of flashbacks is the narrative equivalent of Drake jumping onto a platform only to have it crumble underneath him: the studio should be at the point where they make fun of themselves for doing it. Thankfully, the straightforward exposition of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a far cry from the shuffled mess that was Uncharted 2’s plot bounce.
Thankfully, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy took the greatest part of Uncharted 2 and gave her a stand-alone adventure. Chloe Frazer – known to me as the best character in the series, a total badass, and 90% of the reason Nathan Drake was able to become and interesting character – is still artifact hunting. She scours minimally explored countries (as if they were not charted up to that point) for ancient artifacts of great financial and increasingly sentimental worth. Along the way, she makes an unlikely partnership with Nadine Ross, who now works alone since Shoreline took on new leadership.
The basic narrative hits all the usual Uncharted story points: walking through crowded cities, solving inexplicably functional puzzles, shooting bad guys, and trading witty banter. What makes Lost Legacy stand out, in my mind, is the organic relationship that develops between the two leading women. Chloe is, and always has been, wonderful, on top of being an actual badass. Beyond her abilities; her attitude is brilliant, possessing a drier, more incisive wit than her bumbling former paramour. That and her interaction with the shop owner at the beginning was just adorable.
Nadine is awesome too. Yes, she is also a badass (as the welts in the Drake’s faces can attest to), yet being with Chloe gave her the chance to have a vulnerable side. I could make important inferences about the conditions that raised her. With a militaristic father, a mercenary career, and a psychopath as her most recent business partner, Nadine must rarely have the privilege to be light-hearted. At first, she reacts with confusion to Chloe’s ribbing, but over time, the two develop good banter, and a friendly relationship begins. Nadine is pretty wonderful when she is not surrounded by assholes.
With the budding relationship comes deeper explorations into each woman. Nadine ended up wayward after the events of Uncharted 4, looking for a chance to keep her mercenary life going in spite of her recent loss. Chloe is trying to reconnect with the memory of her father by hunting down the treasure he spent his life looking for. Pretty standard for a Naughty Dog story, but I appreciated the added character depth. The recent Uncharted games had wonderful sentimentality to them. They explore the way resonant ideas inform our goals and ambitions, giving us reasons to keep on living.
I think Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy are perfect examples of the way Naughty Dog’s storytelling has matured. The first three titles in the Uncharted series were pretty thread-bare in their character development, the most significant arc being the powerful love brewing between Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan (I guess, Elena too…). It was a bold move to give that jokester some relational strife, and despite questionable execution, their efforts were admirable. By the time we get to Chloe and Nadine, rebel leader and primary antagonist Asav honestly took a back seat to what was actually a story about two antisocial women finding time to become friends.
On the note of Chloe and Nadine’s friendship, it is wonderful to see a game with two women of color as the leads. It renders nonsensical the argument that diversity would somehow detract from the storytelling or entertainment value in games, even if some weird people will still hold tight to their fears of the gaming’s PC-ification. Yet with The Lost Legacy, Naughty Dog proves that stories with diverse characters are just as welcome. They even appropriately allude to the unique racial and gender experiences of their new protagonists, these identities existing as more than just trivia.
Again, since this is a spinoff to Uncharted 4, the mechanics are basically identical. The platforming and puzzles are still intact, and the shooting combat is still as brutal as ever. For a series that has always been light-hearted, the Uncharted games are not very forgiving with their combat. I guess the true definition of cinematic is the ability to survive an unending procession of wildly improbable firefights. If you are like me and resent the big red gash that shoots across the screen when you get shot, you will also love the newly introduced stealth system. Why do anything but hide in bushes?
When I am not snapping the necks of rebel soldiers, I can also punch the crap out of them using the melee combat system. This is one of the many opportunities when it helps to have Nadine as an active NPC. She will help out in fistfights, shoot people who are grabbing you, and even take down soldiers from stealth. The AI in our partners is surprisingly advanced. Seriously, I would compare the helpfulness of friendly NPCs in The Lost Legacy to Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite; they are that useful in a tight situation.
I also like how the game brought back driving. Firstly, it was a fun way to get around, especially considering how well Naughty Dog was able to incorporate some traversal challenges into driving. Secondly, vehicles lent themselves nicely to explosive action scenes. Thirdly, driving let me fully drink in how beautiful the game was. I truly cannot overstate how gorgeous the environments are. These stretches of uninhabited India are phenomenally varied and colorful, and we are free to explore every inch of them using our car.
Sadly, being the prettiest Uncharted game did not keep it from being the buggiest. A common glitch I ran into involved the cut scenes. Instead of playing out in cinematic fashion – varied camera angles, close ups, focusing on the character speaking, etc. – the clips would play in-engine, as though they were part of the regular gameplay. This glitch meant that the cut scene could not finish, and that the game had basically crashed. I also got stuck inside some objects in the environment. That said, Naughty Dog already shoots so far above the rest of the industry in technical fidelity. Having only released one year after its predecessor, instead of the usual two to five year gap, a few goofs are acceptable.
Final note: I thought the meant-to-lose, one-on-one sparing with Nadine was annoying because my controls were artificially limited during the fight. Turns out, even when I have dodge button, it still sucks to have our otherwise indomitable hero beaten into a foregone conclusion. I know boss fights are not the jewel on Naughty Dog’s crown, but they have used this secondary boxing system for two games, and it has been enjoyable exactly zero times. I hope to see these fights gone from future Uncharted games, no matter how nice it was to watch Chloe and Nadine go all Death Proof on Asav.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy shows that the Uncharted universe is still filled with potential, even though its leading man hung up his hiking boots and assault rifle for good. The chemistry between the two leading women felt like a revelation, with Chloe’s fun personality bringing out extra the dimensions in Nadine. I wish the series would continue making these smaller titles with greater character focus. They resonated more strongly with me than the fun, but somewhat superficial treasure hunt stories. Overall, I am glad the Uncharted series still has some legs.
8.5 (Damn Good)
Revised Score:
★★★★☆ – Strong
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