Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is the fourth mainline game in the Uncharted series and is significant in that it is the first game of the series for the PlayStation 4. This is an action adventure game and alternates between third person gunplay and platforming. However, it focuses more on the latter and the platforming mostly involves climbing from place to place. It is nothing too special since we have seen this all before in the previous games.
The biggest addition to the platforming is the rope which Nathan can wrap it around branches and poles to hang from or to swing to a far away platform. The introductory sequence feels like it did try and shove as many rope platforming segments as they could get away with to show it off and get the player familiar with how it works. On the shooting side, the game plays as a cover shooter. Nathan goes from cover to cover and pops out to shoot enemies. There are a variety of different weapons and the shooting feels great. Nathan can also stealth kill enemies if you wish to take on a more peaceful route through the game.
A Thief's End has an involved story where we find out more about Nathan's past, when he was younger and it jumps between events in the past and present. It begins with Nathan Drake in retirement from the treasure hunting business and settling down. However, as expected, he is roped back into it through circumstances beyond his control and goes off in search for a legendary hidden treasure once again.
The game tends to focus more on the story than gameplay. You get plenty of cutscenes with only bits of gameplay here and there, especially in the first half of the game. It gets to the point where it can interfere with the pacing and flow of the game in general. It gets much better as the game goes on and soon becomes fun with the combination of exploration and shooting segments. The story has a heavy focus on the relationships between the characters and it works really well here. Although the beginning of the game feels dull since Nathan is not exploring the exotic locations the series is known for, it is filled with drama, just of the non-action kind.
That being said, the plot picks up from halfway and while it then starts to settle on samey environments with the last act, which is decent in length, set on the last island, the mystery of the treasure keeps you engaged. The little tidbits revealed as Nathan slowly discovers what had happened are really engaging. The situations that Nathan finds himself in rapidly escalates as the game goes on. There are heaps of over the top action, even more so than previous games. Some of the set pieces work well, sending a lot of adrenaline through your system and being intensely exciting to play. Others take you out of the immersion when Nathan just brushes off something that any other normal person would be down for days or months.
The ending fight was cool and fun but can be tough on the higher difficulties. The game culminates into a fitting end for Nathan Drake's story over the course of four games. It takes around 10-15 hours to finish the game. The puzzles are one of the disappointing aspects since all of them are really easy. They just involve finding crates tucked away somewhere that you need to jump to higher areas, or moving a few levers to align certain points.
There are a lot of collectibles that only appear as shining points in the environments totaling over one hundred. This provides most of the replay value and reason for exploration but also helps unlock bonuses. The graphics are phenomenal and looks absolutely fantastic. The areas with plenty of fauna are some of the best looking scenes in a game that you have ever seen. Due to the massive improvements in graphics though, sometimes it is not immediately clear where to go next. Whereas the PS3 games had shimmering and yellowed colored climbing points, Uncharted 4's colors for these are more subdued.
The game also packs some of the biggest environments in the series and with it, this means the collectibles are a lot harder to find now too. It's impressive to see how big the space is, especially when you are not confined to a linear corridor anymore. Good news is that the game has chapter select once you complete a chapter for the first time, along with being able to skip straight to certain gunfight segments. There are a few minor gripes such as how Nathan is limited in however fast he is able to fun. It feels a tad bit too slow and limited for a big chunk of the game. He's often only allowed to walk or a slight jog, this can make it frustrating during a speedrun if you are aiming for Trophies.
In addition to the single player story you get Multiplayer as well as a Survivor mod where you are pitted against waves of enemies. Both of these can provide a lot more hours of enjoyment. Overall, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is a solid game overall but there is a tad bit too much boredom in the first half. The slow pacing at times and overabundance of cutscenes thankfully is overshadowed by an excellent second half and a fitting ending to the series.
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