Review
Played on: PlayStation 4
Released: 2015
Released: 2015
Originally released: U1: 2007 (PS3), U2: 2009 (PS3), U3: 2011 (PS3),
Introduction
My experience with the original Uncharted trilogy is limited. My first Uncharted playthrough was with the beautiful visuals, but by the numbers gameplay, Uncharted 4, review here. Followed by the fantastic standalone continuation Lost Legacy, review here. So, recently I decided to get this remaster compilation on PS4. Containing the first three Uncharted titles, originally released on the PS3.
I've only briefly played a PS3 demo of the first Uncharted and left very unimpressed. Floaty and cumbersome climbing and bad shooting mechanics comes to mind.
I've only briefly played a PS3 demo of the first Uncharted and left very unimpressed. Floaty and cumbersome climbing and bad shooting mechanics comes to mind.
This collection takes all the original games from 30fps to a smooth and responsive 60fps, plus a healthy bump from 720p to 1080p in resolution. A welcome update from the ageing and, perhaps best, forgotten hardware of a PS3.
Upon beginning this trilogy I was excited, as I've heard great things about the second and third game, but as a bit of a completionist I wanted to complete the first game too, regardless of my forgettable experience back on the old PS3 demo.
Upon beginning this trilogy I was excited, as I've heard great things about the second and third game, but as a bit of a completionist I wanted to complete the first game too, regardless of my forgettable experience back on the old PS3 demo.
Let's take a look at each title in this remaster package!
The first Uncharted takes mostly place on an island, where you're introduced to three of the Uncharted series main characters: Nathan, Scully and Elena. Together, they explore and try to survive this jungle covered island with old ruins of seaside castles and underground passages.
It's a fine, if not a fairly repetitive looking setting. Although it might sound familiar to Tomb Raider players, where the TR 2013 reboot also took place on a single island, this game is far from as varied or cleverly set up.
Mechanically, the gameplay is fairly rough. The movement and especially the jumping animation of Nathan feels extremely floaty. Edges of cliffs feel like they have an extended, invisible glass floor, to make sure I always reach the other side when jumping off. Designed for casual players to be able to reach jumps, but the it's extremely apparent, making the actual exploring traversal numbed down.
The shooting mechanics are extremely mediocre too. Stiff and feel as though the gun is at the end of a long stick as you try to quickly manoeuvre for close combat. What's worse, is that the game focuses on a tons of combat, so you are forced into endless gunfights. They even try pushing brawler combat as an alternative, but it's a terrible alternative as enemies quickly spawn and enter the battle in large amounts, thus leaving the gun as your only survivable option.
I approached this game for an adventure experience, just like a typical Tomb Raider, with element of gunfights. Instead, I'm served small segments of climbing, a tiny amount of obnoxiously simple puzzles, followed by drones of endless bad guys to shoot. It's a cover based shooter, with small adventure elements, and it's not even a good third person, cover based, shooter either!
Clearly the rough beginning of a series, but at least this remaster allows you to play it without performance drops of the 30fps PS3 version. I played it mostly for the dialogue and story, and this is where the Uncharted games shine: the voice overs are excellent and the dialogue has this natural, fast paced flow. Making it sound much like a normal, relaxed conversation. Story is straight to the point too and relies on a more laid back style, with a few funny and sarcastic lines thrown in. Reminding me of how an Indiana Jones movie is.
If you get this collection, you'll probably play through them all three, but if there's one in this trilogy worth skipping, it's this one.
Clearly the rough beginning of a series, but at least this remaster allows you to play it without performance drops of the 30fps PS3 version. I played it mostly for the dialogue and story, and this is where the Uncharted games shine: the voice overs are excellent and the dialogue has this natural, fast paced flow. Making it sound much like a normal, relaxed conversation. Story is straight to the point too and relies on a more laid back style, with a few funny and sarcastic lines thrown in. Reminding me of how an Indiana Jones movie is.
If you get this collection, you'll probably play through them all three, but if there's one in this trilogy worth skipping, it's this one.
The second game is where the series really started to gain popularity and quality. It's often regarded as the best in the series. Right from the beginning, the higher production value is apparent and the variation in locations is dialled up considerably, with Nathan globe trotting around to new areas throughout the story. It clearly suits the genre and makes it seem more like a Tomb Raider title.
This time around, there's a clear improvement in puzzle quality, with larger rooms and devices to solve, combined with vertigo educing climbing. Although it isn't close to Tomb Raider in it's depth of puzzles, it's at least a nice change of pace from the large amount of shooting. I felt more like an explorer this time around and the climbing segments felt lengthier, with a greater purpose.
Variety not only plays a role in the locations and set pieces, but also visually. It's a treat to look at, even so many year later, especially in 60fps in this collection. We have tropical jungles, street fights in the city of Nepal, mountain climbing and the new to the franchise: beautiful snow covered locations. The latter showcasing some impressive, last-gen, snow trail effects.
Each place you traverse feels more authentic, and less generic than the island from U1. While its still mostly a corridor, A to B designed levels, it at least tries to open itself up with some large tombs and small street areas to battle your way through. It's great looking throughout, although less ambitious in scale than Tomb Raider Underworld from the previous year.
This time around, there's a clear improvement in puzzle quality, with larger rooms and devices to solve, combined with vertigo educing climbing. Although it isn't close to Tomb Raider in it's depth of puzzles, it's at least a nice change of pace from the large amount of shooting. I felt more like an explorer this time around and the climbing segments felt lengthier, with a greater purpose.
Variety not only plays a role in the locations and set pieces, but also visually. It's a treat to look at, even so many year later, especially in 60fps in this collection. We have tropical jungles, street fights in the city of Nepal, mountain climbing and the new to the franchise: beautiful snow covered locations. The latter showcasing some impressive, last-gen, snow trail effects.
Each place you traverse feels more authentic, and less generic than the island from U1. While its still mostly a corridor, A to B designed levels, it at least tries to open itself up with some large tombs and small street areas to battle your way through. It's great looking throughout, although less ambitious in scale than Tomb Raider Underworld from the previous year.
U2 is where the series found itself, the design and layout is what I recognise from my Uncharted 4 experience. While I do appreciate a lot of the ideas, and indeed even my beloved Tomb Raider franchise has stolen a few of them for it's reboot, I do prefer Lara's adventures to Drakes still.
However, U2 is a fantastic game and the level of upgrade from the rather barebones U1 is obvious everywhere. If your time is limited with the series you can always just begin with this one.
Prior to playing this trilogy, I've always had the impression that U3 was great, but not as good as U2 from the fans. Perhaps the negativity is regarding the plot taking longer time to build itself up, or the original version had prominent input lag in the controls. The latter is fixed in this version, plus the controls feel way more responsive in 60fps, and the more expanded story and pace is a welcome inclusion for me.
I enjoyed learning how Nathan and Sully met when they were younger, and I like how the plot really puts you in diverse locations. From a dark and hidden subway station in London, to rooftop jumping on a museum in Cartagena, a nightly visit to a massive castle in Syria, am overturned cruise ship and becoming lost in a desert. The latter following an absolutely fantastic action scene on an airplane!
It's all about globe trotting hidden archaeological sites with a nice balance between exploring and shooting bad guys.
U3 bumps the graphics bar further than U2, the animation work of characters and the detailed environments are incredibly well done. The visual diversity in each location is wonderful to look at, even a generation of consoles later. Lighting, colour schemes and various surfaces really bring out the visual variation in each location you travel to. The dialogues and character animations hold up so well.
As always, I'm not super impressed by the shooting mechanics, but something that really did grind my patience in U3 is the way the A.I. spams grenades. I wouldn't want to know how it plays on harder difficulties, because the grenade spamming is straight up, old Call of Duty 2 style, bullshit.
Overall, I found U3 to be the best of the old trilogy, although still not beating my Lost Legacy love within the Uncharted franchise. The sheer variation in locations is fantastic and the larger amount of puzzles and traversing of environments is a welcome touch.
I can see why U2 became so popular, being such a massive upgrade over the first game, but U3 is the one that suited my adventure preferences the best.
Summary
A wonderful remaster package, with a ton of value for singleplayer. Be warned, that all multiplayer modes are removed. For theirs campaigns, this collection is by far the best way to play these titles in hindsight.The bump to 60fps is an important feature to mention, once again, as it helps them feel far more responsive and look really sharp. Much like how The Last Of Us was vastly improved and the old Halo games in The Master Chief Collection.
If you've never played the Uncharted games, here's fantastic place to begin and perhaps get an insight into why they've become so popular. They won't personally push the queen, that is Lara, off her throne, but they do a great job as an alternative to archaeological adventures!