Like
most Hollywood films, I have a love/hate relationship with Naughty
Dog’s Uncharted games. They look spectacular, but don’t hang
around in memory long after playing. The admission price seems
justified by the fireworks, but become immemorable once the credits
roll. Given how juvenile the storylines and premises are, it’s not
a surprise. Like brain candy, however, I have played each of the
three Uncharted titles to date, and given the praise surrounding
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, I unwrapped its cellophane as
well, leading to the question: can it shake its Hollywood façade to
offer a deeper experience?
Like
many a big screen action flick, Uncharted 4 starts off in
media res. Drake and his brother Sam are in a boat, piloting through
stormy ocean waters at night while a group of boats give chase. The
action intense, gunfire lances across the waves, forcing Drake and
Sam to defend themselves as they talk about making it to the
mainland. As all hell breaks loose, the scene cuts back in time to
Drake as a boy in an orphanage. A young delinquent, Drake escapes
the orphanage to meet Sam for a night of joyriding. Cutting to yet a
third scene (Drake and Sam in a Panama jail as adults, plotting their
next big treasure haul) the game slowly connects the dots, making for
what appears one last action/adventure for Drake.
Where
in previous Uncharted games the line between action scene and cut
scene was well defined, Uncharted 4 blends the two to a far
finer degree. There is still everything Uncharted players expect,
the puzzle platforming, the logic puzzles, the shoot outs, the
quick-time events, and a plethora of cut scenes, but they now flow in
and out of each other in more seamless fashion. Many times I was
watching a cut scene wondering why Drake wasn’t doing anything,
only to discover I had been given control once again. Where
Uncharted 4 ups the ante over previous titles is: significant
graphic improvements, a slightly more grounded storyline, and a lot
more cinematography. Just going with gut feel, Uncharted 2
and 3 each contained about 25% cut scenes. In Uncharted 4
it feels like 50%. As a whole, it’s as close as the gaming
industry has so far gotten to merging the silver screen with the
gaming screen. (Despite the graphical improvements, I still can’t
help but feel an 8-bit pixel version would be the best Uncharted game
given how abstract story, gameplay possibilities, and sh’mups are
from one another.)
Thus,
for players looking for an open world, sandbox experience wherein
player choice and agency are tantamount to enjoyment, Uncharted 4:
A Thief’s End is not the place to go. Scripted from the word
go, it’s a linear experience that holds the player’s hand
throughout, giving them control only in the exciting and puzzly bits.
As well realized as the story is, there were times I was wondering
whether it wasn’t too much—like I’d paid for a CG movie rather
than a game, which in turn sometimes made the shootouts and
platforming feel more like a task than fun. At nearly every occasion
I could predict when and what cut scenes were coming. “Just
finished a platforming and shoot out, arriving at a major point in
the quest: time for the villain to make an appearance...” And
nine times out of ten, my predictions were right. Adding to this is
there are many ‘action sequences’ wherein the player need only
spam the punch button until the game’s programming decides you’ve
done it enough to activate the next point in the script. For
example, there is a prison fight scene early in the game where
mindlessly pushing □, □, □, □, □, □ has little
correlation to the fighting on screen, dialogue, or outcome. The
player need only push □ and eventually the next point in the story
is reached. Gameplay, or only simulated gameplay?
Controls
remain inaccurate. Climbing is a cross between smooth transitions to
different grab points and air humping as Drake tries but fails to
grab the next point which. is. so. damn. close. but. for. reasons.
only. the. game. knows. cannot. be. grabbed. hump… hump...
hump... Likewise, selecting cover is not always a sure thing.
Drake may be standing in front of a barrier which would seem the
logical choice for cover, but after pressing the cover button, he
finds cover at a nearby pillar or wall (where he is subsequently
shot).
But
gameplay does exist in other areas—the areas where Uncharted built
its reputation. Essentially a complex version of whack-a-mole
(enemies pop up, you shoot), A Thief’s End contains lengthy
shoot outs like earlier Uncharted games, rounded out by the
aforementioned puzzle platforming, logic puzzles, vehicle driving
sequences, as well as a handful of one-time scenarios. Developers
also added new functionality, including stealth mechanics (generally
following in the footsteps of the Assassin’s Creed series) as well
as a retractable line (a la Batman) that Drake can use in the
platforming sequences to swing from beams and other overhead objects.
I
have never been convinced by Nathan Drake as a character, and while A
Thief’s End goes to greater lengths to humanize him, it still
does not convince. Stereotypical not the term, rather ‘out of
place’, Drake seems a clean cut American bro (square jaw, wise
cracking, buddy-buddy, etc.) not a mass murderer of Parkour
excellence. By comparison, Lara Croft and Indiana Jones are more
convincing. The main issue is that the gap between believable
character and unbelievable story is never covered—and cannot be.
In cut scenes Drake is portrayed as a torn soul trying to balance a
difficult upbringing, a domestic life, marriage, as well as a desire
to adventure—all which would seem to make him more real. Yet in
subsequent scenes Drake is plotting and stealing, mindlessly
murdering hundreds, and part of secret histories that have
fantastical (i.e. unreal) moments—all of which makes him unreal.
Sure, it’s just a game, but its parts lack resonance. Another way
of putting this is, Drake seems an empty caricature—more an excuse
for a video game than a character that can be fleshed out, which in
turn makes a good portion of every Uncharted game, including A
Thief’s End, ring hollow. In this regard, Drake’s
Fortune, the first Uncharted game, was better considering it just
presented him as an over the top video game character, no back story
or attempt to humanize.
In
the end, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the Hollywood
blockbuster Naughty Dog Games were trying to create in video game
form, which is a good and bad thing. Graphically speaking, the game
is amazing. Filled with the wonderfully rendered dramatic,
melodramatic, and epic scenes one expects of a gun-toting,
treasure-hunting adventure. Look any deeper, however, and there is
little of substance. With the increased percentage of cut scenes and
subsequent reduction in player agency, A Thief’s End is
often less game and more cinema. Moreover, the attempt to develop
Drake’s story through mature, human scenes with his wife and as a
youth doesn’t complement the cheesy one-liners, pulp plot, and the
fact Drake remains a mass-murdering gymnast. Gorgeous, yes, but
overall just as immature as the previous Uncharted titles. I guess
the formula has finally gotten old for me…
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