The Uncharted series has been a staple for Sony over the past decade. With Uncharted 4, Naughty Dog closed a chapter in the franchise – ending Nathan Drake’s story….for now. This led the way for them to try out some new ideas without blemishing Nathan’s good name if the game was not well received and gave them the chance to give their fans more Uncharted.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was expected to be DLC for Uncharted 4. After seeing how large the DLC was becoming, Naughty Dog opted for a stand-alone experience while still honoring the season pass for anyone who had purchased it already. As a $40 stand alone experience, Naughty Dog added all of the Uncharted 4 multiplayer content to enhance the experience.
Story
The Lost Legacy picks up after the events of Uncharted 4, focusing on Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross this time around instead of the Drake brothers and Sully. Chloe Much, like her video game heroine predecessor Lara Croft, (2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider), is trying to finish her fathers work. She goes all the way to India in search of the Tusk of Ganesh, a mystical artifact that represented the tusk that Ganesh lost in a fight with Parashurama. Through the first few chapters, it’s business as usual.
A straight forward path sets up the story and characters sending you on a time sensitive adventure as you race against Asav and his men in an attempt to uncover the tusk first. Once you arrive at Chapter 4, everything changes as you get to explore the first open world segment in the Uncharted Universe.
The open world section can take as much or as little time as you see fit. With only a few mandatory objectives, which can be completed fairly quickly, you should have plenty of time to search for the 11 Hoysala tokens spread throughout the chapter. If they are collected, they unlock a very handy artifact.
Once completing Chapter 4 you are again back on a more linear path more resembling earlier Uncharted games. The story is interesting and worthy of wearing the Uncharted name, even without Nathan Drake as the main character. The banter between Chloe and Nadine is top notch, especially as they drive around the open world parts of the game. We learn some nice tidbits about both characters and their relationships with other characters we know from past games in the series.
Another nice aspect of having Chloe and Nadine together on this adventure is their true need for team work, even if they don’t fully trust each other. During puzzles that require multiple actions to complete, Nadine will wander around areas away from you and help by completing actions necessary to complete the puzzle. In a real world sense this is much more practical than most games that have two characters along for the ride, where one does all the work while the other just stands around waiting for enemies to show up or displaying cinematics.
One of the only complaints about Uncharted 4 was the game’s length. Many of the sequences seem to go on for too long and you would find yourself climbing and climbing for what felt like an eternity. The fire fights never end. The Lost Legacy will probably take you roughly half as long as Uncharted 4, but that is a good thing. Many of the issues with the pacing have been streamlined, and sequences that went on and on now feel like they are just the right length.
Gameplay
The gameplay here is Uncharted 4 through and through. While Naughty Dog is one of the best in the business, their games still suffer from time to time especially during shooting sequences. Firefights never seem to go as planned and the controls aren’t as tight as you would like them to be, but they are serviceable and no combat sequence ever feels unbeatable. Like all Uncharted games you will climb, jump, and shoot your way out of many different types of situations. The game never takes itself too seriously, making fun of situations that you have found yourself in hundreds of times throughout the series.
Graphics
The Lost Legacy looks absolutely gorgeous. Some of the set pieces will have you just looking around and taking it all in before completing the task at hand and moving on. We had about fifty minutes of idle time just standing around looking at the scenery during our playthrough. The character models look great and the main characters have so much detail that you can see blemishes on their skin and every wisp of hair. The faceless henchman tend to blend together with less detail, but they still look great.
Recommendation
Ultimately The Lost Legacy is more Uncharted, and that is never a bad thing. Naughty Dog took a chance on some new features, such as the open world area, that thankfully don’t outstay their welcome. It’s an interesting addition to the series, but by the time you finish everything in Chapter 4, you’ll be ready to move on.
If you are a fan of the series then this game is for you.
Uncharted 4 gave Nathan a beautiful send off, but The Lost Legacy proves that Uncharted can carry on without him. Unlike the Tomb Raider series, where the only character that matters is Lara, Naughty Dog has created a supporting cast of characters that we care about almost as much as Nathan and Sully. Chloe carried the game on her shoulders well enough that we could see an iteration in the future where we play as Nadine or even Elena.
We wouldn’t recommend starting with The Lost Legacy if you haven’t played any of the other games in the series. While it will still be an enjoyable game, a lot of the banter and lore will be lost on you. If you fall into that category, pick up The Nathan Drake Collection and Uncharted 4 and then give The Lost Legacy a play. We guarantee you won’t stop playing until the credits roll on Chloe and Nadine’s story.
