“X” marks the spot in this treasure trove of excellent game content. 

“Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection” is a compilation and remaster of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted trilogy. The games are a story driven action-adventure series starring Nathan Drake, a modern day version of Indiana Jones, who is not above stealing but only kills when he has to.

Players will scour ancient temples and crypts to find hidden treasures. Adding more tension to the situation, players also fight pirates and terrorists who are competing for the same treasures and have nefarious purposes in mind.

Advertisement

Gameplay is a mix of third-person shooting, puzzle solving and platforming, which are well-balanced and rarely dull.

Storytelling has always been a strong point for the Uncharted series and whether a player is new or returning, the narratives are fun and engaging with charming characters and epic moments.

Speaking of epic, Uncharted is known for its cinematic action moments. Improved resolution makes them feel more alive. Whether Drake is scaling a derailed train, hanging off the edge of a cliff or climbing cargo that is falling out of a crashing airplane, theses games are filled with adrenaline-pumping moments.

The graphical power of the PS4 makes Sony’s flagship series sexier than ever.

“Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune,” the first game in the series, holds up adequately for a game from 2007, but still feels aged compared to the other two games in the collection.

Meanwhile, “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception” sports the highest quality visuals of the trio.

Advertisement*

However, “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” is still the best of the series. It drastically upgrades its gameplay from the original, in addition to stronger storytelling and less frustration than the third game.

Unfortunately, the game really reminded me of how clunky the core shooting gameplay is. It is not poor, but it is shockingly unimpressive for a series so highly praised. Comparing it to other top tier third-person shooters, such as Gears of War, it is clear the shooting in Uncharted is lacking. Fortunately, the games makes up for it with the elements mentioned earlier.

The only real issue is the lack of additional features. Other compilations such as “Halo: That Master Chief Collection” or “Rare Replay” compile all the games into a unified interface and add various bonus features.

“Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection” has a main screen that simply navigates players to each game. All features from the original games are included, but the package still feels like it is missing something.

There is a new speed run mode, but all it adds is a timer at the top of the screen while playing the game, which makes me wonder why it was included in the first place.

Oddly enough, the package removes the multiplayer originally part of the second and third games. The game is not any worse because the multiplayer was never anything special, but some fans might be disappointed it was not included.

Overall, “Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection” is a great package containing some of the best games of the previous generation and completely worth the price.

Stars: 4 out of 5