I absolutely loved Uncharted 4 and the conclusion to Nathan Drake’s story when it was first
released back on PlayStation 4 in 2016.
And yet, I haven’t been able to bring myself to replay it on PlayStation 5 since because
the 30 FPS stopped me dead in my tracks–yeah, I’ve been spoiled.
But now we finally have the Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection for the PlayStation
5, which packs in both Uncharted 4 as well as the shorter spin-off Lost Legacy, and it
brings with it some visual and performance upgrades–including, yes, 60fps support,
unfortunately, it’s missing my beloved multiplayer mode.
As such, We’re mostly going to be focusing on the technical aspects in this review, including
an in-depth look at the 3 graphical modes offered, as well as a comparison between them.
And after will have a spoiler-free review of the games themselves near the end of the
video.
With all that being said, are these the definitive versions of the games, and are they worth
picking up if you have already played them on PlayStation 4?
Well, that’s what I’m here to answer in GameXplain's review of the Uncharted Legacy
of Thieves Collection on PS5.
The big new addition in the legacy of Thieves are the 3 different display modes.
Fidelity, which runs at 4k 30fps; it looks phenomenal.
Performance mode, running at a 1440p, upscaled to 4k at 60fps, which was my preference, and
then we have the most surprising mode, being Performance + which, outputs in 1080p at 120
FPS–if your display supports it.
After trying all 3 settings, I eventually settled on performance mode because it had
a nice balance of great performance while not compromising on the visuals all too much.
For a while, I played on Performance plus but I noticed some rough edges and the odd
frame drop in the open areas so this mode wasn’t for me.
Fidelity ended up being my least used mode because the PS5 truly has ruined me when it
comes to tolerating 30fps.
Naughty Dog have long been masters of creating visual masterpieces, and both Uncharted 4
and Lost Legacy looked incredible on the PS4, so there’s no wonder that they amaze even
more with the extra horsepower of the PS5.
Whether I was swimming through the murky underwater of Drake’s boring day-to-day life in Uncharted
4 or exploring the luscious jungles of Lost Legacy, I just had to stop at times to take
it all in ...frequently The crystal clear clarity of Fidelity mode was amazing to witness,
and while I always choose performance over visuals, I couldn’t blame anyone for wanting
to experience a game like this.
And the 30fps framerate appeared to be rock solid, even during the high octane encounters,
with bullets whizzing past my head, and explosions happening all around me.
As far as 30 FPS modes go, this is as smooth as they come.
But, of course, there are much smoother options available.
This is why, my preferred mode was Performance, which runs at a smooth 60fps, upscaled to
4k from 1440p–and it looks stunning thanks to the still-impressive resolution that runs
at double the framerate, and it was an absolute no-brainer for me.
Whereas I struggled with the combat at times in Fidelity Mode due to the, 30 FPS, the extra
responsiveness of Performance made fighting the enemies a breeze, even on Hard as I plan
on getting the platinum in both of these games.
Although The image is noticeably less sharp than Fidelity, the trade-off for 60 FPS is
well worth it in my eye.
Especially since the loss in clarity is nearly impossible to notice during combat.
But during slower moments, you can definitely notice a difference in the sharpness of distant
objects and shadows.
The biggest difference might actually be in the quality of the water.
As you change between the modes, it’s easy to see the water becoming increasingly worse
in quality.
Once again, it was never enough to hinder my experience but it’s something to note.
This is the 60 FPS mode I wish we had gotten on the PS4 Pro, as it was the only thing holding
a Thief’s End back.
So I am over the moon with how this performs.
And it’s not even the smoothest option available!
Enter Performance plus, which runs at a ridiculous 120frames per second, which came as a total
surprise to me.
Because while We’ve come to expect 120 FPS modes from multiplayer shooters I never thought
I would see it in a single-player PlayStation game…And Sadly, while My monitor supports
up to 144hz, YouTube does not, so I can’t actually show you how incredibly smooth it
is.
, But trust me when I say that climbing in 120fps is something I never thought I would
want but it feels amazing and is so incredibly responsive.
Switching from Fidelity to performance plus while climbing or jumping around makes it
feel like Nathan or Chloe gained a 100 pounds and combat feels sluggish by comparison.
But it comes at a heavy price.
Because while I said earlier that I thought I would always opt for smoother gameplay over
graphics rather than graphics but performance plus mode has changed my mind.
Because the image quality taks a serious hit, looking significantly more blurry, especially
with the landscapes off in the distance.
It’s hard to notice during hectic combat encounters, but it’s quite apparent everywhere
else.
Sacrifices have to be made and I’m delighted that the devs gave the option for 120 FPS
but the change in image quality between Performance and performance plus is too much for me, so
I stuck to Performance mode which strikes a much better balance
That brings me to one final point about the port itself.
Where is the multiplayer mode?
Yes, I’m one of the weirdos who love the Uncharted multiplayer, going from the beta
of Uncharted 2 multiplayer in 2009 to the frustrating online pass days of Uncharted
3 all the way to my dearly loved PvP in Uncharted 4.
Sony is sorely missing their multiplayer shooter so why not release this while we wait for
The Last of Us factions.
I just want to be able to punch Harry Flynn in the face in 120 FPS….is that too much
to ask?
Now that that small rant is over, here is one final comparison between the 3 modes,
Youtube only supports up to 60FPS so it will be hard to show off the true benefit of Performance
plus, but which mode will you be playing the game in when it launches?
Now that we’ve covered the technical side of things , how are the games themselves?
Well let me put it this way: if you haven’t played Uncharted 4 yet ….what are you doing?
Go play it.
If you like linear, cinematic experiences with great acting and an endearing cast of
characters then you’re in for a treat.
Uncharted 4 is the finale the Nathan Drake’s adventuring days.
From the get-go, the game is more real and mature than the previous.
The original trilogy had some high stakes but the games were more focused on the adventure
rather than the characters' real lives.
It starts with Drake in a dilemma, he isn’t happy in his day-to-day life and he’s torn
between the thrills of his old life and the mundanity of his current life.
Immediately, the game has a different feel to the happy-go-lucky adventure of the previous
trilogy…and Golden Abyss, I can’t forget to give Bend and the Vita some love.
The combat is wildly improved too.
The previous games were bog-standard third-person cover-based shooters, with a handful of weapons,
a few cool set pieces, and plenty of quippy dialogue.
For me, everything on a gameplay front is improved, Drake now mysteriously has a grappling
hook that he can use to swing from fixed points.
This makes for a more kinetic combat experience.
Encounters are more open than before, clearly picking up a few points from the design of
The Last of Us making for a more engaging combat loop.
You can choose to go stealthily or run in guns blazing, both are as viable as each other
but my tactic was; to go in silent until I inevitably get caught then start swinging
from ropes, jumping on people from the sky, and stealing their gun, still to this day,
that will never get old.
Naughty Dog knocked it out of the park with this great combat system but its almost like
they forgot to implement lots of combat encounters.
In the previous trilogy, a good chunk of your time was spent fighting hundreds of enemies
across a wide variety of locations.
However Uncharted 4 places more emphasis on exploration and cutscenes that the previous
titles.
I would say the original trilogy had a 60/40 split of combat to non combat, whereas Uncharted
4 has 40/60 split combat to non combat.
While I personally enjoyed the story and dialogue, it seems strange that Naughty Dog created
honestly one of, if not the best cover based third person shooter combat systems and decided
to have very little of it.
This leads me onto replayability.
Of course you have the crushing mode playthrough and finding all the collectibles but the emphasis
on narrative made parts of my experience a bit slow.
I already knew what was going to happen so this is something to keep in mind if you have
already beaten the games before.
I was 9 when I first played Uncharted 1, yes I was probably too young but my love for these
characters is unmeasurable.
Drakes one-liners, Chloe's sarcastic attitude, Sully….well being Sully.
I grew up with these characters and they’re at their very best in Uncharted 4 and Lost
Legacy.
The acting and voice performances are some of the most impressive around.
They came across as quite cheesy in the ps3 games but the added maturity of the narrative
in 4 and lost legacy only made me love the characters even more.
At the end of the day, you still have to suspend your disbelief at times…perhaps a lot of
the time, but if you can get around that you’re in for extremely enjoyable experiences.
As for Lost Legacy, I somehow missed this originally.
I had previously never played this game, only seeing it at a friend's house, it was in my
backlog but I just never got around to it.
And it surprised me.
You play as Chloe Frazer, one of the strongest characters from Uncharted 2 and they did an
amazing job at fleshing her character out in Lost Legacy.
You team up with Nadine Ross, one of the bad guys from Uncharted 4 and I loved seeing Chloe
and Nadine’s relationship grow throughout the game.
The game is much shorter than any mainline entry in the series so I think there were
a few shortcomings in the narrative.
While I won’t spoil anything specifically certain things are resolved too quickly for
my liking.
In some instances, something happens to the characters, and then it’s all forgotten
in the next cutscene.
The game is still a linear romp with kinetic combat and set pieces.
However, in Thief’s End and Lost Legacy there are a few open areas where you’re
given a car and set free to roam.
I enjoyed these sections and it was for one reason mostly.
The sheer amount of small conversations between characters while exploring was great.
Just like God of War 2018, the characters would chat amongst themselves while exploring,
fleshing out their relationship and backstory.
It’s such an effective method of storytelling and I’m glad that the open areas allow for
it to be more common.
Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection is the definitive way to experience these two
fantastic games, and is an absolute no-brainer for those who missed it originally–although
you should start with the Nathan Drake Collection if you’re new to the series, as much of
the narrative will be lost on you if you have no prior experience with the characters.
Uncharted 4 is one of the best cinematic gaming experiences I have ever had the pleasure to
play and the addition of Lost Legacy only sweetens the deal.
But If you’ve already played the games on PlayStation 4 then it’s a harder sell.
I was waiting to replay these games in 60fps so I would’ve picked it up with or without
this review but they’re still the exact same games, with the same levels, cutscenes,
and dialogue so replaying them can feel quite slow in certain parts when you know what to
expect.
I already loved Uncharted 4 when I played it in 2016 and with the boosted graphics and
performance love it even more.
Add in Lost Legacy and there’s very little to complain about.
I am missing the multiplayer mode but not enough to drop the score.
There we have Gamexplains review for the Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection on PS5.
Let me know what you think of this collection in the comments down below.
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