Uncharted: The Lost Legacy — A modern take on a classic story

Justin Doak
Aug 24, 2017 · 5 min read

I’ll just come right out and say it. I loved this game. The fact that it ran about 7 hours from beginning to end is the saddest thing I’ve encountered in a long time. It had everything I’ve come to expect from an Uncharted game. Swashbuckling action, intriguing characters, enough beautiful scenery to fill a travel Instagram account, and a plot that pulled you in and never let you go.

I joined Chloe Frazer, who is elevated from supporting character to the main cast in the absence of our beloved Nathan Drake, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t miss him once. After four games of looking over Nate’s shoulder, I thought there was no way that the series could survive his retirement. Not only was I wrong, I think the franchise is in as good a shape as it has ever been. This could be the dawn of a new era of Uncharted games and I, for one, can’t wait for it.

Chloe, who was always a thief and a rogue, hasn’t changed a bit in this latest installment. This time around, she’s on her own adventure, journeying into the heart of the Indian jungle after the legendary Tusk of Ganesha, said to have been hacked from the Hindu god himself. Joining her, is the secondary antagonist from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Nadine Ross. After the loss of her mercenary group Shoreline in the previous game, Nadine is looking for a new career path, so naturally why wouldn’t they end up together on the wrong end of an Indian Civil War?

What initially drew me in was the interesting dynamic that I was hoping would materialize between these two fundamentally different women. Chloe is a lifelong thief and a liar, constantly looking for the best way to come out on top, no matter what the consequences might be for the others around her. Nadine, on the other hand, is a lifelong soldier. She fought her way through a male dominated mercenary world to become their leader. She’s disciplined, honorable, and entirely vicious when the need calls for it. Not somebody you want to mess with. (Seriously, you should see her arms. She’s jacked.) Their inevitable conflict, and eventual reconciliation, is the heart and soul of this story and it was a treat to be a part of.

These two women’s interactions and story arc’s were fun, full of banter, but still touching when the time called for it without being forced. In short, it’s almost like they were real people. Crazy, right? To make things even more exciting, they’re both women of mixed race and nationality. Originally, Uncharted was a series completely comprised of white men, however, Chloe is a mix of Indian and Australian, while Nadian hails from South Africa. This took me a shameful amount of time to figure out (I’m notoriously bad with dialects), but it fascinated me as soon as I made the connection. I’m not much for political correctness, but I loved that the series has branched out so much, as well as the exciting things this means thematically. This brought new meaning to Chloe’s various rants about Hindu mythology and religion, as well as giving history and motivation to her later heroic quest to save the innocent lives of the Indian people. (I’m trying not to spoil too much, plot-wise. I’m sure you’ll understand). Also, it’s just frankly refreshing to have a different point of view. American pop culture is inundated with the various stereotypes of the adventuring white male, and I rather enjoyed the break.

The game can be played stealthily, with a new pick-locking mechanic favoring those that take their time in a combat area, or, as always, guns blazing is a viable option. Something I was expecting was that Chloe and Nadine wouldn’t feel believable in the more combat heavy portions of the game. However, I was thrilled to find that this wasn’t the case. Nadine proved herself able to brawl with the best of them, taking on several men at once with ease, as any trained soldier should, and Chloe held her own just fine, keeping up a genuine presence in the hand to hand combat that felt believable and hard-hitting. The gun-play is satisfying, but not really any different from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which is not surprising.

The action setpieces felt like something out of a major blockbuster. The developer, Naughty Dog, does a fantastic job of making each encounter feel natural and fluid, despite the fact that they’re mostly scripted. This makes the player feel as if they’re in control of the action, they’re the hero, and they’re outsmarting the enemy at every turn, despite not having a choice about where they’re headed. This is just excellent game design at it’s core, and something that takes finesse. I applaud them for this, as it’s not something every designer can do to this level.

The visuals were breathtaking to say the least. In place of Drake’s ever-present journal, Chloe uses her smart phone to take snapshots of the various locales and vistas that they encounter, and some of them actually made me exclaim out loud at their beauty. Pixels on a screen somehow were made to appear more beautiful than any of the hundreds of beach pictures I inevitably encountered this summer. That’s worth the price of admission alone, I’d say.

Conclusion: Naughty Dog took a ragtag supporting cast and turned them into the heroes of the millennial generation. The banter, the thrills, and the endearing characters that we all know and expect from a treasure hunting epic came into play, but some how they’ve managed to make it all new again. Whether you love a good action movie, or you’ve played every Uncharted game before this, you should definitely give this game a try.

If you’re interested in taking a further look, this is my upload of my own playthrough of the game. Please enjoy!
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