Review for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Game for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Network, the video game was released on 22/08/2017
Once upon a time there were LPs: anachronistic vinyl records still appreciated today by purists who, less capacious than current media, left fans with the desire to listen to other songs by their favorite band. For this there was the B side: it was enough to turn the disc to access another single, an unreleased recording or in any case a content that certainly would have expanded the user experience.
On closer inspection, it is not a situation so different from what happens today with video games: there is the main title - in our case that Uncharted 4 that we still quote with reverence today - and there are the additional contents, whose purpose is to expand the experience of the main adventure. And so the Uncharted saga also has a B side: that of Chloe Frazer (yes, the double meaning is desired), a charismatic character we met and loved as the protagonist of Uncharted 2 and 3 and a great absentee in the last episode. A respectable B-Side, so much so that it transforms from a simple DLC to stand alone content: N has already explained that Uncharted is not synonymous with Nathan Drake, and Chloe bursts into our Playstation 4 with every intention of proving it.
New artifact, new adventure
Unlike what happened in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, weighed down by the burden of a plot full of emotions sown over a decade of adventures, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is far more light-hearted. This does not mean that the quality of the experience is inferior: focusing the limelight entirely on Chloe in fact allowed the developers to delve into the role of the girl, transforming her from being the Fujiko of Lupine III to an all-round adventurer, worthy. spiritual heir of Nathan Drake.
The adventure - that devoting the right attention to exploration will take about eight hours to complete - takes the player to the heart of India, where Chloe goes in search of Ganesh's Golden Paw. At his side Nadine Ross, another prima donna known in Uncharted 4 and in this context much more characterized and exploited properly as the shoulder of the main character. With Nadine going over to the good side, although the distinction between good and evil in the Uncharted universe is never so clear, an antagonist was needed: the role fell to the fearsome Asav who, even without the charisma of Lazarevic of Uncharted 2, with his features from evil Steve Jobs covers the role of the fearsome villain.
The crux of the experience is the unexpected confirmation of how Uncharted could exist without Nathan Drake: the rhythm of the narrative, the charisma of the characters, the settings and the new myth on which the whole story is based hold up well without being heard. the slightest nostalgia for the great absentee. And here is the real revolution, because Naughty Dog has packed (pass the comparison) a story of Robin without Batman, which is entirely based on a universe now rooted in the hearts of the players.
We do not hide that our confidence also faltered at the announcement of the Lost Legacy: the biggest risk was that a heroine as the protagonist would irremediably narrow the distance between the Naughty Dog title and Tomb Raider. Fortunately, also thanks to Lara Croft's recent decisive turn towards the open world, our fears have proved unfounded and The Lost Legacy lays a solid foundation for further future spin-offs, which given the conditions will have the road decidedly downhill.
Women and bullets
Excluding some simple burglary minigames, the gameplay mechanics proposed by Uncharted: The Lost Legacy are basically the same as in Uncharted 4, further refined in their perfection. The grappling hook, the climbing, the jeep and its winch, the frenetic firefights and the numerous fights bring out all of Chloe's girl power, alternating with interesting environmental puzzles and exploration, necessary to balance the variety of the experience. Compared to the past, the pace is slightly slower: thanks to the experience gained by the team with The Last of Us, from which this Uncharted borrows some narrative cues and some walks in the most evocative scenarios, in which the game deliberately inhibits the possibility of run to focus attention on the area you are crossing.
Gossips will certainly find fault with the decision to hide behind already well-oiled mechanics rather than daring to insert any innovation, but considering that The Lost Legacy was initially conceived as an expansion of Uncharted 4 - and especially considering the very high quality of the latter - It is not at all a regret to find for a few hours the gameplay that we enjoyed so much last year.
A praise to the management of the supporting artificial intelligence, further improved compared to the past: since the days of Uncharted 3 the player has practically never faced the adventure alone. In The Lost Legacy, being accompanied by Nadine will open up unprecedented gameplay possibilities specially designed to take advantage of the mercenary's abilities: with mechanics always borrowed from The Last of Us and, obviously, from Uncharted 4, Nadine offers cover from enemy fire and targets opponents in an autonomous and dynamic way, based on the player's choices.
In a similar way, after a few chapters decidedly on the tracks, the game allows a fair amount of freedom in the exploration and in the decision of the sequence with which to face the objectives. All this takes place in a sandbox setting in which to move with the jeep, along the lines of what has already been tested in the part of Uncharted 4 set in Madagascar, this time with lots of hidden treasures and optional puzzles that can increase the longevity of the adventure, as well as that fascinate for variety and attention to detail.
We are far from the concept of the open world, which would certainly undermine Naughty Dog's trademark urgent narrative rhythm, but the different possibilities of dialogue based on the situation, the behavior of Nadine and the reaction of the enemies - excluding some obligatory poetic license which favors the spectacular stealth and the fluidity of the fighting - they are the most realistic ever seen on PlayStation 4, demonstrating once again the supernatural ability of these developers to always raise the bar of comparison, automatically setting what should be the standard for triple A productions of the near future.
Who wants a PS4 Pro?
Every time we find ourselves embarrassed to describe the technical arrogance of an Uncharted, which as usual even with The Lost Legacy challenges the physical limits of the Sony flagship console. On PlayStation 4 Pro the game is as spectacular as few others, and considering that among these few others the first on the list are Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us, you have already understood that we're about to repeat ourselves in praise of Naughty Dog's ability to squeeze every drop of available power from Sony hardware.
If we exclude some sporadic slowdowns in long shots with scripted situations in which the whole world collapses around the protagonists, what really impresses is the graphic rendering of the game on the "old" PlayStation 4: where A Thief's End had amazed The Lost Legacy dares even more, and whenever you take your eyes off the back of the sexy protagonist you will be dazzled by thicker vegetation, more vivid lighting effects and more realistic animations, for an overall quality level that will probably only be surpassed by its creators with The Last of Us: Part II.
Specially designed for the occasion, the new photo mode: when she is not engaged in reckless leaps into the void while the scenario crumbles on her - in a series of continuous references to Nathan's exploits, without however resulting in a "more of the same ”Too banal - Chloe will be able to stop and admire and capture images of the scenery with her smartphone. We are ready to bet that, also thanks to the update to Day One designed to refine this mode, the free roaming part of the adventure will be photographed in every pixel and we can't wait to see the dashboards of our PS4s invaded by the photos shared by the users.
Finally, there is nothing to complain regarding the sound sector: as well as its predecessors, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy boasts first-rate directing and voice acting, both in the original language and in the localization. The same goes for the sound effects: explosions, shots and collapsing floors are always ready to make the player jump in the chair, making (if possible) the action even more spectacular.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy has all it takes to rival on equal terms with Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, from which it borrows animations, gameplay, puzzles and technical arrogance. The latter remains, to date, the greatest adventure available on PlayStation 4, unattainable also thanks to the emotional load connected to the farewell of its undisputed protagonist. Naughty Dog has however shown that the Uncharted universe still has a lot to say, and it did so by relaunching the series in the best possible way. Other than lost: Uncharted's legacy is real, and it's yet another killer application for PlayStation 4.
► Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is an Adventure-type game developed by Sony and published by Naughty Dog for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Network, the video game was released on 22/08/2017
