'My own experience duplicated the fictional one: I'd burned out – or perhaps drowned – any lingering pretentions to savage paradises and island idylls. I was left with the safety net of an English home. Now, like Crusoe, I would go back, and like him, I would wonder how long it might last.'
– Kevin Rushby, Hunting Pirate Heaven, 2001.
Played with BertKnot, through the PC collection.
In the summer of 1698, the House of Commons passed a charter establishing a consortium of merchants as a new East India Company, alongside the old one founded in 1600. The charter stated in particular that 'the Company [shall] to give security to bring to England all their goods, except in certain cases specified in the Act' [1]. One of the consequences of this restriction on the destination of goods was the loss of profitability for slave vessels, since it was the very low price of slaves in Madagascar that made the voyage from the island to North America profitable. The disappearance of this particular trade had a direct impact on the pirates of the Indian Ocean, who were immediately cut off from the British Atlantic. In the two decades following the charter of 1698, many pirates opted to leave for the Caribbean or to return to civilian life thanks to the wealth they had accumulated [2]. The last decades of the Golden Age of piracy were therefore not as dramatic as popular culture usually suggests.
Echoes from the Pirate Coast
Some legends have been fostered by ancient documents: A General History of the Pyrates (1724) by a supposed Captain Charles Johnson has fuelled fiction, including Walter Scott's The Pirate (1821) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1881). In particular, the mention of Libertalia off the coast of Madagascar, a pirate colony founded by James Misson and a veritable proto-anarchist utopia, has captured the imagination for centuries. In Hunting Pirate Heaven (2001), a romantic and deliberately vainglorious voyage, Kevin Rushby sets off from Deptford Creek for the east coast of Africa in search of these fantasised ruins, accompanied by colourful companions. Rushby's humour and his interactions with the various characters subtly overshadow the narrator's intelligence: the faux-naivety is a facade, for he knows full well that Libertalia does not exist. Rushby stages his disappointment as if to exorcise an orientalistic fascination. Libertalia was surely never more than an invented counterpoint to Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan (1651), which expressed a visceral antipathy to piracy insofar as it only undermined the absolute authority of the legitimate sovereign's continental power [3].
Concluding Nathan Drake's adventures after his return to a quieter life with Elena, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End evokes similar themes. The protagonist is reminiscent of Rushby in many ways: he is an accomplished adventurer with a natural wit, set on the trail of legendary pirates almost against his will, but unknowingly enjoying the rush of adventure. After the supernatural confrontations of previous titles, Uncharted 4 opts for a more human perspective, tying its progression to Nathan's reunion with his brother. The title often manages to strike a good balance regarding the protagonist's inner conflict, but suffers from some rather awkward narrative missteps. While certain sequences are effective because of their contrast, surprising the player when they are caught up in the frenetic action that characterises the series, some ideas remain particularly under-exploited. Elena and Nadine may be presented as strong women, but they are relegated to supporting roles.
Nathan Drake's illusory precautions
Similarly, given the game's primary desire to be a human drama, the portrayals of Sam and Rafe lack texture, with the latter especially bereft of subtlety: by establishing him as a symbol of despicable toxic masculinity, Uncharted 4 artificially absolves the other male characters of their harmful behaviour. The last third of the game is particularly unfortunate, offering an all-too-convenient way out for the various conflicts and frictions between the main characters. And while the title begins with a Nathan who has lost some of his agility and daring in his retirement years – the museum infiltration sequence works well – Uncharted 4 is too quickly overtaken by the ghosts of his heritage, and culminates in some explosive gunplay and swashbuckling, a far cry from the restraint of the hero at the outset.
The game introduces stealth sequences during certain battles, which become almost mandatory on the highest difficulties due to the sheer number of enemies. However, Uncharted 4 offers no tools to facilitate this approach. Nathan automatically hides in the tall grass, and it is impossible to distract enemies or shoot them from a distance with a silencer. The player is forced into a rather uncomfortable waiting position, unable to shoot at highly exposed targets. Similarly, the different zones do not allow for very creative play, as the actual spaces are so narrow. In the later chapters, many of the gunfights take place in corridors, effectively locking the player into a brutal frontal engagement. Worse still, some levels encourage the player to remain static, creating bottlenecks to avoid being caught in a pincer trap: by trying too hard to subvert its basic formula, Uncharted 4 ends up falling back on the same clichés – not necessarily unpleasant, but out of touch.
Forgotten contemplation and dreams of tranquillity
These design choices can be seen as a continuation of those made in The Last of Us (2013), introducing a pseudo-organicity to exploration and progression. The game constantly attempts to offer multiple paths in outdoor areas, but fails to live up to its ambitions. Climbing sequences are as linear as ever, and the player is merely invited to zigzag between rocks and use the grappling hook to follow a well-defined path. Even the driving sections follow this pattern. Although Uncharted 4 features some stunning landscapes, it struggles to really showcase their majesty, with so much focus on finding the path that will get the player closer to their goal. The title always divides its large chapters into several micro-zones that the player can explore – to find a page of a journal or steal an artefact – but they are so enclosed that finding the way out always feels unnatural.
Progress is also constantly interrupted by obstacles that require the player to fiddle with the game's physics, be it by moving crates, using the grappling hook, driving the car or several at the same time. These activities, designed to simulate the realism of exploration, distract from contemplation, given that the title only lasts around fifteen hours. Instead of basking in the scenery and enjoying the poetry of the moment – a single sequence with Elena offers such contemplation – the title is constantly noisy. Uncharted 4 still creates an effective and entertaining chemistry between its characters, but at the cost of a clumsy demystification of its atmosphere. Magadascar, the high point of the journey, is never highlighted. A country with a largely oral tradition, it is presented only from a tourist perspective, with its market, carts and baobabs – ultimately no more than a postcard.
To some extent, Uncharted 4 is the antithesis of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002). Both games use the image of piracy to describe freedom, but they relate to the world in entirely different ways. The Wind Waker is an introspection on boundless seas and a pledge for a new society where empathy must prevail over the arrogance and imperialism of previous generations. Link's adventure is a pretext for discovering the world beyond the skies of Outset Island and learning about the societies and customs of Windfall and Dragon Roost Island. Uncharted 4 is a selfish tale, centred on the Drakes, for whom the destruction of the world is of little consequence. The various pirates mentioned serve only as warnings to the two brothers and have little to say about a better world. The utopia of Libertalia is merely an ironic mirage with no real depth or value, unlike in Hunting Pirate Heaven, where it allowed Rushby to discover other cultures and realise his own orientalism. Uncharted 4 fully embraces it. The game is never unpleasant, though, and it is easy to get caught up in the drama of the narrative, the fairly well-paced progression and the sweetness of the ending; yet the overall experience is forgettable, so riddled is it with concessions.
__________
[1] 'The Charter of the 'New' East India Company, 5 September, 1698', in Peter J. Marshall (ed.), Problems of Empire: Britain and India (1757-1813), George Allen and Unwin, London, 1968, p. 194.
[2] More specifically, piracy continued in the Indian Ocean, but against British ships. The British government offered amnesties to curb the phenomenon, but the pirates were particularly suspicious of these proposals and preferred other options. Christopher Condent preferred the French offer to colonise Bourbon Island, while Richard Taylor found refuge in Portobelo after negotiating his amnesty directly with the local Spanish governor. In other words, for them piracy was a transitional venture, designed to accumulate wealth before finding a comfortable place in civil society. On the topic, see Ryan Holroyd, 'Whatever happened to those villains of the Indian seas? The happy retirement of the Madagascar pirates (1698-1721)', in International Journal of Maritime History, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 752-770.
[3] Dominique Weber, 'Le pirate et le partisan : lecture critique d'une thèse de Carl Schmitt', in Esprit, no. 7, pp. 124-134.
– Kevin Rushby, Hunting Pirate Heaven, 2001.
Played with BertKnot, through the PC collection.
In the summer of 1698, the House of Commons passed a charter establishing a consortium of merchants as a new East India Company, alongside the old one founded in 1600. The charter stated in particular that 'the Company [shall] to give security to bring to England all their goods, except in certain cases specified in the Act' [1]. One of the consequences of this restriction on the destination of goods was the loss of profitability for slave vessels, since it was the very low price of slaves in Madagascar that made the voyage from the island to North America profitable. The disappearance of this particular trade had a direct impact on the pirates of the Indian Ocean, who were immediately cut off from the British Atlantic. In the two decades following the charter of 1698, many pirates opted to leave for the Caribbean or to return to civilian life thanks to the wealth they had accumulated [2]. The last decades of the Golden Age of piracy were therefore not as dramatic as popular culture usually suggests.
Echoes from the Pirate Coast
Some legends have been fostered by ancient documents: A General History of the Pyrates (1724) by a supposed Captain Charles Johnson has fuelled fiction, including Walter Scott's The Pirate (1821) and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1881). In particular, the mention of Libertalia off the coast of Madagascar, a pirate colony founded by James Misson and a veritable proto-anarchist utopia, has captured the imagination for centuries. In Hunting Pirate Heaven (2001), a romantic and deliberately vainglorious voyage, Kevin Rushby sets off from Deptford Creek for the east coast of Africa in search of these fantasised ruins, accompanied by colourful companions. Rushby's humour and his interactions with the various characters subtly overshadow the narrator's intelligence: the faux-naivety is a facade, for he knows full well that Libertalia does not exist. Rushby stages his disappointment as if to exorcise an orientalistic fascination. Libertalia was surely never more than an invented counterpoint to Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan (1651), which expressed a visceral antipathy to piracy insofar as it only undermined the absolute authority of the legitimate sovereign's continental power [3].
Concluding Nathan Drake's adventures after his return to a quieter life with Elena, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End evokes similar themes. The protagonist is reminiscent of Rushby in many ways: he is an accomplished adventurer with a natural wit, set on the trail of legendary pirates almost against his will, but unknowingly enjoying the rush of adventure. After the supernatural confrontations of previous titles, Uncharted 4 opts for a more human perspective, tying its progression to Nathan's reunion with his brother. The title often manages to strike a good balance regarding the protagonist's inner conflict, but suffers from some rather awkward narrative missteps. While certain sequences are effective because of their contrast, surprising the player when they are caught up in the frenetic action that characterises the series, some ideas remain particularly under-exploited. Elena and Nadine may be presented as strong women, but they are relegated to supporting roles.
Nathan Drake's illusory precautions
Similarly, given the game's primary desire to be a human drama, the portrayals of Sam and Rafe lack texture, with the latter especially bereft of subtlety: by establishing him as a symbol of despicable toxic masculinity, Uncharted 4 artificially absolves the other male characters of their harmful behaviour. The last third of the game is particularly unfortunate, offering an all-too-convenient way out for the various conflicts and frictions between the main characters. And while the title begins with a Nathan who has lost some of his agility and daring in his retirement years – the museum infiltration sequence works well – Uncharted 4 is too quickly overtaken by the ghosts of his heritage, and culminates in some explosive gunplay and swashbuckling, a far cry from the restraint of the hero at the outset.
The game introduces stealth sequences during certain battles, which become almost mandatory on the highest difficulties due to the sheer number of enemies. However, Uncharted 4 offers no tools to facilitate this approach. Nathan automatically hides in the tall grass, and it is impossible to distract enemies or shoot them from a distance with a silencer. The player is forced into a rather uncomfortable waiting position, unable to shoot at highly exposed targets. Similarly, the different zones do not allow for very creative play, as the actual spaces are so narrow. In the later chapters, many of the gunfights take place in corridors, effectively locking the player into a brutal frontal engagement. Worse still, some levels encourage the player to remain static, creating bottlenecks to avoid being caught in a pincer trap: by trying too hard to subvert its basic formula, Uncharted 4 ends up falling back on the same clichés – not necessarily unpleasant, but out of touch.
Forgotten contemplation and dreams of tranquillity
These design choices can be seen as a continuation of those made in The Last of Us (2013), introducing a pseudo-organicity to exploration and progression. The game constantly attempts to offer multiple paths in outdoor areas, but fails to live up to its ambitions. Climbing sequences are as linear as ever, and the player is merely invited to zigzag between rocks and use the grappling hook to follow a well-defined path. Even the driving sections follow this pattern. Although Uncharted 4 features some stunning landscapes, it struggles to really showcase their majesty, with so much focus on finding the path that will get the player closer to their goal. The title always divides its large chapters into several micro-zones that the player can explore – to find a page of a journal or steal an artefact – but they are so enclosed that finding the way out always feels unnatural.
Progress is also constantly interrupted by obstacles that require the player to fiddle with the game's physics, be it by moving crates, using the grappling hook, driving the car or several at the same time. These activities, designed to simulate the realism of exploration, distract from contemplation, given that the title only lasts around fifteen hours. Instead of basking in the scenery and enjoying the poetry of the moment – a single sequence with Elena offers such contemplation – the title is constantly noisy. Uncharted 4 still creates an effective and entertaining chemistry between its characters, but at the cost of a clumsy demystification of its atmosphere. Magadascar, the high point of the journey, is never highlighted. A country with a largely oral tradition, it is presented only from a tourist perspective, with its market, carts and baobabs – ultimately no more than a postcard.
To some extent, Uncharted 4 is the antithesis of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002). Both games use the image of piracy to describe freedom, but they relate to the world in entirely different ways. The Wind Waker is an introspection on boundless seas and a pledge for a new society where empathy must prevail over the arrogance and imperialism of previous generations. Link's adventure is a pretext for discovering the world beyond the skies of Outset Island and learning about the societies and customs of Windfall and Dragon Roost Island. Uncharted 4 is a selfish tale, centred on the Drakes, for whom the destruction of the world is of little consequence. The various pirates mentioned serve only as warnings to the two brothers and have little to say about a better world. The utopia of Libertalia is merely an ironic mirage with no real depth or value, unlike in Hunting Pirate Heaven, where it allowed Rushby to discover other cultures and realise his own orientalism. Uncharted 4 fully embraces it. The game is never unpleasant, though, and it is easy to get caught up in the drama of the narrative, the fairly well-paced progression and the sweetness of the ending; yet the overall experience is forgettable, so riddled is it with concessions.
__________
[1] 'The Charter of the 'New' East India Company, 5 September, 1698', in Peter J. Marshall (ed.), Problems of Empire: Britain and India (1757-1813), George Allen and Unwin, London, 1968, p. 194.
[2] More specifically, piracy continued in the Indian Ocean, but against British ships. The British government offered amnesties to curb the phenomenon, but the pirates were particularly suspicious of these proposals and preferred other options. Christopher Condent preferred the French offer to colonise Bourbon Island, while Richard Taylor found refuge in Portobelo after negotiating his amnesty directly with the local Spanish governor. In other words, for them piracy was a transitional venture, designed to accumulate wealth before finding a comfortable place in civil society. On the topic, see Ryan Holroyd, 'Whatever happened to those villains of the Indian seas? The happy retirement of the Madagascar pirates (1698-1721)', in International Journal of Maritime History, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 752-770.
[3] Dominique Weber, 'Le pirate et le partisan : lecture critique d'une thèse de Carl Schmitt', in Esprit, no. 7, pp. 124-134.