The irony of Uncharted is that the series' name implies an open-ended exploration that is betrayed by linear narrative and gameplay.

The dialogue in the series is second to none–for a video game–but it's a shame that the plot doesn't do more to buck the trends of blockbuster storytelling. The villains spawn from the same cookie-cutter, vaguely former Eastern-bloc (or Nazi) mold, their motivation an even vaguer lust for power. The goals of the Drake is often just as unclear. In Uncharted 2, Nathan continues pursuing the Cintamani stone for wealth and glory well after the stakes have risen beyond a reasonable heist. While Elena's intuition that keeping the stone out of the villain's hands actually was worth the risk after all, no conversation makes it clear that this is Drake's understanding as well.

There are valid moments of introspection here and the game knows it but never pauses on them long enough for anything to sink in. When Drake returns from an expedition to find a Tibetan village under assault from Lazarević, Elena says "we did this." Nate says nothing. You could argue that this contributes to the tension between his failure to take responsibility for his actions that reaches a boiling point between the two of them in Uncharted 4, but it's a wasted opportunity when you look at Uncharted 2 as a standalone title. It would have been far more effective for Drake to say "they knew what they were getting into" or a "this is inevitable" to underscore his failure to accept the consequences of his actions.

The series' gameplay moves between a competent cover shooter, calming no-stakes climbing sequences, and cinematic cutscenes that haven't aged well despite Bluepoint's best efforts. The strongest combat scenarios in Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy incorporated enough climbing to hint at a future for the franchise where all three elements co-exist seamlessly. in this collection, the three gameplay elements remain siloed. The occasional mini-game or truck-driving sequence also lacks enough repetition to introduce interesting mechanics, but they do provide some welcome variety in the gameplay.

Something about the uncanny valley of character models during the PS3 keeps me from engaging with the character beats. Elena's character model improved so dramatically from 2 to 4 as to look like an entirely different character.

The platforming in this series has always been unique if not successful. In contrast to a Mario game, it's never about knowing how to jump, but where to jump. There's rarely any time pressure in a climbing scenario, and the game is forgiving enough to let Drake magically jump an extra foot higher, so long as he's headed in the right direction over a crevasse. The challenge is in scanning the environment to see which route is the valid one, which orientation reveals the handhold necessary to progress.

So, why would someone play these games in 2021? The mechanics of the cover shooting remain imminently competent, and if the enemies in Gears of War feel a little too spongey, or the lack of variety in approaching encounters stifling, then these could really work for someone. Otherwise, the gameplay elements in the original Uncharted games be more interesting to examine as a precursor to 2013's The Last of Us than as an experience to be revisited.