Drake’s Fortune created the cinematic action genre we know today, Among Thieves refined it, but Drake’s Deception is the first sideways step of the franchise. In some ways, it genuinely is better than its legendary predecessor, with more impressive technology, a smoother pace, and the advantage of a more developed cast of characters. On the other hand, some of the plot points and twists are questionable at best, utterly nonsensical at worst. The character of Talbot, for example, is one of the biggest question marks in the entire series. He randomly appears and disappears, is seemingly immune to gunshots, and has mystical powers that go entirely unexplained. The setup seems to be that he’s a supernatural entity misleading the main villain, but that doesn’t actually happen, and fans have endlessly debated what the original plan for his character was. The setpieces are some of the best in the series, but the narrative justification for experiencing them is equally muddled. The best example is a ship graveyard section, which is a fun location for shootouts and has a lot of unique moments, but the only reason Drake ends up there is because he gets randomly captured by pirates you’ve hardly seen before. He escapes, and they have no bearing on the plot from that point forward. It’s still an enjoyable ride from front to back, but Drake’s Deception has a general sloppiness to it that prevented it from raising the bar in the way its predecessors were celebrated for.