Up until 4, Uncharted relied pretty heavily on bombastic setpieces in favor of making a fun 3rd person shooter and interesting characters. I love those games, but sometimes you get full after 3 buckets of buttery popcorn and you need something grounded.
A post-apocalyptic zombie may not be the most grounded premise, but the game gradually relieved any cynicism I initially had. This feels like the perfect cocktail of storytelling and gameplay because it's grounded in a world and circumstance that the characters actually live in. It's not an excellent TPS, but the emphasis on stealth and resource management over pure run-and-gun makes it a tense, satisfying experience. The encounter design with the crafting options creates puzzles to solve with multiple solutions.
It blows my mind that this was originally a PS3 game. ND's art direction and fidelity proves to be top-class, and it's easy to imagine a lesser game if the character performances and animations weren't so convincing. The environments were beautiful and varied. I actually wanted to get lost in the dilapidated concrete jungles and suburbs when I knew there was more to the world to discover through environmental storytelling.
Above all, the best part is the development of Joel and Ellie as characters and their relationship. I knew this game was lauded for its writing but I was not prepared for many of the key moments here. Joel is a such a complex individual whose morality frequently teeters between his emotions, past, and survival. And Ellie is surprisingly the compass that guides him through it. Not only does she literally save him but she also centers him on something to live for after losing his daughter. By the end, the dynamic feels so earned.
A post-apocalyptic zombie may not be the most grounded premise, but the game gradually relieved any cynicism I initially had. This feels like the perfect cocktail of storytelling and gameplay because it's grounded in a world and circumstance that the characters actually live in. It's not an excellent TPS, but the emphasis on stealth and resource management over pure run-and-gun makes it a tense, satisfying experience. The encounter design with the crafting options creates puzzles to solve with multiple solutions.
It blows my mind that this was originally a PS3 game. ND's art direction and fidelity proves to be top-class, and it's easy to imagine a lesser game if the character performances and animations weren't so convincing. The environments were beautiful and varied. I actually wanted to get lost in the dilapidated concrete jungles and suburbs when I knew there was more to the world to discover through environmental storytelling.
Above all, the best part is the development of Joel and Ellie as characters and their relationship. I knew this game was lauded for its writing but I was not prepared for many of the key moments here. Joel is a such a complex individual whose morality frequently teeters between his emotions, past, and survival. And Ellie is surprisingly the compass that guides him through it. Not only does she literally save him but she also centers him on something to live for after losing his daughter. By the end, the dynamic feels so earned.