Hey there everyone, welcome to my review of Uncharted, The Lost Legacy. Are you on the fence about whether or not to pick up the latest entry in the Uncharted series? So was I, but for 35 dollars I was willing to take a chance on it. This series is very well known, and well liked, but I only got to play the original 4 games last year so I'm not a die hard fan. This time around you get two new protagonists and a much shorter experience. I wasn't sure if I'd like the new playable characters, and was unsure exactly how short it would be. This was originally planned as a DLC to Uncharted 4, but the developers had made so much content that they decided to just make it a standalone game. These developers have never let me down before though, and always make quality titles. Luckily I have finally gotten around to playing through it.
Uncharted, The Lost Legacy is made by developer, Naughty Dog, who have done four previous entries in the Uncharted series as well as the hugely popular, The Last of Us. So they've made quite a name for themselves as a top tier development company. This is a standalone title and the first Uncharted to not feature protagonist, Nathan Drake, that fans have come to know and love. For this adventure we play as Chloe Frazer, and Nadine Ross, two side characters from previous games. They are in the mountains of India and searching for the, Tusk of Ganesh, in the middle of a civil war. This setting is perfect for an Uncharted game, so many beautiful locations in India, and that's something you'll be seeing a lot of, really beautiful locations. This game just looks incredible, every new chapter brings you to a new dense and detailed place that you'll want to run around and explore, just to take in all the highly polished scenery. Some chapters are linear and have set places you need to go, but at least two of the chapters take place in an open world environment. In these open world sections you get a jeep that you can enter or exit at any time, and a mini treasure hunt to give you a reason to drive all over the map. If you finish this treasure hunt you get a pretty useful item as a prize.
At first I thought I'd miss Nathan Drake, he was the face of this series for years after all. But honestly, after playing through The Lost Legacy I have to say, I love these characters. Their different personalities really come through here as the two of them butt heads and argue, then eventually make up and begin making wise cracks to each other again. The dialog is very well done and enjoyable, and also comes off as very natural. The voice actors did a great job at helping to make Chloe and Nadine seem likable, and it was fun just to listen to them make small talk while exploring together. There's even another character from the Uncharted series that joins you about half way through that I was very happy to see. I don't want to spoil anything like that though, so I wont say anymore about it. After the first chapter I was on board with these new characters and didn't find myself missing Nate at all.
The combat in The Lost Legacy is just like previous Uncharted games, so if you're a fan of those you will feel right at home with it. I personally find it more enjoyable if I put it on hard and turn off auto aim. That gives the battle sections some more weight and make it so you might have to improvise and try different things to win each time. The grappling hook is back this time as well, so in addition to helping you explore your surroundings, it can also be used to retreat in the heat of a shootout. Some sections you'll be fighting from a moving vehicle, or maybe taking down a helicopter. But it wouldn't be Uncharted if there weren't some puzzles in there, and you will come across some pretty neat ones. Overall Naughty Dog does a fantastic job of evenly distributing the puzzle, combat, exposition, and exploration sections of the game. At no point was I bored and just waiting to get on with the next part already like I have been is some of the main games. This comes as a byproduct of this originally being a DLC, the shorter time frame helps the pacing in my opinion.
This game was a joy to play through from beginning to end. Everything from the incredible graphics and detailed environments, to the personalities of the two new protagonists. Naughty Dog has done it again and given us another awesome experience to play through. But even though I spent a lot of time just using the photo mode feature to take shots of the scenery, it all went by pretty quick. When it was over I wanted more, I guess that's better than dragging on for too long though. The short length did help the pacing, but the characters, setting, and gameplay were so well done, I could have kept going for a while longer. If you're not sure whether or not to get this, I'd say if you're a fan of Uncharted, or games like Tomb Raider definitely pick it up, especially with the lower price tag. Just don't expect an epic journey that goes on for dozens of hours. Uncharted, The Lost Legacy gets a score of..........................................
90
Thanks for checking out my review, I hope you enjoyed it!