Film-ready action sequences, smooth gameplay, high FPS: Nathan Drake”s PC debut catapults Sony”s flagship Uncharted to a new level.
Long waiting times are really awful. One hour at the doctor”s – despite an appointment? Six (!) hours at the citizens” registration office? Pure torture! But all that pales in comparison to the fifteen years we had to wait for Nathan Drake”s arrival on the PC. Really, Nate? FIFTEEN!?
Well, technically speaking, cult developer Naughty Dog is porting the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, not the first but the fourth part of the series, including the spin-off, but even its release is now a full seven years ago.
Of course, if you”ve consistently ignored the console hype surrounding the likeable Indiana Jones knock-off and his action-adventure series full of tongue-in-cheek dialogue, fast-paced chases and wild gunfights during this time, you may just shrug your shoulders mildly in view of these time spans.
For the rest of us, these scenes might make you click your tongue:
Our answers to the most burning questions that long-time Uncharted fans and watchers are now asking in light of the PC debut should still interest you: Is the PC version of Uncharted a clean port? Does the control system, which is actually designed for controllers from front to back, also work with mouse and keyboard? How is the performance? And of course most importantly: Are the paradisiacal excursions with the archaeologist Rambo just as much or even more fun on the PC than on the consoles? The test clarifies.
Sic Parvis Magna
Before we dive into the details, let”s first recall together what awaits new and returning players in this collection. This is because it includes both the series finale Uncharted 4: A Thief”s End and the spin-off Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
In the various parts of the Uncharted series, we set off in search of the most famous lost treasures in the history of mankind. Be it the legendary golden city of Eldorado, the mythical kingdom of Shambhala or, as in the case of part four, the greatest pirate treasure of all time.
On the road, Naughty Dog continued to develop large parts of the popular action-adventure formula, which we also benefited from away from the consoles (for example in the new Tomb Raider parts). We climb cliffs in breakneck fashion, swing over dizzying precipices, rummage through every nook and cranny for optional finds, and sneak or shoot our way through varied mercenary armies and environments.
“We have activated the FPS counter in all of the following screenshots. This gives you an impression of the 1440p performance on the highest settings with a 6-core processor and a graphics card on the level of a 3070 Ti ”
However, creeping should not be overrated here. While quietly taking out all the enemies in a section saves us the otherwise guaranteed reinforcement wave, we don”t have any special tricks up our sleeves apart from our one-touch ambush takedown. The focus is clearly on hard-hitting Hollywood action with a large weapon selection and challenging AI opponents.
In addition, thanks to the new mouse control, the firefights in the PC version are now so much fun that even compulsive silencers might be converted to the heavy machine gun a time or two – but more on that later.
You carry the name of a dog!?
The real highlight is undoubtedly the atmosphere: take the storytelling prowess of the Last of Us team, strip it of the crushing weight of the post-apocalypse and replace it with the light-hearted flair of cult adventure films and voila – Uncharted.
The cinematic cutscenes transport us from location to location with terrific dialogue and expressive faces, and our lovable protagonists are never too shy for a wonderfully sarcastic or charmingly flippant comment in between.
With our jaws dropped, we admire the majestic ruins of long-forgotten civilisations and hold our breath as they collapse beneath our feet in spectacular sequences. Other highlights include the warming holiday feeling in the vast steppes, dense jungles and white beaches of Madagascar, as well as the ride on the back of an Indian elephant (Lost Legacy).
Despite extensive levels with often seemingly endless views, we always know exactly where we have to go and adjust the dangers lurking along the way to our desired level by means of five difficulty levels. If the clever enemies do circle us or we fall down a slope, fair checkpoints save us from excessive frustration.
Only the puzzles are a little weak, because their solutions are clearly too easy compared to the absolute visual power of their staging. For example, with just a few moves we move a huge mechanism that requires nothing more of us than to slide symbols over their identical templates.
This is strikingly reminiscent of geo-sets for toddlers, where they are supposed to put geometric wooden figures into matching recesses. Provided the treasure robbers are older than three years, this puzzle is therefore not an effective protection and unnecessarily calls into question the construction of the entire set.
The Call of the Wild
However, this hardly diminishes our enjoyment of the game, because in a way, the Uncharted series lives from its fast pace. Surprisingly, it is the opening of Uncharted 4, of all games, that takes things unusually slowly.
And the open-world passages in both games also take speed out of the otherwise captivating flow of the game. As a consolation, we are allowed to race through beautiful landscapes in an off-road jeep and stuff our pockets with even more optional treasures, which of course also has a certain appeal.
In the process, we occasionally have to winch our vehicle up muddy slopes or use it to tear down obstacles. If we approach an enemy camp, we either park out of sight and try to sneak up on them or rush into the middle of the fray.
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to shoot while driving and can only defend ourselves with targeted ramming manoeuvres, but at least our companions shoot back sporadically and sometimes even hit something. If we are not in a story chase, we can of course get out of the car at any time.
Even on foot, the AI companions, who actually always travel with us, take cover and protect at least one of our flanks. When sneaking, they are fortunately invisible to enemies and even in the climbing passages they cut a good figure, so that we can concentrate entirely on our own dexterity.
So was it worth the wait?
And how! Originally pimped for the PS5, the two games” technology runs better than ever on modern PCs. While console players have to squeeze into a pre-made corset that dictates whether they can enjoy a high resolution or a high frame rate, the PC version scales nicely granularly with your respective hardware – up to 4K at 120FPS.
Of course, despite all the improvements and new ultra settings, the graphics are not absolutely dewy, which is particularly noticeable in distant 3D models such as cities and bridges. What the presentation lacks in high gloss, however, it makes up for with beautifully composed panoramas and music pieces. Audiophiles will also be pleased with the numerous setting options for speaker configuration and room sound simulation.
Added to this is an almost flawless control with mouse and keyboard, where even the formerly controller-based shaking of the torch and picking of locks has been intuitively transferred.
The fact that we sometimes have to fine-tune the climbing and sliding direction with the mouse may feel unusual at first, but in the end it proves to be the ideal solution. In this way, the developers compensate for the loss of precision that would otherwise be unavoidable when switching from an analogue stick to the keyboard.
It gets even better, because while other well-known teams like to make their worst blunders with the vehicle control (Mako-Trauma), the PC Uncharted shines with an excellent driving feel.
The off-road jeeps crash unerringly through any rough terrain and the fact that the handbrake is not on the space bar by default can be forgiven thanks to the freely configurable key assignment.
However, we can be a little grumpy about the lack of a multiplayer mode, which was a complete success on the Playstation 4 at the time. A transfer to the PC would undoubtedly have entailed a large investment in an anti-cheat system, but even the PS5 versions of several Naughty Dog titles have already had to do without multiplayer fun – a pity!
Suck spin-off and translation?
In the spin-off Lost Legacy, we embody for the first time not the notorious soldier of fortune Nathan Drake (played by Nolan North), but his charming colleague Chloe Frazer, who is an equal when it comes to climbing, shooting and finding treasure. She was one of the most dazzling supporting characters in Uncharted 2 to 3 and can also convince as the centre of her very own adventure.
Her fabulous English voice actress (Claudia Black) might already be familiar to game fans from Dragon Age: Origins (Morrigan), Mass Effect 2 (Quarian Admiral Xen) and the TV series “Stargate: SG1” (Vala Mal Doran). She is accompanied in the addon by Nadine Ross, who has a completely different role in Uncharted.
Gameplay-wise, Lost Legacy thinks the familiar mechanics from Uncharted 4 a bit further and advances its more compact playtime (10 hours instead of 15 to 20) to a more fast-paced and, in some aspects, even better experience.
The story, however, follows the usual rut of “We have to find the treasure before the bad guys do.” Since it starts chronologically after Part 4 and builds on its plot, new players should save the spin-off until the end of the main game.
To top it off, both titles have excellent replay value. While the exciting story twists may not surprise you on a replay, missed treasures, higher difficulty levels and a veritable mountain of unlockable skins, weapons, modes and even cheats (infinite ammo) provide ample motivation.
Editor”s Verdict
I was admittedly late to the Uncharted bandwagon and only treated myself to the original trilogy in its entirety on PS4. As a veteran PC gamer, I had to grudgingly endure shooting with the gamepad in order to experience the much-praised story and production.
This was well worth it, especially since a possible port of the earlier parts is still written in the stars. Nevertheless, I”m thrilled to finally be able to enjoy Uncharted with mouse and keyboard and in full graphic glory with a smooth frame rate.
This series is an absolute gem and the Legacy of Thieves Collection is attractive to both returnees and newcomers thanks to the exemplary porting. Part 4 makes plenty of allusions to its predecessors, but can be fully enjoyed even without prior knowledge. Anyone who likes Lara Croft should give Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer a chance now at the latest!
