To say that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has a hefty weight of expectation on its muscular shoulders is something of an understatement. The Naughty Dog-developed sequel is not only the final chapter in adventurer Nathan Drake’s globe-trotting exploits, but it’s undeniably the prettiest game we’ve seen on PlayStation 4 to date—not to mention part of a multi-million selling, tentpole franchise for Sony.
In other words, that’s an awful lot of hype and expectation surrounding Uncharted 4, which begs the question, can it possibly deliver? While we’ve got no doubt that Naughty Dog is going to deliver the goods fourth time around, there’s still a few things that we feel the series needs to do if it’s going to go out with a bang on PS4. After all, the last thing we want is a by-the-numbers, formulaic actioner that functions perfectly great, but doesn’t attempt to break new ground.
Here’s 5 things Uncharted 4 needs to do to go out with a bang.
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BETTER AI
Uncharted’s AI has always been pretty rudimentary if we’re being honest. Most of the time the challenge comes from the sheer amount of enemies raining down hot lead on Drake and lobbing grenades, rather than their competency with a weapon and strategizing. As such, Uncharted 4 really needs to up the ante in this respect, giving us a dynamic AI system that sees enemies actively searching for Drake if he manages to get out of sight, and employ better tactics in combat. This is especially needed as our cocky fortune hunter appears to have more stealth options this time around, such as skulking around the underbrush Assassin’s Creed-style and generally being harder to spot.
MORE FREEDOM AND EXPLORATION
Naughty Dog has already trumpeted Uncharted 4’s expanded game world, so let’s hope they put their money where their mouth is this time around and give us a bigger environment to make use of. No, we’re not expecting sandbox-like exploration here, but there’s plenty of opportunity to allow Drake to wander off the beaten track as it were, taking multiple paths through any given location and allowing us to take in the sights and scenery without running into those ubiquitous invisible walls that have plagued the series in the past. Anyone remember Uncharted’s lush jungle location? Of course you do. But how many of us wanted to explore a bit and were stopped dead by some invisible barrier? There’s got to be a limit to how much we can see, sure, but we don’t want to be forced down a pretty obvious path this time around.
LET US PLAY AS SULLY
No, we’re not suggesting Naughty Dog should go down the co-op route, but how about a chance to briefly control Drake’s cigar-chomping sidekick, Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan? This could be an ideal opportunity to exploit some of Uncharted 4’s more stealth-oriented mechanics, as we have no doubt that Sully—a man who isn’t exactly a spring chicken anymore, by his own admission—isn’t capable of replicating Nate’s nimble, dexterous adventuring and brutal combat. As such, it would be great to have Sully employ stealth (as well as a few tricks we imagine he’ll no doubt have up his sleeves) to circumvent lurking danger. It would also give Naughty Dog a chance to flesh the character out a bit more and dip into some of Sully’s own backstory.
KILL OFF AN ESTABLISHED CHARACTER
Uncharted’s cast have found themselves in all manner of precarious situations, but they always come out smelling of roses at the end. If this is indeed the final chapter in the series, or at least as far as Drake is concerned, then it’s time to have someone kick the bucket. Past games have never really captured that sense of urgency and danger; Drake was always going to live, and aside from Sully’s ‘fake’ death in Uncharted 3, it was always pretty much a given that our fortune hunters would make it out alive. This time, things should change. Whether it be Elena, Sully or even Drake himself, it’s time Naughty Dog took a risk and killed off one of its starring heroes; this will give the studio a chance to really flex their storytelling muscles, and build a stronger, emotional connection with the cast. Sometimes, Uncharted is just too chirpy for its own good; time to make things darker.
TAKE A LEAF OUT OF GOLDEN ABYSS’ BOOK
Uncharted: Golden Abyss remains Drake’s sole handheld outing, but it was a cracker. In particular, the opportunity to collect hidden artefacts and solve various puzzles outside of the main campaign, often featuring their own historical facts and narration by Drake, really elongated the game’s replay value and helped punctuate an otherwise linear experience. In fact, we’d go as far as to say Golden Abyss easily topped all three Uncharted games in times of collectibles, it wasn’t even made by Naughty Dog—that honor goes to Sony Bend Studio. As such, why not have Drake’s swansong a treasure trove of hidden goodies, especially given murmurs of a larger game world? We’ve already seen Drake uncover a pirate’s journal in one of the gameplay demos, so hopefully this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what distractions there are to hoover up.