Started playing Uncharted 4...

It's pretty great so far, actually.

Let me say this: I'm not exactly an Uncharted fan. I really enjoy the characters and the spectacle, but things I've hated in the past: simultaneously clunky but failproof platforming that is devoid of challenge, awkward movement, fair-to-bad combat depending on the entry in the series. While The Last Of Us did not eliminate these issues, it substantially improved them and leaned less heavily on weak spots (like the "platforming") - leading to a much more polished game.

This brings us to UC4 - a friend of mine just bought FFXV and loaned it to me since he was done with it. I figured "why not; bang it out before whatever I got off my Christmas list arrives".

What I'm liking so far is 1) much more steady pacing and action in the first couple of hours that I've played, 2) the platforming still is ridiculously simplistic, but is substantially more fluid and natural feeling. This makes it much more enjoyable, even if you could still do it with your eyes closed half the time. 3) the movement is less sloppy at times and wooden at others, which improves both platforming and combat. Shooting mechanics are also much tighter - after UC3 it's a relief...

I honestly had to force myself to finish UC3. If UC4 keeps up this pace I think I'll enjoy it! Still feels like the mechanics are stronger in the TR reboots, but much much less so now - and given the likeable characters and story... Feels like ND learned from their work on TLOU and tried hard to implement improvements in the Uncharted "universe"

Never played any Uncharted games personally, but I'm hearing Uncharted 4 is tedious and boring at times with it's climbing and walking sections.

@primorandomguy: I've only got a little under 2 hours into it, so it could still fall on its face. So far I haven't felt tedium or bored, but I liked TLOU and I know some on here view that as nothing more than a walking simulator, so "opinions" and all that

Heard it was a good movie to see some time.

@xantufrog: Well I'm glad you're enjoying it, just don't be surprised if your opinion changes soon.

Yeah, just wait until you realize that climbing is the most used mechanic in the game...

@speedfreak48t5p: that's kind of the overarching beef I've had with the series - although I really don't think it would be preferable to watch them over playing them, the QTEs and blah platforming in particular haven't enthralled me from a gameplay perspective

Bought it a while ago and I keep meaning to play it, but the more feedback I'd here, the less interested I'd be.

Then I finally saw it person last week watching my friend play a few sections. Shit almost put me to sleep lol.

Really I just don't know what to do now, power through it in a weekend, or go ahead and sell it.

@ConanTheStoner: I don't know why you wouldn't at least try it - you've already got it (unless it's still wrapped and you think you can get a bit more on the sale because of that). Did you play any of the predecessors? I really wasn't a fan, but this feels much improved as noted

Did you play it?

No, I climbed it.

@xantufrog:

Yeah it's still unopened, but I don't really care about any extra I might get from that.

The only reason I haven't tried it yet is because I've been buried in other games that are more to my liking. It all started with me choosing to go with Doom 4 instead and I've been on a string of enjoyable games since lol.

I played the others, thought UC2 was a good game, but was never really wowed by this series. Just some ok games with some cool moments here and there.

I've heard that the gameplay and encounters are much improved this time around, but also incredibly sparse. Which is a problem for me, game stories and killer presentation do nothing for me, I check out pretty quickly if the gameplay isn't steady and engaging from one moment to the next.

You can definitely feel the TLOU's influence on this game. The people criticize it felt there was too much "down time". I would have liked to have a few more action packed set pieces, but I never felt bored. And it is my GOTY.

What's your PSN? Let's see the trophies.

@ConanTheStoner: yeah I wasn't planning on buying this because my back-log / wish list for must-plays is too long. But I figured "hey, free is a good cost of admission, and I'd better give it a go now since I'm sure he'll want it back at some point"

You don't need my PSN, this is as far as I could stand to play this game, it's paced pretty poorly, the amount of climbing is absolutely absurd and I don't care about the story taking place because the lack of good flowing gameplay has caused me not to care about what is happening.

They went too far with this kind of mundane arduous crap, there's no meat on this bone.

The pacing was just pretty damn ass. I enjoy the down-time in the UC series, but UC4 took it to a whole new level, and it really impacted the flow of the game. As for the gameplay, it was excellent.

@dynamitecop said:

@StrongBlackVine said:

@dynamitecop said:

@StrongBlackVine said:

@dynamitecop said:

Yeah, just wait until you realize that climbing is the most used mechanic in the game...

Did you play it?

No, I climbed it.

What's your PSN? Let's see the trophies.

You don't need my PSN, this is as far as I could stand to play this game, it's paced pretty poorly, the amount of climbing is absolutely absurd and I don't care about the story taking place because the lack of good flowing gameplay has caused me not to care about what is happening.

They went too far with this kind of mundane arduous crap, there's no meat on this bone.

Fair enough. Like I said before I can understand the complaints, but it didn't bother me. My biggest complaint was that the collectibles were mostly worthless.

I tried 2 after everyone cried it was "Jesus: The Game".

Very fucking boring.

If you can understand these complaints can I take that as even if it didn't bother you that you've noticed them?

@dynamitecop said:

@StrongBlackVine said:

@dynamitecop said:

@StrongBlackVine said:

@dynamitecop said:

Yeah, just wait until you realize that climbing is the most used mechanic in the game...

Did you play it?

No, I climbed it.

What's your PSN? Let's see the trophies.

You don't need my PSN, this is as far as I could stand to play this game, it's paced pretty poorly, the amount of climbing is absolutely absurd and I don't care about the story taking place because the lack of good flowing gameplay has caused me not to care about what is happening.

They went too far with this kind of mundane arduous crap, there's no meat on this bone.

I'm actually with you. The game is really pretty, it's a Indiana Jones rip off. The gameplay is decent, but it's no where near a 10 or 9. I'd say it's a solid 8.

@lundy86_4: really, it slows down that much? The first hour and a half or so is fairly constant gameplay. It's "down" right now, but I figured it would pick back up shortly. Sight, we'll have to see

I notice them in way that I could see why some people might be turned off by some design choices. but while I was playing I personally never felt like it was boring or tedious. I didn't look at any reviews or critiques until I finished the game so I didn't any preconceived notions while playing through it.

This is where I give The Order and Quantum Break credit and how I can tolerate them whereas I cannot tolerate this, while you're playing those games its 85-90% quality and actual gameplay when you're in control, they both told great stories and had pretty solid gameplay to back it.

For Uncharted 4 the gameplay is a bunch of constant and arduous obstacles thrown in your way, most feel completely unnatural, the whole game is an obstacle course with sparse shooting galleries thrown in the mix.

I enjoyed it for the most part. Only parts I didn't like were the flashbacks to young Nate and his brother. Those bits were boring as shit.

U4 is by far the worse out of all of them. It had way less action aswell.

Good game; combat is greatly improved. But way too much of uncharteds dull ass platforming for a story that is a super serious version of Treasure Planet.

Never found the ladders and raft hunts in The Last of Us nearly as irritating to do as the monotnous climbing. Oh and where The Last of US's finish is like actually good; Uncharted 4 is straight tripe; with an overly indulgent epilogue. No wonder gamers has that shit up. Mother fuckers celebrate sewer water.

I already played UC4 and UC2 is better

I loved UC4 up to a certain point then after that point I played it just to finish it.

Tyvm Sir Froggie for pointing out that TR does some things better. I did not like the platforming much in UC2.

I did like the hand puppets tho

All in all this thread is pretty positive. I look forward to having more discussions and comments like this in the new rebranded

"System Calm-Reasoned-Negotiations"

forum ^_^

If they improve the climbing sections and overall gunplay, I'd consider giving it a shot since I wasn't a fan of Uncharted 2. I'm actually about 90% through TLOU right now and it's so much better, it puts Uncharted 2 to shame.

Uncharted minus the climbing and gunplay...

What's left?

Oh right!

Easily the most boring game I've played this year.

The game is good but disappointing for an Uncharted game. 8/10. Uncharted 2 is still king. I honestly don't see how people can enjoy Tomb Raider and not enjoy Uncharted and vice versa.

@BassMan: I think the...ahem...graphics are superior.

Also, Tomb Raider is on PC, Uncharted isn't. That's not a "fanboy" issue - that's a frame rate and controller issue. At least they improved the controller for the PS4.

But I will say in some ways I prefer Uncharted. Drake is much more likeable (as is Chloe) and the developers DIDN'T MAKE US SPEND 10 HOURS IN THE F^$&KING SNOW!

I am hopeful naughty dog will try to appease the "a woman can't fight hoards of big men" by doing the only reasonable thing...giving Chloe POWER ARMOR!

@Cobra_nVidia: Damn!!!!! Those are some high quality in-game ASSets!

@Cobra_nVidia said:

@BassMan: I think the...ahem...graphics are superior.

Also, Tomb Raider is on PC, Uncharted isn't. That's not a "fanboy" issue - that's a frame rate and controller issue. At least they improved the controller for the PS4.

But I will say in some ways I prefer Uncharted. Drake is much more likeable (as is Chloe) and the developers DIDN'T MAKE US SPEND 10 HOURS IN THE F^$&KING SNOW!

I am hopeful naughty dog will try to appease the "a woman can't fight hoards of big men" by doing the only reasonable thing...giving Chloe POWER ARMOR!

That gif alone makes TR a better game :P

It's just so terrible... Watching other people have to put themselves through this just hurts my head...

@mjorh said:

@Cobra_nVidia said:

@BassMan: I think the...ahem...graphics are superior.

Also, Tomb Raider is on PC, Uncharted isn't. That's not a "fanboy" issue - that's a frame rate and controller issue. At least they improved the controller for the PS4.

But I will say in some ways I prefer Uncharted. Drake is much more likeable (as is Chloe) and the developers DIDN'T MAKE US SPEND 10 HOURS IN THE F^$&KING SNOW!

I am hopeful naughty dog will try to appease the "a woman can't fight hoards of big men" by doing the only reasonable thing...giving Chloe POWER ARMOR!

That gif alone makes TR a better game :P

I miss the sound of her moan , I killed her many times but I couldn't hear that sweet sexy scream , they change it from aaahh to uggh

@primorandomguy: I played UC4 at a friend's house, and while the graphics were very good I got bored of playing it after about 30 minutes. Linear levels, and wave after wave of same-ey enemies. I also got bored of RotTR rather quickly, so maybe I'm just not a fan of the genre.

@xantufrog: It's still excellent, it's just that they botched the pacing. If you like the down-time, then the game is fantastic.

@Cobra_nVidia said:

@bowserjr123 said:

If they improve the climbing sections and overall gunplay, I'd consider giving it a shot since I wasn't a fan of Uncharted 2. I'm actually about 90% through TLOU right now and it's so much better, it puts Uncharted 2 to shame.

Uncharted minus the climbing and gunplay...

What's left?

Oh right!

Lmao this made me laugh, now THAT would make for an intriguing video game.

yeah the best thing about Uncharted 4 is that they put a little bit of The Last of Us in it. It made the game overall better.

Can't believe Overwatch is beating it on GOTY awards though.

I'm glad to see a number of folks agree with me that TLOU is just a smarter-made game than the UC series. Tightened up mechanics (still some awkward mvt in combat, though) and spends more time using the strong points of the design.

@Cobra_nVidia the TR reboot definitely has big strengths. They manage to be a very similar type of game to the UC series, but with more robust mechanics. The gameplay just feels better. The only problem I had (other than lingering distaste for QTEs) was the characters are so forgettable individually and as an ensemble, and the stories are kind of rambling something-something-mystic-forces-who-cares-just-want-to-adventure-more-with-Lara. Lara kind of carries it, but she's a bit flat too despite their efforts to give her emotional depth.

^^I feel odd saying this, because you could easily say the same for the UC cast at a glance, but somehow the writing/animation/voice acting gels better and it just works. It's not like UC delivers a novel story or deep characters, but the e-chemistry is right and that it feels fun and snappy.

I wonder if we will ever see a "classic" style TR again? Still, I went in hating the idea of the changes they made to TR (mainly because of my dissatisfaction with UC), and came out pleasantly surprised

I wasn't a big fan of the previous Uncharted games, but I really enjoyed Uncharted 4. I don't want to spoil anything, but the settings gets real interesting.

@xantufrog: i had to force myself to finish three as well, and its been untouched on the remastered version - if you havnt completed yet i wont write more as there are parts of four that just felt unnecessary and i could write an essay

@Flyin3lvl: oh yeah, please no spoilers - I'll play more today but likely won't finish for a week or so due to my insane life these days!

The platforming is brain dead to the point where I don't know why it exists. My opinion is that designers fail, in their effort to make something realistic, to make game mechanics actually fun. It's an understandable problem, but four entries in? Eh.

(Though I do like the game, on the whole -- just to be clear.)