I’m anxiously awaiting the final chapter of Uncharted “A Thief’s end” to get to the post, knowing full well that I’m not going to play until tonight … As my son bites into my PS4 controller as I put this together (I already stopped! 3 times in this paragraph to protect my right trigger from its growing collection of teeth!). But all of this has me in a reflective frame of mind as I realized that Uncharted games have had such a positive influence on my games in the older generation, and so has Naughty Dog with their uncanny ability to create action adventure games. which, for me, are the best. the best you can play.

You may think this is just another PlayStation gamer getting excited about an exclusive game, but my journey with Uncharted actually started as an Xbox 360 gamer, who was happily playing in the Gears of War series (which I love and will be playing the number 4 ASAP too) in addition to other great games when my girlfriend at the time, now the mother of said control panel chewing son and his older sister, proved she was the woman of my dreams when she bought me a PS3 for my birthday (an age that happily trades my next birthday for!).

So what was the game that I put in first? Well, I bought Metal Gear Solid 4 and Uncharted knowing they were both exclusives that I missed being on Xbox. The next thing I did was flip a coin to decide my fate and Uncharted won … I barely looked up from the screen for the next few days.

He amazed me with everything he did, it was the complete package of everything I enjoyed in the games, I kept playing all the Uncharted games ASAP and I haven’t looked back since.

Uncharted territory

The original title did a lot of things right, even the remastered version, which we reviewed still stands out as a great title. There were stunning visuals and environments that made you use platforming mechanics, executed in a way that really makes each jump feel like a true grip for survival. Action that rivals the Gears of War I had enjoyed so much, but best of all; a true action movie adrenaline rush with characters and story that made the game the complete package for me.

And this was just the first game; the sequels, which I’ll move on to soon, took this to the next level. But like any great movie or book series, games that have great sequels start with ambitious originals that may not be perfect, but they really take the genre to the next level in what they try to do. The original Uncharted did that for me and I will always remember it fondly.

The first game also featured an introduction to Nathan Drake and Nolan North’s skill as voice over actors for video games. Perhaps something we take more for granted in the days of the series, but the voice acting of the characters in the Uncharted games is just as important as the other elements of the Naughty Dog creation. Nolan has created a number of incredible characters, one of my other favorites being the protagonist of Spec Ops The Line as Captain Walker, an incredible game that all lovers of third person shooter should play.

But Nate is his best acting (although my daughter can tell he’s pretty good at Blaze and The Monster Machines too) and he’s made the character one of the best in games, why?

Well, because you like him, but he’s a bit of an idiot most of the time. He’s not a typical hero and while he’s not exactly an anti-hero like Joel from The Last of Us, which I’ll get to later in the article, he just makes some stupid decisions and gets into the right mess most of the time. weather. But this makes him relatable as a character and only strengthens his story for me, especially as the series progresses.

But what also does it for me is that the supporting cast with Sully, played so perfectly by Richard McGonagle, plays the supporting role perfectly alongside Nate along with some well-created female characters also played by Emily Rose and Claudia Black. This just gets better as the sequels roll in and more of Drake’s past becomes clearer.

That can also be said for the action, visuals, and action movie feel of the game as the series progresses. Like most gamers, I’d say the second game, Among Thieves, is the best of the Uncharted games. I’m not going to have a big fight with anyone who says 3 was the best because it was amazing, the airplane sequence followed by the desert scene is one of my favorite moments in video games. But for me, the action, platforming, and overall feel of Drake’s story in the second game are the best yet.

But of course, I haven’t played 4 as I write this (day one patch is downloading as I prepare this article!) And I have a feeling this is going to blow my mind. Generally, I do spoilers and reviews when I want to play something like this game as much, but the words “Best Naughty Dog Game” have been said and that’s an amazing statement.

Good dog

Even though they are seemingly mischievous, the Uncharted games are only part of my affection for these developers who really need to let them out of the doghouse now and give them a tasty treat.

Before the obvious, I’ll say this about my first love with the Naughty Dog job; Jak and Daxter is incredible and a series that I couldn’t stop playing. Having finished Ratchet and Clank (and doing the best I could writing the review), which in short was amazing, I really hope these two make it to PS4 too.

But we come to my current favorite Naughty Dog game, The Last of Us. Now without pouring my heart out on it, and I could easily say another thousand words about how good it is, TLOU changed the game for me. It brought out an emotion in me that I had never had a game before. It made me really sad at first and went up and down all the time, especially the David with Ellie scene.

Not good for a man with a daughter to experience.

But without the Uncharted games this could never be, and adversely, the new Uncharted will certainly close out Nate’s adventure with many lessons learned from TLOU. Bringing that excitement into the game is what I look forward to the most.

The Uncharted games have had a great influence on my games and also on Naughty Dog; I certainly can’t wait to experience more this week. So in closing I’ll say, if I’m lucky enough to have someone see this from the studio, thank you Naughty Dog for what you’ve done so far and I’m delighted to experience the final chapter of Nathan Drake. .

And that’s about to start! It seems like I’ve been writing for so long that everything is downloaded and ready to go! Now if I can find a place to hide my son, I’ll be fine …

Game on

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