A worthy upgrade

It is weird to think about a remaster of a game from the previous generation. Sony has done this with quite a few of their games from the PlayStation 4 era. This has caused concern from players who see the other side of the coin where Xbox is offering upgrades for free on a lot of their titles, including ones as far back as the 360 days. Still even with that said, Sony has done an outstanding job of making these updates worthwhile, while also giving players a path to upgrade for a minimal fee. The latest comes in the form of the two Uncharted games from the PS4. Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy were both well received and worthy of checking out, but if you somehow missed them, they are now available as a package for Sony’s new console.

Once again Sony is offering players who have purchased the original games an upgrade path. For owners of the original it only costs $10 to upgrade from either the digital or disc versions of the games. The catch as per usual is that owners of physical copies of the games that opted for the digital PS5 are simply out of luck. There is no upgrade path for that combination. No way for players to take a Polaroid of their disc to get the digital version, sad to say.

MSRP: $49.99 ($10 upgrade for existing owners)
Platforms: PlayStation 5
Price I’d Pay: $49.99

Now let’s break down the two games in the collection. First up is Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. This was the last game in the Nathan Drake series and a huge step up from Uncharted 3. It has monster set pieces and the best shooting controls of the series to date. I enjoyed the inclusion of new characters even if some of them felt a little retconned into the narrative. The game does still suffer from a little too many cinematic sections where the game play is just not as engaging as the shootout sections. An entire level of finding the proper climbing spots is not exactly a fun time. Still these are minor gripes and this is easily my second favorite Nathan Drake entry just behind Uncharted 2.

Lost Legacy to me is secretly the best Uncharted game of them all. It doesn’t involve Nathan Drake and instead focuses on two characters from the series. This entry follows Chloe Frazer as she hunts down Tusk of Ganesh with the help of Nadine Ross in the Western Ghats mountain ranges of India. The pairing of these two characters is outstanding and what makes this game stand out is its length and pacing. The game opts to ditch the fluff and circumstance and instead delivers a shorter, tighter experience overall. This works and I hope any future games really take a look at its structure. The characters are also perfectly balanced to each other making the dialogue just a blast.

Both games feature the same shooting mechanics and small open world bits that involve riding around open areas tackling things at different times. It is a perfect evolution of the franchise and an addition that makes the experience better for it. The accessibility options are also top-tier ranging from simple difficulty options to being able to alter controls to make more complex actions simpler to perform. If there is one thing Naughty Dog never skimps on it is polish and presentation. These games looked amazing on PS4, and they shine even brighter on PS5.

Speaking of visuals let’s get into what is new for the PS5 versions. For starters both games offer three visual modes to choose from. The default is fidelity mode which offers a 4K resolution capped at 30fps. The second drops the resolution just a bit to achieve 60fps, and it holds it extremely well. These games are much improved with the higher frame rate. Finally we have performance+ which is a fancy way of saying a major resolution drop and 120fps. While I will always appreciate higher frame rates, Uncharted games really never required pinpoint accuracy in the shooting department. So while it is a nice option to have, I spent most of my play time using the 60fps mode as the resolution is just so much cleaner.

Outside of visual options there are also some console specific tweaks added in for good measure. First we have the haptic feedback of the Dual Sense. Rolling over rocks in the jeeps now feels much more dynamic. Everything just feels great and gives a higher sense of immersion. There is now 3D spatial audio which takes a game that already sounded great and makes it sound even better. Finally we have loading, which on the PS5 as you would imagine, is lightning fast. No more lengthy load times between levels watching a medallion spin. Jumping in and out of areas is now near instantaneous.

This collection is odd due to the games included, but it still works. The upgrade fee is reasonable and the upgrades are worth diving back in. I have been a fan of the Uncharted series and these two games are truly some of the better games in the series. I have enjoyed Sony’s upgrading of their first party titles for the PS5 for the most part, and this collection continues the trend. A must have for anyone that missed the PS4 Uncharted games and a solid reason to dive back in for those that have already played them.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.