The gameplay has very much been charted by now, but there's more heart and playfulness than ever.
Uncharted 4 is a spectacular way to end a series that's always been about spectacle. Tying up the loose narrative thread running through the games, the lessons that Naughty Dog appeared to learn with The Last of Us on the importance of character-driven narratives have taken hold, and the game has a more engaging story than the previous 3 combined. That's not to say it's perfect on that front, the flashbacks especially are a little irritating, but the plot is delivered very well in the smooth, well acted and exceptionally well animated cutscenes. The gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has played an uncharted game: climb this, explore that, shoot him, fall down while screaming "woahwoahwoah", Naughty Dog know how to make an Uncharted game at this point, and don't stray too far from that. Which is fine, for the most part. While some of the climbing sections can be a little overlong, especially considering there is little real challenge to them, but the gunplay is excellent in it's looseness, really conveying the action-hero-out-of-his-depth tone. I recommend playing with the autoaim off, it really adds to the feel of the game. The stealth in the game is expanded and well implemented, the game is long and environments varied, and the set pieces are still of the high Uncharted standard. The game looks just incredible too. There is so much detail in the world, so much subtlety to the animation, such grand environments all excellently realised, and all running at a very solid frame rate. Technically, the game is a masterpiece. You're not getting much that you don't expect if you've played an Uncharted game before, and if that wasn't for you then this won't be either, but for those of us who have enjoyed the series, this is a great way to say goodbye to Nathan Drake.
