The Beautiful Blockbuster: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Review

Uncharted 4 accomplishes what all blockbusters aspire to but few achieve: it successfully mixes an emotional story with eye-popping action.

This review was originally published on May 22, 2016.

With its over the top explosions, witty characters, and violence that’s only as gritty as a medium thread count bed sheet, Uncharted 4 is obviously imitating the flashiest summer Hollywood blockbusters. But unlike a Michael Bay explosion orgy or a film mass-produced from the Marvel machine, Uncharted 4 is an action adventure tale powered by a genuine human heart. It tells a simple, digestible story but it does so in a powerful, caring, and wildly entertaining way. It doesn’t just look like Indiana Jones, it offers the same exquisite craftsmanship in a carefree package that Spielberg developed for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Come to think of it, Spielberg is looking more and more like the perfect parallel for Naughty Dog. The Sony-owned studio’s previous release, The Last of Us, ardently proved that Triple-A games could be serious dramatic storytelling devices. I argued that it could demonstrate to anyone that games are art and, remarkably, A Thief’s End might actually be a better example. Uncharted 4 reveals that it wasn’t the dark subject matter that made The Last of Us a powerful experience, it was the way the story was told. A Thief’s End beautifully blends storytelling techniques from other games into Naughty Dog’s established style to form a single coherently emotional experience. Just as Spielberg crafted classics in both the dark agony of Schindler’s List and the light fun of E.T., Naughty Dog has proven that games can tell emotionally engaging stories in both the brutal form of The Last of Us and popcorn-ready style of Uncharted.

This chapter from the saga of Nathan Drake was summarized perfectly before the game’s release in this simple 30 second tv spot. In a crumbling ruin, while shooting at enemies, Nathan appears to be diving for a small piece of treasure. He narrates that he’ll be remembered as a “two-bit thief,” pausing before explaining, “but that’s not who I am” as the camera reveals that he’s actually reaching to save his brother from a collapsing floor.

Uncharted 4 revolves around that question: “who is Nathan Drake?” When the story begins, he’s a salvage diver who’s retired from his life of death defying adventure and lives with his wife in a typical American home. But when he’s reunited with his brother, he’s pulled back into an older version of himself, becoming the Nathan we saw in the first three games.

This conflict between Nathan’s craving for adventure and his responsibility to avoid life-threatening situations is beautifully illustrated in unconventional gameplay scenes. In an early expository moment, Nathan is in his home office examining and audibly reminiscing over important props from previous games. (A very Gone Home technique as both I and the Idle Thumbs team noticed.) At the end of that collection sits a toy gun that, when Nathan picks it up, cues a swell of dramatic music. Nathan ducks behind “cover” (a pile of banker’s boxes) and the experience transitions into gameplay. The HUD reads “Toy Gun” where it would normally read “AK-47” and “Para .45”. You can fire ping-pong balls across the room with your “weapon” but there are no enemies to shoot at. The scene isn’t gratifying as a game. There’s no inherent challenge, and it doesn’t matter if you actually hit your targets or not. Nathan misses his old life of thrilling shootouts — now we, as players, do too.

Although moments like this make Uncharted 4 a brilliant game, it is still — for better or worse — an Uncharted game. Although there’s a solid collection of narratively resonate moments, most of your time playing will still be spent shimmying across ledges and shooting generically costumed bad guys. How excited you get about that depends on how much you liked the other three Uncharted games. New elements like grappling hook swings and stealth takedowns add flavor to the game but they don’t transform it into a meal the most hardcore gamer will find satisfying. Uncharted 4 is still a very straightforward, moderately challenging experience designed for the widest possible audience.

And that’s ok. Just as good films keep viewers engaged by vacillating between different storylines, Uncharted 4 keeps players playing by alternating between a good story and a good game. By smoothing out that transition (cutscenes don’t load, they simply cut the camera angle and take control of the characters), Naughty Dog has created the game equivalent of a binge worthy series or a page turner. If I wasn’t playing for the story, I was playing for the gameplay and if I wasn’t playing for the gameplay, I was playing for the story.

Here’s the thing about blockbusters. Yes, they’re simple and often silly. These days the term blockbuster connotes films designed with international marketability as the primary objective. But the good blockbusters, those rare creative big-budget works, give you savory with sweet. They give you dinner and dessert. They mix a solid, engaging story with the expensive, explosive thrills. They’re the best of both worlds.

Uncharted 4 strikes that balance perfectly.