Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection – out Friday on PS5 and later on PC in 2022 – brings the critically acclaimed action-adventure franchise to the third consecutive generation of PlayStation consoles. The Uncharted series began as a PS3 exclusive in the late twenties, delivering a total of four titles over the span of four years (including one for the handheld PS Vita), ending in style with its fourth and final feature story: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – some five and a half years ago on the PS4. Except for a year later, what was intended to be Uncharted 4 DLC, the one-off spin-off Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, was released as a standalone expansion. Fittingly, as Uncharted makes its way to PlayStation 5 (and theaters), the two – Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy – are offered together.
Except that the PS5 versions of the two most recent Uncharted games are not identical to their PS4 counterparts. Content wise, yes. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection contains only the single player campaign parts of both Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. For those looking to dive into the multiplayer side of Uncharted on their flashy new PlayStation 5, you’re out of luck. Of course, that also means no co-op survival mode in Uncharted 4. All you can do with Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is relive the adventures of Nathan, Sam and Sully from Scotland to Madagascar as they chase a pirate fortune, and the adventures of Chloe and Nadine. travel the southwest coast of India in and around the Western Ghats as they search for a Ganesh artifact.
And in that regard, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is (obviously) the best way to experience both Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Review) and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Review). Technically speaking. There’s a higher dynamic range across the board and you can see a lot more in dimly lit areas where blacks could have been crushed before. Yes, HDR was also offered with the PS4 Pro version of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – but here it’s undeniably better. There are more details in textures, be it faces, objects or environments. And the updated The Lost Legacy – the latest title and the only spin-off in the Uncharted franchise – is suitably rich and colorful, steeped in roots in southern Konkan. And you can capture all that glory with the built-in photo mode (which can be turned on or off).
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That said, this isn’t the first time we’ve gotten a 4K HDR remaster for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Is it really that much better than the PS4 Pro version? Well, because that PS4 Pro 4K upgrade was false advertising in some ways. While it claimed to offer 4K resolution – that’s 3840 x 2160 pixels, or 2160p in other words – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End peaked at 1440p on PS4 Pro. That’s a far cry. Multiplayer didn’t even give it a try and scratched up to Full-HD 1080p (from a paltry 900p on PS4). In essence, the Uncharted franchise has never actually been offered in 4K. Until now.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection offers a total of three graphics modes: “Fidelity” (that’s native 4K with a 30fps target), “Performance” (60fps target at 1440p upscaled to 4K), and “Performance+” (120fps target at 1080p). Unfortunately, there’s no 4K 60fps mode or ray-tracing functionality here, despite the power the PlayStation 5 promises. Of the three available modes, I could only experience Fidelity and Performance given the TV I have – and of those two I definitely preferred Performance, as the difference in perceivable quality was minimal in my eyes.
Remasters are seen better, so I’ve included gameplay videos from both Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy, captured on PS5 during the time I spent last week with Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection. As you will discover for yourself, loading times are almost instantaneous.
Additionally, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection also includes support for the PS5’s fancy DualSense controller features. You’ll feel haptic feedback in both Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy, and the adaptive triggers offer varying levels of tension when driving a 4×4, firing pistols and machine guns, or swinging your grappling hook. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection also uses Spatial 3D Audio — Sony’s own version of Dolby Atmos — available through both stereo speakers and headphones. The first (DualSense functions) is more immersive and immediately felt than the second (3D Audio technology).
Structurally and narratively, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection delivers the same two games as it did five years ago. Everything that can be said about them has already been said. None of these titles are helped by the fact that they ultimately feature mostly white people who travel the world in search of treasure in exotic places – causing all sorts of chaos and mayhem – with little to no recognition from the locals and how their life is affected. First whites took advantage of colonialism and now they are back for ‘adventure’. Like ugh, just go home Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer, handle your guilt and daddy problems in a different way.
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But the bigger problem is how Sony – which owns PlayStation – has handled PS5 upgrades from PS4 releases. While Microsoft — which owns its rival Xbox — was handing out free Xbox Series S/X upgrades for Xbox One titles around the console’s launch, Sony’s strategy was to charge even existing owners. Those who have purchased Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy or the combined digital bundle can switch to the PS5 version for Rs. 500 / $10/ €10 from Friday. For what it’s worth, that’s better than Ghost of Tsushima’s PS5 upgrade that cost Rs. 2,497, which developer Sucker Punch seemingly justified by associating it with additional content. Before that, the asking price for the upgrade of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection seems modest.
But this is only for those who “own” either game. If you can access Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End through the PlayStation Plus subscription, there is no upgrade route for you. Like anyone who has never played Uncharted 4 or The Lost Legacy, you will have to pay full price for Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection – it costs Rs. 2,999 digitally and on disk. If you’re in this position, I think the best route is to buy both drives and then go the upgrade route. Assuming you don’t have a PS5 Digital Edition (like me), in which case: you’re out of luck. What are drives? PlayStation Store for life ✌???? And it won’t surprise you that with the release of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy are no longer available for digital purchase separately.
Meanwhile, on Xbox you can get the latest version of Xbox Game Studios titles through the arguably superior subscription Xbox Game Pass at no extra cost. (Sony reportedly has plans to rival Microsoft’s offerings later in 2022, but we’ll see how it fares in this regard.) Since the launch of the Series S/X, Microsoft has given us free 4K 60fps upgrades for things like Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Plus, Microsoft’s Smart Delivery system means you can enjoy those titles while switching between Xbox and PC. Meanwhile, when Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection arrives on PC later in 2022, all PS4 and PS5 players will have to pay for the game wholesale if they want to play the game on PC. again.
That – the arrival of Uncharted on PC – is obviously the most exciting development for the franchise, as it opens Uncharted to an entirely new player base. Since its origins in 2007, Uncharted has only existed on PlayStation platforms. (I apologize for the mobile puzzle game Uncharted: Fortune Hunter, which has nothing to do with the series from a gameplay standpoint.) That’s going to change in 2022 when the porting veterans Iron Galaxy delivers the PC remaster. Uncharted creator Naughty Dog says the PC version “will be released shortly after the PS5 version”. I also hope that Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection brings the coveted 4K 60fps gameplay for Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy, given the almost limitless resources available to modern computers.
And maybe now we can have a few Uncharted games updated for the PS5, get a sequel to The Lost Legacy someday. Although the timing of the release of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection makes me think otherwise. In about three weeks on February 18, Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions will unveil the first Uncharted movie, headed by Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland. Since the film is expected to draw inspiration from Uncharted 4, the arrival of the remaster seems more than a bit coincidental. After all, Sony doesn’t have a new Uncharted game for the PS5, so this is the best. Is that why this exists? Companies can be very cynical, mind you. In addition, Sony offers movie tickets with Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection in select regions.
Sony Pictures clearly hopes Uncharted will grow into a long-running hit movie franchise, which is why it cast 25-year-old Holland and captured the first film, years before the events of the first game. However, it’s unlikely that Naughty Dog will be coaxed into couples games – and a studio of its caliber shouldn’t be wasted on such pursuits anyway. Unfortunately, it happens in a certain way. A report from last year claimed that Naughty Dog was working on a remake of its zombie survival horror title The Last of Us – the original 2013 game in the series – which could potentially tie in with the upcoming Pedro Pascal-led HBO show later. in 2022. A standalone multiplayer version of The Last of Us Part II is also apparently in the works.
Rather than a new Uncharted game, it’s more likely (sadly) a PS5 version of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, the PS4 remaster of the first three Uncharted PS3 titles. A studio like Naughty Dog shouldn’t be ground up into churning remasters of its old games – it should be looking forward to new entries or new IP. But this is just the world we live in.
Advantages:
- Looks, sounds, feels great
- Much better than the PS4 Pro version
cons:
- No free upgrade
- No multiplayer
- No 4K at 60 fps
- PC port sold separately
Rating (out of 10): 7
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection will be released on PlayStation 5 on Friday, January 28. It will be released later in 2022 for Windows PCs. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection costs Rs. 2,999 on PlayStation 5.
