An Uncharted game is helmed for the first time by female leads.
Let’s get this out of the way – this is the first Uncharted game not to
feature the titular Nathan Drake, but you are really not going to miss him or
his buddy Victor Sullivan.
While both are no doubt synonymous with the Uncharted titles, the new
protagonist Chloe Frazer and her partner Nadine Ross are equally interesting.
And they are faces fans are already familiar with as they have appeared
in past Uncharted titles. Chloe, the likeable roguish treasure hunter, first
appeared in Uncharted 2 while Nadine showed up in Uncharted 4 as the rather
unlikable Shoreline mercenary.
But as you play the game you might even learn to like her just because
of the camaraderie between the two.
And let’s face it – when developer Naughty Dog said Uncharted 4 was
Nathan’s last adventure, we all felt a pang of loss because we wouldn’t be able
to play another Uncharted title.
But luckily that only meant Nathan is done but we get to go on one more
adventure in the Uncharted world, even though it is likely to be the last.
Tusk at hand
Chloe is on the hunt for the legendary broken tusk of Lord Ganesha – a
life-long quest and obsession of her father’s.
You may be familiar with how the elephant god lost his tusk but as
with many mythologies there is more than one explanation – the one Naughty Dog
picked is slightly less known, at least among my friends.
The quest takes her and Nadine deep into the Western Ghats. I can’t say
this enough – The Lost Legacy is a beautiful game made even more beautiful
because it takes place in India, an enchanting land entrenched in culture and
mystery.
From crowded marketplaces and dilapidated slums to lush forests and
ancient ruins, everything is rendered with painstaking detail.
It’s almost hard to imagine that the studio was able to squeeze so much
out of the PlayStation 4. It’s too bad we didn’t have a PS4 Pro but we can only
imagine the game would look even more spectacular in 4K and with HDR (high
dynamic range).
The game starts in a crowded marketplace and it is thrilling to hear
the people speak in Tamil – that totally sucked me into the world instantly.
The studio didn’t get the accent right all the time but for the most part it
was pretty decent.
About the only thing that spoiled the magic was that sometimes the
dialogue between Chloe and Nadine repeated but the banter was always
entertaining so it never became annoying.
Triple play
The Lost Legacy’s gameplay is centred on platforming, puzzle-solving and
excellent combat.
The platforming is fun – things break off and blow up as you are
jumping – but it’s never challenging as you are rarely required to time your
jumps properly like in the old Prince Of Persia titles.
The puzzles, on the other hand, range from simple to smart but never
mind- bending. I am just thankful that they don’t border on bothersome, as
there are no puzzles just for the sake of puzzles like in some games.
The combat, as with other Uncharted titles, is just excellent. Your
quest for the tusk requires you to “borrow” a medallion from Asav, a ruthless
warlord. As you would expect, he never forgives you for it and his rebel army
is constantly on your tail.
This makes for some amazing set-pieces and it’s entirely up to you on
how you approach a battle.
It is extremely satisfying to flank the goons and take them out
silently because the stealth mechanics are highly polished.
And while it’s not compulsory to take out enemies quietly, it helps
thin the numbers greatly. You’ll want to take out some enemies this way as
those that wield sniper rifles and RPGs only take a shot or two to kill you.
Freedom to fight
Just within an hour or two into the game, you’ll be given a large open
area filled with waterfalls, rivers, ruins and valleys to explore with your
Jeep.
What’s amazing is that you can tackle the challenges in almost any
order, giving you the freedom to zip around any way you like and I found myself
stopping every so often to enjoy the visual spectacle.
There is also an optional quest you can undertake that will require you
to collect tokens.
The multiplayer component has been transplanted from Uncharted 4 with
an additional component – Survival Arena – which is a co-op mode you can play
with up to three players and take on waves and waves of enemies.
What’s cool about the multiplayer is that it’s a unified system so both
Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy owners can play together without having to own
both titles.
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