Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PS4)

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is a PS4 remastered collection made up of the original Uncharted trilogy on PS3 and consists of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

Remastered by BluePoint Games, the selling point of this collection is that you get to play all the Uncharted games in 1080p, 60fps, with improved lighting, textures and models to boot.

This collection also touts a “Photo Mode” where you can freeze the games and take customised screenshots. But we didn’t put that feature to much use.

The only true downside about this collection is that only the singleplayer campaigns are included. However, we were never really interested in the various Uncharted multiplayer modes to begin with, so this isn’t really a loss for us.

But what you do get with this collection is some great value for your money, with all three original Uncharted games remastered, and the ability to play the games on your PS4.

This is great for newcomers to the series of games who would like to get into the backstory, before Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is released for PS4 in 2016.

All of the games benefit from the 1080p 60fps upgrade, and let me tell you that the frame rate improvement is easily the biggest improvement.

What’s awesome about this collection is that you see Naughty Dog move from strength to strength in each Uncharted game, where Nathan Drake’s motto “Greatness from small beginnings” rings true.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the first game in the series, hasn’t really aged all that well to be perfectly honest. Yet with all the improvements afforded by the remaster it looks a lot better than other games from 2007.

The underlying game still remains largely the same experience and many of the benefits afforded by the games that followed is not found in the original.

Combat is very clunky, animations aren’t as great as Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3, shooting mechanics are a bit lack lustre and generally everything pales in comparison to the later entries in the series.

But at the time, this was one of the best adventure, platforming, puzzle experiences to be found and was a great exclusive for the PS3.

We still feel that while the original Uncharted may be flawed, it’s still an enjoyable ride and shows the roots of the greatness that was to follow in the subsequent games.

The jump from the original Uncharted to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is very noticeable and many gamers and critics alike consider Uncharted 2 the best in the series.

It is here that the quality of the remaster begins to shine.

The game is leaps and bounds ahead of the original Uncharted with stellar graphics, animations, atmosphere, a story with greater depth and some memorable puzzles, which can still be confounding to this very day.

The 1080p resolution and 60fps upgrade makes Uncharted 2 a more enjoyable game altogether, improving the flow of the game tremendously.

Combat feels smoother as it is here that Naughty Dog got a strong hold on great combat and gun mechanics, and the puzzles and platforming is all the more intriguing and action-packed.

This trend continues through to Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception where Naughty Dog, in our opinion, hit all the high notes for the series.

While many dismiss Uncharted 3 as one of the worst games in the series. For us, it brings everything together so well and effortlessly, and in this game everything shines.

For one, the characters and their relationships feel more fully developed, particularly between Nathan and Elena, and we see the effects of continuous adventures on Sully.

It also feels like this time around there’s a lot more mystery and surprises around every turn.

But most notably there’s a greater degree of refinement in all the gameplay elements including the best combat system of the series, vastly better gunplay mechanics, with some amazing platforming and puzzle segments.

Moreover, Uncharted 3 features a host of varied locations, story missions, enemy characters to encounter and an overarching mystery that drives the game without hesitation.

Originally intended as the closing point to Nathan Drake’s tale, Uncharted 3 does so much right and little wrong.

The game still looks incredible and has aged well, and with all the improvements from the remastering process by BluePoint games it is all the better for it.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is a must-have for any Uncharted fan with a PS4 and for newcomers who would like to catch-up on the story before Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End releases next year.

There’s loads of fun to be had with this collection, and it just oozes value on every level. So if you’re wondering what the Uncharted games are like, why not give the Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection a go. You are definitely missing out!