Over the last few days I have been able to replay, with due calm, Uncharted 4: a thief's end and its appendix: the lost legacy. The reason for this replay was dictated by thePC release of Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection, a collection, previously released on PS5, which offers the remastered versions, and improved in many graphic aspects, of the last two chapters dedicated to Nathan Drake released in the eighth generation of consoles.
As I could expect, given the good work done with the PS5 version, the collection is the best possible debut for the series on PC, as it presents two of the most complete chapters, in terms of both narrative and gameplay, of the saga, as well as two of the best narrative action games made in recent years.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, I want to clarify right away that the collection contains only the two single player campaigns, there is no new content to report compared to the PS4 and PS5 versions, and all forms of multiplayer have been removed. A bit of a shame, if you'll allow me, considering the quality of this version and the fact that it debuts for the first time on PC without the modes that console players were able to bone abundantly years earlier.
The bitterness in the mouth
As much as I can praise the excellent content offered by the two titles, the PC release of Uncharted Collection Legacy of Thieves has a taste halfway between bittersweet and cheap operation. What's the point of offering only the last two episodes of a saga that has a total of six productions (four chronological chapters and two spin-offs), cutting out numerous narrative contents for those players who have never had the opportunity, by choice or by necessity, own a PlayStation 3 or a PlayStation 4?
Furthermore, this tendency by Sony to make direct portings of "the latest version available on consoles" of its first party productions finds itself proposing products which, however excellent in terms of content, offer partially incomplete experiences when analyzed in a individual (Uncharted 4 has lost the multiplayer sector by the way and The Last Of Us Part 1 will undergo the same treatment in the coming months).
Net of everything, wanting to ignore the fact that those who will play Uncharted 4 for the first time will still need to find a small summary about Nathan Drake's previous adventures in order not to miss some important plot details, Uncharted Collection Legacy of thieves proposes two of the best productions ever made by Naughty Dog, capable of entertaining action game lovers properly for a good amount of hours, especially if you want to embark on the titanic search for all the collectibles.
A port with flakes
Leaving aside other chatter about the qualities of the two titles, of which I suggest you read our previous reviews, I want to start talking to you about how the new features, already seen on PS5, have been implemented in this conversion for PC, starting from support for Sony Dualsense.
As for the PS5 version of the collection, the TPS sequences of the title benefit from the characteristics of the controller, where you will be able to perceive greater resistance when holding weapons such as the shotgun and you will be able to pull the trigger even more easily. In general, during the gameplay you will notice an improvement in the vibration of the Dualsense, but nothing that will completely revolutionize the gaming experience or that will prevent you from enjoying it to the fullest if you don't have it.
Obviously, being a port, the story will be exactly the same as we have come to love for PS5: set several years after the events of the third installment of the franchise, Uncharted 4: a thief's end continues the story of treasure hunter Nathan Drake, who has now abandoned the frenetic life, putting down definitively - or so he believes - the grappling hook and picking up only toy weapons to pass the time. The common life alongside his wife, however, lasts very little, as he receives a visit from Sam, his brother who he believed dead, who convinces him effortlessly to leave for a new adventure.
The characteristics of the banquet I played with:
- CPU: Intel Core i9-11900K
- RAM: 16GB G.Skill TridentZ Royal DDR4 4000MHz
- SSD: Corsair MP600 2TB
- Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus XNUMX Hero WiFi
One of the most breathtaking aspects of the Uncharted 4 port, which makes the title still perfectly enjoyable even six years after the original release, are the settings; each landscape is extremely detailed, and during the parkour sequences you will often find yourself stopping to admire the scenery before you. For me, all this was possible by mainly using two video cards during the adventure: an RTX 3070ti and an RTX 3090.
With both cards I played with all graphics settings in ultra mode, finding great fluidity, incredible textures and effects. With the 3070ti the FPS have always remained above 60, with some drops only in the most loaded scenes in terms of effects, especially from a firearm; with the 3090 I didn't have any problems, remaining constantly above 120 FPS and reaching peaks above 200.
The situation was also similar with the spin-off The Lost Legacy, where I followed Chloe Frazer, helped by Nadine Ross, in her search for the legendary Ganesh's Fang, crossing the streets of Calcutta and the Indian mountains. The female duo's adventure is lighter than Nathan Drake's but no less valid for this, allowing me to explore larger maps than those of the main title and having fun exploiting the protagonist's martial arts skills.
A sensible purchase or a mere market move?
If I have to find a fly in the ointment in the PC version of Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection, it's theinability to play in full screen: in the settings, in fact, you will be able to choose only between window or borderless window display; the game will therefore set the maximum resolution allowed for your set-up - in my case the highest mode, therefore 4k -, without leaving you the possibility to change it manually.
So, does it make sense to play Uncharted Collection Legacy of Thieves on PC too? Yes and no. If you have never played a title in the franchise and were waiting for its multi-platform release, then it could be a decidedly motivated purchase; as I mentioned a few paragraphs above, Sony's move to create a port of only the last chapter was not particularly intelligent, given that to fully enjoy it you will need at least a summary of "the previous installments".
If you have already played and enjoyed Uncharted 4 in its original version, that of 2016, then this remastered for PC will absolutely drive you crazy, making you retrace the adventure with clearly improved graphics and with a fluidity never seen before. On the contrary, in case you have already had the opportunity to experience Nathan Drake's journey in the PS5 edition of the collection, you will find very little new in the PC port, given that, as you can see by reading the dedicated review, the features remain the same.
