I’m behind the wheel of a mud-crusted, whirring red Jeep. The jungle whips by. The trees lead the way to what I expect to be another linear shootout with faceless soldiers. The area is all-too-familiar; it looks like any and every preceding Uncharted. But then something unexpected happens: The world opens. For the first time in an Uncharted game, developer Naughty Dog has given the player significant agency by allowing them to explore this new open world, hinting at future experimentation. Not only that, but it is also the first Uncharted game without Nathan Drake.
Since the series launched in 2007, Drake has been the face, the voice and the hero of every entry. He is the Uncharted franchise. With The Lost Legacy, Naughty Dog took a big risk by ditching Nathan Drake, opting instead for the series’ first female protagonist, Chloe Frazer. First introduced in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Frazer is an Australian-Indian treasure hunter seeking the sacred Tusk of Ganesh, which may prevent a Civil War in India. Frazer is snarky and laid back, but with a strong moral compass. She absolutely shines in the spotlight, thanks to fantastic motion-capture and voice performances by Claudia Black.
Black’s comedic timing is superb. She knows when to sneak in a little jab, but never to an eye-rolling extent. Frazer develops into a believable protagonist as a secretly-caring narcissist with a secretive backstory. Unfortunately, her backstory does not receive as much focus as the main story, which is unsure of what it wants to be. At times it feels like an uncertain redemption story, but other times it is a classic adventure romp like the entries before the much darker Uncharted 4.
Frazer and Nadine Ross (Laura Bailey) — a villain from Uncharted 4 — make a terrific pair, thanks to writers Shaun Escayg and Josh Scherr. Their personalities clash in a way that creates a playful tension, but their relationship is never fully explained. Given Frazer’s friendship with Nathan Drake and Ross’s role as a mercenary hunting Drake in Uncharted 4, one might think that they would be adversaries. But making them partners not only works — it’s refreshing. Seeing a different side of a villain and blurring the line between good and evil forces the player to rethink their opinions of these characters.
Unfortunately, Asav (Usman Ally) does not benefit from the thought-out character development and is easily the worst villain in the Uncharted franchise. He is as underwritten as he is boring. His motivations are unclear, and not even in a mysterious way — it’s just confusing. He wants the Tusk of Ganesh to start a Civil War in India for… reasons? It’s especially disappointing that in a game brimming with great characters, the villain is an exercise in uninspired writing. He’s just a dick who leaves the player with a sense of overwhelming indifference, even after death.
The Lost Legacy continues the award-winning Uncharted formula of wall-climbing, thug-fighting and off-road Jeep driving; however, it makes no real attempts at pushing the gameplay beyond familiarity. Naughty Dog incorporates new highly-polished dimensions, such as lock-picking and the semi-open world. Lock-picking is introduced to the player as an opportunity rather than a necessity. It’s simple and allows players to find special weapons like a silenced pistol, or collectible treasures.
Lost Legacy handles beautifully. Every weapon has a distinct feel and finding new ones is almost as rewarding as finding treasure. Machine guns and shotguns are readily available, but Legacy’s vast selection of pistols are applicable to most, if not all, situations — except for when enemies are too close for firing range. The hand-to-hand combat is fluid and never feels forced. Each punch carries weight and, thanks to the terrific sound design, every punch sounds real. As engaging as the fistfights are, opportunities to throw down are sparse in comparison to the game’s excessive gunfights.
Though this entry is a solid outing, there isn’t much new content in terms of gameplay. Lost Legacy revives the grappling hook mechanic with a more natural feel than in Uncharted 4, but climbing is less essential than in other Uncharted games. Aside from the cinematic sequences that involve scaling ancient ruins, climbing is now just a shortcut for finding hidden items. The lock-picking is fun, but it’s more of an afterthought than a major gameplay addition. The only major addition is the semi-open world in Chapter 4. Players can pick and choose the order in which they want to explore the ruins. While this player agency is nice, it’s all too brief. These new ideas are scarce and feel like tentative steps instead of major leaps. I for one would love to see a fully open-world Uncharted sometime in the future. But alas, we’re left with a rough idea of what could be.
The Lost Legacy is easily the best-looking Uncharted yet. Thanks to the detail-oriented level design, the important locations are easy to notice, the colors pop out of the screen and, for the first time in the series, the ruins are memorable. Climbing a giant statue of Ganesh is both stunning and terrifying because of the immaculate attention to detail. It’s a game worth stopping to smell the flowers in — or, at the very least, run them over with a Jeep.
The majority of the game takes place in a jungle, save for one early sequence in a war-torn Indian city. In what might come off as self-congratulatory, players are given the option to take pictures on Frazer’s cellphone — but the photos are warranted in a game this pretty. As beautiful as these jungles and ruins are, Frazer’s cellphone photos prove that there isn’t much of a visual palette.
The game has a small scope, which could work if there was more diversity in each location, but after the first half of the game, it all blurs together. Legacy lacks the world-hopping of previous entries, a staple that fans have undoubtedly come to expect. That would be acceptable if it felt like a deliberate choice. Instead, it feels like a lack of inspiration.
While a strong addition to the Uncharted franchise, The Lost Legacy left me wanting so much more. The game has pushed the boundaries of impressive graphics and introduced a likable new protagonist. This is all great, but Lost Legacy never wowed me. Naughty Dog has accomplished a lot with this game, so when the issues arise, they’re hard to ignore. The weak villain, minimal gameplay innovation and lack of level diversity hinder an otherwise excellent game. Fans will love this addition to the Uncharted series, but for newcomers, there are better places to start.
In spite of all of this, escaping from the destroyed Indian city and hijacking a speeding train and running it off of a bridge stand out as cinematic, heart-pumping moments. But I wanted more when the game ended. I want to see the continued adventures of Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross. If Naughty Dog decides to continue the Uncharted series with Chloe in the lead role, I’d be first in line for that new story. The game is a major step forward for Naughty Dog for a few reasons: It shows that Uncharted doesn’t need Drake, and it’s the second entry without head writer and creative director Amy Hennig, proving that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End wasn’t a fluke. The series can — and hopefully will — live on in different hands.
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