Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - Review

The Chloe Frazer story

Console: PlayStation 4 game played on a PlayStation 5.

After rolling the credits on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, I felt satisfied with Nathan Drake's final adventure but wasn't quite done with Uncharted just yet. I was very much in the mood for more action-adventure treasure hunting.

Naughty Dog  must've had a similar sentiment in as right after Uncharted 4 had shipped, they started work on the next installment. While they contemplated making Uncharted 5 that idea was quickly scrapped. The Last of Us: Part II was knee-deep in development at the time, and if the simultaneous work on Drake's Deception and The Last of Us taught Naughty Dog anything, it's that making two large-scale games right next to each other is not a great idea. And so, DLC it became.

Even then, the scale of the project grew during development to the point that it became a standalone expansion: The Lost Legacy. It's very much a good time but also a rather underwhelming entry in the series because of how similar it is to what came before. 

Let's dive in.

Taking place after the Drake brothers' hunt for Avery's treasure, Chloe Frazer, an old associate of Nate and fellow treasure hunter, is in India on the hunt for another lost artifact: The legendary Tusk of Ganesh. Having hired mercenary and former Shoreline leader Nadine Ross as her partner and pseudo-bodyguard, the two manage to steal a disk connected to the Tusk from insurgent leader Asav, who plans to use the Tusk and its cultural significance to rally India in a bloody Civil War. 

In typical Uncharted fashion, Chloe and Nadine race across India's Western Ghats to find The Tusk first.

I don't have much to complain about The Lost Legacy's narrative. It's not as deep or fleshed out as A Thief's End or Among Thieves, but I wasn't really expecting that to begin with. The game itself is shorter and made quicker, so there wasn’t really any time to do that stuff here.

At the core are Chloe & Nadine and their dynamic. It’s like how the Drake brothers' bond was at the heart of Uncharted 4, but not quite the same. Chloe & Nadine are more of a buddy cop type of deal. They butt heads quite a bit but over the course of the journey but, despite their opposite personalities, they grow closer through their shared tribulations and daddy issues. Cliché, yes, but not to the point of detracting from the experience all that much.

I read that during the development of Uncharted 4, the initial idea was to bring in Nate's Father as the long-lost family member. I’m pretty sure this idea got repurposed here. Both Chloe and Nadine are motivated to get the tusk to uphold some part of their father's legacy, and dealing with that is a large part of their growth as characters.

While familiar in many of its plot beats, the narrative smartly bucks the trend in some other areas to give the experience some much-needed freshness. Yes, the villain is still nothing to write home about. He's pretty bland, but the opening in a war-torn India quickly sets a good, different, tone and is a fairly good hook. The ending, while derivative in its action set piece, is something different than what the other Uncharted games have done. Plus, the added meta-commentary in the dialogue was a surprising but welcoming addition.

This opening shot set quite a different tone from the one the Nathan Drake-led Uncharted games set.

The story plays a large part in making The Lost Legacy unique as when it comes to the gameplay, it's the exact same deal as A Thief's End. Just with some minor additions here and there. We have gunfights, stealth, dedicated action set pieces, climbing sections, and an occasional puzzle. Also back are the grappling hook, the rock pick, and driving sections. What is brand new is the lockpicking mechanic, a variation on the grenades with TNT and the open area that is the Chapter 4's Jungle. 

That open area is the biggest and most welcome addition here. They took the sandbox areas from Uncharted 4 and elaborated on them as this title's "big new thing". In A Thief's End, these areas were littered with collectibles and other side content as small disctractions on your way to the next objective and scripted sequence. 

Here, on top of that side content like those collectible treasures to pad out the playtime, they have the main objectives placed among them. Just like in Breath of the Wild, it's clear where you need to go to progress the story, but they let you do it in any order you want. What ruin you visit first hoping to find you next clue is up to you. 

I've been pondering lately how a new Uncharted game could evolve the gameplay. Adding more of these open areas seems like a good idea to me. It gives the player more freedom, choice, and less reliance on linear storytelling.

The lockpick is nice as well. It's a fun way to open up chests and make finding stuff a bit more immersive and involved than just pusing a button. It's also used in one particular story section to add tension and, well, add gameplay to a heavily scripted sequence. That worked out very well. 

What I haven't talked about yet gameplay-wise are Uncharted’s trademark action set pieces. There's a good reason for that: the game is more focused on exploration, puzzles, and stealth than combat or action. As such, there isn't much to talk about with the set pieces. We have a few smaller ones sprinkled throughout, like the opening rooftop chase sequences, and a big train sequences that caps off the game.

That train sequence is one of the reasons why wrote that this game is "similar it is to what came before". It has the same execution as the trian action piece from Uncharted 2. It's a fun sequence but, especially as someone who has played nearly every Uncharted game over the last 12-month, it just can't escape the shadow of that one in Among Thieves. Having your big final being a copy of another well-known action piece in the series just isn't a good look.

While the same as before, the gameplay is as fun as ever. I even managed to sucesfully stealth my way through some section, unlike Uncharted 4.

What is a good look are the game's visuals. We have a very well-realized jungle environment here, but the real kicker are the lost ruins, the giant statues, and the impressive locals. All of these are stunning thanks to, once again, the great work of the developers in building the environments and the scale they manage to convey.

Another good look, or sound I must say, is the music. Henry Jackman returns for the soundtrack, and it's as good of a quality score as the one he delivered for Uncharted 4. Since this is a spin-off/half-sequel, however, I don't mind that the tracks don't have that same sound as the those of the PS3 era. It differentiates this game more, and those added Indian sounds are neat and quite fitting. As such I enjoy the soundtrack of The Lost Legacy more than A Thief’s End. 

Very much lastly, this title comes with the same type of bonuses and extra content as Uncharted 4. You can use your found collectibles to unlock extra skins and concept art. We even have access to the exact same multiplayer and survival mode here, which are nice to have. Not my thing, but I won't complain about Naughty Dog throwing them into the package.

Conclusion

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a well-made and enjoyable addition to the Uncharted series, offering a brief yet engaging adventure with a Chloe-led story. While it introduces a few new winner elements, such as the much-expanded open area, the game struggles to establish its own identity. Much of its gameplay and narrative beats feel borrowed from its predecessor and doesn't provide a fresh experience. While very much an enjoyable experience, The Lost Legacy ends up feeling more like an extension of A Thief's End than its own game. 

A good Unchrated game, but not a must-buy Uncharted game.