Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

An Indian summer for Naughty Dog’s flagship series

Chloe Frazer’s turn in the spotlight has been a long time coming. Since stealing the early hours of Uncharted2, the IndoAussie’s had to make do with being the flirty love interest, but this jaunt through India not only makes up for this, but makes a convincing argument for her inheriting the series from its previous star.

It’s all down to the writing. Once again, Naughty Dog finds a way to take an archetype and sketching in details to flesh it out. So while Chloe might start as an overly glib adventurer, we see how her knowledge of Indian history and her past shape her humour-as-defencemechanism outlook. Plus, teaming her with Nadine Ross is a masterstroke, allowing both characters to slowly reveal themselves to one another and us. While Nadine gets less to do, she nabs the best lines (her casual monkey facts are better than anything she does in Uncharted4). Their chattering has a lovely ebb and flow throughout, not least in the mammoth chapter The Western Ghats.

While we associate Uncharted set-pieces with noise and falling debris, Lost

Legacy’s stand-out feature is the largest level in an

Uncharted game to date. Initially, the freedom is exciting, as you tear off towards the nearest landmark or stumble across hidden areas. Like the Madagascan savannahs of A

Thief’sEnd, it’s both lovely to look at (full of vibrant foliage and spectacular vistas) and allows the enjoyably freeform combat to sing. Wide-open areas full of grass to hide in and grapple points enabling you to swing between places quickly cater to differing approaches, although most exploration ends up in a chaotic ballet of dodging shots and throwing punches.

But it’s not without problems. Puzzles aren’t a strength of the Uncharted series, yet they dominate this section of TheLost

Legacy. All are simple enough, but never feel that involving because of it. and often feel like leg work before you get back to the good stuff.

Plus, the usually relentless pace drops off a bit here. With so many collectibles, optional conversations, and secrets to discover, you could lose hours just hoovering up trinkets, but if you prefer to focus on the story objectives, you’ll have the uneasy feeling you’re missing out on more than usual. There’s plenty to like here, but it’s not quite the home-run you would expect.

Fortunately, Naughty Dog eases back into what we expect from the series after this detour: the whiteknuckle moments where everything seems to be collapsing, quips flying as fast as the bullets as Chloe and Nadine go hunting for the Tusk Of Ganesha. It plays out like a grab-bag of ideas that are easy enough to spot from Uncharted’s past, yet utterly sweep you up in the moment. If this is a swan song then it’s a worthy one. Ben Tyrer