Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was a short game set in the Uncharted universe. It released just over a year after after the fourth and final game in the series, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. However, the game was not as popular as the tetralogy that preceded it. This was due to nostalgia factors and a cliché storyline, among many other factors. While some argue that this is the future for Naughty Dog’s beloved series, loyal fans aren’t too happy about it. It simply does not feel as well-done as any of the other, classic Uncharted games.
What It Does Well
Familiar Characters
Although it may be lacking in many aspects, The Lost Legacy does have some strong points. Bringing back Samuel (Sam) Drake for the last few chapters of the game was a nice touch. Being a big part of the fourth game, it was good to at least have one of the Drake brothers make an appearance. Perhaps one of the only benefits of keeping the game in the Uncharted universe was being able to keep some much loved characters in the game. Chloe Frazer’s character was also a fan favorite, but Nadine Ross was a bit more controversial. Some fans think her character is relatively bland, seeing as she is just a mercenary who plays into her character a bit too much for most of her appearance in the game.
At one point Samuel is introduced as Asav’s “expert” who is helping him find the tusk. After Chloe rescues him he stays along for the ride
Replay Value
Out of all the games in the Uncharted series, The Lost Legacy is arguably the one with the most replay value. It is considerably shorter than the other games, coming at about half as long with only nine chapters. For fans who enjoyed the game, this leaves them wanting more gameplay, urging them to replay it. This is one of the few instances in which its length serves in its favor.
Additionally, it has more of an open world aspect to it than the other games do. In doing so they gave players room to explore. The previous Uncharted games had replay value in the sense of wanting 100% completion and finding all the collectibles. The Lost Legacy, however, gives more room to traverse the environment and new areas besides the collectibles.
Sending a Message
Another benefit to having Chloe and Nadine as the stars of the game, besides them being adored by fans, is to support the representation of strong female characters. They do have some lovely sisterhood moments, even though they are disappointingly few and far between. The positive aspects are unfortunately diluted by poor chemistry and cliché writing. This is one of the many reasons why The Lost Legacy was not as popular.
Chloe and Nadine have a few good moments together, but they are rare
The Uncharted Universe
The Lost Legacy was initially meant be released as a DLC, as opposed to a full game. This explains why it was significantly shorter than the other games. In deciding to make it its own game, the developers should have considered setting it outside of the Uncharted universe and do something different with it, instead of trying to make another Uncharted game. They would have been better off experimenting with a new game series rather than tacking it onto the end of the Uncharted series. There is a certain expectation when it comes to putting it under the Uncharted title, regardless of what they wanted to do with it.
Chloe Is Not as Popular
Perhaps the most obvious jab at the game would be the lack of Nathan Drake. Some find it to be the primary reason why the game was not as popular. A large part of the charm and appeal of the Uncharted games was their protagonist: a quick-witted, smart mouth who always answers the call of adventure. Being the main character, he was thoughtfully written and charismatically presented to the audience. The problem with having side characters suddenly come to the forefront is that they are not as well rounded because they never needed to be. Storywriters can get away with giving them minimal depth because they were simply not as involved in the story as the protagonist.
Nathan Drake has maintained his signature look since the first game in the series
There is also the basic nostalgia factor of missing Nathan in the new game. The game series was completed over many years, and loyal fans have devoted a large part of their lives to Nathan Drake’s part of the story. To now have a game with the same title but a different character is a difficult pill to swallow for some. Had it been a completely separate game, fans would not likely bat an eye over the loss of Nathan, as it would not have been his place to begin with. Chloe has some large shoes to fill, but she just hasn’t quite gotten it yet. She’s just not as popular as Nathan.
Game Controls and Mechanics
The game controls throughout the Uncharted series have been relatively consistent, with some noticeable improvements in character movement in the later games. The game is a platformer, and so it is of utmost importance that gamers can easily control their character. Uncharted 4, being the latest in the Nathan Drake series had the smoothest movement of all the games. It was meant to run on a PlayStation 4, whereas the others were meant for previous generations of PlayStation.
Uncharted 1 had some inconsistent physics as the developers were first getting a sense for the type of movement scheme this kind of game required
The Lost Legacy was released a short time afterwards, but for some reason does not control nearly as well. It wasn’t as polished as the fourth game was in terms of controls, although its control scheme was directly derived from it. As a matter of fact, it was actually more reminiscent of Uncharted 1, in which this new way of moving though a 3D environment was still somewhat new and tricky. Luckily, it was not consistent throughout the whole game. Here and there, however, Chloe’s movement would show some inconsistency. Sometimes it would require two or more tries to get the character to obey the physics of the game. This inconsistency was not present in Uncharted 4. Even though it is a minimal aspect of the overall experience, is still contributes to the justification behind why it was not as popular.
Weak Plot
The overall plot of the story is rather weak. The whole game just feels like an Uncharted 4 side quest. Players did not find themselves as emotionally invested as other Uncharted games. Earlier Uncharted games played on a supernatural aspect mixed with historical events. This made them a unique series. The fourth game focused less on supernatural phenomena, but leaned more into a realistic, twisting story with a play on human emotions and tendencies. There was a small twist in The Lost Legacy while bringing in Sam, much to Nadine’s dismay, but not significantly more than that. The story itself was linear and cliché.
Each character in the story of Uncharted 4 had a role to play. They each had their own personalities and human characteristics which made them seem more real
Detracting From the Characters
Chloe
One of the most cliché aspects of the game was having a strong female lead with daddy issues. It is an overused character trope and takes away from the capability of Naughty Dog writers. It would have been better to give Chloe a perfectly normal childhood and just have her be who she is for no reason. She made appearances in both the second and third games, in which her past was not discussed much.
She was still a fun character to have and maintained the illusion have having a slight bit of depth and personality. Upon having that expanded upon in The Lost Legacy, it was underwhelming to find that her whole reason for, not only who she is, but also the main goal of the game, was her father. Good on her for finishing her father’s work, but quite frankly, it was fairly uninteresting to many players. Yet another reason why the game was not as popular.
At the beginning of the game we find that Chloe is searching for the tusk, but later we find that her father also shared the same objective
Nadine
The other main character, Nadine, does not hold much depth either. Even she has an inkling of daddy issues, with her revealing that she took over Shoreline from her father and is desperate to get it back because she let it fall apart. It seems lazy to have both main characters motivate themselves primarily with such a basic cliché. Furthermore, she doesn’t have much personality besides her job as a mercenary. It can too easily be attributed to her job as a mercenary, but she does save the lives of both Chloe and Sam at several points in the story. This may indicate some possible motivation besides money. Her character is not thoroughly explored in the game, or at least is done less so than Chloe.
Character Development
In spite of that, it was nice that they both had some character development throughout the game. By the end of it, Nadine decided to let go of Shoreline and instead try treasure hunting for a living. Chloe essentially learns to be a better, more compassionate person. Also a factor of severely cliché writing. This substandard writing is one of the main reasons as to why The Lost Legacy was not as popular.
After successfully defeating Asav and preventing the bomb from reaching the city, all three share a moment on the broken bridge as they watch the sunset
Poor Dialogue
Their banter and chemistry did not uphold the fun, lighthearted dialogue in the classic Uncharted games. The dynamic of the two Drake brothers was the best in the game series, even more so than that of Nathan and Elena. From the flashbacks in Uncharted 4 to the gun fights, Nathan and Sam’s dialogue was entertaining, and the bonus dialogue was welcomed. Between Nadine and Chloe, the dynamic was more awkward, and only had a few good moments. The bonus dialogue was not intriguing and certainly not worth diving into.
Every so often in Sam and Nathan’s conversations they would point out a nice view, gently reminding players to take a moment and absorb the beautiful scenery. It was not overwhelming in the slightest and the timing was well executed. In The Lost Legacy however, an exhaustingly large portion of the dialogue was just the characters commenting on the scenery. It seems to have been used as filler to avoid long silences, when there could have been some substantial dialogue in its place. The Uncharted games are well-known for their breathtaking views, but it seems in their most recent game the developers went to great lengths to pat themselves on the back for it. The empty dialogue adds to reasons as to why the game was not as popular.
The game does have some beautiful scenery, but in terms of drawing attention to is, less is more
From Uncharted 2 to Uncharted 4 to The Lost Legacy
Prior to the release of Uncharted 4, Uncharted 2 was regarded as the best game in the series. As a result, Uncharted 4 took many of the aspects of the second game and successfully transformed them into a new game. Because of its previous assignment as a DLC, Lost Legacy ended up taking a lot from the fourth game, even more than the fourth game had mimicked from the sequel. Many common elements are shared across these three games, with The Lost Legacy being the worst of the bunch. Many people are tempted to argue that, because it is more recent, the newest game is the best of them all. This is a weak argument that neglects many aspects of game quality when it comes to judging a new game against its predecessor.
Game Settings
The second game’s lost city is the city of Shambhala. In the fourth game, Nathan and Sam search for the pirate city Libertalia. In The Lost Legacy, the ancient Hoysala Empire is uncovered. All three of these cities are slightly similar in the sense that they feature expansive green landscapes and mountains, with archaeological ruins dispersed all throughout them. Libertalia’s atmosphere does differ slightly from the other two, being a little brighter and open to sunlight. However, the Hoysala Empire is very reminiscent of Shambhala. The Lost Legacy even features a market place similar to the one in the fourth game. Uncharted 1 also featured a plethora of greenery, but varied in setting and had more of a jungle theme. Uncharted 3 is drastically different, as it takes place in the Arabian desert. It also featured an open marketplace.
Game Sequence
Uncharted 2
Uncharted 2 presented the famous train sequence, in which Nathan is struggling to catch up with the war criminal Lazarević to prevent him from reaching Shambhala and attaining superhuman strength. This sequence was largely ahead of its time, and still holds immense popularity among the gaming community. The fast moving scenery and nail-biting gameplay was an understandably memorable experience for gamers. This attributed to its popularity as one of the best games in the series.
Uncharted 4
Uncharted 4 does not feature a train, but instead has a car chase that evolves to a motorcycle chase when Sam finally catches up with Nathan. Something similar to it was also included in the sequel, but to a much smaller extent. The fourth game has a fast moving environment like the train from the second game. But instead it utilizes armored trucks and 4x4s. Nathan is required to jump from vehicle to vehicle as they consecutively blow up. Eventually he needs to hook a rope onto one of the armored trucks. He is dragged along until he is able to climb aboard. This sequence, although second to the train, is also highly praised by gamers.
Uncharted 4 first featured the grappling hook and included the sequence of attaching to the back of a truck and being dragged along
The Lost Legacy
These two scenes were replicated in The Lost Legacy and combined with each other. The synergy of the two provided gamers with a relatively new experience that still seemed oddly familiar. The Lost Legacy’s reusing of assets from the previous games makes it feel like a recycled, redacted addition to the series rather than a standalone game. It does not seem to cement its place as one of the Uncharted games. Instead it just gives the sense of regurgitated material from the second and fourth games with lackluster filler in between. It does not add many new things to the game. Certainly not enough to distinguish it as its own game. Because of this, it was not as popular as any of the other games.
Game Plot
Storyline
The Lost Legacy closely parrots the basic plot of Uncharted 4. It shares some plot elements of the second game, but generally mirrors the events of the fourth game. Despite the fact that it shares a similar plot to the fourth game, The Lost Legacy still does not hold a candle to it. In both games there is a series of events in which the primary antagonist of the game catches up with the protagonist duo, steals a valuable asset (whether that be a person or a thing), the main character has a big fall and gets knocked out, and someone is betrayed, albeit not necessarily in the same order. Some of these events also take place in the other games, but the fourth games shows the most similarity.
Nathan discovers that the story his brother told him to convince him to go back to treasure hunting was a lie
These events in the newer game do not hold as much precedence as they do in the previous game. They don’t have as much effect. Players were significantly less invested in The Lost Legacy because of its weak storyline. As a result, the events were not as dramatic in comparison. Additionally, having seen a similar series of events in the game released prior, it felt too repetitive. There was less than a two year gap in between the release of the two games.
Players found themselves emotionally detached from the game. The villain’s motivation kept shifting throughout the game and the characters’ internal conflict was dull. The only real stakes in the game came at the very end. This was when the protagonist had to stop the train from reaching the city so the bomb would not detonate.
Final Boss
The final boss in Uncharted 2 featured a whole mystical landscape and a superhuman enemy to defeat. Uncharted 4 had a human opponent, but a very cinematic boss fight with high stakes. The final boss in The Lost Legacy fell flat, as it was simply a two-on-one fistfight on the train. Most of it consisted of dodging the enemy’s attacks. It was too simple for what the previous games would lead up to. The only stakes were the bomb in the background which the characters kept foolishly and aggressively jostling. Nothing happened to it besides it coming loose and gently trapping Asav’s leg underneath, allowing the duo to escape. The bomb later goes off in the water when the train goes over the broken bridge. An anticlimactic ending is yet another reason why the game was not as popular.
After jostling the bomb out of place, it rolls over Asav’s leg to trap him underneath as the train goes down
Why It Was Not As Popular
The Lost Legacy felt less like passionate game developers making a story for the love of it. It was more like a group of amateurs reusing a great game’s assets for a school project. The game itself holds no real value in the game series’ universe. It comes off as Naughty Dog’s attempt to milk the Uncharted series, particularly the fourth game’s success. They just took all the aspects of the game that fans liked and put them into a standalone unit. But they added no real substance to it. They did not expand on anything nor did they improve on it in any way. Anything that was not in the previous games was just bland filler meant to take up space. The good moments were too scarce to redeem the game.
There were two possible solutions to this game. One would have been to release it as a DLC, like what was originally planned. It was not meaningful enough on its own to release as a standalone. Alternatively, they could have done something different with it entirely. In lieu of making it another Uncharted game, they could have done something divergent with it and changed it up so that it would become its own game series. It is too out of place to keep as a follow-up to the Nathan Drake series.
There are rumors that the developers are working on yet another Uncharted game, but there has not been any official release date mentioned. Seeing as it has not been released almost immediately after the previous game, it is possible that the developers will actually put care and effort into it and make it a real game, one that we would actually expect from such a talented game studio.
