Uncharted 4 Review
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0:01 - 0:04Nathan: "Lady, you're lucky I'm a gentleman
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0:05 - 0:07'Cause if I weren't, I would - "
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0:15 - 0:17Uncharted 4 opens with the quote:
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0:17 - 0:20"I am a man of fortune and I must seek my fortune.”
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0:20 - 0:22In the three prior Uncharted games,
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0:22 - 0:25protagonist Nathan Drake has certainly filled the role
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0:25 - 0:27of the typical man of fortune.
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0:27 - 0:28Someone with adventure in his blood,
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0:28 - 0:31for whom the pursuit of gold and glory
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0:31 - 0:33is the only way of life he understands.
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0:33 - 0:36The latest and, ostensibly, the last Uncharted game
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0:36 - 0:39is very much yet another globe-hopping adventure
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0:39 - 0:42full of climbing things and killing people.
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0:42 - 0:45But while it fulfills the requirements of the action adventure genre
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0:45 - 0:48and sometimes feels frustratingly trapped by them,
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0:48 - 0:51there are also some exciting moments when you feel the game
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0:51 - 0:54pushing up against the restrictions and expectations of the genre,
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0:54 - 0:59and when it at least tries to make Drake himself and us as players
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0:59 - 1:03question whether being a man of fortune is really all it’s cracked up to be.
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1:04 - 1:06The basic premise is this:
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1:06 - 1:10Nathan’s brother Sam, long thought dead, appears out of the blue
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1:10 - 1:12with a price on his head and convinces Nathan to come back
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1:12 - 1:16into the treasure-hunting game to help him find the legendary pirate loot
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1:16 - 1:18that will let him buy his freedom.
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1:18 - 1:20But it’s not the events of the plot
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1:20 - 1:22that are especially interesting in Uncharted 4.
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1:22 - 1:25Rather, it’s the way the game tells its story,
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1:25 - 1:28with a real focus on the characters and their motivations.
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1:28 - 1:30The dialogue and acting are excellent;
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1:30 - 1:34often it’s what the characters don’t say that tells us the most,
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1:34 - 1:37and sometimes they can speak volumes with just a look.
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1:37 - 1:40Elena: "We have a lot of ground to cover."
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1:40 - 1:43The plot itself, on the other hand, can be cliche and frustrating,
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1:43 - 1:46and because the storytelling is so great,
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1:46 - 1:48this leaves us wishing the characters were in a better story.
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1:48 - 1:52The first time we see Nathan and his wife Elena together,
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1:52 - 1:54it’s a delightful and surprising scene
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1:54 - 1:57that suggests the two share a wonderful level of closeness and trust.
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1:57 - 2:02Their conversation is serious and playful and honest all at once.
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2:02 - 2:06It’s so disappointing, then, that Nathan does what men in these stories
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2:06 - 2:08so often do when he sets out for adventure:
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2:08 - 2:11he lies to his wife about what he’s doing.
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2:11 - 2:15Having Nate do something so foolish is an easy and predictable way
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2:15 - 2:16for the story to generate conflict
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2:16 - 2:21that also relegates Elena to representing the dull, domestic existence
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2:21 - 2:25Nate leaves behind while he’s off gallivanting around with Sam and Sully.
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2:26 - 2:30As players, of course we want Nathan to “seek his fortune”-
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2:30 - 2:32that’s where all the fun and excitement comes in
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2:32 - 2:35and this tired plot device only makes Elena
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2:35 - 2:37seem like an obstacle to that excitement.
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2:37 - 2:41Elena: "...it was like shock to the lungs the second she..."
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2:42 - 2:44She’s a great character when she’s given the chance
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2:44 - 2:47and Uncharted 4 does eventually give her the chance.
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2:47 - 2:50But it would have been refreshing if,
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2:50 - 2:52instead of relying on formulaic plot points,
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2:52 - 2:55the game had given us a portrait of a marriage between two people
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2:55 - 2:56who really do trust each other
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2:56 - 2:59and who face challenges together as equal partners.
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2:59 - 3:03Uncharted 4 also stumbles with its portrayals of people of color.
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3:03 - 3:07The only prominent person of color in the cast is Nadine Ross,
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3:07 - 3:10the tough and cunning owner of a private army called Shoreline,
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3:10 - 3:15which, weirdly, despite being run by a woman, doesn’t seem to employ any.
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3:15 - 3:18Still, she’s a decent character, and a better brawler than Nathan.
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3:18 - 3:21But she is a villain, and aside from her,
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3:21 - 3:25people of color in Uncharted 4 are often depicted as threatening stereotypes,
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3:25 - 3:28like the tattooed thugs you fight in a Panamanian prison
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3:28 - 3:32or the sadistic drug lord who threatens to end Sam’s life
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3:32 - 3:35if he doesn’t find the legendary pirate treasure.
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3:35 - 3:38The fact that the heroes are all a bunch of very privileged white people
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3:38 - 3:40makes it a little uncomfortable that the game treats
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3:40 - 3:43a town in Madagascar as their personal playground,
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3:43 - 3:46with parts of it left damaged and destroyed
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3:46 - 3:48in the wake of a massive action setpiece.
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3:48 - 3:52At times, internal tension arises between the human story
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3:52 - 3:54that Uncharted 4 is trying to tell
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3:54 - 3:58and the inhuman actions that the game makes its heroes perform.
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3:58 - 4:02Nathan and Sam sometimes reflect on the morality of the pirates
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4:02 - 4:04whose treasure they’re hunting but never really pause
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4:04 - 4:06and question the morality of their own actions.
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4:06 - 4:10And in one scene, the psychopathic antagonist Rafe Adler
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4:10 - 4:13states that Nathan and Sam don’t have it in them to kill Nadine,
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4:13 - 4:17even though they’ve literally killed hundreds of people by that point in the game.
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4:17 - 4:22It’s in moments like this that Uncharted 4 feels most constrained by the fact that,
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4:22 - 4:25as an action adventure game, it is seemingly required
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4:25 - 4:29to force you into situations where you have to kill a dozen or so guys.
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4:29 - 4:32But to its credit, Uncharted 4 also tries to rise above
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4:32 - 4:35the standard expectations of the action adventure genre.
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4:35 - 4:38In some ways, it’s clearly building on Left Behind,
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4:38 - 4:41developer Naughty Dog’s wonderful DLC for The Last of Us
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4:41 - 4:44which placed more emphasis on storytelling and character development
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4:44 - 4:46than on action and violence.
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4:46 - 4:50Uncharted 4 is willing to really take its time using gameplay
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4:50 - 4:53to enhance our understanding of its characters,
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4:53 - 4:56as in an early scene where you explore Nathan’s house,
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4:56 - 4:58finding mementos of his past adventures.
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4:58 - 5:02There is a wonderful density of detail to its environments
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5:02 - 5:04that makes you feel grounded in these places
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5:04 - 5:06as you just walk around, examining objects
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5:06 - 5:09and getting a richer idea of who these people are.
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5:09 - 5:12There’s also a terrific confidence to the game’s pacing.
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5:12 - 5:15Even more so than in earlier Uncharted games,
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5:15 - 5:18long, compelling stretches are devoted to just traversing
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5:18 - 5:20its beautiful levels and solving puzzles,
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5:20 - 5:24with combat feeling like a periodic punctuation to the action
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5:24 - 5:27rather than something the game relies on constantly.
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5:27 - 5:30Uncharted 4 is frustrating when it is exploring really conventional
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5:30 - 5:33and ahem well-charted territory.
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5:33 - 5:37But there are a number of beautiful and surprising moments in it
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5:37 - 5:39which I’m not going to talk about here,
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5:39 - 5:43and the excellent environmental design, writing and voice acting
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5:43 - 5:45often lift the characters above
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5:45 - 5:47the conventions of the story they’re stuck in.
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5:47 - 5:50In the end, it’s the relationships, not the pirate booty,
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5:50 - 5:52that matter most in Uncharted 4.
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5:52 - 5:55And while the game sometimes goes through the motions
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5:55 - 5:56of being a standard action adventure,
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5:56 - 6:00it also simultaneously demonstrates that there’s still room
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6:00 - 6:04for AAA games to challenge our expectations and really surprise us
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6:04 - 6:07and that’s something I want to see a lot more of in the future.
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6:08 - 6:10[Offscreen] "Do you see a gun to his head? He chose this."
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6:11 - 6:12"Ok? He's meant for this life."
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6:13 - 6:15"You really believe that?"
- Title:
- Uncharted 4 Review
- Description:
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Uncharted 4 opens with the quote “I am a man of fortune and I must seek my fortune.” In the three prior Uncharted games, protagonist Nathan Drake has certainly filled the role of the typical man of fortune, someone with adventure in his blood, for whom the pursuit of gold and glory is the only way of life he understands. The latest and, ostensibly, the last Uncharted game is very much yet another globe-hopping adventure full of climbing things and killing people, but while it fulfills the requirements of the action adventure genre and sometimes feels frustratingly trapped by them, there are also some exciting moments when you feel the game pushing up against the restrictions and expectations of the genre, and when it at least tries to make Drake himself and us as players question whether being a man of fortune is really all it’s cracked up to be.
For more Feminist Frequency game reviews visit: http://www.feministfrequency.com
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Feminist Frequency
- Duration:
- 06:17
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review | ||
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review | ||
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review | ||
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review | ||
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review | ||
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review | ||
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review | ||
eileenosaurus edited English subtitles for Uncharted 4 Review |