Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is a remaster worth treasuring, as our first impressions explained in more detail last week. But while the presentation and overall package is worthy of acclaim, developer Bluepoint Games has gone the extra mile with this lovingly compiled collection. Indeed, there are a handful of new features for you to dig your dirty nails into, as well as some across-the-board improvements that increase the quality of each included game. With our review still a few days away, we figured that we'd share a brief bit of intel about all of the additions that make this long awaited re-release great.
Explorer mode unlocks the series to everyone
There are two new difficulties available in every game in Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection: Explorer and Brutal. The first of these may not sound all that interesting to the hardcore among you, but is a smart addition. Naughty Dog's series has always been lauded for its story presentation, and it's a game that many of your family members have probably enjoyed watching you play in the past. But with Explorer – an extremely easy difficulty setting where the challenges of combat are significantly reduced – all three titles suddenly become much more manageable. Beginners will still have difficulty getting to grips with the dual-analogue controls, but at least they won't be killed over and over while they acclimatise to the scheme.
How fast can you go?
One of the really cool additions in Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is the speed run mode. This is a simple feature – it essentially slaps a clock in the top-right corner of the screen – but we imagine that it's going to add a lot of fun for fans of the franchise. Your entire playthrough is clocked, in addition to your progress through individual chapters. And you can go back and try and beat your best times, with the interface showing your records at all times. The only disappointment for us thus far is that we can't find a leaderboards option, but we may well be overlooking it. And if there really isn't a scoreboard, we can only hope that it gets patched in.
Brutal mode brings a new challenge for series fans
One of the reasons that we're not running our Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection review today is because we haven't unlocked Brutal mode in any of the games yet. This is the new, uber-challenging difficulty tier that's been added to the title, and it requires you to complete Crushing to unlock it. The good news is that Crushing is available from the outset, so you won't have to play through each entry several times to unlock the top tier – just once. We're informed that this mode offers the "ultimate challenge", but Bluepoint Games has rebalanced pretty much every instalment – bullet sponges are much less prevalent for starters – so we're hopeful that it won't simply be punishing for punishing's sake.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is now, y'know, finished
Remember when Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception released and you haplessly poked around its menus looking for the bonus costumes and other extra content that's been a mainstay in the series since the very beginning? We thought that we were missing something at first, but it turns out it just wasn't there in the first place. Naughty Dog's made many excuses for this, but the conclusion that many have come to is that the release was simply rushed. Fortunately, features such as Mirror Mode and Next-Gen visual filter have been added into the title for its Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection release, as have about 100 different selectable character models. Talk about going the extra mile...
The aiming's more consistent across the board
There will be people who will tell you that Uncharted has never been a good third-person shooter, and we can maybe understand where they're coming from. Drake is a much looser, more mobile protagonist, which means his arsenal can feel like it's employing potato ammo at points. But whatever your opinion of the gunplay, it's hard to deny that something felt 'off' in the launch version of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. That's now been fixed, as Bluepoint Games has incorporated a kind of control megamix, which takes the best animations and input algorithms from all three titles, and pastes it across the board. This means that the 'baseball' grenade throw has been added into Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, while it no longer feels like you're aiming through treacle in the third game. It's still no Vanquish or Binary Domain, but it's pretty darn good.
There's a proper photo mode
Ah, photo mode: the almost accidental inFAMOUS: Second Son addition that's become a necessity in almost all new-gen games. The functionality in Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is good, allowing you to push the down button at almost any point in order to frame the frozen on-screen action as you like. You can change the focus, apply filters, and much, much more. And as of today, once you push that share button, you can now save it in the superior PNG format, so no horrible compression. Bonus!
Dynamic leaderboards chart your progress
This is a nifty little feature: as you play the game, leaderboards will pop up on the screen comparing your progress to friends. It may, for example, show you how many stealth kills you've performed, or how many baddies you've maniacally murdered using explosives. Alright, this isn't game changing in the slightest, but it's a fun way of seeing how your progress stacks up compared to your friends. It's just a shame that, as with the speed run option, we can't find a way to view all of the information on a standalone scoreboard.
Which of these new additions do you think sound best? Are you looking forward to taking Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection on an adventure next week? Climb into the comments section below.
Comments 22
I need this right now.
Most of these changes sound minor.
And none of those would sell me on this. Explorer mode? With how easy Uncharted is, the only thing missing is that the game plays by itself.
I'm only a couple hours into 2 on my PS3 but I think I'll be buying the collection on PS4 as aiming through treacle in 3 doesn't really appeal 😃
UC3 having extras has made me go from uninterested to very slightly interested.
@sinalefa Well that's sort of what Jennifer Hepler wanted for Mass Effect. She wanted a button to skip all the gameplay and get to the next cutscene. Come to think of it, Nintendo have actually implemented this. Luigi (IIRC) will complete levels for you in some of the endless march of platformers they churn out. Not quite as bad but still rather pathetic was that invincibility suit, the Gold Tanooki or something, that you were gifted if you died a few times in one or two of the many Marios on Wii U.
That said, you have to remember games aren't made just so you can play it, custom made for your royal enjoyment. There are all sorts of levels of skill. I can beat most of my friends in Street Fighter only using one hand, quite seriously, but when I go online I get wrecked by almost everyone no matter how many hands I use. My brother never really plays games yet when he does play them with me, he struggles with dual analogue control. He stopped owning consoles with the PS1 and in that time you didn't have the typical Halo/Gears control scheme that are in so many games now.
@Storytime7 agreed
Ahh, so they did improve the gunplay mechanics? Its been so long since I've played UC3, I honestly couldn't tell the difference when I played the demo last night.
@get2sammyb
Don't mean to derail the comments, but I don't know of any other way to ask:
Anything you can tell us about Transformers Devastation? Have review copies been sent? Embargo?
I'm very excited for this collection. I didn't have a ps3 last gen. I played The Last of Us and it is one of my all time favorite games now. I'm taking next Friday off and I'm going to play for hours!
Day one purchase definitely! (This is my first ever post btw)
I've played the demo and to be honest, I wasn't impressed. While its clear they have made improvements to the resolution, frame rate, draw distance, textures and some of the controls, I did feel like Drake felt less responsive when compared to the PS3 version of Uncharted 2. I actually went back to my PS3 version to make sure. I even asked a few friends to try both and they said the same.
My main complaint was, when you're in the menu's the PS4 gets very hot and very loud too. I understand that this wasn't the full version but, I think I may pass on this collection. Besides, I already own them all on PS3 anyway and they don't make my PS3 sound like a jet engine. I also can't justify the price tag for games I've already beaten multiple times.
@Beefy01 Welcome buddy This is a good site with friendly editors and some friendly users too.
@iDangerMouse_ You can do that easy mate. I finished Uncharted 1 & 2 over the course of two weekends on the hard difficulty. If you want the platinum trophy you will have to finish them twice though.
@WARDIE I'm pretty certain that's not the game and your ps4 needs cleaning inside. Mine used to do something similar with Dynasty Warriors, so I took it apart and cleaned house. Now it's completely silent again.
Tried demo and I'm thrilled to play a full game. Last gen choice for me was Xbox360, so this is a new game for me.
@WARDIE Thanks buddy! I know everyone seems really cool. I've been reading for months, but only just signed up
First time for me too as didn't have a PS3 last gen. Looking forward to it!!!
Got them all on PS3, played them many, many times... still got this pre-ordered! These are my gaming equivalent of Star Wars... I will buy them over and over on multiple formats.
Never had any problems with aiming in any Uncharted game... I guess I'm just better than the rest of you!
I have never played uncharted, don't know if i should get this or buy the trilogy used for the ps3, is there big improvements over the ps3 versions? what should I do? I'm so confused.
Ugh. I don't have time to play all three games over again, but if there were one I would choose, it would be Uncharted 2. When that game came out and I played it, it truly opened my eyes to what the medium was capable of in a way no game had ever done for me before. I mean, I loved the first game and was looking forward to the sequel, but in no way was I prepared for the intensely immersive experience U2 would offer.
I'll definitely get this down the line though. When it hits $30, I'll pick it up. Bluepoint really is a master at...well, remasters. They did the MGS HD Collection and knocked the ball out of the park with Peace Walker. I'm playing it now, and while you can certainly tell it was on the PSP (those blurry textures), it looks absolutely fantastic in other places. Good to hear they haven't lost their touch!
Disappointed about all the new features that are completely not of interest to me. I was hoping for more of a visual upgrade. They seemed to have high-rezzed the textures, but I was really hoping for a nice upgrade to the lighting, etc. In the demo, everything feels very "flat"- there is a distinct lack of shadowing and other effects that everyone is used to by now that help to make a scene more convincing. I would have gladly gone without some of those extra modes for improved visuals.
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