By now, what you can expect an Uncharted trophy list to look like, could very well easily be listed as one of life's guarantees.
Through 4 instalments of the title, and a game that has continued to go from strength to strength throughout the years, it's a perfect example of how more things change, the more they stay the same.
Uncharted 4 : A Thief's End is the first venture into the Playstation 4 era after 3 previous appearances on the Playstation 3, as you control Nathan Drake on another quest to risk his life in the name of uncovering the hidden treasure of his ancestors.
The plot begins with Drake seemingly in retirement from his previous escapades. He has now settled down with Elena, but still in admittance of missing the thrills that come with adventure and the excitement that risking his life in the name of treasure provides. He is unexpectedly visited by his brother, Samuel, who allegedly dies in the early stages of the game during a prison break that Drake was successful in escaping from.
Samuel explains that he survived and also eventually escaped too, but his escape was aided by druglord Hector Alcazar. This was not a freebie and would come at a cost. Alcazar knew that Samuel had intel on a pirate called Henry Avery and the whereabouts of his hidden treasure, and demands that Samuel finds this treasure as payment for his escape, or face the consequences.
So naturally, he turns to Drake, his treasure hunting brother, and convinces him to scratch the adventure itch and go on a quest for the hidden treasure of Henry Avery.
The plot is fairly standard by this point, but it's easy to follow and the cast of characters that compliment it are great. Nathan Drake is still a likable main character, and he is supported by a strong cast. Sullivan and Samuel accompany Drake on his quest and their dry humour mixed with sometimes serious conversations about the perils they face is a great adventure dynamic.
On the other side, Rafe and Nadine also make for intriguing protagonists - Rafe was present with Drake and Sam in the prison break, and his active decision to leave Sam for dead adds great revenge vibes to the plot. Rafe has enlisted help from Nadine to track down the same treasure to paint a clear picture that there is competition for this prize and heightens the element of jeopardy for Drake's journey.
The gameplay hasn't ever changed though, and remains the same here. Snappy and responsive melee controls combined with solid gunplay mechanics make for excellent combat scenarios, and the pacing of the game is as erratic as ever.
Uncharted is mostly known for it's brilliant set pieces and they are standout again here. You go from perilously platforming the face of a cliff, to sneaking through guarded jungles, to solving a clock tower puzzle, to a chase sequence on the back of an armoured car, to fighting through a shipwreck in an abandoned cave. The production value and sheer explosiveness of these scenes is some of the best you'll see in any game, and they're no exception in Uncharted 4.
The graphics also excel in every way possible, and the attention to detail is superb. Environments are colourfully vibrant and full of life, weather effects pop off the screen and the cinematics look like Hollywood blockbusters. The graphical power of Uncharted has always been it's strongest suit, and this remains the case in Uncharted 4.
The trophy list is the largest it's been for any Uncharted title, with 56 trophies in total, including the Platinum trophy.
The "Charted! - Crushing" trophy, awarded for Completing the game in crushing mode, is a staple of this series, and returns for the fourth consecutive instalment. I said in the Uncharted 3 review that Crushing mode isn't what it used to be, and the challenge had been notably lowered since the first 2 games. So, with that said, how does it stack up here? Probably somewhere inbetween in all honesty. The combat-centric parts of this game can be hellacious, as enemies spam grenades at you behind cover and, in a bizarre gameplay decision, the developers took out the mechanic that allows you to throw them back.
However, there's a much bigger emphasis on stealth than there has been previously, which can help you get through some larger portions of the game unscathed. This is still frequently an all guns blazing action adventure, and some of these spots have the potential to cause you problems if you don't tackle them properly. In the earlier Uncharted titles, you had no choice but to gun your way through these segments, and the development of stealth gives you a viable route away from gunfights. It's still just as easy to die compared to how it was before, but your options are no longer limited to just throwing up a prayer and getting by with trial and error - But it will still kick your ass if you give it a chance to.
As was the same in Uncharted 3, you also have the option to play the game in Crushing mode straight off the bat. Before Uncharted 3, you had to beat the game to unlock it, and the main reason I opted to go straight in for Crushing difficulty was due to the fact there are trophies in this list tied to playing through the game with other goals attached to them. Checkpoints are generously scattered across the 22 chapters, and you can beat this game on Crushing mode in around 20-25 hours, depending on personal experience.
For beating the game on Crushing difficulty, you'll unlock an additional 4 trophies for a difficulty stack of 4 other lesser difficulty levels.
Technically, you could beat this game in just one playthrough, now that it isn't a mandated requirement to unlock Crushing, and there is probably someone out there that has beaten this game in Crushing mode, with a 70% shot accuracy rating and all in under 6 hours, but that someone isn't me.
The "Sharpshooter" trophy, awarded for Completing the game with 70% shot accuracy or higher, makes it's debut in an Uncharted title. This is simply a test of in-game management, and 70% is a high threshold for such a trophy.
You'll need to make sure you're monitoring this religiously, and the statistics screen can be pulled up within the pause menu at any time, allowing you to check your shot accuracy percentage as you progress through the game. This is the key point to acknowledge here - A really crucial tool. This trophy would be significantly harder to earn if this was not present, and you were playing through the game blind to this statistic.
The key here is to avoid automatic weapons. Their high rate of fire can seriously affect your shot accuracy, and in turn, significantly hurt the percentage of shots that hit their target. It is fundamental to stick to single shot handguns, rifles and snipers and remain disciplined to this throughout the entire playthrough.
The reason I wouldn't recommend going for this trophy in tandem with Crushing mode is purely because Crushing mode is way too brutal to limit your arsenal to single shot weapons. This will significantly handicap you in combat-centric situations that may rely on automatic weaponry to get you out of.
There will be a certain margin of error that will allow for correction of your accuracy, should you need it, but you'll also reach a point in the game where you won't be able to claw this back if you're not careful and end up falling too far behind. I would also recommend using stealth wherever possible to bypass portions of the game that can also be handled with gunfights.
Finally, you can play through this trophy on a lower difficulty level. If you choose Explorer, which is the easiest difficulty, lock on aim is enabled as standard. This means the majority of your shots should land but you'll need to be sure that you're not over-firing once you finish an enemy. If you keep a constant eye on the statistics screen, you should be OK.
Outside of this, there isn't anything else notable here. There is a Speedrun trophy, also making it's Uncharted debut, awarded for beating the game in under 6 hours. I've recently earned The Evil Within Platinum trophy, which also contained a Speedrun trophy, and this just reinforced my dislike for them. I personally don't see much satisfaction in attempting to beat a game within specific time constraints, and although it can be realistically achieved within one sitting, it's not something I consider a satisfying experience.
Uncharted is no stranger to collectibles, mainly treasures, and there are 9 trophies awarded for collecting a variety of collectibles scattered throughout the game. In addition to 109 treasures, there are now also a host of new types of collectibles to also obtain throughout the game. These include 25 journal entries, 23 journal notes and 36 optional conversations - A total of 193 collectibles. They're no different to any standard collectible venture. You'll need a guide and they're very missable, but you can use Chapter Select to go back through to grab anything you may have missed and every collectible listed above is tracked for each chapter, so it's very easy to know which ones you're missing if necessary.
There are also 5 online trophies present within this list, denying it from being a purely Single Player experience. I did manage to get all of these within a single sitting, and they give off the impression that they're mainly there to encourage interaction within the Multiplayer element of the game. They're nothing compared to what comes later from the experience the Survival Mode DLC brings, but that's already been covered separately.
One final thing to mention; The game now incorporates an Encounter Select option, as well as a Chapter Select option. There are alot of trophies in this list for completing Chapter-specific tasks, or require some extent of kill-farming, and Encounter select allows you to pinpoint very specific stages in the game you can replay at will. This is a great addition for grabbing any of these trophies because you don't have to play through entire chapters in order to reach the point you need to reach for the opportunity to earn the trophy. It's an excellent feature.
Ultimately, I feel like somewhere in-between on the variance scale of Uncharted games is where Uncharted 4 should land. Crushing difficulty became notorious in the first couple of games, but it slightly drops off a bit in comparison here. It isn't as easy as Uncharted 3, mainly because of the heavier emphasis on stealth, which will allow you to surpass gunfights if you want to. This approach will give you a reprieve that did not exist in previous titles.
The forced combat segments on Crushing will still give you a hard time though, and the newly introduced Accuracy and Speedrun trophies re-instate a necessity for multiple playthroughs of the game for the majority of players, despite the ability to choose Crushing difficulty from the outset.
The rest is fairly easy, and the game provides significant support to the player when it comes to tracking trophies. A comprehensive statistics menu that provides totals for cumulative-based trophies, clear signposting of collectibles in the chapter select menu and the ability to pick up from very specific parts of the game through Encounter select to aid in minimising unnecessary replay.
It's around a 40-50 hour Platinum, which is possibly one of the lengthiest Uncharted games to date, but it's fair, balanced and supportive.
Notable Trophies -
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| Charted! - Crushing - Complete the game in crushing mode. Sharpshooter - Complete game with 70% or higher shot accuracy. |
Hardest Trophy -
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