Game review: Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (PC)

At long last PC gamers get to join Nathan Drake and friends with Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection.

Released on PlayStation 5 at the beginning of the year, this compilation includes remastered versions of both Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and the standalone expansion, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. It's shame that PC players only get to join Nathan Drake at the end of his adventures, missing out on his earlier exploits and, arguably, better games. 

For the uninitiated, the Uncharted games are cinematic action puzzle games played in the third person. The games are well-paced, mixing up combat sections with climbing, exploration, and puzzle elements. The combat is mainly that of a cover shooter with an odd bit of melee where necessary. They are also peppered with a few set pieces to really get the heart pounding. 

Nathan Drake is an adventurer working the thin line between treasure hunter and thief. Added by his mentor, Sully, frequent collaborator Chloe, and love interest Elena, Nathan Drake has scoured the planet for legendary treasures, visiting mystical puzzle-filed locations. His past adventures have had him up against paramilitary organisation and supernatural forces.

The PC version of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is effectively the remastered collection as released for the PlayStation 5. Similar to the recent Spider-Man Remastered that also made the transition from PlayStation 5, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection includes a wealth of PC-only features designed to make this the definitive version of the game.

First up, there's the improved frame rate. Our review rig is a bit of a powerhouse running an Intel i9-12900K in an MSI Z690 Carbon Wi-Fi DDR5 motherboard and a PNY RTX 3090 GPU. With all the graphical settings maxed out, in 4K resolution, I get around 75 frame-per-second. The PC version supports both Nvidia DLSS and AMD Fidelity FX Super Resolution 2, enabling lower-spec machines to enjoy high frame rates with little drop in graphical fidelity. 

Switching DLSS to the quality setting boosted my frame rate to around 100fps. There's also support for ultra-wide monitors for a truly breathtaking view of the game's stunning vistas. The game has intricate customisation options for model, scenery, and lighting fidelity allowing the experience to be tuned to the individual player and hardware requirements. 

The first game in the collection, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, is set a few years after the events of Uncharted 3, with Nathan Drake settled down with his wife Elena and working for a salvage company. This outing retcons Nathan's history adding in a long-lost brother, Sam. 

The game starts with a brief sequence that drops you straight into the action, before flashing back to two extended prologues. The first puts players in the role of a young Nathan Drake, escaping across an orphanage rooftop, and the second, years later, recovering an artifact from a Panamanian prison. 

For this adventure, Drake teams up with his somewhat wayward brother on an adventure to locate the lost treasure of the pirate Henry Avery. This begins a journey from the Scottish Highlands to the fabled pirate haven, Libertalia. Along the way, they must solve devious pirate puzzles and engage with their dangerous ex-partner Rafe Adler and the private army of South African mercenary Nadine Ross. 

The second game in the collection is Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Originally a standalone expansion to Uncharted 4, The Lost Legacy teams up Uncharted's supporting characters Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross in an adventure across the Western Ghats of India on the hunt for the legendary Tusk of Ganesh. Players take on the role of Chloe, with Nadine offering support similar to Sam in Uncharted 4. 

Whilst The Lost Legacy borrows from Uncharted 4, it is very much a fully-featured entry into the series in its own right. Much of the gameplay is similar to the open-world jeep sequence in Uncharted 4 in being almost hub-based with locations branching off from the drivable area. 

The Lost Legacy's plot is just as engaging as Uncharted 4 and features the same gorgeous level of detail that makes exploration such a joy. Just as it was with the original PlayStation 4 release, The Lost Legacy offers players a great extension to the Uncharted 4 experience.

Both games offer breathtaking visuals only really bested by Naughty Dog's own The Last of Us Part 1 remake. The environments are meticulously modelled and look stunning. Add in some spectacular lighting and you may just find yourself getting hooked on the built-in photo mode.

It's worth noting that this is a remastered version of the original games from 2016. Whilst the visual fidelity has been improved and the controls refined, sometimes the animations do feel a little off. Not bad, but slightly stiff and awkward on occasion. I think it's a bit more noticeable on PC than it was with the PS5 version, as you tend to sit closer to a monitor screen than a TV.

Overall, though, for both games the gameplay experience is well-paced, offering challenging combat with plenty of time to cool down and explore the beautifully created locations. The puzzles are fun, but not too hard; the game even offers tips if you take too long to advance.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection brings together two of the PlayStation 4's best games, remastered for modern PCs. Both Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy will provide PC gamers with hours of fun. It's excellent value for money, providing gamers with two cracking adventures packed with action and intrigue. If you've not played these games on a console, this collection is an essential purchase on for PC.

Verdict: 9/10