Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End GameCritics Review

If Uncharted 4 played even half as good as it looked, it would be a masterpiece… but it doesn’t. In fact, for all its splendor and all the obvious care taken towards making it look and sound as good as humanly possible, it makes one cardinal sin that’s impossible to forgive—it’s downright boring to play. There are moments when it’s easy to get swept up the visual opulence and bombast, but then the moments pass, and it’s straight back to snarky comments and auto-climbing up mountainsides...But hey—it sure does look nice, doesn’t it?

[Null1980]

I do not agree with this review, but I thought it was worth posting as I just saw it pop up on Metacritic. Only the second review on there that wasn't in the Positive range.

Grab the torches, boys & girls! /s

*Edit- Some people are wondering where the score is on the review. I grabbed the 50/100 it received on Metacritic.
*Edit 2- Actually, as Nitrowolf2 pointed out below, the score IS there. Weirdly it's hidden. Do "control f" the word "rating" it'll find it, just highlight the full line and it shows up 5 out of 10. Really strange.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

Only 2 negatives and over 90s positive. I'm okay with that. It means this game is amazing despite what the minority says.

[bouzebbal]

i think it should be allowed not to like a critically acclaimed game.
I for example dislike GTA, i really do. Someone might dislike U4 and that's fair.
No need to throw stones at the minority as long as the opinion is sincere. If you think a game is good, do like me and buy it.
even with 1/10 review i would still buy it.. I'm glad i do it this way because i could play some decent games the majority of review nerds never got the chance to play. Some reviewers are new to gaming or just have different tastes than mine, no way i allow their opinion to take over my own.

[LuckyChamCham]

More like 1 negative 1 mixed :)

[Nitrowolf2]

For those wondering where the score is it's in invisible text. For whatever reason all the reviews are like that just use the control f function and search for rating

[The 10th Rider]

@abzdiine,

Spot on. I usually assume there will be a few of those reviews for every game. It's actually pretty incredible to have only 2 of those lowball reviews. I can easily see someone disliking the more linear, 'handheld' (in a way), gameplay. I don't really agree that it's right to give it a low score for that—as there's room for those types of games even if some people don't like them (and Uncharted is the best of the bunch)—but that doesn't mean the reviewer can't genuinely dislike the game and choose to give it a low score.

As I said, I'm pretty much expect those types of reviews for every game.

[generic-user-name]

Hope you're ready for your post to make it to the top of N4G

If I was a reviewer who desperately wanted attention on the internet what would I do? I'd look at Washington Post.
I would find a game that is universally acclaimed and I'd wait for every other review to come in, then I'd lowball the score on metacritic in hopes of lowering it overall. Unfortunately for this guy he wasn't able to lower it, he should have went for a lower score.

Do not give him what he wants (your clicks), I don't know about you guys but I've already beaten U4 about 6 times now and I know it's a 10/10 title. If you know that too then you've no need to give this guy clicks.

[Null1980]

Yea, by all means, everyone feel free not to click the link. I don't care if they get clicks.

I posted it just to show that it exists though. Considering that there are 105 Positive reviews, for a 2nd Metacritic reviewer to give it a low score (Neutral, not Negative rated, mind you)...... that is news.

[TwoForce]

Ok what ? "Sign".

Edit : @OtteX Really dude ? OMG, that's just dumb.

[Null1980]

I think the reviewer's bio under the review says enough:

"The chance discovery of a muddy, burnt out copy of '50 Shades of Grey' in a hunting pit gave him an appreciation for complex plots, characters and overarching narrative..."

Edit- @Perjoss: That's fine, he's entitled to his opinion. As a lover of the game, I still posted the review to N4G because it's news worthy that another Metacritic reviewer gave it a less-than-positive review. (It's categorized as Neutral, not Negative) But, I am entitled to not agree with the review as well, or that he considers 50 Shades of Grey to be an example of fine narrative. It is what it is. Still, a vast majority of professional reviewers loved the game, so these 2 low scores really don't matter much.

[Perjoss]

lets not do this, leave the guy alone, its perfectly alright for someone to not like something.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

Lol ok!

[Relientk77]

Haha yeah OK, and moving on

[Sunny_D]

"There are moments when it’s easy to get swept up the visual opulence and bombast, but then the moments pass, and it’s straight back to snarky comments and auto-climbing up mountainsides...But hey—it sure does look nice, doesn’t it?"

There's no bias whatsoever in here...

When you have to use a rhetorical question about the merit of the game, how can this be considered professional? Either way, it will matter to the 2 people who actually care.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

Just another idiot who think Uncharted is just graphics... That's where the haters lose all credibility

[coolbeans]

That's such an odd, specific facet of the review to judge. Since when does the presentation of a rhetorical question, something so commonly used, help in determining whether or not x/y review should be considered "professional?"

[mafia_pc]

oh crap, another petition soon

[Nyxus]

"Look at me! I'm interesting!"

[thegamefox93]

Where is the score in the review?

[Null1980]

I grabbed the score that it was assigned on Metacritic.

Edit: The score is actually on the review, just hidden. Check out Nitrowolf2's comment below.

[thegamefox93]

true, but just like Washington post, there is no review score posted on the site. The score is counted in gamerankings, metacritic, and N4G but not in opencritic.

[Nineball2112]

Yeah, don't do that again. If there isn't a score on the review FROM the website that does the review, then it is assigned NO SCORE here on N4G.

[Null1980]

@Nineball2112 It's there. Check out Nitrowolf2's comment below.

"For whatever reason it's hidden if you control f the word rating it'll find it, just highlight the full line and it shows up 5 out of 10

All the reviews hide the score but it's there"

[Nitrowolf2]

It's weird because every single review they have doesn't have a score that's visible

For whatever reason it's hidden if you control f the word rating it'll find it, just highlight the full line and it shows up 5 out of 10

All the reviews hide the score but it's there

[thegamefox93]

Haha wow that's so strange. What a terrible website. They post a review more than a month late, and they can't even manage to show the score properly.

[Null1980]

Interesting. Thanks for pointing that out!

[Italiano1234567]

Did Microsoft pay these guys off...lol

[Inzo]

It was bound to happen, if a game like TLOU could get a 3/10 for clicks then Uncharted would not be immune to idiots of this caliber.

[LuckyChamCham]

Bs review. So many salty individuals :(
Uncharted 4 cannot be stopped! It's a beast!!!

[DreadGara]

"it’s downright boring to play"
What?
Either they are trolling or baiting. Guess they are hating (the usual).

I think it's time these guys should stop playing games for good. So much bad & negative reviews as if they are not into gaming anymore. More like GameBashers.

[galmi]

DEN! DEN! DEN!...FINISH HIM!(SHAO KANG'S VOICE) HEHEHE

[burza1982]

pfff.....

[Christopher]

Gotta completely disagree with the 'floaty' aiming criticism for U4. I'd agree if he said any other Uncharted game, but it was vastly improved in U4 and was much easier to control throughout.

[Null1980]

Yea, I was playing The Last of US Remastered again yesterday. I had nothing but great things to say about that game. Still love it. But, I actually started wishing it controlled smoother like UC4. They really nailed the controls I think.

[esmittystud101]

For a linear game Uncharted 4 I think deserved a 9/10 or 10/10. I like the game, even the mp is pretty fun. The only part that I'm sad about this game other than the series ending of course, is probably the fact I'll have 175 hours less playtime with it then I will with an open world game for instance. I know the game is linear and I get that. But I just wish I had more to do in these games so they will last longer. The MP is a huge help, I will give them that. Could you imagine a 100+ hours linear game? The budget for it would be out of this world, but the whole 12-15 hour playthroughs for these linear titles are just too plain this day and age.

As cool as Uncharted 4 is, I'm playing it a max of two or three playthroughs and then its shelved unless the mp is keeping me in, which it will for a short time probably but not anything close to what I'm going to be putting in other games. Last game I just finished on just one plaything was Dark Souls at 185 hours. I know the games are like night and day. I'm just saying.

[coolbeans]

People can moan all they want about one of their favorite games getting an unfavorable score, but at least this low review score feels earned (by his standards). He's pretty up-front about specific issues he didn't enjoy, although I think he disregards really big positives of UC4's storytelling too easily, and he pulls no punches while doing so. I still really, really disagree with the score and I'll go my way understanding most of his criticisms. (See how easy that was?)