Uncharted: The Lost Legacy a slick, impressive effort

New Uncharted game for PS4 hits the shelves

WHEN Nathan Drake sailed off into the sunset at the end of Uncharted 4, gaming fans all over the world thought that sadly, the Uncharted series had come to a fitting, satisfying and thrilling end.

You can't get too much of a good thing, and such is the case with Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (UTLL), which is a brand new stand-alone adventure that will please existing fans, and maybe a raft of new ones.

Set after the events of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Chloe Frazer (from Uncharted 2) works with Nadine Ross (from Uncharted 4) as they venture through India.

Together, Chloe and Nadine venture deep into the mountains of India's Western Ghats to find the ruins of the Hoysala Empire and recover the legendary Golden Tusk of Ganesh. It's no surprise the bad guys are also after the treasure at the same time, and....oh you know what to expect by now. Its an Uncharted game! Guns, explosions, artifacts, action and plenty of danger are the dish of the day. Then there's the puzzles, which you may solve in seconds or hours, yet it never stops being fun.

About one hour into the game, you soon realise that while there is no Nathan Drake, it is the gameplay that makes the series so good. Climbing, jumping, shooting, swinging, driving and swimming are all mechanics so easy to master that rather than tinker with them, developer Naughty Dog has given players all the controls that we already know and love.

Pretty soon, you don't care that Nathan Drake isn't here, as it has his DNA stamped all over it from start to finish. Fans of the series won't be disappointed, nor will they have any difficulty getting stuck right in as if the months since Uncharted 4 were merely days.

As usual, the motion capture acting is superb, and the game flows at a cracking pace, with stunning lighting, scenery and wonderful graphics. It may not be as jaw-dropping as Uncharted 4, but it is definitely up there for the wow factor, as you often find yourself moving the camera around to take it all in.

Clocking in at between 8 to 12 hours depending how good you are, it's not fair to call it piece of DLC, nor could you call it a full game, but it still represents great value for money. Aside from the campaign, there are 100 treasures, collectibles and optional conversations to collect, and five difficulty levels which will add many hours of fun for those who can't get enough.

Multiplayer will also keep Uncharted fans busy for a while, with 14 maps, six game types, solo trails, hundreds of unlocks, plus co-op survival for playing with mates and a new survival arena mode where up to 3 players take on 10 evolving waves with bosses and round modifiers.

If you bought the season pass to Uncharted 4, you'll get the game free, but for the rest of the gaming community, you can pick it for under $55 on the PSN store or at retailers.

So the burning questions remains. Is it worth your money? If you have played any of the previous four games and enjoyed them, then you're going to love it, and as for everyone else, this is a good place to start. In fact, it's hard to imagine anyone not having fun playing Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

Just when we thought that Uncharted was over, there's new life in the series using two great female leads full of attitude and adventure. Who knows where the series will go from here?

This is yet another slick, impressive and fun game from Naughty Dog who continue to raise the bar for action games.

If you love a good Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones style adventure, you can't go past The Lost Legacy for a great gaming experience on your Playstation 4.

Score: 4/5

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is out now exclusive for Playstation 4