498 Exploration Freedoms In Uncharted 4

As I play through Uncharted 4, slowly but surely, I can’t help but compare it to the series’ 3 (er.. 4, I guess) past entries. Exploration has always been a big piece of the Uncharted series, but it has always been restricted exploration. Probably for the best, too, as it keeps the game flow moving forward and cements it solidly as a story-based game, rather than donning the coveted open-world moniker (not all that coveted to me, actually).

I’m only 3 or 4 hours into the game, but I can already see its tendency toward additional player freedom with its closed system. In past games, there was almost universally only one way to scale a particular building, and that building needs to be scaled to push the story forward. Now, much more realistically I have to say, there are 3 or 4 viable directions you can take while scaling a building. That building still needs to be scaled to push the story forward, but now it doesn’t feel like the game is telling me where to go, but that I’m deciding the route to take.

This comes with a downside, even if its slightly based on player-learned tendencies. In other games, if there did happen to be alternate routes, they always led to hidden treasures or collectibles, and an inevitable dead end. Now, I can’t help but wonder when I choose one direction to go in, if I’m missing out on something in the other direction. I’ll likely get over this feeling quickly, and it’s a great thing to add for additional replay value and exploration.

I imagine that the game gets even more open as it goes on, and I’m sure I’ll have thoughts on that when it happens.

[ Today I Was Playing: Tropico 5 ]

#game-opinion