Whenever someone would ask me what’s my favorite PlayStation game franchise, I would instantly reply with Uncharted. I grew up watching Indiana Jones movies and Nathan Drake clearly exhibited many of the same characteristics such as quick one-liners, a somewhat nonchalant attitude when killing an insane number of bad guys, and of course a cool & collected demeanor.
I’ve beaten every game in the franchise multiple times on PS3 and PS4 as well as obtained the platinum trophy in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. I absolutely love these games, so when it was announced that Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection was coming to PC, I was over the moon for one main reason: To play these beloved games on the go with my Steam Deck.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection includes
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
In regards to content when compared to their original releases, everything is present with the sole exclusion being the multiplayer mode from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. I personally wasn’t fond of the multiplayer mainly because it felt tacked on and unnecessary. The Uncharted series is best known for its solid gameplay and captivating storytelling. On that note, let’s discuss A Thief’s End story.
If you never played Uncharted 1 – 3 have no fear. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End does a great job of filling you in on key moments in Nathan Drake’s past to get you up to speed. In fact, this title revolves around Nathan’s older brother who never appeared in any of the previous uncharted games, therefore it’s pretty much a fresh story for new and returning players. To avoid spoilers, all you need to know is that Nathan Drake was and still is a treasure hunter.
As of late, Nathan’s decided to tone down the wild treasure hunt adventures for more of a traditional sunken cargo salvage job. You will be introduced to Nathan’s brother Sam early on and the story will unfold like an ancient scroll. Twists, turns, and double-crosses keep the story engaging and the player hooked to see what’s going to happen next. Honestly, the story is the real gem in the Uncharted franchise. Developer Naughty Dog consists of master storytellers and this was even more evident in A Thief’s End.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was a standalone expansion to A Thief’s End released back in 2017. It follows 2 key characters from A Thief’s End including Nadine Ross, a former mercenary who agrees to join treasure hunter Chloe Frazer on an adventure to obtain a treasure called the Tusk of Ganesh while at the same time doing battle with an evil warlord in the mountains of India.
I highly recommend playing A Thief’s End first as it will fully explain the two ladies’ backstories and why this pairing makes perfect sense.
So it wouldn’t be much of an action-adventure game if the gameplay mechanics fail to deliver. Thankfully, both titles provide a smooth blend of Assassin’s Creed-style climbing, mixed with a simplistic hand-to-hand combat system that also incorporates the environment to produce some thrilling fight choreography. For example, if you are fighting near a wall and get a good combo going you may see a zoom-in effect that almost looks like a cut scene showing Nathan smashing your foe’s head into the wall.
There’s also plenty of gunplay with a large variety of obtainable weapons. Now some have argued that the weak point of the Uncharted franchise is the weapon aiming which can feel a bit floaty as you free-aim your targets. However, this can be rectified by going into the setting and turning on the auto lock-on feature. While the overall adventure is rather linear there are some wide-open areas on some levels that will allow you to drive a vehicle around your use your trust rope hook to swing your way to the next scalable mountain or building.
As you can see from my screenshots with the performance display, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on average was running at 60 to 45 FPS on the Steam Deck. Of course, the FPS would fluctuate depending on what’s taking place on the screen or draw distance but overall, the performance was solid. I didn’t encounter any slowdown or crashing and predominantly played on the go undocked.
I’d also like to mention that the install size is 133.23GB and it’s one complete download for both titles. These are visually stunning games and to see them perform as smoothly as they do without any hiccups is fantastic! Here are some thoughts on the PC port courtesy of our Contributing Editor Joe LaRue.
PC Review
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PC is in my honest opinion, the second-best PlayStation port to come to the PC world. It’s been over half a year since Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection was released on PS5. PC gamers have been patiently waiting for Uncharted to finally land on PC storefronts as it is one of the last big PlayStation IPs still not on the platform. All I can say now is the wait was well worth it.
Naughty Dog’s celebrated action-adventure series is a benchmark in gaming, combining cover-based third-person shooting with thrilling platforming and environmental puzzle-solving while also telling a compelling story with well-defined characters and movie-grade cinematics. For any PC gamers jumping into Uncharted waters, so to speak, for the first time who aren’t well acquainted with Nathan Drake and his quippy supporting cast of characters. I just want to state that you will be happy to know that the Legacy of Thieves Collection is still a fantastic pair of games that work well independent of the previous series entries.
With the release of Uncharted 4 and its DLC to PC, some will say it is notably missing the previous three games, leaving some gamers hesitant to jump into the series. However, even as the final installment in this part of the Uncharted franchise, PC players can go into the Legacy of Thieves Collection with a basic knowledge of the series and still have a great time.
This is due to the excellent writing that players have come to expect from Naughty Dog. Nathan Drake’s quest to find Henry Avery’s legendary pirate treasure takes place several years after Uncharted 3. There are certainly plenty of payoffs and callbacks from the beginning of Drake’s. However, the game’s main plot of the story and the side plots are as exciting, and emotional, and makes the game feel whole and complete.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PC is very much the same game released on PS5 earlier this year: the crossover from console to PC meant that Legacy of Thieves would need to come with new bells and whistles. And with the advancement of the video and all the additional twists and configurations you can do with the graphics makes this game unbelievable on PC.
Final Verdict
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is an absolute masterpiece. Developers Iron Galaxy have done an amazing job porting over this collection and introducing an entirely new market to one of the best action-adventure franchises of all time.
This review was based on a digital review copy of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection for PC provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
