The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection compiles improved versions of PS4’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016) and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017). It will be released on PlayStation 5 on January 28, and will arrive on PC later this year. The collection does not contain the original multiplayer, but it offers several technical improvements, which we thoroughly address in a separate video. However, we did not want to cheat the novelty even with the classic text, in which you will learn the most important things. However, for the video and the article, as with the recent upgrade to Death Stranding, we do not evaluate the titles themselves, but focus primarily on improvements. Therefore, you will not find any number at the end. It is not a disrespect for the original, but rather an expression of our conviction that these are still extremely successful games, the qualities of which do not need to be discussed even a few years after their debut. This is despite the fact that, unlike Death Stranding for PS5, this package does not provide any content bonuses that would expand the titles themselves.
The game comes with DualSense driver support, fast loading, 3D audio and three display modes. Each of these areas deserves attention.
If for some reason you don’t want to start the games from the beginning – perhaps because you’ve played them recently – no one is forcing you. In the story, you can pick up exactly where you left off, as the improved version supports transferring saved positions from the PS4. However, I preferred to start with a clean desk, so we can jump straight into technological upgrades. The game comes with DualSense driver support, fast loading, 3D audio and three display modes. Each of these areas deserves attention.
On the PS5 gamepad, both adventures are now compatible with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. The authors obviously tried to implement these elements in all possible activities as best they can and the result is interesting. However, in my opinion, this is not a feature that would take your breath away on its own. The developers were naturally limited by the original design, which only allowed for classic vibrations. In my opinion, haptics and adaptive triggers can still convey very interesting feelings to the players and are among the most interesting new features on the PlayStation 5. However, only a minimum of titles can use them properly so far. And, of course, there is a diametrical difference between a game like Astro’s Playroom, which is primarily designed and subordinated to these features in terms of design. Then there is the title, which does not bend the gameplay, but has DualSense features from the beginning. And then there is the Uncharted and similar collection, to which someone tries to graft these elements afterwards, which is not easy at all. However, the achieved result should definitely not offend anyone.
You don’t have to say a lot of words about fast recording, and I don’t mean it as a critique. Exactly opposite. Thanks to SSD, loading is almost instantaneous and the game does not delay you, whether you are starting it, recording a saved position, changing levels or changing one title after another. You simply have no reason to complain about the recording. As for 3D sound, I feel my own handicap, which probably doesn’t allow me to fully appreciate this effect. I have no doubt that the audio team paid due attention, and what I can judge, the game sounds great. But I honestly say that I can’t answer the question of whether this feature is implemented by developers at the best or only the standard level. I just don’t have a hearing, my ears aren’t sensitive enough.
On the contrary, I have a lot of that in addition to the three display modes, and I think they remain the main attraction of the new collection, in addition to the undoubtedly high-quality original content. The game offers a total of three display modes – Fidelity Mode, Performance Mode and Performance + Mode. One cannot say that one is better than the other. This is a purely individual assessment and a choice that the player must make himself. Each mode comes with its own advantage and, on the other hand, sacrifice. Fidelity Mode attracts 4K native resolution, but only targets 30 frames per second. Performance Mode already attracts at 60 fps, but at the cost of lower resolution. On the 4K screen, the resolution is upscaled from the basic 1440p. On the Full HD screen, however, it is resampled from 1440p to 1080p with improved anti-aliasing. So if you play on older TV, this is a possible option for you almost “without compromise”. Performance + mode then promises 120 fps, but only at 1080p resolution.
I can only tell you that I played most of the game in the Performance mode I preferred. I would call it the golden mean.
We cannot choose the best for you. The ideal does not exist. But when we come to terms with the fact that we can’t have everything to the maximum, as we would undoubtedly wish, in the case of such improved versions, it definitely makes sense that their authors give us a choice. Perhaps everyone can choose from this offer. I can only tell you that I played most of the game in the Performance mode I preferred. I would call it the golden mean. I’m not saying this is always the case, but in the case of medium-speed games like Uncharted, it seemed like the best compromise on offer. I absolutely respect and understand that someone wants native 4K resolution in all circumstances. Maybe because of the big screen. Someone always prefers the fastest framerate possible.
I personally got the feeling that in Performance mode the image degrades in detail compared to Fidelity mode only very slightly compared to the transition from Performance to Performance +. This does not mean that the game is not nice at 120 fps, but the low FullHD resolution is already known on a large TV. Conversely, I appreciated the benefit of the framerat the most when jumping from 30 and 60 frames per second. In my opinion, this has something to do with the nature and pace of the game. At Call of Duty and similar fast events or races, you can reach 120 fps, but not so frantic action in Uncharted is enough for me at 60 fps. I didn’t want to go back to 30 fps, but I didn’t want 120. I do not want to legitimize or call this choice “correct”. But from the various hints and references of the developers, I sensed that this may be a kind of preferred mode. After all, the game itself describes the Performance mode as a balanced ratio of resolution and frame rate.
In any case, don’t expect the upgrade to make Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy look like native PS5 games. Thanks to the fact that these were technically exceptionally successful games, they don’t have to be ashamed of their presentation even today, but for example The Last of Us Part II on PS4 later offered even more admirable graphics. Even in the collection, you will know that these are older games, but still exceptional games. And that’s the main thing. Although I do not want to talk about the titles themselves, I must say that in some places they lag behind current trends, but in other respects they are still current, or even ahead of time that I had the opportunity to recall some great tricks, which are still not a matter of course. This applies, for example, to precise control or well-animated movements and climbing, when the hero realistically stretches along another ledge. It took my breath away again as gravel and stones slid down the cliff behind the protagonist behind the protagonist. And again, I was fascinated by the work with the rope and winch, which must naturally be stretched and anchored with a loop as in reality. In other words, in addition to the great story, characters and generous content of the game, it still offers modern gameplay.
Unfortunately, the impression from the collection of places was spoiled by a number of technical errors, which are all the more surprising because it is a first party title directly from Sony. I can’t put my hand on the fire for not coming to release a patch that fixes them, even though I don’t know about it. It is possible that you will not encounter them, but I have come across them repeatedly and I have not received any warning that these bugs will be specifically addressed. I most often came across chopping games while continuously saving and creating a checkpoint. This is not a slowdown or a slight decline in the framerate, but a pronounced tearing that prevents you from playing at that moment, let alone aiming properly. And this problem manifested itself in me for more than a few seconds. It went so far that I finally paused the title at such a moment and continued until I saw in the menu that the game was saved. An individual problem can never be completely ruled out, but there is nothing wrong with my console and I have not encountered this type of problem in other games. The game was installed on an SSD directly from Sony in the standard way. We can also eliminate the load caused by image recording, because we take all shots externally, which does not affect the performance of the console.
Unfortunately, I also witnessed that the whole cut scene went wrong. The sound didn’t work, the characters didn’t move, and only static models moved around the room, “objects” that were supposed to be in someone’s hand at the time.
It was not just this mistake. I also came across other glitches. For example, a slide button was displayed during a duel, but after it ended, it remained hanging in the image until the end of the level. During the otherwise praised climbing, the animation of the hand, which the main character unnaturally refuted, turned to me again. Unfortunately, I also witnessed that the whole cut scene went wrong. The sound didn’t work, the characters didn’t move, and only static models moved around the room, “objects” that were supposed to be in someone’s hand at the time. Specifically, this situation ended up not taking the cut scene to the next level, but instead a character appeared in a seemingly bottomless black abyss, and when it eventually killed itself, the game got stuck. Consequently, it was not possible to correctly shut down the game itself or the entire console, because as a result, the dashboard also stopped working.
I have no doubt that these problems will be resolved, even though they have taken me by surprise. At the moment, it is difficult to assess how it will manifest on the day of issue and whether to pay attention to them or wait for further verdicts and information. It is not even clear how much the individual problem is. I really enjoyed the games anyway, but it’s definitely not something I would just wave my hand over and say it’s nothing. So take it as a reminder that I have encountered these things and you can meet them as well. So if you’re not in a hurry, you don’t have to invest in the collection right away and wait for the situation to clear up. And speaking of investments, keep in mind that owners of one of the older games are eligible to upgrade to the PS5 collection for just $ 10. But beware, it doesn’t apply to those who have won Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End as part of a PlayStation Plus subscription. In conclusion, I can only remind you that the PC version is being developed by the American Iron Galaxy team and will be released later. Of course, we will be happy to look at it again.
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