The conclusion to Naughty Dog's Uncharted franchise is out now. And there's a general warmth about the reception Uncharted 4: A Thief's End has been receiving.
Right now, Uncharted 4 has a an average critical score of 93 out of 100 on Metacritic, with many of the top gaming publications giving the game a perfect 100.
Uncharted 4 catches up with series protagonist and infamous adventurer Nathan Drake, after he has settled into retirement for a few years. But when he's visited by his brother Samuel, who had been assumed dead for the last 15 years, Nathan is dragged back into the fortune-hunting game for one final job.
Nathan and company's hunt for the fortunes left behind by a pirate closes the book on the franchise, offering solid resolution and shutting the door on the possibility of a sequel, according to Polygon's Griffin McElroy.
"There is nothing cheap about how Naughty Dog has decided to retire this franchise — no door is left open for a crass surprise sequel — and there's nothing ambiguous about its resolution," writes McElroy.
Naughty Dog revised its recipe for gameplay with Uncharted 4, opening up the on-the-rails action with hub areas that offer sandboxes for exploration. The mix of linear and hub areas gives players more freedom, says Leon Gurley from GamesRadar+.
"[That's] a plus, as it's also spectacularly pretty — jaw-droppingly so," Hurley writes. "From vistas and locations, to character animations where the slightest facial tic or muscle shifting under the skin brings Nate and company to life in an alarmingly eerie way."
In the end, Tech Times' Steven Schneider was impressed with the game's characters and its graphics. But he left disappointed by the game's lack of innovation and lackluster story.
"A Thief's End is not a bad game — far from it — but for a huge series finale, few would have expected Naughty Dog to play it so safely," Schneider writes.
Here's a roundup of some of A Thief's End's generally glowing reviews, based on Metacritic's critic scores, scaled down to ten:
Time 10/10
Giant Bomb 10/10
The Guardian 10/10
Digital Spy 10/10
The Telegraph 10/10
Twinfinite 10/10
GameSpot 10/10
Game Informer 9.5/10
Destructoid 9.5/10
Yahoo! Games 9/10
Forbes 9/10
Shacknews 9/10
IGN 9/10
Polgygon 9/10
Tech Times 8.5/10
GamesRadar+ 8/10
Washington Post 4/10
