Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is a treasure on PS5

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection revives two treasured PlayStation classics for PS5. These are by no means the first games to make this generational leap – in the past year, for example, we’ve seen both Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding enhanced for Sony’s newest console – but where those popular PlayStation titles relaunched as director’s cut editions, the Legacy of Thieves Collection doesn’t offer any additional content. In fact, it throws away one pretty large chunk of these games in exchange for two games bundled together. We’ll get to that later.

Having replayed both Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy on PS5, there’s one overriding takeaway. These games already looked so jaw-droppingly stunning that it’s almost impossible to tell whether you’re actually running the PS5 versions at first.

Then, of course, the feel of the smoother frame rate kicks in when playing on performance mode. Targeting 60fps, action set pieces are somehow even more immersive as bullets fly, debris scatters, and heroes quip while under fire. As is fairly standard now for newer games and remasters, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection also features a fidelity mode for those wanting to experience native 4K instead of having it upscaled from 1440p. There’s also “Performance+” setting in there too, though it’s only compatible with 120hz displays and bumps the resolution down to 1080p.

No matter your preferences, everyone benefits from notable additions and upgrades such as lightning-fast loading times, the PS5’s 3D audio, and DualSense haptics. As in most new first party games, these Uncharted games try to make clever use of Sony’s nifty new controller, adding texture to just about every in-game interaction with some subtle effects.

Another feature that hasn’t been touted much is the ability to seamlessly import your PS4 save data. In the past this process has been a nightmare, often requiring players to install and patch two separate versions of a game so they can transfer their progress. Here you simply grab saves you’ve uploaded to the cloud and stored on your PS5’s SSD for the game to find.

If you’ve already played these games before, is it really worth upgrading? That’s the £10 question. It becomes easier to answer if you played Uncharted 4 and skipped past the Drake-less The Lost Legacy, as the upgrade to the bundle can be grabbed from either single game, but both are certainly worth revisiting and the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is inarguably the best way to experience the two blockbuster exclusives. From the way characters are animated during cutscenes to the insane level of detail etched into every pixel and polygon, we’d almost go as far as to say these are the best looking pair of games available on Sony’s newest console.

Characteristically, I couldn’t end this review without mentioning a certain omission from the Legacy of Thieves package. The multiplayer component to Uncharted 4 has been axed from this collection, much to the disappointment of die-hard fans. Sure, it’s still playable on PS4 (and PS5 via backwards compatibility) though it’s stuck at 1080p60. Some kind of update or nod to the community would have been nice. Even in 2022, it still holds up remarkably well and could have filled a gap in Sony’s lineup as we wait for Naughty Dog’s next multiplayer project.

Long after Nathan Drake hung up his holster for the last time a half decade ago, Uncharted’s legacy still remains. This collection crams two genre-defining prestige hits together – the kind of linear AAA action games we rarely see today. Let’s hope for more treasure-hunting adventure to come.

Source: https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2022/01/26/uncharted-legacy-of-thieves-collection-review-ps5/