LOS ANGELES – I’m not exactly sure why Chloe Frazer – an antihero from Uncharted 2 – and Nadine Ross – a villain from Uncharted 4 – would want to team up, but I’m eager to find out.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a single-player DLC pack for Uncharted 4 that appears to tell a pretty substantial story. The expansion contains the requisite amount of platforming, gun combat and puzzle-solving, all wrapped up in a slightly fantastical story – in other words, just what Uncharted fans have been waiting for.
I got to see The Lost Legacy in action at E3 2017 in a hands-off demo from the Naughty Dog team. As a longtime Uncharted fan, its contents weren’t terribly surprising to me. However, at the end of the demo, I was almost desperate to find out what happened next. While Uncharted 4 provided a nearly perfect ending for Nathan Drake and his extended family, I missed its inventive blend of action and puzzles, and was thrilled to learn that The Lost Legacy would bring them back in spades.
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The Lost Legacy takes place after the events of Uncharted 4, and pits Chloe (the player character) and Nadine (an AI sidekick) against Asav: an Indian scholar who seeks an artifact called the Tusk of Ganesh for some unsavory purpose. Why exactly Chloe (an unreliable rogue) and Nadine (a ruthless mercenary) are working together is anyone’s guess, but Asav seems considerably meaner than either one of them, as he’s willing to murder anyone who gets in his way.
The demo began in a lush, mountainous region of Western India, where Chloe and Nadine had to balance on a narrow beam of rock, then leap their way across to an ancient temple with the help of a rope launcher. From there, they found themselves under attack by an armored jeep and a whole host of Indian mercenaries. Cover-based shooting and fast-paced platforming helped them evade their attackers. It seemed like a pretty typical day in the Uncharted universe.
Chloe controls a lot like Nathan Drake. She can leap across chasms, exchange fire with enemy forces and cooperate with AI companions to explore the environment around her. After getting clear of the jeep, Chloe and Nadine found themselves in an ancient temple, which appeared to have hosted human sacrifices at some point in the past. No doubt, this will play into the larger story somehow.
At the end of the demo, Asav caught up with Chloe and Nadine, threatening Chloe with a gun and monologuing about how sacrifice is necessary for progress. The story doesn’t seem Shakespearean in scope, opting instead for an over-the-top adventure about an ancient civilization. Uncharted fans should expect no less.
The game will release in August and cost $40, suggesting a full-length adventure for the two supporting characters. What will happen in the Uncharted series after that – if anything – is anyone’s guess.
