Polished up Uncharted – Legacy of Thieves Collection offers perfect picture and sound

If there was a game in the last few years that screamed ‘There’s a Hollywood movie in this’, it was it Uncharted, four video games centered on treasure hunter Nathan Drake. California studio Naughty Dog’s answer to Indiana Jones (1981) and Lara Croft (1996) has just the ingredients for two hours of unpretentious entertainment on the big screen.

The film Uncharted premiered in the United States and the United Kingdom in mid-February. The American and British film critics are not exactly soft in their assessment of the film by director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), starring Tom Holland as Drake, Mark Wahlberg as his mentor, and Antonio Banderas as the cliché villain. “It’s like you can hear that in the script with every scene it’s capitalized at least once in the margin CAN’T be FUNnier,” writes Robbie Collin in The Telegraph† ‘If it’s Hollywood with Uncharted If it doesn’t work, then there is no future for game-based films,” Clarisse Loughrey concludes in The Independent†

The film fan will therefore have to look elsewhere for entertainment on March 22, when Drake’s antics reach the Dutch cinema. But for gamers there is a consolation: Uncharted – Legacy of Thieves Collection†

As the addition ‘collection’ already reveals, this is not about new games, but about bundled success numbers in new packaging. Being Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Last Legacytuned up and polished for the PlayStation 5.

The first action-adventure dates back six years, appeared on the PlayStation 4 and turned out to be Nathan Drake’s swan song. In The Last Legacy, from 2017, stars treasure-digger Chloe Fraizer and ex-mercenary Nadine Ross. For both this means promotion: in two previous Unchartedgames they only had a supporting role.

See in their new jacket A Thief’s End and The Last Legacy looks great, for those who have the right hardware at home. In addition to a PlayStation 5, which has been rationed for months due to the chip shortage, this is a television that can show images in a 4K resolution, preferably with a refresh rate of 120 Hz.

But even without that high refresh rate there is a lot to enjoy visually. The Collection offers three settings, where you can choose a higher resolution and less smooth image or less pixels per inch and movement without stuttering.

Perhaps more impressive than the image upgrade are the extra muscles that the soundtrack has been given. Legacy of Thieves Collection uses special audio technology (for enthusiasts: Tempest 3D) that makes the experience of the sound even more realistic.

This is what insects sound in a jungle of A Thief’s End so lifelike that you’re constantly tempted to knock them off your head. If you climb a cliff you can clearly hear the waves crashing on the rocks hundreds of meters below you.

All this audiovisual delight may be a little lacking for gamers who have already hung out on the PlayStation 4 with Drake, Chloe and Nadine. Those were already impressive productions. On the other hand, a re-acquaintance costs just a tenner for those who already own the original PlayStation 4 titles.

But for the people who are only now arriving at the party Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection the best introduction to the phenomenon uncharted. As Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian wrote: ‘Better than the efficient, soulless hologram of what a film is supposed to represent.’