Ranking Naughty Dog Games

With the very recent Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End putting an end to the beloved Uncharted series closing it out on a high note, as well as scoring very high on all major gaming websites and being given a perfect score of 100% here on Gaming Respawn. You can check our review HERE. I thought it would be interesting to rank the Uncharted series from my least favourite game to most favourite in the well established franchise. Not only will I be ranking the four Uncharted games, I will also include The Last of Us, so this is my personal ranking of Naughty Dog’s last five games. Please let us know how you would rank Naughty Dog’s last five games.

 

5 – Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

The beginning of the Uncharted franchise, Drake’s Fortune is where it all started back in 2007. The game will without a doubt be everyone’s least favourite game in the series. That’s no disrespect to the game because at the time it was a graphical masterpiece, one of the earlier PS3 games that showed off the power and potential of everyone’s new console. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune introduced us to Drake, Sully, and Elena, three characters we would begin to cherish, root for, and care for. The game hasn’t aged very well, the shooting mechanics are terrible and feel sluggish, and fighting off wave after wave of bullet sponge enemies grew repetitive. But the game must be praised for the way it mixed combat, storytelling, and puzzle solving as well as the marvellous attention to detail. Remember the first time you made Drake get his clothes wet and watched as it dried over time, only to do it again straight after? Drake’s Fortune might be the least popular in the series, but it was the start of the beloved franchise.

 

4 – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

This is the third entry in the series, and for the first time we got to delve into Nathan Drake’s past, seeing the mischievous behaviour that a 15-year-old teenage Drake used to get into. We also got to see how Drake and Sully first met and how they became the infamous duo of treasure thieves that they are today. Well, the game had plenty going for it with lots of positives and great moments. For me, Drake’s Deception took a step back in the series, the shooting felt very off at first until patched up, and the story was a mess at times becoming very unfocused, especially as they clearly wanted to show us more of Drake’s darker side but failed to achieve that. There were two very poor, boring villains along with the feeling that the set-pieces were made first and then the game and story built around them. Drake’s Deception was the follow up game it was supposed to be and didn’t reach the high expectations it should have.

 

3 – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

We gave the very recent A Thief’s End the perfect score of 100/100 here on Gaming Respawn. The game is exceptional and ground breaking in every right and fully worthy of the praise and score it received. The game felt fresh and familiar at the very same time, showing us a new side of Nathan Drake that we never knew. We found out Nathan Drake has an older brother and a troubling past, and we get to see Nate try to live life as a normal part of society with a day job that can’t compare to his past adventures. He has a boring and mundane new life as a retired treasurer hunter until that past catches up with him. A Thief’s End features the best storytelling and gameplay in the series, with eye melting graphics easily making this the best looking game on consoles. The game suffers from pacing issues, and the third act seems to last longer than it should and becomes a bit repetitive, but none of that takes away from the whole experience, a great send off to the series.

 

2 – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The best in the Uncharted series is a masterpiece, from start to finish the game didn’t put a foot wrong. I remember starting the game up for the first time and seeing Drake bloodied and half dead in a train collapsed halfway over a cliff to certain death. This moment will live with me forever, I was in complete shock and awe and feared for Nate’s life. The game didn’t disappoint from that great start. The vast improvement over the first game is unbelievable, the pacing is incredible with explosive set-piece after set-piece that felt right out of a blockbuster movie: the moving train section, the Tibetan village level, the hotel in Nepal, all are memorable moments of pure chaotic madness. Drake’s Fortune set the groundwork, but Among Thieves made me fall in love with the characters and series thanks to the charm, humour, gameplay. and amazing set-pieces.

 

1 – The Last of Us

Naughty Dog’s finest piece of work. The Last of Us is dark and depressing, featuring a world full of death and gloom where survival at any cost should be everyone’s motto. The Last of Us gripped me like no other game has before, I was emotionally invested in the world and, of course, the characters Joel and Ellie. The relationship they have with each other drives the game forward, a very unlikely pair that grew to love and care for each other. What The Last of Us showed us is that you don’t need crazy set-pieces everywhere and explosions every five minutes, you can rely on the strength of two characters that are deep and interesting and have great backstories, as well as satisfying gameplay that was brutal in every sense with a fun crafting system. I felt the weight of every person I killed, I felt like I was fighting for my life and survival. This story-driven game deserves to go down on the list of one of the greatest games ever to be made.