The Nathan Drake Collection is set to possibly be the greatest of the HD/Remastered collections that have been so popular throughout the current generation of consoles, possibly even rivaling The Master Chief Collection due to the sheer quality of the games contained within. The Nathan Drake Collection will launch on October 7th, and contains what were arguably some of the prettiest and best games on the PS3: Drake’s Fortune, Among Thieves, and Drake’s Deception.
One of the best parts about playing these collections for me has always been the fact that I can play a series that has given me so many great memories and times straight through. No more years spent between games wondering what is coming next for Nate and Elena, or having to wait to see what odd fusion of reality and supernatural elements the plot will go with next. I can simply boot up the collection and enjoy a marathon session of Nate, Sully, and Elena traveling through exotic locations and engaging in some outstanding platforming and smooth combat.
The plotlines in these games is one of the biggest reasons to be excited about the upcoming collection, mostly because they all had some very fun twists that seemingly come out of nowhere. I can still remember hunting for El Dorado in the first game while fighting off mercenaries and pirates, only to be completely blindsided by the incredibly creepy mutated/cursed descendants of Nazis and Spanish conquistadors. While the supernatural twist did not come as big of a shock in the second game, everything was kicked up a notch, which is readily apparent in the famous opening moments of the game where your tutorial is you basically trying to climb up and through a train that is hanging off of a cliff.
If the plotlines and supernatural take on the stories of Iram of the Pillars, Shambhala, and El Dorado are not your cup of tea, then you should consider that these games have some of the most likable characters out there. This is helped in no small part by the skills of the voice actors and witty writing. This is not the type of game that you play if you are looking for macho one-liners from generic, hulking caricatures in power armor, but rather one that you play in order to hear dialogue that at least bears some resemblance to what you would expect to hear from someone in these situations. From Nate’s unrelenting sarcasm to Elena’s mix of affection and exasperation with Nate, the writers have done a fantastic job over the years.
Another great part about these remastered/HD collections is that they give you a really cool way to see how the games have evolved over the years. Sure, all of these games are getting a touch-up for their debut on the PS4, but they are not going to get the full remake treatment. This means that while all of the games will look nicer than they did on the PS3, there will be noticeable improvement as you move from game to game. For example, while the graphics were outstanding at the time in the first game, the second game completely blows it out of the water in terms of motion capture and set pieces, with the third game going even further. It is also going to be a lot of fun playing the game and feeling how the mechanics have changed, such as how the combat system gets a lot tighter in the second game.
Whatever your reason for playing The Nathan Drake Collection, you are sure to get your money’s worth as you will be getting access to better looking versions of some of the best Playstation exclusives of all time, and just in time to let you fall in love with the games and characters all over again before diving right into Uncharted 4 in 2016.
What are you most looking forward to in The Nathan Drake Collection? What other collections are you looking forward to or want to see made? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Kfal Balli
I love uncharted but I wouldn’t put it over the mcc even with it’s issues. You get so any hours of play time.