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Reviews
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016)
Great, but frustratingly simple
I remember fondly picking up the first Uncharted game with my brand new PS3 many moons ago. I remember fondly being blown away by the amazing graphics, story telling and acting. I also remember being blown away by just how quickly I completed the game. I remember being blown away by Uncharted 2, then 3 and being amazed once more by its usual tropes of superlative acting, narrative and technical achievements.
But with each new Uncharted release came a growing realisation that Naughty Dog were being rather too kind to me. They didn't want me to struggle; ever. Whether it was a climbing sequence, a piece of exploration or some piece of combat, there they were gently holding my hand throughout the proceedings with hints, tips, too lenient jump and grab physics and too simple, rather 'un-dangerous' (I don't think that's a word is it?!) gunplay. With each new adventure I was whisked away to graphically gorgeous locales, crumbling ruins (all ruins crumble right?) or dark dungeons in search of people, places or treasure. After a few hours on Uncharted 4 Naughty Dog were at it again... guiding me from one scene to the next with a string of written, spoken or visual clues that propelled me into chapter 8 in what seemed like a matter of half an hour or so's gameplay! I checked my difficulty settings and asked for hints to be removed; went back to the game and then it finally dawned on me ... you never really play Uncharted games at all; they play you. And this is why Uncharted 4 gets an 8; because whilst it is reassuringly beautiful to look at, perfectly acted and brilliantly told, the story of A Thief's End is played out in an all too familiar way; by catapulting the player as quickly as possible from one cinematic scene to the next set piece without really giving you the opportunity to play... actually really 'play'the game much at all! 'Story' is a word synonymous with this series, and indeed it is one of its strengths, but it seems the developers are so keen to reveal the next stage in their exciting tale that the player is merely a pawn in revealing the next exotic chapter. They appear more concerned with getting you through the narrative so quickly that the periods of game play between the cinematics are mere fleeting episodes to get us from pint A of the story to point B. They are enjoyable episodes to be sure, but Naughty Dog don't seem to realise that the action of 'playing' in itself can often reveal much in a narrative; exploration, talking to NPCs, finding clues and navigating environments that are rich in content, and not just detail.
I've tried exploring in A Thief's End, but it didn't really take long to discover that the levels, though bigger, are no less very linear and again, the level design is so chock full of visual aids that your practically being told 'tell' you how to complete each level.
Remember the climbable platforms in the first games... that's right, they were all yellow weren't they? Well, in Uncharted 4, all rocky outcrops and cliff faces have been highlighted with a chalky white substance; climbable ledges stick out like sore thumbs and any dodgy looking jump is rarely punished with a fall. Grappling points are highlighted with a large white icon and routes and passages to your goal marked by obvious tracks, scratches or other visual clues so blatant that we may never EVER have to 'think' about where to go or what to do next. Dialogue plays a similar role in signposting the solution to any in game element that might in any other game, be a puzzle for the player to solve themselves. For some, this may be OK, but for me it's an irritation. I'm a gamer and I want to 'play'; to explore, fathom out, scratch my head and feel the relief as I solve the problem or find the treasure... not because the writers tell me what to do, but because I figured it out myself.... that's after-all what game play is isn't it? I haven't yet completed A Thief's End... and despite having it since release play it rather sparsely - not because I don't love it, but because I fear that if I were to play it for a few hours a night I'd have it completed in no time and again, I'd be blown away... Not because Uncharted 4 was ground-breakingly innovative, but because I'd just spent £50 for Naughty Dog to tell me it's final story of Nathan Drake as quickly as possible and without crediting me - the player - with the intelligence and curiosity to have gotten to the end all by myself.
Nihon chinbotsu (2006)
Abandon all hope... literally
Promoted as an 'epic blockbuster', I was under no illusions that this was a film that was likely to be something in the mould of a typical US disaster movie, rather than a serious attempt at in depth story telling and character development. However, much like a Roland Emerich film, any attempt to suspend the audiences belief is abandoned in favour of a too unlikely scenario, occasional cheap thrills and shallow, paper thin characterisations and cliché. All of which I could have coped with if the film were at least vaguely entertaining.
Like Armageddon, 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow the film takes a huge pinch of salt and throws it at a premise that has some potential basis in fact; in this case, the precarious location of Japan along the Pacific ring of fire, and the likelihood of apocalyptic disaster; (the like of which we have seen in all to great a reality in recent months). It adds an uninspiring dash of flat; clichéd characters; (you know the ones; male and female protagonists who are divorced but forced to reconcile; cute little orphan girl (Awww); chain smoking, maverick scientist and a bunch of old, stubborn politicians)and shoves in the S L O W cooker until every molecule of freshness, vitality and energy has been vaporised; along with your patience, attention span and desire to keep watching.
Before I knew what a disaster this disaster movie would turn out to be, I had prepared for a schlock movie that might numb the brain but would at least delight my senses with elaborate special effects and multiple scenes of mayhem and destruction.... I settled down to watch and within the first few minutes decided that I might end up with just the numb brain. How right I was.
A veritable movie by numbers, it became clear that this was an Asain movie that would abandon the usually carefully constructed plot lines and interesting, 3 dimensional characters that usually inhabit the world of Japanese Cinema, rather it would aim to emulate American cinema in practically every way possible. After a rambling introduction that serves as a geology lesson for infants, we are 'told' that a series of events are underway that would ultimately lead to the entire Japanese archipelago sinking within 40 years... within the next hour or so however these events begin to unravel with unbelievable speed; erupting volcanoes, tidal waves and earthquakes soon begin to plague the good citizens of Japan, with an over used satellite POV showing us the scale of the disaster. And so the movie continues, peppered with some extraneous and totally predictable romantic fluff with the male and female 'leads', and the chain smoking maverick scientist coming up with a plan to save the rapidly ailing country.
All these scenes are nothing more than long episodes of pointless exposition, the scriptwriters and director using their actors to explain each and every event to the audience... because apparently, we are too stupid to work it out for ourselves; (I could have watched the movie without subtitles and told you exactly what was happening). All this is very, very boring and only sparsely interspersed with some pretty impressive set pieces, which at least have the benefit of being more believable than the rest of what is happening. Sadly, the special effects sequences are far too few and far between, and serve only to jolt you from the frequent bouts of approaching slumber that you will doubtless succumb to as the film plods on with a pacing akin to a snail race. Unfortunately, whilst worthy, these effects cannot do anything to save the film, which crumbles pathetically with each erupting volcano and rumbling earthquake.
The ending; when it eventually comes, is woefully inevitable from very early on in the script, rendering the 'plot' (such as it is) redundant for much of the film. With dull characters, predictable and unoriginal script, and a running time of 135 minutes you'll be wishing that the place had sunk in the first 5 minutes of inserting your DVD.