Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection brings good fortune to PC

In an era where PlayStation is bringing some of its most popular games to the PC front for fans, it was only a matter of time until the Uncharted series made its way over. One of the crowning achievements of Naughty Dog and PlayStation Studios, Nathan Drake and company’s adventures have long been a staple of the PlayStation-exclusive catalog. Now PC players can enjoy the latest adventures in the Uncharted franchise. While it may feel strange to jump in at such late chapters, the Legacy of Thieves Collection does well to deliver the high-octane thrills for which the series has become famous.

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In this package, players will find two games: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Both released in a single package on PS4 and PS5 earlier in 2022, these games now come over to PC, bringing one of the latest adventures of Nathan Drake, and likewise a thrilling adventure with Chloe Frazer. It’s a little strange to me that PlayStation Studios starts here with the Uncharted series on PC. There are definitely some hijinks and fun that have been going on throughout the franchise that players will miss out on if they’re jumping in here. Nonetheless, these two are also some of the most refined editions of the Uncharted formula.

They control quite well on PC too. Uncharted is a game of action set pieces, brawling, gunfights, platforming, and puzzle-solving. Each moment sets Drake and Frazer on the run to overcome either the environment, a collection of baddies, or some sort of mysterious puzzle that leads to treasure. It all rolls out in a collection of journeys that span exotic locations between urban, ruin, and jungle environments. Whether you’re hunting down lost treasure in Malaysia or going deep into warzones in India in search of stolen artifacts, the games handle like a dream. The platforming is intuitive and feels crisp and smooth as you go. The gunplay is easy to handle as well. For my tastes, fist-fighting has never been my favorite part of Uncharted as it feels like this is where a lot of the jank comes out in the games, and that hasn’t changed in this PC version. Everyone on screen just magnetizes unnaturally to swing on each other, bending limbs and shifting their place in the scene for hits to connect. Even so, it still works functionally and the game feels good at nearly every other juncture as you climb, escape, fight, and explore.

There are some decent options if you want to scale the game to your PC’s capabilities as well. The PC version of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection features a number of additions such as reworked and improved UI, GPU and VRAM detection and management options to get the most out of your machine without overdoing it, and variable load speed support to name a few options. The suite of accessibility features also makes it way over, offering players camera and aim assist, vibration feedback on certain actions, persistent dot reticles, subtitles, tap-vs-hold action options, and lock-on features. It’s not Last of Us Part 2 good, but it is a nice array of options to assist in comfort in the game.

For all its impressive visuals and gameplay, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PC isn't a spotless experience. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End seemed to lock up just briefly when it was making the transition between cinematics and gameplay. For Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, I noticed some frame skipping only when things were at a high level of chaos. On one occasion, I also couldn’t get the game past a loading screen and had to restart it. That said, these issues were few and far between and didn’t deter from the otherwise beautiful and thrilling experience both of these games present.

A treasure trove of Uncharted

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is another solid entry in PlayStation Studios' efforts to bring its best games to PC. Despite some minimal technical spots, this is a gratuitously action-packed package. Chloe Frazer and Nathan Drake’s latest adventures are an awesome array of good gunplay, okay fighting, and impeccably smooth platforming through a wide variety of situations. It makes me want for the earlier Uncharted games to make their way over, but for those who want to play Uncharted on PC, you can’t go wrong with these two stellar titles in a single and generally well-performing package.

These impressions are based on a PC digital copy supplied by the publisher. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection is available on PS4 and PS5, and comes to PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store on October 19, 2022.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.