Game review: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

A scene from the video game Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.

If you haven't seen the trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, head to YouTube immediately.

Over an exhilarating 15 minutes, Nathan Drake and his sidekick Sully engage mercenaries in a marketplace shootout, escape from an armoured truck mounted with a mini-cannon, jump off a rooftop into a jeep then flee downhill in a white-knuckle ride that ends with an explosion better than anything you'll see in a multiplex.

You'll barely pause for breath, and if that clip doesn't get you excited about Uncharted 4 - due for release in March - then it's time to head back to the franchise's roots and rediscover your love for this near-classic series that's nearing a decade of dominance on the Playstation 3.

This collection pristinely remasters Uncharted's first three games for the Playstation 4 and shows exactly why there's still so much love for Drake, Sully and their misadventures in a world informed by equal parts Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider.

It also shows that developers Naughty Dog know how to kick off a game in style.

From Drake's Fortune's opening shootout at sea, to the incredible plane crash of Among Thieves, and the double crossing English antics of Drake's Deception, you'll get thrown into each adventure immediately, then start clearing your schedule so you can finish them.

With graphics upgraded to 1080p and 60 fps, the Uncharted Collection looks amazing with a painstaking restoration that comes close to matching The Last of Us' PS4 port earlier this year.

And even if you get a little sick of the repetitive shootouts in Drake's Fortune, at least you'll be doing them in style.

Those problems are fixed in Among Thieves, the best of the series that has Drake visiting Nepal, Mongolia, Borneo and Tibet, and will give you plenty of opportunities to test out the inclusion of an exceptional photo mode. That will come in handy during Uncharted 3's desert section that has Drake staggering around a desert and into a ghost town.

Best of all, you've got time to play all three right through by March, which, judging by that initial trailer, could deliver the best Uncharted adventure yet.

Game: Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
Platform: Playstation 4
Rating: R16
Verdict: Adventure franchise shows off its origins