Sic parvus magna, the presumed motto of Sir Francis Drake, applies to much more to the Uncharted series. The saying, which means “greatness from small beginnings,” can be tied to the gestalt that is the whole of the video game industry.
Video games are ephemeral; the industry as a whole is constantly changing. In my short lifetime, they have transcended their subaltern status as a superfluous way to pass the time to a sophisticated form of entertainment that, at its worst, is mired in the trappings of the past, but acts as a sincere and relentlessly heavy-hitting artistic medium at its best.
The recently released "Uncharted 4" acts as a stellar example of the latter and proves that video games do not need an overwhelmingly complex narrative or esoteric underlying themes to lie at the zenith of the medium. Unlike developer Naughty Dog’s previous endeavor that is "The Last Of Us", "Uncharted 4" places its focus on a simple yet tightly woven narrative that is strengthened by a frantic sense of adventure, and, most notably, a superlative level of graphical fidelity that sets out to please even the most finicky of PC elitists. The level of detail present in "Uncharted 4" is staggering to an almost disturbing extent; Reddit user haloskulls117 made a keen observation relative to this notion, as the cartilage in the player characters ear can be seen under certain lighting conditions, as seen below.
Yet it would only serve to violate the integrity of the experience by judging "Uncharted 4" solely off of its aesthetic appearance, for its bevy of achievements extend far beyond the scope of its looks. Particular facets of the game, such as gunplay, have been refined to near perfection (as far as Uncharted games are concerned) yet it is its subtle nuances that will cement the title as one of the defining games of the current generation of consoles. Everything from the nostalgic cues of past Uncharted titles to a restrained example of familial ties, "Uncharted 4" employs a distinctly unique set of skills that perfectly illustrate the primal strengths of the electronic entertainment medium. The game is fun, gorgeous, and as suggested above, boasts a touching story that can be enjoyed at face value or analyzed for its more recondite niceties.
Assuredly, the video games of today are completely different than those of the past. While there certainly are pixelated games centered around progressing to the next level or achieving high scores, the vast majority of games today have surpassed the archaic antiquities of the past; people just have to happen upon this realization themselves. In fact, video games have surpassed even the film industry in a variety of ways. For instance, the hit title "Grand Theft Auto V" achieved 800 million in sales during its first twenty-four hours of release, according to IGN; a far cry from the relatively low budget games of the past. Like all dominant forms of art and media, video games started small; rudimentary experiments in technology have burgeoned into a force to be reckoned, and will continue to do so. Greatness from small beginnings, indeed.
