Kicking off in 2007 on the PlayStation 3, the “Uncharted” series primarily follows treasure hunter Nathan Drake. While exploring ancient ruins and recovering priceless artifacts around the world, Nate and his friends take on nefarious figures trying to use these mythical relics for their own devious purposes. The “Uncharted” games primarily revolve around third-person shooter gameplay, with prominent platforming elements and high-octane action sequences.
Sadly, it appears as though developer Naughty Dog is done with the “Uncharted” series, but there are loads of similar games to check out if you’re an “Uncharted” fan on the hunt for something similar to play next. Whether it’s other third-person action games or 3D platformers with matching sensibilities, Nathan Drake is in good company. Here are the five best video games like “Uncharted,” perfect to keep the action-adventure thrills coming.
One of the most prolific voices behind video games is Nolan North, who, among his many roles, voiced and provided motion capture for Nathan Drake in the “Uncharted” games. The year after the first “Uncharted” game, North played the lead character in the 2008 “Prince of Persia” reboot. Following a different, unnamed prince in the “Prince of Persia” timeline, this protagonist is a wanderer who finds himself on a quest to stop a rogue demigod. As the prince proceeds on his quest, he teams up with the magical princess Elika, who provides vital support in combat and platforming.
The 2008 “Prince of Persia” is definitely a departure for the Ubisoft series but not without its merits. It’s arguably the closest that the franchise gets to “Uncharted,” in no small part because of North voicing another wry protagonist. But beyond its shared talent behind-the-scenes, the game puts a particularly strong emphasis on platforming, albeit much more acrobatically than Nathan Drake would ever try. A great jumping-on point for the franchise with one of its most charismatic protagonists, 2008’s “Prince of Persia” is an overlooked gem in the series.
Naughty Dog’s follow-up to the first three “Uncharted” titles was “The Last of Us.” A post-apocalyptic horror game that debuted on the PlayStation 3 in 2013, the story features a world overwhelmed by a fungal outbreak that turns those infected into violent, zombie-like monsters. Hard-bitten mercenary Joel works with a resistance movement to escort Ellie — a teenager immune to the fungus’ symptoms — to a medical facility in Utah. Throughout this cross-country journey, Joel and Ellie form a close bond as they battle and evade not just the infected, but also dangerous factions in the ruins of civilization.
A lot of the third-person shooter mechanics in “Uncharted” are present and retooled for “The Last of Us,” particularly the cover system. At the same time, this is a survival horror experience first and foremost, differentiating it from the more cavalier action-adventure of Naughty Dog’s preceding franchise. One can imagine that the monster-driven sequences in “Uncharted” served as a precursor to the suspense and terror prominent throughout “The Last of Us.” Since its inaugural 2013 installment, “The Last of Us” has undergone a stunning transformation, but it’s still well worth checking out from the beginning.
Fans of the “Uncharted” games will no doubt enjoy the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, and one entry that aligns particularly closely with the adventures of Nathan Drake is “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag,” which doubles down on the naval gameplay introduced “Assassin’s Creed III” with an open-world Caribbean setting during the age of piracy. The game’s primary protagonist is Edward Kenway, a pirate who joins the Assassin Brotherhood and learns of its longstanding shadow war against the Templar Order.
With its Caribbean setting and emphasis on treasure hunting, “Black Flag” definitely evokes “Uncharted” at times, despite its period piece trappings.
