Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a 2017 action-adventure game created by Naughty Dog and released by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is a separate game that adds new content to the 2016 game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. In the game, players control Chloe Frazer, who searches for the Tusk of Ganesh in the Western Ghats mountains of India. She is helped by Nadine Ross, an ex-mercenary, and works to stop a cruel leader and his group of rebels from starting a civil war. This is the first Uncharted game that does not include Nathan Drake, the main character from previous games. Like other Uncharted games, players view the action from a third-person perspective. They can use guns, fight enemies with hand-to-hand combat, and avoid enemies using stealth. Players solve puzzles and use jumping and climbing to move through the game world. They can walk or drive vehicles to explore.
Development of The Lost Legacy began shortly after Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was released in May 2016. The game uses gameplay ideas from earlier Uncharted titles but adds more open-ended exploration. Chloe, a character who appeared in earlier games as a friend and associate of Nathan Drake, is the main character. The story, design, and gameplay reflect her role. Claudia Black, Laura Bailey, and Troy Baker returned to voice and act out the characters Chloe, Nadine, and Samuel Drake. They helped writer Josh Scherr and creative director Shaun Escayg develop the story and characters.
The Lost Legacy was released for PlayStation 4 in August 2017. A remastered version was later released for PlayStation 5 and Windows as part of the Legacy of Thieves Collection in 2022. The game received mostly positive reviews from critics.
Gameplay
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is an action-adventure game played from a third-person view, with elements of jumping and climbing challenges. It takes place in the Indian Peninsula. Players control Chloe Frazer, a skilled treasure hunter who can jump, run, climb, swim, swing, and perform other agile moves. Players move through different areas, such as towns, buildings, and temples, to progress through the game’s story. They use guns, hand-to-hand combat, and stealth to fight enemies and drive vehicles during certain parts of the game.
During battles, players can use long-range weapons like rifles and shotguns, or short-range guns like pistols and revolvers. They can also use explosives such as grenades and C4. Players can fight enemies directly or use stealth to avoid detection or sneak past them. The game includes weapons that do not make noise. While the game follows a set path, players can choose from multiple routes in each area. The maps are larger than those in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. The game uses a system where enemies act like real people, reacting to combat, working together, and adapting to players’ actions. Companions controlled by the game’s system can help by throwing objects to distract enemies, pointing out hidden enemies, or attacking with weapons. The game includes scenes without fighting, often with characters talking. Players can choose how conversations end by selecting options in a dialogue tree.
The game includes access to the multiplayer mode from Uncharted 4, with extra content connected to The Lost Legacy.
Plot
During an uprising, treasure hunter Chloe Frazer (Claudia Black) searches for the legendary tusk of Ganesh, the son of Hindu god Shiva, who lost the tusk while protecting his father's temple. Chloe's father was killed by bandits while searching for the tusk. Chloe avoids insurgents and meets mercenary Nadine Ross (Laura Bailey). Together, they enter the office of the insurgents' leader, Asav (Usman Ally), a former friend of Nadine, who plans to use the tusk to start a civil war in India. Chloe and Nadine steal a map showing the tusk's location in the ancient Hoysala Empire and a disc that acts as a key.
In India's Western Ghats, Chloe and Nadine follow a path marked by towers decorated with Hindu symbols: Ganesh's trident, Shiva's bow, and the axe of Parashurama, who used the axe to remove the tusk. The trail leads them to Halebidu, one of the Hoysala Empire's two capitals, where the last emperor left to be conquered by the Persians, possibly due to pride. They learn the emperor created a false trail; the tusk is actually located at the older capital, Belur. On the way, they escape Asav and his men but lose the disc. While observing Asav's forces, Nadine spots her former enemy Samuel Drake (Troy Baker), who is working for Asav. When Nadine says she plans to kill Sam because of past events in Libertalia, Chloe explains she once worked with him before he was taken. Feeling betrayed, Nadine separates from Chloe but later reconciles with her.
At Belur, Chloe and Nadine solve puzzles before being captured by Asav, who discovers Sam is not an expert and has been misleading them. Chloe uses the disc to reveal the tusk's location. She learns that Ganesh allowed Parashurama to cut off his tusk because Shiva gave him the axe, and Ganesh did not want to dishonor his father by proving the axe useless. Asav triggers a trap, forcing Chloe, Nadine, and Sam to escape drowning. Despite tensions between Nadine and Sam, the three pursue Asav to reclaim the tusk. Nadine becomes angry when she discovers Asav is working with Shoreline, the mercenary group she once led but was forced to leave.
Asav gives the tusk to Orca (Gideon Emery), Nadine's former lieutenant, who now controls Shoreline. Chloe, Nadine, and Sam destroy Orca's helicopter and learn Asav traded the tusk for a bomb he plans to detonate in the capital to start a civil war. Orca aims his gun at Nadine, but Sam saves her, allowing her to kill Orca. The group takes a jeep and chases the train carrying the bomb. Chloe and Nadine board the train and fight Asav's men. Chloe and Sam change the train's tracks, diverting it away from the city. In the engine car, Chloe and Nadine fight Asav, whose leg becomes trapped under the bomb. They escape before the train falls from a collapsed bridge and explodes, killing Asav. Chloe and Nadine decide to work together, while Sam is shocked to learn they plan to give the tusk to the Ministry of Culture instead of selling it.
Development
Naughty Dog started working on The Lost Legacy after Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was released in May 2016. They first explored story ideas for the game. Kurt Margenau and Shaun Escayg were chosen to lead the project as game director and creative director, respectively. Margenau was selected because of his skills in programming and his love for video games. Escayg was chosen because he understood how to build strong stories. The game’s music was written by Henry Jackman, who had previously composed music for Uncharted 4. At first, the team considered making a fifth main Uncharted game, but they decided to create downloadable content (DLC) for Uncharted 4 instead. This decision was made because they were also working on The Last of Us Part II, and they wanted to make a shorter story that could be released sooner.
The Lost Legacy was announced on December 4, 2016, at the PlayStation Experience event, along with its first gameplay trailer. A gameplay video was released in April 2017, showing the game’s release date and introducing a pre-order bonus: a version of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy played on PlayStation 4. A story trailer was shown at E3 in June 2017. The game was released for PlayStation 4 on August 22, 2017, in North America and August 23 in Europe. In December 2021, the standalone version of The Lost Legacy was removed from the PlayStation Store, and the game became available only as part of a digital bundle with Uncharted 4. A remastered version for PlayStation 5 was released on January 28, 2022, alongside Uncharted 4, as part of the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection. A version for Windows was released on October 19, 2022, in collaboration with Iron Galaxy.
During development, the team considered using Nathan Drake, the main character from previous Uncharted games, as a secondary character. However, they found this idea unnecessary. Other characters, like Charlie Cutter, Cassie, Sam Drake, and Victor Sullivan, were also considered as main characters. The team decided against Sullivan because his age might make gameplay harder. Instead, they focused on Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross, who had appeared in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009) and Uncharted 4, respectively. The team wanted to explore new relationships with secondary characters from the Uncharted series, unlike the Left Behind DLC for The Last of Us (2013), which focused on filling in a missing part of the story. Initially, the team planned The Lost Legacy to be similar in length to Left Behind, but as development continued, they realized the game would be longer and decided to make it a standalone title instead of DLC. The game is estimated to take over 10 hours to complete.
Claudia Black and Laura Bailey voiced Chloe and Nadine, respectively, in The Lost Legacy, continuing their roles from earlier games. Their performances were mostly recorded using motion capture, with additional audio recorded later in a studio. Video recordings of their faces were also taken to help animators create their characters. The actors helped shape the characters throughout development. Co-writer Josh Scherr noted that the actors had a better understanding of the characters’ motivations and made changes to the script during production. The game was designed around Chloe’s character, with the story and art reflecting her more serious and grounded personality. When returning to the role, Black was interested in exploring what happened to Chloe between Uncharted 3 and The Lost Legacy.
The team focused on Chloe’s design in The Lost Legacy, keeping familiar features like her ponytail but adding small signs of aging, such as wrinkles. Her design and fighting style differ from Nathan Drake’s, and her animations were adjusted to match this. The team found Chloe’s character interesting because her moral choices are less clear-cut than Nathan’s. While she previously sought artifacts for rewards, in The Lost Legacy, she is motivated by the Tusk of Ganesh’s connection to her family. Scherr noted this was an intriguing aspect to explore. The team also wanted to show how Chloe copes with danger differently than before. In previous games, she escaped to save herself, but in The Lost Legacy, she must persevere as a leader. The team felt Chloe needed a partner with military skills, and Nadine was eager for more work after Uncharted 4. The pairing of Chloe and Nadine interested the team because of their differences: Chloe is impulsive, while Nadine is more organized. The writers made sure their dialogue was not too friendly, adjusting the script as needed.
The game’s antagonist, Asav, is portrayed by Usman Ally. To prepare for the role, Ally met with Shaun Escayg to discuss experiences with leaders who believed their actions were for a noble cause. Escayg compared Asav to Mexican doctor José Manuel Mireles, based on the documentary Cartel Land (2015). Ally described Mireles as someone with the charisma to lead a revolution, noting that Asav shares similar traits and weaknesses. Ally found that studying historical revolutionaries helped him understand Asav’s mindset.
Josh Scherr and Shaun Escayg wrote the game’s story. Unlike previous Uncharted games, which followed real historical figures like Marco Polo and Henry Avery, The Lost Legacy focused on the region’s culture and philosophy due to the shorter development time. The writers studied Hinduism and related myths for the story. The team aimed to include the more fantastical elements from the first three Uncharted games, which were absent in Uncharted 4. Escayg noted that the smaller scope of The Lost Legacy allowed the team to explore characters’ emotions and perspectives more deeply. He also tried to show characters’ feelings through gameplay. The story of The Lost Legacy let the team use gameplay ideas that were cut from Uncharted 4.
Some large open areas in Uncharted 4 were limited by the development schedule, but Naughty Dog improved their process for The Lost Legacy, allowing five teams to work on one location at a time. The diverse settings of the Western Ghats region, including jungles, mountains, temples, and cities, gave the team many options to explore. The team was also inspired by the iconography and deities of India.
The combat system in The Lost Legacy was changed to fit Chloe’s size and fighting style. While Nathan Drake fought like a brawler, Chloe uses more martial arts techniques. Players control the character and camera, but the team carefully planned gameplay to create specific scenes. Art director Tate Mosesian said, “There’s very little that’s random.” The team used color creatively in the game’s visuals. During development, the team bought a lock-picking set to help design the in-game lock-picking mechanics.
Reception
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy received "generally favorable" reviews, according to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews. Eurogamer placed the game 18th on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017." GamesRadar+ placed it 10th on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017. EGMNow placed it 21st on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017. Polygon placed it 47th on their list of the 50 best games of 2017. The game was nominated for "Best PlayStation 4 Game," "Best Action-Adventure Game," "Best Graphics," and "Best Story" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards. It won the "Best Graphics" award in Game Informer's 2017 Action Game of the Year Awards.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy sold 23,131 copies on PlayStation 4 during its first week of sale in Japan. This placed it at number four on the all-format sales chart. On the week of its release, Lost Legacy topped the UK video game sales chart. It later sold 48,000 digital copies within five weeks of its release. By 2023, the game had sold 5.2 million copies.