A game can suffer from bad pacing, even if it's often associated with TV shows and movies. Pacing is a technical element that is hard to pinpoint, but when it's wrong a player or viewer can just feel it. In a movie, bad pacing can be attributed to a number of things, such as lengthy dialog scenes that cover little ground, action sequences that don't offer much excitement, or a combination of both, leading to a sense that the movie hasn't really gone anywhere. Bad pacing in a video game is very similar, and Naughty Dog games tend to suffer from it at least once during their runtimes.
Whether it's Uncharted or The Last of Us, Naughty Dog's games usually have at least one moment that feels like it drags. While these games are widely considered to be some of the best first-party experiences around, they aren't perfect, and even one or two moments of bad pacing can put a dampener on any player's enjoyment.
Uncharted's Puzzles Bring The Game to a Dead Stop
The Uncharted series is the biggest offender of Naughty Dog's bad pacing. In all the Uncharted games, there's at least one moment where the explosive action set-pieces come to an end and the player is tasked with solving a puzzle. While this is expected of a puzzle-action/adventure game, it's undeniable that the these sections bring the game to a screeching halt.
The perfect example of this is seen with Uncharted 4's Scotland and Madagascar puzzles, which both mark an abrupt end to arguably the game's best sections. Players go from swinging around cliffs and climbing up towers to shooting their way through an intense firefight, and then are suddenly being forced to turn a wheel or flip some puzzle pieces.
While it is true that an action game needs downtime in order to make the player excited about the next set-piece, these puzzles tend to be crammed in awkwardly, with little build-up or reason beyond the game needing one at that moment. Some of Uncharted's best puzzles are those that can be completed quickly and easily so players can get straight on with the action the series is best known for.
Pushing Shelves and Boxes Isn't Fun
One element present in all of Naughty Dog's games is a sequence involving pushing a box, shelf, or other obstacle out of the way of the protagonist's path. While this isn't an issue specific to Naughty Dog games alone, it is pretty glaring in these titles where environmental exploration is cut short by a sequence that requires the player to mash a button so they can lift a piece of wood to pass through.
These sequences are often used to hide loading times, and as Naughty Dog games tend to have large and open environments, it's understandable that they exist. However, these sections do bring the game's pacing down. During The Last of Us and Uncharted's worst sections, players will often find themselves mashing a button to move a shelf or box at least a few times in quick succession, and these moments can add up in a player's mind to leave a feeling that the game is dragging.
This issue is only elevated by the presence of friendly AI. While Naughty Dog's enemy AI is usually great, the same can't be said for its allies. Uncharted 4's Sam Drake has a habit of taking his time to pull the player up onto a ledge or push a box down, leading to long wait times in which the player is forced to just sit and watch. When friendly AI is involved, Naughty Dog's pacing issues only get worse. Hopefully the studio's next venture figures out different ways to pace out its story and gameplay segments.