The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection has brought Sony's massively successful first-party franchise into the spotlight once again. It includes two games: Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Being the fourth mainline entry in the franchise, there is a lot of information players should know before heading into it.
Playing the first three games is recommended beforehand to learn about the characters. Remastered versions are playable on PS4 and PS5 in the form of the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection. Going through all three games only takes about twenty hours, especially on lower difficulties. Anyone who does not have time to play the original titles should just read this list to catch up on the most important details of the franchise.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
8 Sam Drake Is Literally Never Mentioned Before
The most important new character introduced in Uncharted 4 is Sam Drake, Nathan's long-lost brother. Even fans of the franchise are surprised by this because Nathan never mentions him or even alludes to having siblings in the first three games.
Nathan thinks he died during an adventure when they were younger, so the game reasons that the traumatic event was too much to bring up even to Elena, the love of his life. This is why the game puts a lot of work into establishing Nathan and Sam's relationship.
7 Nathan Drake Is Not Actually A Drake
Nathan Drake presents himself as a descendent of Sir Francis Drake, who is the explorer at the heart of the first game's mystery. Uncharted 3 reveals that he is not actually related to the legendary treasure hunter.
He picks the name as a way to forge his own identity, but the villain tries to antagonize him by revealing the lie. Uncharted 4 further deals with this idea and reveals more about his real family.
6 Nathan Drake Has Been Doing This Since He Was A Young Teenager
The first two Uncharted games reveal little about Nathan Drake's past. Uncharted 3 finally has a flashback to when he was a young teenager. It shows players just how long Nathan has been living this kind of life. It is almost all he has known.
Knowing this is important to understanding his attitude toward treasure hunting in Uncharted 4. Since all of his life has been hunting artifacts and narrowly avoiding death, normal living is completely insufferable.
5 This Is The First Game Where Nathan And Elena Are Married
At the center of the whole franchise is the relationship between Nathan Drake and Elena Fischer. They are complete strangers at the start of the debut entry and each sequel sees them at different stages of their courtship.
They reunite in Uncharted 2 and Nathan eventually admits his love for her. By Uncharted 3 they have broken up once again after an engagement. By the end of it, though, Nathan once again offers up the engagement ring. This brings them to where they are at the beginning of Uncharted 4. The couple is living a calm life in a normal town, working normal jobs.
4 Nathan Drake Has No Qualms About Killing People
A common joke about Uncharted among fans is Nathan Drake's charming personality versus his indifference toward killing people. In every game, players kill well over 100 foes. It is a wonder how he is able to sleep at night.
To be fair, all these people are also trying to kill him. Most players are not bothered by this - this is a video game, after all - but it is always an interesting thing to talk about. It is a part of the genre, though. People don't think twice about all the people Henry Jones kills in those movies. He mostly kills Nazis, however, so there is no emotional distress at seeing them die.
3 Chloe Frazer Is An Important Supporting Character In Uncharted 2 And 3
Chloe Frazer is absent from Uncharted 4, but she is the playable character of The Lost Legacy, the second part of the remaster collection. She is an important part of Uncharted 2 and 3. Players are initially unsure of her alliance, but she soon comes out as a friend to Drake.
She is more positively portrayed in Uncharted 3, though clearly still someone after the money. This makes her character development and the reveal of her backstory all the more meaningful in The Lost Legacy.
2 Nadine Ross And Rafe Adler Are Never Mentioned Before
The two main villains of Uncharted 4 are Nadine Ross and Rafe Adler. Nadine leads the Shoreline mercenary company and Rafe hires her in helping to hunt down the treasure, while Rafe himself is simply a rich man out for the treasure in the name of glory.
They are not in any prior Uncharted games, even though Rafe is a part of Nathan's past. The two villains feel more developed than the antagonists of the past games. They have involved characterization and are more interesting when juxtaposed with the protagonists' motivations.
1 Victor Sullivan Is Like A Father To Nathan Drake
From the beginning, it is clear Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan are close. The flashback in Uncharted 3 further shows just how close they are. Sullivan mentored Nathan Drake and the two have known each other since Nathan was a young teenager. He is like a father to him.
Knowing this, it is easy to understand why Sully talks to Drake the way he does and why he is so suspicious about Sam Drake when he comes back.
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is out now for PS5. A PC release is scheduled to come out in 2022.