Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a 2017 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 4. It began as downloadable content for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, but grew into a standalone release. The game shifts the series’ lead role from Nathan Drake to Chloe Frazer, a treasure hunter previously seen in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

Chloe travels to India’s Western Ghats in search of the Tusk of Ganesh, an ancient artifact associated with the Hoysala Empire. She is joined by Nadine Ross, the former head of the South African mercenary group Shoreline, who appeared as an antagonist in Uncharted 4. Their partnership is uneasy: Chloe wants to find the tusk, while Nadine has her own reasons for taking the job. They face Asav, an insurgent leader who seeks the artifact and uses the region’s conflict to pursue his aims.

The story draws on Hindu mythology and the history of the Hoysala kingdom, while its locations and characters are fictionalized for the adventure. Chloe’s connection to the tusk is personal. Her father, an archaeologist, died while pursuing it, and the search lets her confront the history she inherited from him. Nadine’s presence adds another thread from Uncharted 4: after losing control of Shoreline, she is trying to regain a sense of direction and independence.

The game’s main setting is a large, explorable area in the Western Ghats. In one chapter, Chloe drives through this landscape and can choose the order in which to visit several forts, collecting clues that help her progress. This open-ended sequence contrasts with the series’ more tightly directed climbing, combat, and puzzle sections. Elsewhere, the game returns to familiar Uncharted elements, including gunfights, traversal across ledges and ruins, and environmental puzzles involving mechanisms and ancient structures.

Naughty Dog built the game using the technology and gameplay foundations of Uncharted 4. Its design also gives Chloe and Nadine’s changing relationship a central role: they exchange banter, argue, and gradually learn to rely on one another. Their conversations continue during exploration rather than being confined to cutscenes.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy was released on August 22, 2017, in North America and August 23 in Europe. It received generally positive reviews, with critics highlighting its visual presentation, action sequences, and the dynamic between its two leads. In 2022, it was included alongside Uncharted 4 in Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection for PlayStation 5 and Windows.