Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection deserves to be on PS5 – but the PS5 and the Collection deserved better

Naughty Dog really knows how to make an action adventure game. Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy are two of the best the genre has ever seen, and both dazzled on PS4 in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Smart, funny writing combines with superb production values and thrilling gameplay to deliver blockbuster gaming at its best. But these are PS4 games. They are super impressive PS4 games that hold up brilliantly today, but they are PS4 games, and this PS5 double port does little to improve them – at least at a glance. These are bare bones ports that scrape by on Naughty Dog's expert use of the previous generation's hardware.

There's not a whole lot of point dwelling on how good each game is, for there are a million thoughts already readily available to read. Alex was impressed in his Uncharted 4 review, while our friends/enemies/rivals/colleagues at Eurogamer were equally impressed in their Uncharted: The Lost Legacy review.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection - Pre-Order Trailer | PS5

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For my money, Uncharted 4 takes a little too long to get going, but is a huge improvement over Uncharted 3 - a game that seemed to ride on the coattails of the incredible second game and that impressive plane cargo bay sequence. The Lost Legacy is a tighter production, and introduces more of an open-world feel, but does feel a touch slight when put alongside 4. It makes sense to view them as one complete package, so the pairing here makes perfect sense, even if the entire five-games series would have been very welcome on PS5.

Onto the ports themselves, then, and the news is… well, rather boring to be honest. Both games have three visual modes to choose from: 4K at 30 FPS, 60 FPS at something like 1440p, and a 120 FPS mode at 1080p. Alongside the majority of the game-buying population, my TV doesn't support 120hz, so I haven't tested that mode. I'm sure it's lovely, but honestly the 60 FPS mode is plenty smooth enough for a game of this type. It's hard to go back to 30 FPS once played at 60, and the difference in clarity/resolution isn't enough for me to make that choice.

Aside from some DualSense support – which is neat but not really transformative – the only other differences here over the PS4 games is 3D audio and rapid loading. Again, though, these aren't game-changing by any means. PS4 saves and trophies can also be ported over if you already own one or both of the games, which shouldn't really be a point worth mentioning, but is given how clumsy some PS4 to PS5 ports have been.

Are both games in this collection worth $50? Yes, absolutely. They are excellent and 100% worth playing if you're yet to give them a whirl - perhaps if you didn't own a PS4. But what about the $10 upgrade to unlock the PS5 features if you own the games already? Honestly, the 60 FPS is great, so it's probably not the worst way to spend $10. But the real question is whether or not we should have to. Take a look across at something like Gears 5 on Xbox, and you'll see a game that got significantly improved, at no cost, for Xbox Series owners. Looking closer to home, Death Stranding had a similar upgrade cost for PS5 owners, but it came with loads of extra content, too.

In the end, and in the biggest copout you can do, I'm going to say that the choice is yours. Unless Sony adds a free 60 FPS patch, I think the price to upgrade is worth it. I don't think you should have to pay for it considering other games have offered more for the same price or less, but judged on its own merits, $10 is fine. Newcomers also get a good deal when you completely ignore the current price of the games on PS4, but look at the quality instead.

There is undoubtedly an argument about how work carried out on these ports needs to be paid for, but that ignores the fact that some things are good for the community and the fanbase. As much as the upgrade here is far from extortionate, it can't help but feel a little grabby.