There’s been an ongoing debate regarding two treasure-centric franchises for some time now. Uncharted and Tomb Raider are two series that exist in the same vein, to the point where many people think they are exactly the same with just different protagonists. Uncharted’s Nathan Drake is reminiscent of Indiana Jones, and, to some, he wouldn’t even be allowed to exist if it weren’t for the Tomb Raider franchise. Lara Croft is the classic heroine of a long-running franchise, but it’s hard to ignore that her more recent iterations take a bit of inspiration from Naughty Dog’s action series.
Recently, fans of both series got to see a release for each of the two franchises. Rise of the Tomb Raider released at the tail end of 2015 to high praise (currently sitting on an 86 over at Metacritic) and is currently available on the Xbox One and PC, with a PS4 release on the horizon. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has been showered with praise (holds a 93 on Metacritic) as it closes out one of Sony’s biggest franchises.
While it’s clear that Uncharted 4 has been received better by critics, there’s more to games than just their scores. Each series, although in the exact same genre, manage to plant their flag in gaming by doing certain things very well. It’s those elements that make choosing much more difficult than it may seem on the surface. You aren’t just choosing a different protagonist, you’re choosing an entirely different experience.
