Yeah, you heard me.

I just completed my 4^th playthrough of Uncharted 4 and I am, again, thoroughly shook. This is one of the most well written, well acted, interesting, exciting, riveting video games I have ever played – and I’ve played a lot of video games.

I’m not sure if I’d be referred to as a “gamer.” I don’t attend E3 conventions or go to Comic Con nor do I own something as basic as a headset for interacting with other gamers online. I do love video games though. Anyone that knows me knows at least this simple fact about me. I’ve been playing video games consistently since I was old enough to be in control of my motor movements. First game system I owned was a Nintendo and my siblings and I would spend hours playing Super Mario. I also owned a few computer games. Old Sonic The Hedgehog games and Shining Force were my go to games in times of boredom before I eventually dropped both the Nintendo and computer games and “upgraded” to a Playstation 1.

My point is; no, I’m not an expert gamer but I’ve been playing video games for almost 2 decades now and I can, with the utmost confidence, say that Uncharted 4 is the best video game ever made.

I got into the Uncharted series relatively late. I had just finished my 2^nd and final playthrough of the rebooted Tomb Raider game (starring a 20-something year old Lara Croft) and I was looking for something with a similar feel. I had heard of Uncharted but never paid attention to it, much less played it. In 2013, I bought a used copy of the first Uncharted game in the series for 10 bucks at a video game store down the street from my apartment. Took me another 2 days to actually play it but when I did, I was instantly hooked.

At that point, I was still playing video games on my PS3 and.. well, I gotta say, I had seen better graphics. So I wasn’t too impressed by that aspect of the game but it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of it even a little. I finished the first playthrough in about 3 days and immediately began a second playthough. That’s how good it was. I eventually played the second and third games in the series and moved on, casually waiting for the 4^th one to drop.

When Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End finally dropped, I hadn’t been paying much attention to its lead up. I was still obsessed with GTA 5 Online. I hadn’t seen any sneak peeks, trailers, or pictures. I just bought it from the Playstation Store, waited for it to download, and dove right in.

God.. what a fantastic game this is. Seriously so enthralling from start to finish. Even the Crash Bandicoot mini-game was a nice little throwback surprise to early Playstation days. The graphics are stupendous. Seriously, Nate and Elena have never looked more gorgeous. Sam Drake was a very interesting character and his entire storyline was so well written and well thought out, I’m still in awe. Rafe Adler is the perfect villain. Handsome, slick, unsettling enough to make you uncomfortable with a hint of undiagnosed psychosis lurking just beneath the surface.

I won’t go into a deep analysis of the game’s plotline (even though I very well could). I just wanted to make that very bold statement and I stand by it. If anyone disagrees, all they have to do is play through it just once and they’ll see what all the hype is about.

Next on my to-play list? Uncharted: The Lost Legacy starring previous Uncharted 1-4 characters Chloe Frazier and Nadine Ross. I hope that lives up to my very high expectations.