Nathan Drake’s adventure is officially over with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. It has been several years since that game was released, and aside from re-releases to new platforms, there is no news regarding a new Uncharted title. However, there are other action-adventure games to play until a new Uncharted entry hits the market.
Here are the 10 action-adventure games that should tide you over until Uncharted 5 or a prequel or spinoff game is announced.
Uncharted Game Features
 Release Date: | November 19, 2007 |
 Developer: | Naughty Dog Bend Studio One Loop Games Bluepoint Games Playspree Iron Galaxy |
 Publisher: | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
 Platforms: | PlayStation 3 PlayStation Vita PlayStation 4 Android iOS PlayStation 5 Windows |
 Genre: | Action-adventure, third-person shooter |
 Setting: | Real World |
 Game Modes: | Single-player & Multiplayer
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1. Just Cause 4
The video game industry sometimes is just too enamored with Hollywood. Some games try to be movies, but they just cannot be done as films and video games are entirely different art forms. Obviously, there can be narrative-based video games be they FMV games or action-adventure like Uncharted.
The Just Cause series just ignore the conventions of comprehensible and thoughtful story and premise and just allow the most fun sequences in video games. And because of that, these games are uniquely enjoyable.
Just Cause 4 is the latest of the series, and obviously the recommended one. The first three Just Cause games are good games but they are somewhat dated. The Uncharted games are known to be on the bleeding edge and having to play the older Just Cause games after playing the former may be jarring because of the latter’s obvious age.
The grappling hook is a core part of the Just Cause franchise. In the fourth entry, this grappling hook can now attach to balloons, rocket boosters, and nearly anything in the game. The massive possibilities and combination make Just Cause 4 an action-adventure that even Uncharted cannot provide.
In Just Cause 4, reaching the objective and completing missions are not restricted in limited ways. It is upon the player how they go about this. In Uncharted, the set pieces are not necessarily open enough for creativity. Obviously, experiences will vary wildly compared to the curated ones in Uncharted.
The narrative framework of Just Cause 4 is as open as its gameplay. The three sections of the story can be approached in any sequence from the start. It’s surprisingly pleasant to see an open-world game giving the player nearly unlimited freedom.
Some campaign objectives may need the destruction of specific bases, but it’s more easygoing than other games of the genre, which either hold the player’s hand for too long or restrict some regions to difficult-to-beat enemies.
There will be instances when both the main story and side quests will require you to move an object or vehicle to a specific location, and the game will encourage you to use its toolkit in whichever way you see appropriate.
Because there are always some new methods to conceive and different strategies to execute, freeform objectives never become monotonous. There is a different sensation when you spend more time with the tools and put together more intricate approaches to attaining the same goals.
There are several versions of Just Cause 4. What is linked below is the Reloaded version. It includes three of the launch DLCs. There are other versions with several DLCs included, but the base version should be enough.
- Developer: Avalanche Studio
- Publisher: Square Enix Europe
- Release Date: December 4, 2018 (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)
- Platform: PC, PS, Xbox
2. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
After the disaster that is Marvel’s Avengers, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy aims to rectify the sins of the former. Instead of following a Game as a Service model, this game is a self-contained single-player experience. Instead of co-op beat-em-up loot grinding, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is pushing narrative with substantial player freedom when it comes to choices.
Licensed games, except for the Batman games and the Lego games, have a reputation of being soulless cash grabs, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy are one of those few that is truly a sublime game.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is not within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is a totally different and independent rendition of the comic property. In this game, the entire crew peddles themselves as freelance heroes to the highest bidders.
The game begins as the crew grows tired of living off odd jobs and are looking to make a big splash. They then decide to go to a forbidden zone to capture a rare creature and sell it to Lady Hellbender, a monster collector.
Unfortunately, in addition to leaving empty-handed, they end up being caught up by the cohorts of Nova, the galactic police, who impose a heavy fine on them for entering this forbidden area.
The Guardians then have three days to get their hands on a large sum of money in order to avoid prison. In their quest to recover financially, the heroes will eventually cross paths with dangerous individuals and come to play a major role in the fate of the galaxy.
On the gameplay side, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a third-person shooter in which, you only control Star-Lord. Thanks to his two blasters, Star-Lord can shoot his opponents without interruption until he overheats.
To overcome resistant enemies, his weapons can also produce elemental shots with different effects: ice immobilizes, electricity paralyzes several enemies, and wind allows you to grab an opponent or a structure. But the Star-Lord’s greatest strength is his jet boots which give him great mobility in combat, both for gliding and dodging.
In order for players not to stumble controlling Star-Lord given his mobility, there is a locking system that should allow players to have total control.
Star-Lord can issue commands to Groot, the defensive specialist, Rocket, the demolitions expert, Drax uses hard-hitting stagger attacks, and Gamora the DPS stereotype.
Their individual playstyle creates an engaging and dynamic fighting system, allowing you various combination attacks as you mix and match abilities throughout the whole squad, or unify for whole-team strikes.
Unlike Uncharted though, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy has a lot of RPG elements. The humor, story, and dialogue choices make this game a pleasant experience. It may not be as bombastic as Uncharted in set pieces but it is superb entertainment from visuals to music.
- Developer: Eidos-Montreal
- Publisher: Square-Enix Europe
- Release Date: October 25, 2021 (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC)
- Platform: PC, Switch, PS, Xbox
3. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is Uncharted before it was even conceived. Treasure hunting? Check. Man versus Nature? Check. Jumping over ledges? Check. Puzzle-solving dungeons and tombs? Check. Folklore and mystical legends actually being real in some form? Check. Also, this game is made by the same developers as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, hence you know it is another first-rate game.
The third Tomb Raider reboot takes everything that was great in the two previous efforts and makes a fantastic game. In the two previous entries, Lara is effectively a rookie being plunged into an adventure with lesser skills and full of doubts.
Lara is her fully realized Tomb Raider persona in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. She is at ease with the job at hand. In this adventure, however, the skills she learned are handicapped due to her gear being lost after an aircraft accident.
She must regain it back in order to whip her enemies and traverse difficult terrain. This is a good structure for power creeping, as it stands, a fully kitted third game Lara at the beginning of the game is just too strong.
The beasts you will encounter are more cunning than in the past titles, a movement too abrupt or a suspicious noise will be enough to make them run away. However, specific skills will come to your aid that once unlocked will improve bow performance or the game displays the weak points of animals and enemies more clearly.
The latter’s AI is shaky at best but, as usual, this is remedied by throwing in numbers and making them bullet sponges to make up for their not-so-bright behavior. Well, anyway, you can also deal with them in stealth so that you can survive. Also in this Tomb Raider game, some pretty good tricks have been added, which allow you to set up traps and use makeshift explosives to assemble on the fly with the materials you will find on the field.
It is highly recommended to play Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider before delving into this game. The character development of Lara across three games is definitely a must-experience. The gameplay of these games is also up to modern standards so there are no archaic systems to wrestle with.
- Developer: Eidos-Montreal
- Publisher: Square Enix Europe
- Release Date: July 18, 2017 (PC, PS4) / May 17, 2018 (Nintendo Switch/ February 27, 2019 (Xbox One)
- Platform: PC, Switch, PS, Xbox
4. Horizon: Forbidden West
Here comes another Sony project that is both narrative-driven and a cinematic action-adventure. This is not necessarily Uncharted: Post-apocalyptic Edition, as Horizon: Forbidden West especially its protagonist Aloy, is totally a good thing on its own.
This is a direct sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn. It is pretty much required to play that game first so the plot may make sense. There is a story recap in starting the game though, so there is that. Nevertheless, this sequel improves on a lot of things, actually, on everything the original has offered.
Horizon: Forbidden West absolutely breathtaking with its spectacular scenery. Not only are the visuals impressive, but so are the art direction, lighting, animations, and voice acting, to mention a few. They all operate in unison to elevate the game’s presentation to a level that few games can equal. It’s a genuine work of art, both artistically and technically. So much so that I couldn’t help but stop every few feet to flip my camera around and appreciate the sights.
Forbidden West is essentially identical to Zero Dawn. You go across a wide-open world full of machines to hunt, places to visit, side quests to do, and hidden trinkets to discover. The difference this time is that there’s a lot more verticality, with Aloy being able to dive underwater. And because of how well they fit into the core gameplay loop, these new locations feel like natural additions to Horizon’s world.
The underwater areas are virtually like something of a wholly different world. The subsurface and surface areas both boast vast areas and are heavily inhabited by plants and animals. They’re no different from the landscapes that juxtapose the frequently vivid colors of nature with the drab, rust-colored remains of wrecked human cities.
- Developer: Guerilla Games
- Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Release Date: February 18, 2022 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5)
- Platform: PS
6. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
There are many Assassin’s Creed games released. The closest to Uncharted. while not being archaic, should be Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. True, there are newer games than Assasin’s Creed Syndicate (and they are better in most areas) like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Assassin’s Creed Origins, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but they have themes and gameplay mechanics that stray too far from the original game.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate followed up a divisive Assassin’s Creed game, Assassin’s Creed Unity. There is no multiplayer mode or co-op options messily tacked on. It has no online requirement for a malfunctioning service. To obtain everything in the game, you do not need to play a companion app.
Syndicate’s grappling hook, an obvious copy from Rocksteady’s Arkham games and Just Cause franchise, simplifies and extends your rooftop exploring over huge distances. It allows you to quickly zip between the Towers of Westminster or rappel down from St Paul’s and halt midway to drop vertically upon the skulls of two Templar targets.
Alternatively, it may be used as a speedier connection between two buildings during a pursuit, eliminating the need to find a rope connecting roofs or climb down from your stalking zone when trailing targets. Assassination missions become cat and mouse affairs, with you zipping in and out of sight, losing your pursuers just to drop down and stealthily snuff out another target.
Whether you’re climbing a clock tower, battling in a cellar, scaling a mill wall, leaping from a shanty, or simply strolling through town with your pals, London is stunning. Jacob and Evie Frye, the game’s twin protagonists, are two of the most developed characters Ubisoft has ever produced. Similarly, the supporting cast, which includes Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dickins, and Alexander Graham Bell, looks fantastic.
- Developer: Ubisoft Quebec
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Release Date: October 23, 2015 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One) / November 19, 2015 (PC)
- Platform: PlayStation, Xbox, PC
7. Quantum Break
The greatest achievement of the Remedy title in Quantum Break is its well-woven narrative between a video game and a TV series as a perfect complement. Quantum Break is worth playing for its interesting plot and the intensity of its conflicts, although the pacing of the story goes through peaks and valleys, with too many sections without combat and excessive reading.
In this list so far, only Quantum Break deals with a sci-fi setting. Quantum Break is, at its heart, an action-adventure game with a focus on time-bending fighting powers and third-person shooting wrapped in a richly dramatic storyline. Furthermore, Quantum Break includes a big-budget character-driven TV drama that chronicles the motives of the game’s adversaries.
You take on the role of Jack Joyce. As a result of a failed time travel experiment, Jack gets irradiated by chronon particles, obtaining the power to bend time itself to his whim. To begin with, Jack Joyce is clueless about his own powers, which is explored as both a story point and a gameplay mechanic. You’ll start to earn new talents as you move through the game’s battle settings and plot. Those powers lie at the foundation of Quantum Break’s combat, with shooting with conventional guns serving as a supplement.
Truthfully there this is an imperfect game but that does not take away the intriguing narrative and marriage of two different media.
- Developer: Remedy Entertainment
- Publisher: Microsoft Studios
- Release Date: April 5, 2016 (Xbox One, PC)
- Platform: Xbox, PC
8. Control: Ultimate Edition
Remedy Entertainment again provides another neat one. Control is a fantastic single-player action-adventure game with an excellent battle system and stunning destructible settings. It also features some RPG components, such as the ability to develop your talents, acquire new weapons, and employ weapon and personal modifications.
Control lets you control Jesse Faden, the new director of the Federal Bureau of Control a government agency dealing with the inexplicable. Kinda similar to how agents in the Matrix universe deal with “glitches” in the reality.
Just imagine a much crazier Quantum Break, that is Control. The gameplay takes a time to get going, but after a relatively uninteresting first few hours, new powers and weaponry begin to appear in a constant stream, along with the plot becoming more intense. Each battle upgrade (ability and weapon) changes the game significantly.
Once you have every skill and weapon? The game becomes one of the finest action-adventure games ever made. Imagine Star Wars, but better, with incredible gunplay. Doesn’t it sound epic? That’s because it is.
- Developer: Remedy Entertainment
- Publisher: 505 Games
- Release Date: August 27, 2019 (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4), October 20, 2020 (Nintendo Switch – Cloud). February 2, 2021 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S)
- Platform: PC, Switch, PS, Xbox
9. Jedi: Fallen Order
Speaking of Star Wars, Jedi: Fallen Order is the action adventure for both fans of that colossal IP and the video game genre. This game has a fantastic blend of genres at its most polished state.
Jedi: Fallen Order is an action-adventure (with heavy RPG elements) that follows Cal Kestis, a young, unproven Jedi who escaped Order 66 and is now hiding from the Imperial Inquisitors on a deteriorating planet that is essentially a cemetery and waste of big ships. He successfully conceals his identity and Force connection for five years, until a series of events betrays him, and the Empire is hot on his tail. This game’s opening sequence is one of the greatest, visually and musically.
The story contains a few twists and turns, some predictable and some truly astonishing, because the game frequently provides us a cliché and stereotypes every now and then, and suddenly a unique take is dished.
This might be an exaggeration but essentially Jedi: Fallen order has the Dark Souls, the platforming from Uncharted, the puzzles from Tomb Raider, and the level design of Metroidvania.
- Developer: Respawn Entertainment
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release Date: November 15, 2019 (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One) / June 11, 2021 (PlayStation 5, Series X|S)
- Platform: PC, PS, Xbox
10. Psychonauts 2
Psychonauts is admittedly a quirky addition to this list. It is a long time coming, though, 16 years after the original came out. This is more of an action-adventure and platformer than Uncharted-like, but it does provide great set pieces and an amazing story.
With an incredible plot, platforming, and art/music direction, Psychonauts 2 improves on all the previous game had to offer. Basically, you control Raz, a Psychonaut, who can enter the minds of people and have an adventure on what the psyche of that person is. It may be a cooking show or a Sergeant Pepper-themed concert.
Playing Psychonauts 2 is like unwrapping a bunch of gifts. There are traces of old platforming staples like ice and lava, but the vast majority of levels are lovely originals that put a mild spin on the foundations of action-platforming.
However, Psychonauts 2 doesn’t simply make you chuckle; it also hits on every emotion. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a game about probing into people’s brains and revealing what they’re hiding from the outside world.
- Developer: Double Fine
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
- Release Date: August 25, 2021 (PC, Xbox One PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S)
- Platform: PC, Xbox, PS
Conclusion
These games should be enough while you cross your fingers for an Uncharted game. The games in this list are varied with different themes and premises.
Never forget that there are other non-mainline Uncharted spin-offs like Uncharted” Lost Legacy and the PlayStation Vita games, Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Uncharted: Fight for Fortune, although the latter is not an action-adventure game but a digital card collection game.
