UNCHARTED revolutionised adventure games in 2007.

Californian studio Naughty Dog became one of Sony’s prized developers when they modernised the exploration and gameplay elements of Tomb Raider before adding a little Prince of Persia acrobats and the spirit and wit of the original Indiana Jones films into the mix.

Now on their fifth game in a decade, The Lost Legacy is just as slick, pulse pounding and, at times, awe inspiring as its predecessors.

The spin-off to the main series sees you play as Chloe Frazer who is joined by mercenary Nadine Ross in the hunt for an important relic in the mountains of India called the Tusk of Ganesh.

Lost Legacy’s only real drawback is that it sticks to the typical Uncharted formula, although it does add an open world aspect in one level for the first time.

So a lot of the third-person game is spent climbing up walls and sliding down treacherous slopes where your path is never certain as your handholds and platforms often crumble and snap around you.

But that is just as fun as it was in any of the previous titles and the glue that holds the game together between those frantic scenes is the story and characterisation.

They may be the antiheroes of the previous adventures but Chloe and Nadine are genuinely likeable.

There is chemistry in the interactions between the pair and the quip-laden script could give Hollywood a run for its money.

It also looks incredible. After each death-defying climb there is usually a breathtaking vista of the landscape to take in. The future of the Uncharted series is unclear but if there is another game one thing that could be revamped is the gunplay which feels a little weedy compared to the likes of Gears of War.

But that is just one part of the jigsaw and the platforming, puzzle, stealth and vehicle elements of the experience are spot on.

It is a short game at around seven or eight hours but it all builds to a genuinely staggering finale involving – in the true spirit of old adventure stories – a train, a villain, high stakes and a lot of ingenuity.

RATING: 8.5/10

DAVID MORGAN