Difficulty selection in Uncharted 2 Among Thieves.
There are 4-6 difficulty levels in the Uncharted series. They are in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, and Uncharted: Golden Abyss. The difficulty level in each game determines how much damage the player takes, deals, and how much health they have. Crushing must be unlocked in all games prior to The Nathan Drake Collection. In Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves, the game must be beaten on Hard before it can be played. In Drake's Deception, the game can be played on any difficulty to unlock Crushing, and in Golden Abyss, the game must be beaten on Normal or Hard to unlock Crushing. The Nathan Drake Collection has a harder difficulty, Brutal, while the easiest difficulty, Explorer, acts as a replacement for the Very Easy difficulty from previous titles.
Gameplay Differences
The difference in the difficulties primarily affect the damage Drake and his enemies will deal to one another, though also effects the amount health Drake has as well. When playing on Very Easy, Drake has an aim assist making it easier to shoot enemies down, along with a 50% health boost and defence boost, making it nearly impossible for him to die. Although, when playing on Crushing difficulty, Drake has half as much health as he does on the normal difficulty and takes double the damage, likewise, Brutal adds quadruple damage, making him extremely easy to kill.
List of Difficulties in each game
Uncharted Drake's Fortune
- Easy
- Normal
- Hard
- Crushing
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- Very Easy
- Easy
- Normal
- Hard
- Crushing
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
- Very Easy
- Easy
- Normal
- Hard
- Crushing
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Very Easy
- Easy
- Normal
- Hard
- Crushing
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection
- Explorer
- Easy
- Normal
- Hard
- Crushing
- Brutal
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
- Explorer
- Light
- Moderate
- Hard
- Crushing
Differences in each game
- Very Easy / Explorer - The easiest difficulty in all games (except Drake's Fortune). Drake has 50% extra health along with an aim assist. Drake also deals twice as much damage to enemies, whilst taking half the damage from them. Direct explosions from grenades and RPG shots do not instantly kill Drake due having extra health, but will leave him near death. There is no trophy unlocked after completing the game on this difficulty. Recommended for first time players, or for those that just want to enjoy the story.
- Easy / Light - The easiest difficulty in Drake's Fortune, and the second easiest in every other game onwards, this difficulty is very similar to the Very Easy/Explorer difficulties, except Drake does not have extra health, nor an aim assist. Drake deals 1.5 more damage to enemies, while enemies only deal half damage. The Charted! - Easy trophy is unlocked after beating each game on this difficulty or higher. Recommended for players that want a small bit of difficulty, but nothing too harsh.
- Normal / Moderate - The normal, standard difficulty in all games. Both Drake and the enemies 1x damage. The Charted! - Normal trophy is unlocked after beating each game on this difficulty or higher in all games. For those that want an ideal and balanced gameplay.
- Hard - A harder difficulty in all games. Drake deals half as much damage and takes twice as much damage from enemies. The Charted! - Hard trophy is unlocked after beating each game on this difficulty or higher. Recommended for advanced players.
- Crushing - An even harder difficulty that must be unlocked by completing each game on Hard difficulty, but can also be unlocked on Normal in Golden Abyss, and can be unlocked on any difficulty in Drake's Deception and is automatically unlocked in each game of the Nathan Drake Collection. Drake deals half as much damage to enemies, and enemies deal twice as much damage to Drake. Drake also has half as much health, making him very easy to kill. Tweaks and the ability to spawn weapons at any time is disabled, similarly, some combat tutorials are also disabled. The Charted! - Crushing trophy is unlocked after completing each game on this difficulty. Recommended for expert players that want an extra challenge.
- Brutal - An even harder difficulty than Crushing that is only featured in The Nathan Drake Collection, and must be unlocked by beating each game on Crushing. Drake deals half as much damage to enemies, and enemies deal quadruple damage to Drake. Drake has half as much health, meaning that he can die within 2-3 shots. Most combat tutorials are disabled. Enemies do not drop stealth-killed weapons when stealth-killed. Tweaks and the ability to grant weapons at any is disabled. Almost every ammo pick-ups only give 1/6 as much ammo to Drake. The Charted! - Brutal trophy is unlocked after beating each game on this difficulty. Beating the game on this difficulty is not required to unlock the Platinum trophy. Recommended for master players that want to put their true skills to the test.
| Difficulty | Damage dealt by Drake | Damage dealt by enemies | Other effects |
| Very Easy | 2x | 0.5x | Player has an aim assist; Player has 50% extra health |
| Easy | 1.5x | 0.5x | None |
| Normal | 1x | 1x | None |
| Hard | 0.5x | 2x | None |
| Crushing | 0.5x | 2x | Player has half as much health; Some combat tutorials are disabled; Tweaks are disabled; The ability to spawn weapons at any time from the menu is disabled. |
| Brutal | 0.5x | 4x | Player has half as much health; Player pick ups very little ammo; Tweaks are disabled; The ability to spawn weapons at any time from the menu is disabled. Enemies do not drop stealth-killed weapons; Most combat tutorials are disabled. |
Trivia
- If the player chooses the Crushing difficulty in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, it cannot be changed until the game is beaten.
- If the player beats the game on Crushing in Among Thieves, Genghis Khan becomes an available skin in the Multiplayer store for $1,500,000.
- Drake's Fortune is on the only game to not have the Very Easy difficulty. The online co-op for Among Thieves and Drake's Deception also do not have this difficulty.
- Something also worth noting is that the Explorer difficulty acts as a replacement for Very Easy and is in every game of The Nathan Drake Collection.