Uncharted territory: Does a new lead character help or harm a beloved video game series?

How often does a movie or TV show successfully continueafter the departure of aheadliner?

Whether with a new actor reprising an old role (James Bond, Doctor Who) or an all-new cast and setting (Star Trek), many pop culture franchises have managed to sustain theirpopularitywith reboots or new faces.

Butthere'sa checkered past with as many failures as successes. For every Frasier spun out of Cheers, there's a Joey from Friends.

When video gamesretoolfranchises, it can be even more complicated and varied.

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With a few exceptions, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series introduces a new character every game, threading their individual stories into an overarching narrative that spans centuries. On the other hand, you havethe Tomb Raider series, which has never existed without Lara Croft at the helm.

The latest game series to undergo a major change is Uncharted, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony.Since it debuted in 2007 on the PlayStation 3, players have taken on the role of Nathan Drake (voiced by Nolan North), a thief and treasure hunter with Indiana Jones' charm (but noneed to pay royalties to Harrison Ford or Lucasfilm).

By 2015's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Drake's story reached a logical and satisfying conclusion. But the series remains one of Sony's most popular flagship franchises.

So what to do? Release a spin-off game that elevates previously minor characters to a starring role, of course.

Minor characters in starring role

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, out Aug.22 on the PlayStation 4, stars Chloe Frazer (Claudia Black), a thief and ex-partner (both professional and romantic) of Drake's who appeared in Uncharted 2 and 3.

She's joined by Nadine Ross (Laura Bailey), the tough-as-nails mercenary who debuted in A Thief's End by pummelingDrake in a fistfight, then tossing himouta window.

As in all good relic-hunting romps, the pair are on the hunt for a priceless artifact, this one known as the Tusk of Ganesh. It's led them to the ruins of the Hoysola Empire, somewhere in southern India.They're racing to find it before Asav, a vicious rebel leader with a small personal army in his employ, gets there first.

When The Lost Legacy was first announced in 2016, some fans bemoaned Nathan's departure. But according togame directorKurtMargenau, a fifth outing with the character was never on the drawing board.

"To us, there was nothing left to say about Nathan Drake," he says. "We love the entire ensemble of characters ... this was our chance to take some of the side characters and really shine a spotlight on them."

The series has stood out for its convincing character drama, and the trend continues withThe Lost Legacy.It turns out the choice forUncharted's newest hero was the easiestchange NaughtyDog could make, as she's basically Drake witha sharper tongue and looser conscience. Chloe isalso a great foil to the taciturn Nadine.

But the pair aremore thansimple archetypes, as their personal histories and motivations reach into a moral grey zonebetween hero and villain.

Much to explore

Besides the cast change, players will do more or less the same stuff they've been doing in the last four games. But that's OK, because few do swashbuckling action and digital tourism with the same attention to detail as Naughty Dog.

In The Lost Legacy,youexplore lost ruins, drive around an open area in a jeepand engage in shoot-outs with mercenaries and soldiers just like before. The only brand-new addition is Chloe's lock pick, which you can useto break into enemy caches for weapons and ammo.

As was the case before, the third-person shooting is adequate, but doesn't stand out compared to other games in the genre such asThe Division or Gears of War. Players more interested intaking in the sumptuous Indian vistascan wind the difficulty down to "Explorer Mode," which turnsenemy ambushes into momentaryspeed bumps.

The emphasis on exploration is best exemplified by a lengthy chapter in the Western Ghats. Driving an all-terrain jeep, players can explore the sprawling map filled with lush forests, rivers and waterfalls. It's impressively wide open, but small enough that you'll become familiar with its nooks and crannies before long.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy contains a generous amount of twists and turns, but also some quiet moments over its approximately eight-hour running time. That's only about half as long as A Thief's End,but the disparity is partly offsetby a lower retail price ($50 Cdn compared to the usual $70) and the inclusion of the full Uncharted competitive multiplayer and survival modes.

Despite a major change in the cast, Naughty Dog's latest outing isa risk-averse one. But Chloe and Nadine's starring debut ultimately paysoff, thanks to the developers' skill incrafting an adventure story that pays equal attention to heart and likeable characters as it does togunfights and explosions.