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Uncharted 4 and how we got there - should this be Drake's swan song?

  • Rob Hill
  • Mar 17, 2016
  • 6 min read

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

With the recent announcement by Sony that the latest, and presumably final, entry into Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is to be pushed back by a further two weeks, it feels like the ideal time to cast a retrospective glance back over the previous titles and examine exactly what it is I enjoy about the series, and what, if anything, I want from the new game. Not having spent much time in my early PlayStation days with the Crash Bandicoot series, nor with the Jak and Daxter series on the PlayStation 2, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the first in the Uncharted series, was my first real encounter with the Naughty Dog team, and also probably my first real foray into the world of HD.

As the PlayStation 3 and Xbox360 hit the shelves in the mid-2000s, I was still only just coming out of a period of relative gaming malaise in which much of the previous generation of consoles had passed me by. Sure, I had played through all of the Grand Theft Auto series, I had journeyed through the worlds of Final Fantasy X and XII and I had matched up countless times against friends in Pro Evo (and mostly lost), but in general the finer points of that much-lauded generation remained unknown to me. It was not that I had necessarily fallen out of love with gaming, more that I was just focusing on other things at that time in my life.

So when a friend lent me a copy of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune in mid-2008, I do not think I was quite prepared for what I encountered. Coming from a history of Final Fantasy games, the opening cinematics were comfortable enough (albeit drawn with what I thought at the time was an outstanding level of photorealism), but as soon as the game itself kicked in and the pirates attacked I quickly fell apart. You would think that after having endured the trials of the GTA series’ aiming system for so long, I would find Uncharted and Nathan Drake liberating to control. But no, the action was just too hectic for me. The aiming reticule darted around the screen as if possessed and the enemy AI were just too sophisticated for me (what do you mean you’re going to flank me if I stay huddled behind this cover?? No wait!! Is that a grenade?? Oh-no…). Add to that this lumbering protagonist with all his fancy contextual animations and cover mechanics, and I was lost. Of course the spectacle was amazing, but having tried and failed to fend off the Panamanian pirates close to a dozen times, my main feeling was one of intense frustration. Perhaps I just wasn’t able for this new breed of game. Two hours in and I was thinking I should just stick to what I know and leave this kind of thing to the kids.

But, with time and patience I was able to bring the unwieldy Nathan Drake under control. I gradually spent less and less time worrying about being mown down by enemies, and more and more time enjoying the cinematic spectacle and characters on which much of the game’s successes hinge. From my perspective at the time, sure the gameplay was refreshing and exciting, but looking back on it with more experienced eyes, the rote gameplay loop of action sequence-platforming sequence-action sequence-platforming sequence is a little tough to take. And yet, while this side of the game does feel hugely dated by what we have grown accustomed to from Naughty Dog since, the strong cast of characters and the hugely enjoyable Sunday-afternoon style matinee vibe decidedly do not. But then again what more would you expect of a team now so renowned for their excellent writing?


As Uncharted 2: Among Thieves dropped in 2009, I think it would be fair to say that collective jaws dropped. Sure, PC users had grown accustomed to such lavish games on their system for a good few years by that point, but to somebody like me who was pretty much exclusively a console user, the second in the Uncharted series was really a benchmark title in terms of graphics and spectacle. Like many others, I had watched THAT E3 reveal in astonishment as to the events transpiring on the big screen, but that still did not prepare me for how big and beautiful that game was when played on my own TV screen. From the temples and prayer flags of Kathmandu to the stunning cliff-side Tibetan village, the game oozed quality. Yes, the gameplay was dramatically improved upon compared to the first game, and yes the set-pieces were awesome, but when I think back on my time with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves it is those quiet times where I simply whirled the camera around and gazed in astonishment at the scenery that really stick out as my strongest memories. That and the ridiculous final boss… (wow, if any game did not need a boss it was that one!)

After such a strong second entry in the series, it was then no surprise that Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception felt a bit flat. The same elements that made the previous games so successful were there – the enjoyable cast of characters, the stunning aesthetic, the ridiculously fun set-pieces – but it all was just a little “by the numbers”. Of course, it did not help that the barrage of pre-release teaser coverage had spoiled most, if not all, the game’s major set-piece moments, but I think there was more to it than that. The firefights felt overly-scripted, the walls that kept you bound within the environment too constraining and the contextual animations for Drake too jarring. By the time I put down the controller and the credits rolled, I felt like I had had my fill of Uncharted. It had been an immensely enjoyable series of games, and one which had helped reinvigorate my passion for the medium, but I was also glad it was over. Drake’s arc felt complete and I was ready for something new.

And, depending on your perspective, something new was what was delivered with the 2013 release of The Last of Us. I will save my thoughts on that game for another blog post (suffice to say it was my game of the generation), but with it the bar for narrative excellence in videogames rose to levels that I believe would stand up against the best of any storytelling medium. And despite sharing many of the same elements with the Uncharted series, the most important thing was that it did not feel tired. The gameplay was slower paced and more considered than Uncharted and its world more deliberately cynical. Its characters were darker and ultimately more human. It was the change that I had been looking for, and it pushed any thoughts of a new Uncharted I may have had well and truly into the background.



So when Sony released an early teaser trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End with the PlayStation 4 console reveal in 2013, and then later a longer gameplay trailer at their press conference at 2015’s E3, I could not help but feel a little disappointed. That isn’t to say that what they showed didn’t look great because, as you would expect of Naughty Dog, it did, but I still had not shook that feeling I felt at the end of the third game… I just wasn’t ready for more Drake. And judging by the reaction of a number of my most trusted gaming websites, I’m fairly certain I am not alone in that sentiment.

But, if any team deserves the benefit of the doubt, it is Naughty Dog. I have no doubt that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will look and play fantastic, and I am sure I will have a blast playing through it, but I am sceptical as to whether or not it will be something that I will love. If it is to follow the same formula as the previous games (which by the gameplay reveals looks to be the case) then my hope is that it avoids the pitfalls of the third game and allows for something more emergent. A guided set-piece looks great when it works, but the second you die and have to replay it (because you took the wrong path or did not avoid the insta-death awaiting you off-screen) then the immersion is broken. I have full confidence that Naughty Dog are aware of this issue, but for a game series so trapped in those mechanics it is hard to see a way that they can overcome it without a radical overhaul.


When Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End hits the shelves (or my dashboard) on May 10th you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be boarding that plane and joining Drake and co on their latest and (hopefully) final globetrotting adventure. I will do it because Naughty Dog have proven, time and time again, that they know how to make amazing videogames, and I am sure this time will be no different. My only hope is that with this we can finally put Drake out to pasture and move on to fields afresh.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End comes to PlayStation 4 in the US and EU on May 10th, 2016.

Rob is a Japanese/English translator and game blogger with CULTURETRANSLATE


 
 
 

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