Naughty Dog Is Done With Uncharted, But There’s Still So Much Potential With the Series
This work contains spoilers for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
in an interview with buzzfeed, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann confidently stated that the studio was “moving on” from the Uncharted series, stating: Tell that story and say we’re done.
If Naughty Dog ended with the Uncharted series, they ended as perfectly as possible. After decades of exploration, Nathan Drake can now settle down with the love of his life and enjoy peace and retirement with his daughter, though it still feels like a missed opportunity. Why?
In the first Uncharted game, Nathan Drake was a charismatic treasure hunter with a joke on his tongue and a song on his heart. Drake’s Fortune was the perfect vehicle to showcase the graphical prowess of the PlayStation 3, rendering incredibly detailed jungles, offering exceptional shooting and seamless parkour. But somewhere along the way, gorgeous scenery and beautiful locations were sucked into the black hole of Nathan Drake’s various midlife crises. There is no better place to contemplate the horrors of
Once known for its epic platforming, Naughty Dog has become a standard-bearer for character-driven storytelling, starting with The Last of Us and following on to the darker, more character-focused Uncharted 4. rice field. The studio has further strengthened his capabilities as a world-class storyteller with the premiere of his The Last of Us TV series on HBO, which has been called one of the most successful video game adaptations of all time.
As Naughty Dog became more of a storytelling operation, the Uncharted series began setting its sights on Nathan Drake character, his adventures around the world serve as metaphors for the inner drama he faced, whether it was fear of loss, fear of the past, or fear of the future. It was bold, considering Nathan Drake’s nickname when he was first introduced to the world, Dude Raider. Because it’s about adventure, not Indiana Jones. , Indiana Jones’ life was shaped not just by his relationship with his father, but by one incident in his childhood.
It doesn’t help that the series broke new ground with its spinoff Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Supposedly the final installment of Naughty Dog Uncharted, the game introduced a semi-open world, a fertile land for future adventures of all kinds. The Ghats felt like a revolution at the time, available in ancient temples and ruins, and even better, a place made for Uncharted. To quote Kevin Garnett of Uncut Gems, why show me something if I can’t have it?
In addition, we also showed the Uncharted game. can A character who is not Nathan Drake will be the main character. Never mind that Naughty Dog was still firmly in the tormented hero era by pitting her new heroine Chloe Fraser against her father.
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The real beauty of Uncharted is how it captures the beauty of our world, and there’s so much more to explore. Losing Uncharted as a series brings one of those rare game series from gaming to enjoying the diversity of shared human history and the splendor of an often overlooked civilization, whether in the mountains of Nepal or the plains of India. I will take it away. Nathan Drake’s Virtual Still managed to explore more cultures through his adventures, so towards the end of the series its gaze turns away from our beautiful world and towards the amazingly tormented soul of its protagonist. It’s a pity that you were taken away.
Not many game series can claim a definitive ending like Uncharted. The gaming industry is littered with half-finished (Half-Life?) series that promise to end the fight, but the market is declaring that the series isn’t selling anymore, so let’s move on. Although not Uncharted, it was both critically and commercially successful, enough to warrant numerous sequels and a proper finale.
Naughty Dog closed the Uncharted book because there are still many Uncharted stories to tell, but no more Nathan Drake stories to tell.
Matt TM Kim is IGN’s Senior Feature Editor.you can contact him @lawoftd.
