You can easily make the argument that Uncharted is Sony’s flagship video game franchise, at least when it comes to graphics, storytelling and cinematic presentation. Critics who turned up their noses at the PS3’s processing muscle were immediately told to wait for the next Uncharted game, and we imagine the same will happen with Uncharted 4 for PS4. If anyone doubts the power of Sony’s newest machine, the Uncharted 4 reveal should immediately wipe away all skepticism.
In addition to The Last Guardian and Media Molecule’s rumored Project Morpheus PS4 game, Uncharted 4 is one of Sony’s biggest PlayStation mysteries. At the time of this article, there is no Uncharted 4 release date or screens of any kind. The developers at Naughty Dog teased PlayStation fans last November with a vague Uncharted 4 trailer that is short on details, and the official announcements stopped there.
This should, and depending on whom you speak to, will change at E3 2014, more specifically during Sony’s pre-E3 media briefing. Not only do we expect Uncharted 4 news, but also footage of the game in action. That said, here’s everything we’ve heard about Nathan Drake’s new adventure.
According to website DualSHOCKERS, there will be a three-minute Uncharted 4 trailer at Sony’s press conference comprised of in-game footage. A source called its visuals “unprecedented” and a benchmark for console graphics moving forward.
In addition, Uncharted 4 takes place in a tropical environment and stars Nathan Drake and Sir Francis Drake across different time periods, but don’t expect the game this year. Uncharted 4 will come out Summer 2015.
Beyond that, Official PlayStation Magazine reports that Naughty Dog hired Jonathan Cooper from Ubisoft to work on the new Uncharted. In case you don’t keep up with video game industry employees, Cooper was the lead animator for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 3, and he’s been with Naughty Dog since February. He went on to call his new project a “milestone in game animation.”
On a more somber note, Uncharted series writer and director Amy Henning left Naughty Dog earlier this year to join Visceral Games to work on a new Star Wars title. It remains to be seen how much of Uncharted 4 she wrote. Naughty Dog reassured fans that her departure will not affect Uncharted 4’s development timeline.
Then we have the trailer. At first glance there’s little to scrape from it, just scenes of what appears to be a treasure map. Take a closer look and you’ll see three broken ships (possibly pirate ships), leading us to believe Uncharted 4 features ship-based gameplay and treasure hunting on the high seas. A quote, “Every betrayed us all” may in fact refer to pirate Henry Every, who was known for avoiding capture and may have died sometime after 1696. Although the centuries don’t perfectly match up, Sir Francis Drake apparently died in 1596, but Uncharted 4 does not have to be historically accurate. [Source: Wikipedia]
As it turns out, Every may not be the only pirate in the game. Another scallywag, Olivier le Vasseur, may also star in Uncharted 4, and players could be on the hunt for the fabled seven-foot-tall Fiery Cross of Goa, a valuable artifact encrusted with diamonds and other precious stones. Seems like something Nathan Drake would want, and it turns out that Every and Vasseur lived around the same time. You’ll find more analysis in the video below.
Keep in mind Uncharted 4 may not be a direct sequel; it could be a spin-off. Regardless, it appears Sony and Naughty Dog have something special in store for the world a month from now, and we’ll have more Uncharted 4 news throughout the year.
Published: May 8, 2014 07:35 pm