The talented team at Naughty Dog created an impressive lineup of quality video games and characters spread across all of Sony’s consoles. Along with the suspenseful The Last of Us, the studio gave us Nathan Drake, star of the Uncharted trilogy that concluded with the 2011 release, Drake’s Deception.
Now, as we wait for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to arrive next year for PlayStation 4, we’ll have something to tide us over in the meantime, a remastered collection of the original games.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection will release on October 9, bringing with it the original PS3 titles remastered at 60 frames per second with 1080p resolution. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception will come on a single disc, with every memorable scenario we’ve come to expect, whether avoiding gunfire in a village while buildings crumble all around us, or making a slow but steady ascent up a hanging train car in a blizzard.
With that in mind, we have a breakdown of what you can expect from all three games:
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – Originally released in 2007, Drake’s Fortune introduced us to Nathan, a supposed descendant of the great explorer Sir Francis Drake. As he journeyed into the jungle to search for the treasure of El Diablo, he managed to keep trouble at bay, mainly with the help of journalist Elena Fisher and mentor and partner Victor Sully.
It’s with Uncharted that Naughty Dog showcased its action chops, with plenty of gunplay and fisticuffs. In addition, the game contains occasional puzzles to solve, using objects within the environment where you have to move things around to open secret passageways. There are also vehicle sections, such as driving around in a jeep while shooting enemies with a mounted turret, and cruising around on a jet-ski while firing a grenade launcher.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves –Two years later, Naughty Dog released the critically acclaimed Among Thieves, a sequel that put Drake in even more danger, this time against Serbian mercenaries while trying to find the Cintimani Stone and the fabled land of Shangra-La. Both Sully and Fisher returned (under different circumstances), while a new ally, Nathan’s old partner Chloe Frazer, joined the fray.
With the sequel, Naughty Dog definitely went with a bigger and better approach, with larger action sequences, more playability (like solving more intricate puzzles and occasionally using mounted turrets to bring down a helicopter) and over a hundred pieces of treasure to find.
The game also introduced a multiplayer component, though it remains to be seen if this will appear in the new bundle.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – The third chapter in the Drake saga focused on a closer bond between him and his mentor Sully, as they went up against the mysterious Katherine Marlowe while on the search for the Iram of the Pillars, a lost city. Elena and Chloe made their returns, as well as Charlie Cutter, an ally who proved quite handy during the game’s shootouts.
Similar to before, Naughty Dog went all out, with fights taking place in Yemen, the Rub’ al Khali desert and other locations, with players hanging on the outside of a plane, then riding a horse into a gun battle.
Like Among Thieves, the original had multiplayer, but again, this probably won’t be in Nathan Drake Collection unless something changes closer to release.
In addition to these three games, remastered to fit every adventurer’s needs, The Nathan Drake Collection will come with other features. A whole new set of Trophies can be unlocked, even if you earned olded ones from previous games. In addition, a Photo Mode will be available, allowing would-be photographers to take their best shots to share with others.
Perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle, though, is a taste of next year’s Uncharted 4. Access to an upcoming multiplayer beta will come with the package. Details haven’t been revealed yet on when the beta will launch, but we’re likely to learn more in a couple of weeks during Sony’s E3 press conference.
While the lack of multiplayer may bum some players out, The Nathan Drake Collection will celebrate the adventurous spirit of Naughty Dog’s tireless hero, complete with visual revamping, a new set of Trophies to earn and other features.
Want more Uncharted? Revisit the multiplayer mode from Uncharted 3 and check out the classic announce trailer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Published: Jun 5, 2015 04:53 pm