Arne Meyer, boss of community, marketing and PR at Naughty Dog took to NeoGAF to state that Graham McTavish, voice of Charlie Cutter and Zoran Lazarevic is not currently working with Naughty Dog. While this comes as a bitter disappointment, it does not preclude the possibility of another Vita title. While I am not sold on this idea quite as much as I was the Uncharted 4 theory it is possible. Sony Bend do use the Naughty Dog mocap stage in Los Angeles. which is where McTavish said he was based. It is getting more and more tenuous, but you never know.

Hope dies last.

“Please? I want to come back. My leg is all healed now…”

We have had several little hints over the past few months that UNCHARTED4 is on its way. In fact, I have suspected almost since the release of Drake’s Deception that Naughty Dog just aren’t ready to give up on the IP. So I have been quietly confident for some time that this is not the end.

You won’t ever find me spreading baseless rumours, and my scept-o-metre is set pretty high. But when you see tweets such as this;

For Gamers…Just back from 1st day on a new project. Very hush-hush, but I think it’s going to be rather good…..

— Graham McTavish (@grahammctavish) January 29, 2013

from none other than Graham McTavish (Charlie Cutter/Zoran Lazarevic to you and I) who is currently in LA, you really have to start admitting to yourself that you will be playing UNCHARTED4 in a year or so. I know, I know, it isn’t a *lot* to go on, but couple that with this tweet from a few days previously;

“@akashpunkfanno1: @grahammctavish When is Charlie Cutter coming back sir? #Supportinyaalways” #Uncharted fans, I will keep you posted!….

— Graham McTavish (@grahammctavish) January 23, 2013

So, what do you guys want to see from UNCHARTED4? (Other than Charlie Cutter, who we *know* is in it. (Unless he is playing someone else…))

Bring. It. ON!

Emily Rose, Uncharted’s Elena Fisher used Twitter to officially announce that she and her husband are expecting their first child, a boy.

Emily and Dairek Morgan have been married since 2009, and their baby is due in Spring 2013.

Please join with us in wishing all the very best at this special time.

You can see her original announcement here.

Long ago, back when we had a friend called MySpace Tom, there was talk of a movie based on the then new PlayStation franchise; Uncharted. There is a history of making films from games; Tomb Raider, Max Payne, Resident Evil and Super Mario Bros. all spring to mind, for better or for worse. So it hardly seemed surprising when the rumours started rumbling about a “Drake’s Fortune” movie. Because that is all it was at that time. We had Drake’s Fortune and so that would be what the movie was going to be.

Well, you may not be unaware that whatever it is has been dogged by hiccups and mishaps and false starts even before anything has ever really gotten off the ground. There was that moment when Mark Wahlberg leaked his involvement in the movie, and announced he would be playing Drake under the Directorship of David O Russell. This in itself wasn’t necessarily cause for concern, but with this news came the outing of certain details that would make up the background to the movie. The most abhorrent of this to many was the apparent disregard of the characters lives and motives. It is no small matter, and the lack of consideration of the source material was the final straw for fans, and the resulting (and very public) reaction was almost entirely negative. We at All Things UNCHARTED did contact the studio, and were informed that no official decisions had been made as no script had been submitted, and no casting had been finalised.

But it was a relief when it was announced that O Russell had pulled out, taking with him whatever script he may have had. All went quiet for a time, until it was announced that Marianne and Cormac Wibberley (of National Treasure fame) would be penning the script. Honestly? This seemed to sit better with fans; the similarities between the Nicolas Cage films and the Nathan Drake games can not be easily ignored. This isn’t to say that one shouldn’t work outside of their comfort zone but after the burn we got from O Russell it seemed a more pleasant option.

“Wait? My daddy wants to play catch up?”

And since then… quiet again

An interview with Ryan Culver, the gentleman who played Nathan Drake in the live action commercial for PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale (and is pictured at the top of this page), was bought to my attention a few days ago. His attitude towards Uncharted and what it can be is refreshing. Ryan admits to not knowing a great deal about it before auditioning, but the guy did his homework, and got Nathan’s mannerisms and humour down rather well for such a short appearance with no words. There is a particular gesture that he makes, an exasperated wave of the hand which screams “Nathan Drake” to me.

That an actor puts in the hours of research required to do his job well isn’t especially noteworthy, but it was his attitude towards the franchise, and the existing audience, that really grabbed my attention.

The most important thing to me was to stay true to the fans. To take this incredible character and this amazing storyline and just try and become a part of that. It is already so well fleshed out that there’s not much need to try and change it.

I also get the impression that this venture into gameworld has been a pleasant one for Culver. His choice of tweets and retweets tells me he got quite a kick out of being Drake for a few days.

He also has this to say on the matter;

And I think some of the problems with a project like that is that people outside the gaming community want to do their own thing with it. And when they do, they lose a lot of that community.

Ryan Culver seems very astute.

Anyway, one thought led to another, and I decided that I wanted to know now whether anyone really gives a toss about the prospect of an Uncharted movie at all. Despite being full of my own opinions, I wanted to know what others think, so I put out a very brief survey which many of you were lovely enough to fill out for me. I began by asking how much people love Uncharted as a whole, and probably unsurprisingly you gave your passion 9.4 out of 10, on average. I had hoped to attract responses from people who were less interested, but the fact that I didn’t might tell you that you will only respond to a survey about an Uncharted film if you care about Uncharted. That may seem obvious, but on the other hand it tells you about the audience. And this was a recurring theme.

When I asked what single thing people loved the most about it, the narrative came out on top (34%), with Nathan Drake (22%) and the Setting/Concept (16%) being the other popular answers. I can deduce from this that the story and the world created by Naughty Dog is what draws people and makes them stay. (When asked what else people thought special, the other options (gameplay, single player, multiplayer and the other characters), were split fairly equally with only multiplayer lagging behind.)

Questions specifically about the movie idea were answered with less enthusiasm, but still more than I had expected. The first question I asked (“How good do you think an Uncharted movie *could* be?”) averaged a score out of 10 of 8.2. Uncharted is of course often praised for its cinematic style and rich narrative (remember that hugely patronising and apocryphal story about the guy whose girlfriend asked which movie he was watching when in fact he was playing Uncharted? Yeah…) so this high figure is understandable. The answers to the next question; “How much do you *want* to see a movie made of Uncharted?” were slightly more tentative, and more evenly spread, but did average 7.5. Honestly I was not expecting such enthusiasm, especially considering how long we have been hearing about it. Even weirder, in my view, is the fact that the highest number of responses was given to 10 out of 10 (31%).

To summarise; Uncharted fans want an Uncharted movie. I truly did not expect that.

“Hey Katherine, we might be famous!”

Before I come to the concluding comments and questions, I would like to take a brief intermission, and talk about casting. I don’t think I can get away with writing an article about Uncharted movies and not mention it, so here we go. I gave people the following options for who they would like to see as Drake; Nolan North (mo-cap), Nolan North (live action), Nathan Fillion, Ryan Culver, David Boreanaz, an unknown, or another known actor.

This I found very interesting. 40% of people want to see Nolan North (equally split between mo-cap and live action.) This is more than twice the next choice. Second place was tied (16% each) between… Nathan Fillion and Ryan Culver. Ryan Culver. He does one commercial and as many people want to see him as want to see Nathan Fillion. That’s how awesome he was/is. The other name that came up more than once was James Roday. Otherwise, It’s North, Culver and Fillion in the battle of the Drakes.

So there.

Finally; I wanted to know what you guys thought would make an excellent Uncharted film, for you. The top answer is one I could kiss each and every one of you for selecting; 81% of people want Dame Amy Hennig to write it. Maybe we need to make this into a petition. Golden Abyss of course was not written by Amy, but you only have to see what ideas she rejected (as consultant) and why to know that she cares deeply for the continuous narrative. Having her as a consultant on the script for the movie would, I believe, be acceptable (Golden Abyss was very successful) but to have her write the whole thing herself would make a lot of people very happy. Myself included.

The other most popular options included the need for Naughty Dog to be as involved as possible, Nolan North being in it, and any writer/director needs to know as much as they possibly can about the existing narrative and lore as is humanly possible.

So to conclude; Uncharted fans want an Uncharted movie. Particularly if it is actually Uncharted, and not a generic Hollywood film riding on Naughty Dog’s coattails. Who knew? This may not rock boats, but I was surprised.

UNCHARTED; Fight for Fortune was unleashed upon us last week. This is the card game borne out of the UNCHARTED universrse and was developed once more by Sony Bend and One Loop. The gameplay is centred around building your deck of cards and placing them on the field of play in such a way that will reduce the health of your opponent to zero. Several cards give boosts or power ups to cards that you already have in play, and crucially if you have achieved certain goals within Golden Abyss, those boosts may be doubled, or otherwise enhanced. Several people reported on Twitter (including myself) that their Golden Abyss progress apparently wasn’t being recognised.

I was contacted by a developer from Sony Bend who told me that in order to make this feature active you must download the latest Golden Abyss patch; 1.03, and load up Golden Abyss. You can then quit it and reload Fight for Fortune and you should find that your progress is recognised.

I will write up a longer post on this game in the fullness of time; I have yet to get into the multiplayer game, but I thought I ought to let you know how to overcome a little problem given that it appears to have had several people stumped. Thanks must go to the proactuve gentleman at Bend who saw my plight and got in touch.

Yesterday we found out what is behind those UNCHARTED; Fight for Fortune rumours. And it is a card game (which we pretty much knew anyway). But the ‘Uncharted’ bit wasn’t a typo, or a publicity stunt, but the game will be a kind of a spin-off/expansion from UNCHARTED; Golden Abyss. Ferreting led people to suppose that it was something to do with a glitch that had been reported by some while playing Golden Abyss. And it seems this is the case. As there is quite a lot of unsubstantiated claims on the internet about the game I contacted Sony Bend to ask for clarification on a few points. They obliged, so I will refer to their responses when relevant.

The trailer (which I will attempt to embed below) tells us that we will be customising our stack of cards, which we can use to defeat the hands of the opponents. Interestingly, collectibles found in Golden Abyss can be used to ‘power-up’ our hands; so I hope you were paying attention and exploring the heck out of Quivira when you had the opportunity. However, according to my inside man at Bend, the game is stand alone; so you *can* play it without having played Golden Abyss. Though I suspect that if you are a fan of UNCHARTED and own a Vita you probably have Golden Abyss, anyway. And if you don’t; you should.

The trailer also boasts an 8+ hour campaign, though I am informed that there isn’t a narrative as such; however “character cards are heavily influenced by their roles in other games.” So anyone who plays against me with Harry Flynn in their deck really had better watch out. The game has both single and multiplayer modes. As to how the game progresses etc; as yet I am not sure. But 8 hours sounds pretty impressive, especially given the fact that it will set you back the enormous(ly small) sum of $5. Wow.

Reaction to the reveal has been somewhat mixed; some seem pleased to be getting a new UNCHARTED game, albeit not UNCHARTED4, while others seem to be somewhere on a scale between underwhelmed and downright angry. So, this isn’t UNCHARTED4, but it isn’t getting in the way of any potential UNCHARTED4 reveal. It is a side project that (and I quote my inside man) “didn’t detract from other games.” It is developed by One Loop and Bend; so Naughty Dog are free to make another UNCHARTED game if they so wish. I have seen some comments along the lines of; “Naughty Dog are too busy with The Last of Us…” well, they *are* busy with The Last of Us, but remember that they have a much expanded studio now, a whole team is working on the post-apocalyptic adventure. When I spoke to Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra back in March they were still undecided about the future of the second team.

I asked Sony Bend what their involvement was in this latest title and was told that they “created the initial design, and One Loop handled most of the coding. There was one artist and a few designers and production people working on it from Bend.”

So why all the hate? The PS Vita (for which this game will of course be an exclusive) has had a fair amount of bad press lately, mostly centred around its lack of games and quality titles that the pre-release hype suggested we would be getting. Some of the negativity surrounding the reveal is partly down to this issue, I am sure. On the other hand comments like “we want games not cards” fail to notice that it *is* a game. That uses cards as a mechanic.

But is it UNCHARTED? Well, it is and it isn’t. But in order to answer that more usefully; you have to ask; what *is* UNCHARTED? It is a game franchise based on strong narrative and strong characters. There’s combat, puzzling and platforming. With some history and treasure. From what I can gather from the video, the only thing that is likely to be missing is the platforming, and the narrative. As such it is hard to develop character and storylines in any meaningful way, and this was not the aim. But I argue that this makes it no less ‘UNCHARTED’ than many of the multiplayer modes that come as part of UNCHARTEDs 2&3. Deathmatch (especially the Free-for-all) hardly sits within the narrative or ethos of UNCHARTED at all.

The worry is that the brand is being diluted, and that UNCHARTED will die a hideous death at the hands of money grabbing developers. No one wants to see that, but ultimately the franchise will eventually move on and *cough* die, and I’d rather it is with expansions such as these that keep the essence of UNCHARTED; (fortune and treasure) than by endlessly shoving Nathan Drake into games like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale*, which strikes me as the game character’s equivalent of Celebrity Big Brother of Celebrity Fit Club. Or worse still a Lifetime Achievement award. (See Patti Smith’s Q Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech in which she said it made her feel like she was being put out to pasture. She used stronger words than that.)

So, while this isn’t UNCHARTED4, it doesn’t get in the way of UNCHARTED4, and to my mind looks a heck of a lot more impressive than other options for the future of the series. (Please GOD no Unkarted!) And I am painfully protective of Nathan and his brand. If anything I would have expected to be the one vomiting. As it is; I’m looking forward to it.

*I’m not hating on All Stars per se (I have yet to play it) but such games do feel like the place that characters go to die; we love them, but there is no other way forward for them. That said I’ll be playing All Stars as soon as possible and will report back.

Yesterday the internet went slightly buzzy when news that an Australian classification website had listed Uncharted; Fight for Fortune broke. It was slightly overshadowed by the US Presidential election, but we almost certainly don’t need to worry too much about, as this is not the Uncharted 4 announcement that we have been waiting for. We should be able to celebrate that fully if it happens.

Originally I was quite dismissive of the idea that there might be another Uncharted game in the works (or rather that this was it) as alarm bells rang at several points; not least how clumsily it was posted, but also at the ‘G’ rating given to it. ‘G’ for ‘General’, not ’15′ for ‘you really ought to be fifteen to play this’. So what is it? The short answer is that no one knows, but initial reports were that it was in fact a casino type game. I lost all interest.

Bear with me.

I could not fathom how this would work; Nathan and chums are not exactly known for their love of gambling. Perhaps they indulge from time to time, but I think is is fair to say that it hasn’t really been a big feature of the Uncharted experience so far. There was a moment (thankfully brief) when I considered that Uncharted had been sold and would now be subjected to whatever the highest bidder wanted. But my faith in the integrity of Naughty Dog soon quashed that worry, and I remembered seeing somewhere (I really should bookmark quotes that might one day come in handy) one of the Dogs saying that Amy Hennig would likely not be all that impressed should any of them tout the ever hilarious Unkarted game to her. If Unkarted wouldn’t get by her somehow I doubt she would be particularly open to Uncarded, either.

The niggling feeling that something is afoot won’t go away, though. Why is the listing “Uncharted”? It isn’t exactly a common word, and not one that any self respecting game maker would use without knowing that it would be stepping on some pretty big toes. Could it simply be an error? Maybe.

But.

We have been reminded that Uncharted; Golden Abyss was at some point “going to have some DLC“, and multiplayer added. The DLC idea never really got off the ground, as it seemed more like speculation than anything else, fuelled by the posting of this image online;

Probably is legit, but the text at the bottom right is not the same as the text that my Vita imprints on screenshots. Only very mildly skeptical, though.

Apparently a glitch… or could *this* be what is in the works? Sony Bend (makers of Golden Abyss) is not behind Fight for Fortune, but perhaps this is a feature of Golden Abyss that never got finished, and has been passed on. I am not entirely sure, as there was already a lot to Golden Abyss; taking this on would have been… well… frankly a bit crazy in the first place. However, a card battle or trading game is much more appetizing than a casino game. It would be interesting to see a bona fide Uncharted game with entirely different mechanics; a different end goal, but all set within the world as created. I have no idea how that would work; maybe we could be working towards raising funds for the next expedition (UNCHARTED 4!) through trading artefacts found.

To be honest, that is pretty much all we have so far; an old screen shot from a different game, a dubious listing and some wild speculation. But we will keep an eye out for any other news and report back. The one final thing that is bugging me is that the original listing mentioned it being multi-platform, whereas all the rest of the speculation is talking only of the Vita. I guess we could be seeing a PSN/PS Vita title? Maybe perhaps.

I’ve contacted my chum at Sony Bend. I very much doubt he will be in a position to shed any light on this, but if he does I will let you know. Thanks also to Tom Goulden for ferreting out some links for me. You are a star.

Today America goes to the polls to decide who will be their President for the next four years. More importantly IGN recently hosted the video game equivalent, and the candidate that came out on top was Nathan Drake. Let’s take a look at his likely stances on some of the big issues, were he to be President of the United States of America (because this can only end well)… [slightly spoilery]

Foreign Policy

President Drake is a well-travelled man; we have seen him in places as scattered as Panama, Turkey, Borneo, Nepal, Yemen and the United Kingdom. It was during a spell of convalescence for the First Lady that we saw the President take the time to absorb some of the culture and language of his host nation; Tibet. However, his attitude towards that which does not interest him has been poor at best. It is as a direct result of his actions that a multi-period French Chateau dating back to the time of the Crusades was destroyed by fire, and a large portion of the wall of a castle in Syria (a popular tourist attraction) has collapsed.

His attitude towards people of different nationalities is consistent; if they are firing a gun at him he will shoot back; if they are patching him up in the comfort of their own home, he will show gratitude. That he has friends from all around the world shows that neither language nor culture is a barrier to how President Drake sees you.

Home Affairs

President Drake has few ties to his homeland. Although his accent tells us he is an American, there is little else about him that would define him as such. His best friend and oldest companion, Mr Victor Sullivan, and his wife; First Lady Elena Fisher may hail from the United States themselves, but little else grounds him there. In fact, we have almost never seen him on home soil, except for a short stint in the apartment of Mr Sullivan following his dubious release from jail in Turkey. His interest in the affairs of his fellow Americans seem minimal, and it makes me wonder why he would even bother to run for President.

Justice

During Drake’s career as ‘Professional Fortune Hunter’ he has had to deliver justice many times, and often at a moment’s notice. It is these incidents that really let you understand how a man thinks, and I believe this will give a good indication on how he handles situations in his latest venture. Consider how he dealt with the people that he found himself up against in his two most recently publicised ventures; when it came to it he spared Zoran Lazarevic the final blow. He also attempted to save the life of a woman who had previously jeopardised his personal safety on many previous occasions.

Seems only fair…

The number of people that President Nathan Drake kills in order to get to his goal has often been cited as a stain on his character. However, I would argue that he shows mercy and fairness when put in difficult situations. He may take a long time to get around to the ‘good side’ but when called upon to do so he makes good decisions.

His attitude to ownership is a little ‘out there’; he takes what he likes, whether he is the legal owner or not. It isn’t enough to want something more than another; if it isn’t yours, it is theft. This includes artefact provenance; just because something has not yet been officially discovered does not make you the rightful owner. Finders are not always keepers.

The Economy

President Drake’s career has been built around trying to make money out of things he finds. It is a little more complicated than this; for example he intends to use money he makes to fund future projects, thus displaying an intention to reinvest and develop. But this is a moot point as he never comes out a penny richer. The one time he did manage to make some money it mysteriously disappeared around the time of his release from that Turkish prison. Few see the timing as a coincidence.

It should also be stated that his line of work is anything but lucrative; even on the best days. A recent study suggests that looters (and I use that term with thought) make, on average, less than 1% of the final sale price of artefacts taken.

On the plus side, his methods do save the employer the hassle of paying their staff; dead men cannot demand wages. So. Every cloud.

Health

The risk to his own life and limb should be seen as indicative of the lack of care and forethought that we can expect under the tenure of Drake. We know him to be an avid climber, fighter and weapons enthusiast. Luck will only get him so far. One false move and he is dead. Is this really the quality that we want from a President? If, however, we consider his risks to be calculated; perhaps we have a very clever man in charge?

“Wait; this *isn’t* a good idea?”

But look at his general lack of concern for his basic needs. When did you last see him eat? If I remember correctly is was when he was fourteen years old; nearly twenty one years ago. When his friend Chloe Fraser complained of hunger, did they stop to attend to this need? No. Basic needs are ignored, but it cannot be denied that President Drake takes care of his fitness; one need only take a look at his physique to know that here is a man that treats his body as a temple. Perhaps we can expect his policies on health to be much of a muchness. I envisage gyms on every street corner rather than sandwich shops.

Employment

My belief is that with Nathan Drake as our President, the state of our employment will not improve. Here is a man who sticks with people that he knows, and even then doesn’t seem to be able to spot those that are prime candidates for stabbing him in the back. His methods do not give me hope of much knowledge of or care for the basic rights of workers; see Chloe Fraser and the lack of lunch breaks.

On the plus side; if you are into mercenary work you will almost certainly be in a job. Until your President shoots you in the face.

Education

President Drake has demonstrated very little interest in the traditional education system; preferring to teach himself from his early teens. While this has the advantage of allowing him to learn that which he needs to know, it does have the knock-on effect of having very little knowledge outside of his own sphere. While he can recognise Tudor brickwork at a passing glance he cannot tell you the main characters of Shakespeare plays. We caught up with his friend Charlie Cutter who informs us that he “doesn’t even know where Buckland Abbey is, or what it is!”

While these things aren’t going to affect his ability to do his job as President, one does worry that his stance on education needs to be a little more liberal. I only hope that while the mainstream education system failed him, he can see its worth for others.

Women’s Issues

Nathan Drake likes women. His attitude towards them makes me fairly certain that women need not worry that their views or needs will be ignored or stifled under his leadership. While President Drake has been known to make dangerous situations even more so, and thus place his (female) companions in more peril than was entirely necessary; his motives have been misguided attempts at chivalry. But never has he underestimated the skills and capabilities of the women around him (other than a stray “good girl!” to his now First Lady several years ago). He may keep a notebook with several phone numbers, but  we needn’t worry; a binder would take forethought and organisation.

To sum up…

With Nathan Drake as President we are all screwed.

About a week ago I published the second instalment in a series I am currently running on All Things UNCHARTED. Sarah Anderson is a newcomer to the PS3; she completed the first two in the series and tweeted her way through them, with very amusing results. We posted some of our favourite tweets as we were interested to see how a newbie would feel about the games we love. Sarah recently tackled the latest UNCHARTED title, and for the sake of completeness (and a fun article) here are the edited highlights;

Slept for 10ish hours. Starting to feel better, although I doubt I’ll get up to much today (other than #Uncharted3). Coffee time!

— Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Poor Sarah hasn’t been feeling too well. But what else is there to do when cold-ridden but sit on the sofa, fire up the PS3 and play the heck out of an awesome game? Wish you well, though, Sarah.

Nate looks GOOD in a suit. Even when he is in a bar fight. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Yes, yes he does. I seem to recall making a very similar comment when we were treated to the first proper trailer. I also seem to remember a large portion of Twitter took quite a long time to talk about anything else. Funny how someone we see always dress in a certain way can have such an impact when doing something different.

Young man, you’d better not be planning to steal from a museum! Again. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Uh huh. Nathan certainly isn’t new to stealing. I find this early theft not quite as abhorrent as the jaunt in Turkey as he is more innocent, and has very little guidance at this point. The same of course could be said for his older self but you would have thought that by then he should have had the opportunity to assess what he was doing as fundamentally wrong. There are a lot of issues to consider, for sure, such as “being the only life he knows” but while I find I can forgive the child I can not forgive the man.

I have now learned two things: 1) Sully has always had that mustache and 2) Sully has always had bad taste in women. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

I like to think that in Among Thieves, when Nate is in jail and along comes Chloe, Nate’s “you haven’t always been the best judge of character. Especially when it comes to women!” was all a set up for Sully and Marlowe. I actually wouldn’t be surprised.

They are SHOOTING at a little boy. Geez Sully. It’s a good thing Drake showed up to save you. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Yeah… interesting theory that Sully is to blame. We will never know where Nate was going to go if he hadn’t met Sully. I suspect it wouldn’t have been a good life, but who knows. Did Sully ruin him? Did Nate make Sully a better man? Of that I am almost certain, as it happens. We don’t know anything really of Victor pre-Nate, but how he reacts to Nathan in the museum is one of genuine concern. Perhaps he saw a little of himself in him, perhaps he just doesn’t think that slapping a kid across the face is a nice thing to do.

You get to run around the London underground in #Uncharted3 – that is so cool — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Well, you do and you don’t. I am a Londoner, and a fairly nerdy one at that. And by ‘nerdy’ I don’t just mean I like Doctor Who, but I have… (confession time) done some reading for fun around the history of the London Underground. There are a lot (lot) of disused stations dotted about. Some you can see from trains that still use the tracks (The British Museum, for example) and some that have been bricked up entirely. Some of them still have their above ground buildings (South Kentish Town) which are used as shops and the like.

But there isn’t, nor ever was there, a station called North Atwood. It doesn’t particularly bother me, but with my knowledge of the history of the Tube it stood out. Anyway, quite a while ago, shortly after the release of Drake’s Deception I was in email contact with Amy Hennig, and one of the things we talked about was ‘why not use a real station?’ I am sure she won’t mind me quoting her here (and if she does; well, there goes my career), but this was what she had to say;

The reason we made up a disused tube station, rather than using a real one, is that we try to avoid being *too* specific with the places we visit. Like, I obviously don’t mind naming the country, or even the city per se, but I don’t want to nail it down too specifically. Partly because I want the freedom to invent our own version of reality, partly to avoid being called out on inaccuracies, or to avoid unintentionally offending anyone.

Anyway, back to Sarah and her tweets. Sorry for the dalliance into London Tube history.

I like how Drake runs his hands over walls and things when you walk by them. Nice detail. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Me too. It’s a nice touch.

Drake doesn’t read Shakespeare. #Uncharted3

— Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

“Who the hell is MacDuff?” “Is there no bottom to your ignorance?” Throwaway lines like these aren’t throwaway lines at all. This tells you that a man like Nathan reads what he needs to; he appears to have an endless supply of knowledge. But take him out of his comfort zone, away from what he needs to have learned in order to get him to where he is today, and he has no clue whatsoever. Amy Hennig described him as “almost savant.”

“Look Sully, your first car!” Hahaha #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Aaannnndddd that is one of *many* references to Sully’s age. Poor Sully.

Did the devs have themselves painted into these Chateau paintings in Renaissance attire? Because I totally would’ve. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Actually, yes they did. You can pick out Christophe Balestra fairly easily (it’s his castle, remember?). Also, Josh Scherr can be seen in the newspaper photo on the bar in the first scene in London. Which eventually turned out to be a Last of Us reference. Jeez, Naughty Dog.

I wonder what Nate does with all the treasure he finds. Sell it? Decorate his house? Does he have a house? With Elena? In my head, yes. — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Ha; no spoilers, but one of the things Nate says in Golden Abyss when he finds a treasure is “I’m going to need bigger pockets…”

SO MUCH WORSE THAN GOLLUMS *sob* #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Arachnophobic, Sarah?

Wait, you can throw grenades back in this game?! Fun. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 6, 2012

Oh you can. Whether or not you can actually kill people with thrown back grenades has yet to be proven, but the symbol that tells you that you *can* lob ‘em back from whence they came is a good indication that if you don’t, and you don’t move either; you will be dead.

I took so long on that puzzle that Sully offered to do it for me. How embarrassing. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

Wait; even *Sully* helps out!? Seems Sarah has become used to the lazy AI.

There was something implied in that last scene with Sully…I really hope I was just imagining things. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

Yeah; there are a lot of things throughout the game that lead one to the conclusion that Sully is not what he seems. He messes with your head. I just hope he turns out to be on Nate’s side after all.

Ok look. I’ve been holding back on the WHERE IS ELENA tweets, but seriously…Where. Is. Elena? #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

Very restrained of you. But her absence is incredibly noticeable. No one mentions her, no one even references her… so what the hell happened? Presumably she isn’t dead because otherwise you would expect them to remember her fondly from time to time. So… the other option is that Nate was Nate and screwed it up. And now no one will mention her lest he goes postal.

Dear spambots, I have no interest in appearing in your upcoming Drake music video unless it features Nathan Drake dancing in boxer briefs. — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

A-frickin’-men. In case you are unaware, should you mention ‘Drake’ in a tweet, you can bet your bottom dollar some spammer will try to convince you to click their link that promises stardom; as an extra in a Drake music video. How one ‘stars’ as an extra, I don’t know. But that is beside the point. It gets annoying.

This part of the game reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to jump from couch to couch because the floor was lava. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

Happy memories. We did that too. Probably got on the nerves of our parents, though.

I see London I see France… I’m still waiting to see Drake’s underpants. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

I have nothing to say here…

@sarahjla Maybe it’s just me, but I just kept feeling like she deserves better through all of them :p — Amanda T (@fluidfyre) October 7, 2012

Or maybe Elena has worked out that actually, she can do better after all. And I am not the only person to consider it.

Nate is now tripping balls. This is kind of what I felt like yesterday after I had too much cough syrup. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

Hope you are feeling better, Sarah. No one should have to take so much cough syrup that you end up running through the streets of Yemen with a creepy voice in your ear.

Ugh I hate evil Miss Moneypenny SO MUCH #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 7, 2012

This has to be one of the most emotional scenes, surely. What is revealed in this scene probably doesn’t come as a great surprise to anyone, but still; knowing what Nate has gone through and and what he has done to cope with that is nothing short of heartbreaking. The skill displayed by the animators in portraying that amount of emotion in the face of Nathan is nothing short of staggering.

Chapter 13 – off to rescue Sully. Everyone Nate shoots here – he’s all “that’s for my friend!” and “that was for Sully!” #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

And each and every one of them deserve it.

I have loved every minute of the pirate ship/ocean fighting/swimming in these last few chapters. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

It is certainly one of the high points of the gameplay.

And kitty got wet. Literally. Because we’re on a boat. And it’s raining. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

Well, the kitty didn’t get wet, because the kitty is not a kitty. Pedantic brit is pedantic. (But not a thug.)

I have the worst feeling in my gut right now. Please don’t be a set-up please don’t be a set-up. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

You know what is going to happen. It wouldn’t be that easy for Nate, now would it?

Aaaaaand. Set-up. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

Of course. And all we have done is take Nate even further away from Sully.

Aw Elena is fussing. Thanks. That was kind of rough. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

It is lovely how easily these two slip back into being what they should be to each other. There’s no awkwardness about it, at all. Elena has done what she needed to do (“For Sully? Yeah.”) and now she can focus on Nate. Who for once isn’t a wise-arse idiot about it. This was probably how things were between them when things were good. No explanations, no excuses, just… love.

I’M IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTION #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

Honestly? I cried.

I remember reading a story once about how stowaways do things like that and then freeze to death in the air. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

And here it is. It doesn’t make fun reading. In fact it is tragic.

“I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” #Uncharted3

— Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

This poor guy. He’s been in the desert for 3ish days with no water or food. Every well is dry. And now…men with guns. #Uncharted3

— Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

It doesn’t let up. There’s one agent that amuses every time; Nate busts through the door, and lands almost at the feet of the chap who drops his water bottle, looks stunned for a moment, then grabs his gun.

Frankly I have no idea how he isn’t dead. Except for visions of Sully. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

And I think that is it. That is enough to keep him alive.

Wait what? Am I going to have to fight genies?! #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 8, 2012

Uncharted wouldn’t be Uncharted without some form of supernatural element. Or would it?

NOOOOOOOOO Sully!!! I can’t even. I’m going to need to pause for a moment here. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 9, 2012

This scene, despite the horror, is breathtaking. There is barely any music, or at least it is very quiet, Nate doesn’t cry out, but his shock is plain. He gently lays Sully down, whose eyes appear not to move, but simply die. Who *didn’t* cry rivers here?

You’re such a coward magic man. You shoot an old man in the BACK and then you use smoke and mirrors to escape?!? I hate you. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 9, 2012

Talbot is an easy man to hate.

OH THANK GOD #Uncharted3

— Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 9, 2012

Is Sully alive!? It is going to be… terrifying for Nate when Sully finally does leave him.

He swapped it for something better. Perfect ending is perfect. #Uncharted3 — Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 9, 2012

Yes it is. Well… almost. Not quite. The only remaining hope is that these two compromise, rather than Nate give up his lifestyle for good. Nathan is not a man to hang up his boots, but maybe now is the time that he needs to start considering other people, the two that love him the most would be a good place for him to start. But those two also need to meet Nate somewhere in the middle or else what hope for them, and Nathan in particular, is there?

And I’m really glad my whole Sully-turning-out-to-be-in-on-it theory was wrong.

— Sarah Anderson (@SarahJLA) October 9, 2012

We all are, Sarah. This was one of the many deceptions that underpinned the game. So very many.

And here endeth the journey. I hope you have enjoyed following Sarah’s plough through; I certainly did. What I have posted here are the edited highlights; I had to cut so many great little insights and witty comments. What I found interesting were the bits that were left out as well; for example, Eddy Raja didn’t get a look in, but he is often hailed as people’s favourite character. There were also parts Sarah had so much fun in that she forgot to tweet. And I can understand that.

Thanks for being such a good sport Sarah. Seriously; thank you.

Editor’s note; this guest post was written by Tom Goulden; a fan of both the UNCHARTED and Tomb Raider games. You can follow Tom on Twitter or take a look at his DeviantArt page. Without further ado; take it away, Tom!

Duderaider/Uncrofted…

After the announcement of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune in 2006 the internet was in uproar. “Dude Raider”, it was nicknamed, a shameless rip-off of the incredibly successful Tomb Raider franchise. Now it appears the shoe’s on the other foot, with similarities being drawn between Crystal Dynamics’ new Tomb Raider reboot and the Naughty Dog franchise we all know and love. It’s hard to avoid these sort of comparisons due to the fact the two games share a similar premise, but just like those early parallels, these more recent ones aren’t entirely fair either. I had the chance to playtest the game at this year’s Eurogamer Expo and set the record straight.

Certainly, it’s easy to notice similarities between Tomb Raider and Uncharted from the moment the latest demo begins. Lara stands wounded after a catastrophic ship-wreck, each staggering step she makes is pained, with one hand pressing firmly against her stomach. It’s very reminiscent of the opening scenes of Uncharted 2; simply substitute the frozen wastes of Tibet for an uncharted Japanese island and you’re halfway there. When Lara approaches a World War 2 bomber hanging precariously from a waterfall, then slowly begins to work her way up its skeletal frame you can’t help but again be reminded of Among Thieves and that train climb.

But for all the comparisons, Tomb Raider does well to set itself apart from its closest gaming relative. While it may share a similar control scheme (but then it’s hard to break the mould in that respect) it beats its own path with a more mission objective-based storyline and upgradeable skills. As we saw in the extended gameplay during Crystal Dynamics’ developer session both Lara’s skills and her gear can be upgraded at various campsites around the island – which possibly implies a little more in the way of permanent equipment rather than the mix-and-match weaponry featured in Uncharted. This serves to point out the key difference between the two: where Uncharted is an action-packed adventure, Tomb Raider seems to be a more gritty tale of survival.

And survival really looks to be a core element to this reboot, ruling over most of the gameplay seen so far. We don’t yet know if Lara has to constantly do what is necessary to stay alive, but in these early previewed stages we’ve seen her hunting and killing for food and flitting between shadows in order to escape from the watchful gaze of a pack of salacious captors. Crystal Dynamics have said time and time again that this is an origin story and it’s clear that all the horrific situations that they are putting her in are to mould the character into an icon – a new interpretation of the Tomb Raider we already know.

Even deep in these survival horror tones where Tomb Raider stands out most from the generally light-hearted tone of Uncharted, there are a few familiar elements. The strung up, gaunt bodies across the island and the secretive cult shrines echo the creeping threat of *SPOILER* the first Uncharted’s Spaniombies and their plane wreckage booby traps. Whereas this late shift in story and gameplay was a little unsettling for many in Uncharted (though was repeated in its sequels to better effect), the fact that Tomb Raider puts it quite close to the beginning makes sure that you know upfront just how much trouble Lara’s getting herself into.

While the two series may have been cut from the same pulp adventure cloth it’s obvious as we see more and more of the rebooted Tomb Raider that the story of this new Lara Croft is going to unfold just as differently from that of Nate Drake’s as his did from Miss Croft’s predecessor. It’s not going to be another “Dude Raider”, that’s for sure.