Over the course of a fortnight, I’ve collected 260+ treasures, shot a zillion dudes in the face, shimmied along countless ledges, made approximately 748 wisecracks, and all whilst cunningly disguised as a fella by the name of Nathan Drake. Over the same period, I’ve discovered some exquisite locations, gotten into some ill-advised fisticuffs with a tank, shot some more dudes in the face, and seen some shit that’d make the guy with the big hair from Ancient Aliens be all like, “C’mon now guys, that’s a bit too far-fetched”.
I am, of course, referring to Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection – the remastered Trilogy of Naughty Dog’s uberpopular series, positively packed with gaming goodness, and currently (re)whetting millions of appetites for the eagerly anticipated release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Indeed, with only a couple of months to go before it’s due to land (touchwood), the timing of my three-game jaunt was no accident, and it was done with specific recap/refresh type intentions ahead of the next installment, which I’m just a wee bit excited about. In that spirit, I thought I’d take the liberty of making a few observations about the three games I’ve just played, and use them as a clumsily fashioned springboard to leap into some general chatter about, and predictions for, Uncharted 4.
As per the commonly accepted rules of netiquette, and because I’ll be covering the three games in some detail, consider this your **SPOILER ALERT**!
British villains
Seriously, what have we ever done to the folks over at Naughty Dog? Sure, the British Villain cliché is so common now (Deadpool even made a joke about it in the opening credits), but to have at least one British antagonist in all the games of a Trilogy just seems a tad excessive, right!? I mean, I lived in the UK for close to 30 years, and I can honestly say that not once did I ever meet a super-villain, and on exactly no occasions did I come across anybody plotting any kind of global domination. I might’ve just been moving in the wrong circles, admittedly, but I can’t help but feel a little cheated having never come across what is, apparently, our country’s biggest export. If Uncharted 4 continues on the series’ current trajectory, I’ll be disappointed with anything less than some Aristocratic chap wearing a monocle, living in a hollowed out Volcano, and stroking a Persian cat (and, no, that’s not a euphemism).
Nathan and Elena – it’s complicated……
Nathan and Elena are, generally speaking, a fairly believable couple, and over the course of the three main games in the series, plenty of meat is added to those bones (again, not a euphemism – or at least not a sex one anyway). What is a fairly simple ‘love interest’ type trope in the first game is subsequently added to in the following two (main) games, until the relationship between the two is a deeper, complex, more complicated one. In quite a clever little twist on the part of Naughty Dog, a few people may’ve even found themselves remarking upon Drake’s fickle nature at the start of the second game – and by extension, the game makers’ too – only to have that exact thing turned into a (fairly successful) part of the narrative tension a few chapters later. Likewise, in the third game, this was built upon again, and there will have undoubtedly been people guessing when and how Elena would eventually pop up, and what impact it would have on our protagonist. When she did show up, there was a fairly significant chunk of revelation thrown into the mix, which in turn set up the final, into the sunset-type scenes of the game. In terms of a prediction, quite where Uncharted 4 will go with this dynamic is anybody’s guess really, but if it is genuinely to be the last Uncharted game, I’d tentatively guess that there might be an incentive for Nathan to walk away from treasure hunting shenanigans in the form of a newly found sense of parental responsibility.
Death (and the Father Figure)
On that note, I suspect many of you will have responded to that last sentence with a kind of ‘Awww, poor naive James! Nathan’s not going to walk away from any shenanigans on account of being very, very dead!’. Whilst I’m not necessarily ruling that eventuality out – particularly while it seems to be the t’internet’s prediction de jour (and thanks in part to some definite hintage from Neil Druckmann) – I have a slightly different hunch in that regard, and one that, actually, I’d find more affecting than Drake getting dead.
If there is to be a “Thief’s End”, and if it is an end in a more permanent sense than just a ‘walking away from that life’ kind of one, my money would be on Sully. And it’d be on Victor Sullivan for two main reasons. Firstly, the dynamic between Drake and Sully is a consistent – and consistently brilliant – one in the Uncharted games, and in Uncharted 3, it’s actually a significant part of the game, and given plenty of attention in the back-story bits. There’s also an element of Master/Pupil in the dynamic, and playing the games in quick succession, I definitely felt a distinct sense of ‘passing on the torch/getting too old to be helping you out’ steadily increasing as the cumulative narrative wore on.
Sully’s been an important part of Drake’s story, at times pushing him to move forwards, at others pulling him back, but he’s always been an essential crutch for Nathan, and an important source of wisdom and experience. Losing Sully would be devastating for Drake, but it would also be the thing that would force him to accept certain truths he’s been so far unwilling to acknowledge. And what’s more (and the second main reason for my hunch) is that we already – briefly – got a taste of exactly that devastation. Sure, it turned out to be an ephemeral devastation brought about by Drake ‘tripping balls’, but I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a degree of attention being paid to our reactions over at Naughty Dog HQ. Of course, I could be spectacularly wrong about this (especially given I’m wrong about 94.3% of the time – and because they also “killed” Sully in the first game too, although it was considerably less effective then), but, hey….. Who knows, eh!?
Nathan Drake, aka Bart Simpson and the cupcake
There’s that oft-cited quote from Einstein about how the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again whilst expecting different results, but personally, I think of it as Bart Simpson and the cupcake now. Anyways, what’s that got to do with Nathan Drake I hear you ask? Well, everything. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Uncharted games, and I love playing as Nathan Drake, but holy shitballs does he have short-term memory/experiential learning issues! Three times Drake sets out in search of the big score, on the treasure hunt to end all treasure hunts, amid some pretty intense competition from some decidedly dodgy characters (who like tea and crumpets, obviously) who’d likely list their occupations on LinkedIn as some variation of bringing about armageddon and/or achieving dominion over, like, the whole world.
However, on each of those occasions it takes Drake until close to the penultimate chapter to go, ‘hang on a minute…. maybe they’re after some weird, dangerous, supernatural shit here, and not, say, an actual treasure…. ‘ and on three occasions, he’s been a bit gutted that he’s spent a fortune chasing said treasure, only to have to destroy it and walk away empty handed.
That’s forgivable the first time – I mean, we’ve all made that mistake at some point – but to still be all like ‘Ooooh, I wonder what this treasure might be, I can’t wait to spend my money…’ two thirds of the way through the third game strikes me as being a bit daft! I get that it’s a narrative device, and I get that there needs to be an element of mystery, but seriously Nathan, as a rule of thumb, if you’re ever attacked by any kind of supernatural/biologically unlikely entity, you’re probably not going to be walking away with any treasure. Learn it. Revise it. You’ll be tested on it next week. And more importantly, please don’t do it again in Uncharted 4 – you’re better, and smarter than that.
Loose ends
Finally, let’s take a quick look at some of the little dangling tidbits from the series that have, so far, yet to be wrapped up adequately. Most obviously, there’s still the unanswered questions about Nathan Drake and (again, just to refresh…. **SPOILER ALERT**) whether he’s even Nathan Drake in the first place. That last bit was hinted at in the 3rd game, but was just kind of left there, sitting in the sun like a big old ‘fuck you’ to anybody expecting – or hoping for – any kind of elucidation or resolution. It would be a significant revelation given the whole ‘Francis Drake’s descendent’ whatsit, but it wouldn’t necessarily be too interesting in and of itself, given “Drake” could still be “Drake” without being Drake – if you get what I mean?
Similarly, even though we got a bit of Drake/Sully back-story in Uncharted 3, we’re still (as far as I can remember) largely unaware of Drake’s own history before that. Some of it was hinted at, but often that brought up more questions than answers. Why’s a 13 year old kid wandering around on his own in South America (and who was on duty at the immigration desk the day he arrived)? What happened to his parents? Why the fascination with Francis Drake if he’s not a descendent, and how and when did he discover it all if he is? Again, that was briefly covered before (‘Drake may not have had kids with his English wife…’, or words to that effect), but again, it was never entirely elaborated on, and what was revealed was brought into question by the whole ‘that might not be his real name’ thingumyjig later.
Elsewhere, I’d like to see some decent resolution to Chloe‘s shizzle. She’s a great character, I think, but she’s sort of relegated to the level of plot device and/or frequently abandoned without satisfactory reasons. She just sort of fucked off out of the story in Uncharted 3 and that was both jarring, and a shame because she’s pretty cool. I guess in some respects I’d like a decent bit of ‘getting the old gang back together’ in A Thief’s End, even if it’s not necessarily the most original of devices, because that would at least allow them to give Chloe a fitting send-off.
And, last but not least – and more of a hope than a prediction – is that I really want Uncharted 4 to be a brilliant end to such a well-crafted, funny, and ultimately extremely enjoyable series. I have every confidence in the Uncharted team, and I have no specific reasons to doubt them, but there is an inherent pressure there – both thanks to the popularity of the previous games, and the delays to this one. In many ways, I understand (and agree with) the decision to wrap The Uncharted Universe up whilst it’s still great, but a part of that legacy will undoubtedly depend on exactly how they do that – and they could achieve the opposite of their intended results if they end the series on a bum note; in effect retrospectively tainting the franchise. Obviously (even if they were reading this) it’d waaaay be too late for them to do anything now – but honestly guys, pleeeeeease don’t balls this up.
Please?
QTX 
February 18, 2016 at 6:42 pm
It looks like Uncharted 4 is going to have darker plot. One thing I’ve noted about Naughty Dog is that their weaknesses as writers became much more pronounced when they tried to put on a serious face with their latest effort, The Last of Us. This is why when I think of the medium’s best storytellers, Neil Druckmann is not a name that springs to mind (alternatively it does, but only to prove my next point). The problem is that his direction would be more appropriate for a movie or miniseries than for a video game. It’s a mentality that I think is holding the AAA industry back when it comes to exploring creative avenues in video game storytelling. If you’re not accounting for the interactive element that even the most linear of games possess, you’re invariably going to create a game with two separate storylines: one told by the narrative and the one told by the actual gameplay. It wasn’t too bad in the Uncharted series because the game was fun enough to the point where the only real disparity was when the game makes you fail through no fault of your own, but The Last of Us didn’t have that luxury, and relied heavily on a lot of cynical tropes that, when put together, created an unsustainable universe that only works because the writers never considered the broader implications.
If I get a PS4, I’ll check out Uncharted 4, as I really liked the second installment (Uncharted 3 I could take or leave), but I can see it either being great or a total disaster.
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February 18, 2016 at 9:16 pm
That’s an interesting point, and very well made – and although I don’t necessarily agree with your conclusions, I do agree with what you’re saying. That seems slightly paradoxical, but I guess what I’m suggesting is that I think The Last of Us worked precisely because it was done well enough to overcome the problems inherent in the clash of Script/Narrative vs Gameplay that you’ve described, and that most games suffer from on some level.
And it did that by making you care about the former, and because that then worked as motivation for the latter – if you see what I’m getting at. Some games have a great idea or story, some have great gameplay, and some even have both, but it’s definitely rarer that it’s the actual story that makes us want to finish a game; to succeed with the gameplay.
As Gamers we’ve all sat through some hideously bad stories (and “acting”) because the gameplay’s fun, or compelling, and we’ve all put up with some hideous mechanics and stuff because there’s a sense of achievement from finishing a game (or whatever), but I think what games have been lacking (with a few exceptions) have been stories and narratives that drive us forward, and more so than just an (eventual) sense of achievement, or the joy we get out of the act of physically playing of a game, does.
And I get what you’re saying about the TV or miniseries thing – and again I agree – but again, I think that’s exactly why Druckmann is so well regarded. It’s actually a good test of video games – and why for a long time they were considered ‘inferior’ to other forms of narrative – because if you took the actual button-pressing stuff out of a lot of games (and we just had to passively “watch” it in a cinema, for example) a lot of us would find them a lot, lot less compelling, I think.
We watch films all the way through because we usually care about seeing the resolution (the pay-off, if you like), but with games, the pay-off is often something outside of, and distinct from, seeing how the “story” ends – and often that was quite lucky, considering the narrative pay-off was pretty dire. (In other words, do we put hundreds of hours into games because they contain great stories, or because they’re great games (and because we all enjoy playing games))??
What worked about The Last of Us (I thought) was precisely that the narrative sucked you in, the acting was pretty high quality (and both combined were actually quite compelling), and that the pay-off at the end was actually pretty good (or so I thought, anyway). There have been other games that have done that (and others that have, in my opinion, done it better than TLoU) but not a whole load of them – and certainly not a great percentage of the hundreds of games I’ve played. TLoU wasn’t particularly original (and yeah, there were some heavily worn tropes in there), and it wasn’t the greatest game I’ve ever played in terms of button pressing and such, but it was a pretty decent aggregation of the two, I thought, and it was one of only a handful I’ve played when I actually gave a shit about any of the characters (beyond in an ‘it being a ball-ache if I die’ kind of way). I totally get that this wasn’t a universal reaction – and that there are better games – but I still think TLoU is mostly deserving of the praise it received – and I say that as somebody who waited two years to play it (when there’s always a danger of over-hype and such).
Anyways – we’ll just have to see whether the ‘darker plot’ thing works or not with Uncharted 4. The games are definitely lighter in tone (and a shitload funnier) than TLoU was, so it’s definitely a risk. In all honesty, as much as I liked TLoU, I think I’d prefer Uncharted 4 to be more Uncharted-ey than TLoU-ey, so I’m totally with you on that at least…. ;0P
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February 22, 2016 at 6:34 pm
I can see where you’re coming from. The Last of Us is indeed a largely character-driven experience. The problem is that, because the story was ridiculously angsty, I found I didn’t really care about the characters, and the rare instance I did, it was for the wrong reasons. You don’t need an elaborate presentation to get me to care about the characters; Dark Souls had a minimalistic approach to storytelling that wasn’t character-driven, yet I still cared more about the cast of that game.
I certainly agree that video games generally don’t have high standards when it comes to writing – mostly because you can always use solid gameplay as a fallback. That’s why it’s such a big deal when a big-name developer comes along and proudly touts how they aren’t like the rest – that the story is the draw, that they did put a good chunk of their efforts into it. It’s a lofty ambition, and arguably even a gamble considering the types of gamers the AAA industry usually markets towards. It’s the reason my chances of enjoying the game were slim from the beginning.
You see, by the time I got around to playing The Last of Us, there was nothing left it could offer me that wasn’t already done better in older games such as Planescape: Torment and the first two Zero Escape installments that, while not quite getting mainstream attention, had more interesting approaches to storytelling that catered to the medium far more effectively. The thing is that The Last of Us seems impressive because by comparison to the rest of the AAA industry it looks like an amazing story, but compared to actual films (or the aforementioned story-heavy games), it’s a contest between severely mismatched opponents. In other words, the reason The Last of Us seems impressive is because it’s an okay story compared to ones that are decidedly mediocre (or even outright bad) – a medium-sized fish in a small pond as it were. It doesn’t help that after finishing The Last of Us, I would go on to play games that ultimately reinforced my (rather heretical) opinion of it including: Resident Evil 4 (which clearly remembered to be a game first), Dark Souls (which had stellar gameplay on top of having a more interesting story) and Undertale (which was innovative on every front).
It’s common knowledge that gamers generally don’t finish the games they play. While I myself have occasionally done this, when I’m sufficiently invested, you can safely bet I’ll make it to the end. The only exceptions I can think of are Final Fantasy III, which had a nightmarishly difficult endgame where each attempt could take an hour and if you mess up, you go all the way back and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in which I was so disengaged from the story, that I found no reason to continue despite having made it to the final chapters. Because of this, my motivation for finishing The Last of Us wasn’t much different than, say, wanting to complete Super Mario Bros. 3. Sure, I wanted to see how the story would end, but what gets me through a game is the desire to have a complete experience. Consequently, I think I’m much more of a stickler for endings than other gamers. It’s the reason certain games failed to get my stamp of approval despite being absolutely beloved on the internet. A bad ending is the biggest insult a creator can dish out to the audience; no work with a weak ending is worthy of being called a classic.
Anyway, I’m glad you got more out of The Last of Us than I; there is a lot to like about it even I didn’t. If nothing else, I’ll admit the acting was good.
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February 22, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Yeah, like I said, it wasn’t the best game I’ve ever played, and it wasn’t even the best gaming narrative I’ve come across, but it was definitely a reasonable effort, I thought. I played it at a time when I’d mostly not played a straight, linear type game for a while (preferring open-world, Sandbox-ey ones), so I think it kind of reignited my interest in them – so I’m maybe giving it some bonus points for that.
But, as with most other mediums, I guess there’s just some stuff that grabs one person more than another, for whatever reason, and for me, I just thought TLoU was a fairly solid story that I found quite a bit more compelling than a lot of the other stuff I’d played.
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February 19, 2016 at 3:37 am
Good write up. One aspect that always irked me playing through the games was the “wave of enemies” portions. I get that its an action game and needs some “combat” but the nameless waves of generic dudes with guns takes away from the characterizations they build in the story, as well as highlight what I personally think is the weakest area of the game – the gun battles. I’m not sure how this gets corrected, but I enjoyed the games regardless, with 2 being my favorite.
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February 19, 2016 at 11:08 am
Cheers, and I absolutely agree with you about the “waves” – which I frequently failed the first couple of times I came across them. More than just the absolute number of bad guys, I found that I struggled because of their tendency to appear in a 360 degree theatre of death, and because I thought all of the games (although it did get progressively better – slightly) had ‘snapping to cover’ issues, and ‘switching between cover’ ones too. Frequently Drake would be surrounded by dudes, and I’d try to get a slightly better position, only to have him decide that this was the time to do a bizarre combination of modern dance and rolly-pollies.
When you factor in the guys with snipers and rocket launchers etc (who were usually quite far away) I often felt like I had no option but to die a few times until I’d finally been able to locate (and prioritise) everyone who was trying to kill me, because there was virtually no way of doing it in real-time. Usually it was only a mild irritation, but you’re right in that it could frequently have the effect of jarring you out of the narrative/gameplay momentum they’d built up to that point.
And I also think 2 was my favourite – which seems to be the growing consensus – or at least on here. Usually the second instalment in a Trilogy is considered to be the weakest, so that’s quite impressive.
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