When Naughty Dog's Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann, the respective game director and creative director for the critically-acclaimed The Last of Us, became the leads for the upcoming Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, there was concern from fans that it would become foreboding.
If the memorable E3 2014 trailer for A Thief's End is any indication, it would seem as though Nathan Drake would be taking a darker look at his typically pulpy adventures through ancient tombs. The subtitle at least will likely refer to his untimely demise or perhaps the end of his wit-filled sojourns. Nathan himself appears at the beginning of the trailer face-down in a shallow river with a fly landing on his face attracted to the blood on his forehead.
That said, according to a half-hour video interview with Game Informer, the duo is firmly committed to Uncharted 4 with "blinders on" when thinking about the possible sequel to The Last of Us. They also want to ensure fans that they won't be making the game "too dark," though the tone will likely be somewhere between both franchises.
Yes, perhaps they can look back to Uncharted 2 as a blueprint, but they want to improve on that title and evolve the game's mechanics and story. As a part of pushing the boundaries, the team is working on how to make stealth "accessible and fast-paced," to add ropes to the action without ruining the flow of the game, and to improve the AI so that they can flank the player intelligently.
The comic-book nature of Nathan Drake, who might as well be a killing machine, does not mean that they can't find the humanity of the character who is now three years older than he was in the last Uncharted 3. Perhaps his quippy adventuring days are over to our collective chagrin, but let's hope they aren't.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is still slated to his 2014 and I'm sure we're see more at E3 2014 as a headliner for Sony's division.
