It’s been less than eight years since the debut of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, but in that time Nathan Drake has elevated himself to game icon and three main titles have appeared, a handheld adventure, a comic book, talks of movies and legions of fans. Now with the impending release of the franchise’s fourth installment, A Thief’s End, it’s easy to recognize that not only is this the end of Drake’s adventures as we know them, but it also marks the end and a transition period for the game’s creators, Naughty Dog.
Co-director Neil Druckmann explained in the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine,"We get more and more that feeling of this definitely [being] the end of an era for us as a studio…we’ve been with this franchise for almost ten years now from inception all the way to this point. Luckily, we don’t get too much time to dwell on that feeling because we’re so busy, but every once in a while… you know? I remember when Bruce and I came onto the project. A few weeks later we pitched a pretty new story to the team, kind of like a new direction for the project. A lot of things were pretty rough and just slotted in, so there was an ending but it wasn’t as well defined, and at some point we defined more of the [plot] thread and a more definitive ending, and we did a second pitch for the team."
The guys that previously brought the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series have really distinguished themselves with meaty storylines and gripping action with not only the Uncharted series, but also 2013’s astonishing The Last of Us, so it’s easy to wonder what’s next in store for this studio. It’s also easy to look forward to it.
