Uncharted



Uncharted is a third-person, action adventure series developed by Naughty Dog, exclusively for the PS3, PSVita, and PlayStation 4.

Series description
After completing Jak 3, Naughty Dog assembled their most technically talented staff members and began development of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune under the codename Big. It was in full production for about two years, with a small team of engineers working on the game for about a year beforehand. Naughty Dog decided to create a brand new IP rather than opt to develop a PlayStation 3 Jak and Daxter game—wanting to create a franchise suitable for the new hardware, in order to develop such ideas as realistic human characters instead of stylized ones owing to limitations of previous hardware, as well as create something "fresh and interesting", although termed as 'stylized realism'. Inspiration was drawn from various sources in the action and adventure genres: pulp magazines, movie serials, and more contemporary titles like Indiana Jones and National Treasure. The team felt the sources shared themes of mystery and "what-if scenarios" that romanticized adventure and aimed to include those in Uncharted.

The game was first unveiled at E3 2006. From early previews of the game, inevitable comparisons of elements such as platforming and shooting between Uncharted and the well-known Tomb Raider series were drawn, earning the title the nickname of "Dude Raider". However, the developers saw their game as concentrating more on third-person cover-based play, in contrast to Tomb Raider 's "auto-aiming" play and greater puzzle-solving elements. Other influences they cited include Resident Evil 4, Kill Switch, and Gears of War. Throughout the game's development the staff tried to remain flexible and detached from the original design concepts; attention was focused on the features that worked well, while features that did not work were removed. The development team intended the game's main setting, the island, to play a big role in the overall experience. Feeling too many games used bleak, dark settings with monochromatic color schemes, they wanted the island to be a vibrant, believable game world that immersed the player and encouraged exploration.

In designing the characters, the artists aimed for a style that was photorealistic. The creators envisioned the main protagonist, Nathan Drake, as more of an everyman character than Lara Croft, shown as clearly under stress in the game's many fire fights, with no special training and constantly living at the edge of his abilities. Director Amy Hennig felt a heavily armored, "tough as nails" protagonist with a large weapon was not a suitable hero, and decided a "tenacious and resourceful" character would portray more human qualities. Supporting characters (Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan) were included to avoid a dry and emotionless story. Fisher's character underwent changes during development; in early trailers for the game, the character had dark brown hair, but ultimately the color changed to blonde and the style was altered. The writing of the story was led by Hennig with help from Neil Druckmann and Josh Scherr. The lead game designer was Richard Lemarchand, with the game co-designed by Hirokazu Yasuhara, a former Sega game designer best known for designing the early Sonic the Hedgehog games.

The game hit gold in the middle of October 2007. A demo was then released on November 8 on the PlayStation Network before its final release on November 19 in North America, December 6 in Australia, and December 7 in Europe. The demo was first placed on the North American store, and was initially region-locked such that it would only play on a North American PS3, but this was later confirmed as a mistake, as the developers were apparently unaware that people from different regions could sign up for a North American account and download the demo; a region-free demo was released soon after.

Since its release in 2007, Uncharted has become a cornerstone of the Playstation library and was critically praised for its humor, story, characters, and graphics. Its success commercially has led to three sequels, five spin-offs, a comic series, a board game, a novel, and a film adaptation released in 2022.

The series follows protagonists Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher, Victor "Sully" Sullivan, and other allies as they travel around the world looking for treasure and lost fortunes while fighting off enemy soldiers and henchmen lead by a known antagonist(s).

Connection With All-Stars

 * Nathan Drake is a playable character in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
 * The Descendants and El Dorado from Drake's Fortune appear during Drake's Level 3 Super Move.
 * Stowaways from Drake's Deception makes an appearance as a stage, mashing up with BioShock.
 * The RPG-7 Rocket Launcher and the Sturgeon from Drake's Deception appear as weapons in the game.
 * Victor Sullivan appears in the Arcade Mode of Nathan Drake, and he is also an unlockable Minion.
 * Elena Fisher, Chloe Frazer and Young Drake appear as DLC minions.
 * Evil Cole's DLC costume is based on the DLC costume of him present in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Games

 * Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - 2007 (PS3)
 * Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 2009 (PS3)
 * Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - 2011 (PS3)
 * Uncharted: Golden Abyss - 2011 (PSVita)
 * Uncharted: Fight for Fortune - 2012 (PSVita)
 * Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection - 2015 (PS4)
 * Uncharted 4: Thief's End - 2016 (PS4)
 * Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - 2017 (PS4)

Trivia

 * Uncharted has the second most representation of Minions, being a total of 4. The most being Gravity Rush with 5 Minions.