Why Nathan Drake Needs To Die

THE Uncharted series has arguably been the defining experience of PlayStation 3: fantastic gameplay, trailblazing graphics and a magical playability rarely matched by any studio on any console.

That, and it’s packed with more one-liners than Jimmy Carr doing cocaine (lawyer’s note: he doesn’t do cocaine, he just doesn’t pay tax).

 But the series’ brilliance is exactly why I don’t want another entry.

Naughty Dog are like Pixar. They don’t churn sequels for the sake of dollars, they carefully cultivate IPs, creating a second – or third – story in a franchise only if they think they can top the original. Uncharted 3 is Naughty Dog’s Toy Story 3, arguably the best in a brilliant series.

Crash Bandicoot gracefully made way for Jak & Daxter when the company’s output took a slightly more mature slant, then the eco-freak and his ottsel were binned in turn, despite protestations of fans (myself included) who wanted to see a lush HD sequel on PS3.

Now Naughty Dog faces a dilemma. Do they move Drake and Sully into the PS retirement home alongside Crash, Spyro and Parappa The Rapper, or do they bow to inevitable fan (and Sony) pressure and launch Uncharted 4 on PS4?

While it seems certain a fourth entry will appear, there is evidence to suggest Drake’s already unpacking his Atlases and eyeing up the shuffleboard rota.


 A rating leak for Uncharted: Fight for Fortune, described by a Brazilian ratings board as a ‘card/casino’ game is possible proof that the series is being sidelined for something new.

Adam Trueman: Nathan Drake beefcake?

Well, perhaps it’s time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m Uncharted’s biggest fan. I’ve played all three PS3 titles at least four times each, uncovered the treasures, committed entire clipscenes to memory and eyed up potential people to play Drake in a movie (that bloke who plays Adam Trueman in Casualty is the spit, by the way).
 

But, just like the rabid Star Wars fans who don’t want Episode 7 (let alone 8 or 9), I don’t want to see the series continued ‘just because’ it’s popular (read: makes buckets of dosh).

It already feels like Uncharted 3, plotwise, stretched things a bit. This evil could destroy the world! Let’s find the lost secret city! Again! Last time a train crashed. Let’s crash a plane! This massive, unkillable hand-to-hand combat fighter keeps turning up for some reason! The evil killer spiders are chasing us again but seem to play no actual role in the overarching plot!

I loved the game, but it didn’t make nearly as much sense as the first two, and I’m worried a fourth (discounting the Vita prequel) will be a further mixture of retreading and mild confusion.

One major positive about Crash and Jak is that they were left behind once they’d become outdated and the company went on to make fresher, more modern things.

Not for the first time, I’ll point out the absurdity of a seemingly conscientious, well-meaning bloke -  Drake - who ruthlessly guns down hordes of enemies and then bleats on about doing the right thing to lovely, concerned Elena.

Then there’s the general Indiana Jones-style ‘mythical fantasy’ bent underpinning the plots and the puzzles (who constructed these huge rooms full of metal bits to cast a shadow on a wall which would unlock a door, anyway?) and it all starts to feel like a series that has outlived its believability.

What’s the antitode? The Last Of Us, of course.

The gritty new IP may not be to everyone’s taste, but it shows exactly how the studio can transition from an almost comic-book style OTT adventure to a more realistic, more genuine and consequently more emotive experience without losing the gameplay, graphical and storytelling work that’s gone into Drake’s outings.

Sure, lead character Joel might crack wise once in a while. But it’s only to relieve the tension after he’s cracked the skull of a fellow survivor - intent on ending his and little Ellie’s lives in cold blood - in their desperate dog-eat-dog struggle for survival.

It’s the natural evolution: an even more grounded, gritty and groundbreaking series is about to be born – if the game lives up to its promise -  taking what’s been learned and applying it to gameplay created for 2013, not 2006.

That means it might well be time to pack Nathan off to the home, while we still remember the good times.

Come on now, Drake, there’s bingo in a minute. Sit down in that nice armchair by the fire. It’s for your own good.