Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

The PlayStation-exclusive Uncharted is one of the best action-adventure video-game series of our modern times. I imagine that when Naughty Dog developed the very first game in the series, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, they were trying to borrow what people love about Indiana Jones and then adapt that to a video game. I should point out that Indiana Jones comparisons have been being made since the very beginning of the franchise, and recently, Ruben Fleischer admitted to drawing influence from Indiana Jones for the Uncharted movie.

Nathan Drake is a treasure hunter and explorer who seeks valuable artifacts hidden in caves, jungles, forts, and tombs. Unlike Indiana Jones, though, who was a well-experienced archaeologist from the very beginning, Nathan Drake is a young and ambitious guy who tumbles his way into the treasure-hunting lifestyle alongside his old friend Victor “Sully” Sullivan. Despite the differences in leading men, Uncharted used a lot of the same elements as Indiana Jones in terms of treasure-hunting adventure with witty dialogue, humor, and loveable rogues. And then, of course, there are the centuries-old puzzles that need to be solved, questions that need to be answered.

A modern video-game take on Indiana Jones was much needed back in 2007, when Drake’s Fortune came out. At that point in time, the last great ride with Indiana Jones was Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, which released in 2003 (a new Indiana Jones game was announced in 2005, but it eventually got canceled). So in 2007, Indy was struggling with development difficulties, the Tomb Raider franchise was seeing diminishing returns (which wouldn’t be remedied until 2013 with the Tomb Raider reboot), and the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy was done and dusted. That means there was a need for something to fill the gap.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

Uncharted was the game that filled that gap. It came and conquered the action-adventure genre with its thrilling and exciting storyline, innovative gameplay, and immersive character development. And on top of all that, it redefined the action-adventure story experience in many ways.

The first game in the series, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, was welcomed by action-adventure gamers with open arms, and Nathan Drake made his space in the gaming community. However, the series really found itself with the sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Released in 2009, Uncharted 2 borrowed from the good parts of the first game, but it offered more in terms of characters, storyline, locations, and overall scope. And that was the point in the franchise where Naughty Dog leaned hard into the spectacle of their action set pieces. Among Thieves was critically acclaimed, and it served as a stepping stone for the action-adventure genre as a whole.

The third entry in the series, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, released in 2011. The game did pretty well, just like its predecessors, and received several awards and recognitions, including multiple Game of the Year awards from various outlets.

There was an entry on the PlayStation Vita in 2012 (released in December of 2011 in Japan) called Uncharted: Golden Abyss, but the next mainline entry in the series was Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

This was billed as the last outing of Nathan Drake, bringing his journey to an end. The announcement had a moving feel to it, and it certainly grabbed the attention of all the stakeholders, including journalists, reviewers, gaming sites, and, of course, the fan base of Nathan Drake.

On the other hand, the news came as a huge surprise, and admittedly a bit of a disappointment. Over the years, fans had come to understand that Uncharted is Nathan Drake and Nathan Drake is Uncharted. We had to start asking if this was indeed the end of the Uncharted series. If so, why end such an amazing adventure within just four mainline installments? If not, then who is going to replace Nathan Drake in Uncharted 5?

Although Nate is the main hero of the game — and has been the thread that connects all these stories — he encounters plenty of other characters who became fan-favorite throughout the course. Apart from Nate’s old buddy Victor Sullivan, there are characters like Chloe Frazer, Nadine Ross, and, of course, Nate’s first and last love Elena Fisher.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection

So can Uncharted hold a future without Nathan Drake? Are any of these other characters strong enough to step into Nathan Drake’s enormous legacy? Admittedly, Naughty Dog did experiment with this, putting Chloe Frazer as the lead of the Uncharted 4 follow-up, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

But from a commercial and media standpoint, A Thief’s End was a masterstroke from Naughty Dog, because it launched speculation among gaming outlets and fans. Will Nate die? Will He retire for good? Or will he be lost somewhere?

The fourth installment was indeed epic; to me, it was the best game among all four mainline chapters. However, it had a bittersweet feeling to it. I am not the only one who doesn’t want Nathan to quit his hunger for finding treasures; there are plenty of fans who still want to continue the series with Nathan Drake as the leading man. While the final chapter had a great storyline to conclude the series, we noticed that Nathan is a more family-oriented guy now and himself wants to set aside his adventuring lifestyle and settle down. This does create a “happily ever after” conclusion to Nathan Drake’s story, and it didn’t feel forced.

The end of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End shows Nathan and Elena’s daughter Cassie Drake. The players get a chance to play as Cassie, checking out the old artifacts discovered by her father. Drake and Elena are older now. Nathan looks like he’s approaching the age that Sully was when we first met him in Drake’s Fortune, or maybe just a little younger than that. There is perhaps a hint that Naughty Dog may have plans to continue the series with Cassie as the main character, with Nathan Drake supporting her on her adventures just like Sully.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

We have to wait and see what Naughty Dog has in store for the future of Uncharted. Can the series thrive without Nathan Drake? Is Cassie a good stand-in, or will we see more adventures from Chloe Frazer? Is it really even Uncharted if you take Nate out of the series?

There are so many questions left unanswered. But if we learned anything from the Uncharted series, it’s that an unanswered question, when asked by the right person, can be the beginning of a grand adventure.

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