Nathan Drake, the handsome devil that he is, is the cover star for this month’s issue of Game Informer, with the outlet dedicating a chunk of coverage to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
And though the coverage isn’t online at the time of writing, Gematsu has unearthed some details relating to Naughty Dog’s hotly-anticipated sequel, confirming that Uncharted 4 will indeed ship with a multiplayer component.
Taking place three years after its predecessor, A Thief’s End will see our grizzled protagonist cross paths with his wayward brother Sam, who was presumed dead. No matter, this prompts Drake to return to the profession he does best: treasure hunting. Only this time round, his sibling will accompany him on part of the journey, creating a dynamic that bears semblance to that of Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us, with Naughty Dog confirming that Sam will be controlled by an AI.
From what we gather, the sequel will largely take place within Libertalia, a Madagascar colony purportedly founded by pirates. That said, ND has since confirmed that players will experience a variety of different environments as they progress through the story.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End may be without a release date, though we expect it to release exclusively for PlayStation 4 later this year. Here’s the comprehensive list of those tidbits, as provided by Gematsu:
- Elena and Sully are teased to appear.
- Artifacts will return, and might contain notes pointing to more treasures and artifacts.
- Enemies can grab your leg if you try to push them over ledges.
- The A.I. system has been overhauled. Sam’s A.I. is compared to that of Ellie from The Last of Us. Naughty Dog are trying to “explore what it’s like to be with somebody as capable of Nathan Drake.”
- There are more tools outside of the rope and piton (metal spike). Naughty Dog wants to incorporate them into puzzles.
- Navigational freedom is a large focus. Game Informer was shown multiple paths, one leading to an extra cave, the other bypassing a group of enemies.
- The demo shown to the magazine saw Drake taking a riskier climbing route that almost made him fall into the sea. While all paths have consequences, there is no “Golden Path.”
- “So now our concept of a set piece is ‘what’s something impactful we can do to switch expectations and how can we have it emotionally charged?’ We want to constantly surprise the player, so it can be really intimate, or really big and bombastic.”
- Cut-scenes are all in real-time.
- Humor is still aplenty.
- There will be multiplayer.
- Naughty Dog won’t say if this will be the last Uncharted.
