One reader argues that the original Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune would have benefited much more from a remake than The Last Of Us Part 1.
I’m a huge Uncharted fan and it all started with the first game. I didn’t play it at launch, as I didn’t have a PlayStation 3 at the time, but a few years later, when it was part of PlayStation’s budget lineup of Platinum games, I gave it a shot and loved it. The adventurous romping atmosphere coupled with the lovable trio of Nate, Elena and Sully made it a delightful escape, almost like a vacation on a remote island, although I’d rather have less armed thugs kill me!
It’s still one of my favorite games, which I return to and enjoy on a regular basis, but as much as I view it incredibly fondly, I’m not blind to the fact that it has more than a few issues. So in this Reader’s Feature I would like to suggest what I would like to improve and change if it ever gets a remake.
***Spoilers for the upcoming Uncharted series!***
Combine climbing and shooting
Uncharted 2 fixed this; think of the train level, where you climb over a moving train, get into gunfights all the while, or the collapsing building being attacked by a gunship, fighting guys in it.
But go back to the first game and the climbing and shooting are very separate. We climb around a bit and then enter an area with handy medium-height walls and crates to be, just look, ambushed.
There is room to blend this better, like in the later games. For example the fortress at the start of the game and the church later where you have to shoot a lot on the ground but when you get to the higher level you just have to climb. Although there are a few explosives up there, almost as if a gunfight on the higher floor of the church was intended.
Remixing climbing and shooting to bring it more in line with the later games would dramatically improve Drake’s Fortune.
More decor pieces
Well, there’s a chase where you shoot from the back of a jeep and the jet ski levels (which I’ll get back to shortly!) but that’s it for Drake’s Fortune. If you’ve taken elements that were only cinematic in the original, like the plane crash/parachute breakout at the beginning or the part at the end where Nate hangs from the El Dorado statue carried through the air by a helicopter and created if they were interactive, it would make for a more exciting adventure.
the jet ski
I think I heard somewhere that the jet ski levels were a last minute addition to the game – it shows! Nate drives while Elena shoots after him, but it all definitely doesn’t feel right. In Uncharted 3 you get to ride a horse while shooting at a convoy, you redefine where you go while at the same time who you shoot at and it feels good and fun. So please, please fix the jet ski levels!
unused ideas
In the book The Art Of The Uncharted Trilogy, there is a section of unused ideas, including a submerged ship and underwater sections with ruins on the ocean floor.
Uncharted 4 had a short dive level at the start, but imagine it’s more like the levels in Tomb Raider: Underworld, where you’re free to explore underwater. This would mess up the pace of the adventure and be something new for the series, which so far, while there’s been quite a bit of water and swimming, has all been very linear.
Give Elena her own chapters
After getting Drake’s coffin from the bottom of the ocean and realizing they’ve landed on something big – the location of El Dorado – Nate and Sully are very indecent and dump Elena, despite the fact that it’s her show that has the dive funded!
She tracks them down and meets Nate again after he believes Sully is dead. After giving him a well-deserved slap in the face, they team up and set out to find El Dorado together. They are then separated when they parachute out of the plane. Except seeing her a few times, way down the road, she doesn’t come back into the game until Nate is caught in a prison cell, from which Elena promptly pulls him out.
I would like her to have her own chapters in the game where you can see what she does on her own. It might even work if Resident Evil 4’s Separate Ways are for Ada and a standalone mini-campaign to keep the main game from getting too long.
Tie it in the epilogue of Uncharted 4
At the end of Uncharted 4, Nate and Elena tell their daughter, Cassie, about their first adventure together. The game ends when Nate starts talking to Cassie about El Dorado as they all go on a boat trip
If you’ve recreated the first game, you can add a story where Nate and Elena Cassie look forward to their first adventure, which would be great fan service for the couple reminiscing about the beginning of their lives together.
By reader LastYearsModel
The reader’s position does not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600 word reading at any time, which, if used, will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you don’t have to send an email.
MORE: Uncharted Movie Punches Sonic The Hedgehog 2 At The Global Box Office
MORE: Uncharted 5 Sounds Like It’s Already Happening At Naughty Dog
MORE: Fortnite & Uncharted movie crossover includes original Nathan Drake skin
Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk
To make it easier to submit letters to your Inbox and Reader’s Features without sending an email, use our Stuff Stuff page here.
For more such stories, check out our Gaming page.
0 Comments