[Updated with high-res images, trailer, and new details. Scroll down for more info.]

Three months ago, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception was confirmed at the 2010 VGAs. Naughty Dog has been relatively forthcoming with information, providing us with trailers, insights into the game's desert setting-design, as well as where the story might take fan-favorite leading man Nathan Drake.

Now, thanks to a set of low-quality images, we have our first look at Drake's antagonist in Uncharted 3.

Uncharted villains tend to be one of the less-successful aspects of the series. For all of Drake's charm and witty banter, his opponents have mostly fallen into traditional greedy villain (for money and/or power) tropes - not to mention two very "gamey" final boss fights.

Gabriel Roman and Atoq Navarro were a predictable greedy billionaire/back-stabbing henchman pairing in Uncharted and, despite a number of twists and turns along the way, Uncharted 2's Zoran Lazarevic was the kind of lug-head mercenary we've seen time and time again in video games.

While there's still no specific information regarding Uncharted 3's villain-related story details, we may have our first look at the character in question - and she looks to bring a fresh take to the franchise's male-dominated cast of antagonists.

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The name of the new antagonist has yet to be revealed but we do know that, according to TRS, she's an older Helen Mirren lookalike who's paired with a Jason Statham-type bruiser. In the images, we see Drake and partner-in-crime Sully looking beat-down in an alley, with the character seemingly on the verge of a super-villain-esque monologue - which hints at a familiarity with our treasure-hunting protagonists.

With such a pair of strong female leads/love interests in Elena and Chloe, it's not a total surprise to see the team at Naughty Dog bring in a ruthless lady for Drake (and company) to face-off against.

We already know that Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception centers around the fabled 'Atlantis of the Sands' as Nathan Drake travels to the heart of the Arabian Desert but, after our sneak peak at the game's antagonist - we now have a much better idea of the "shadowy clandestine organization and its ruthless leader" that Sully (and subsequently Drake) are forced to face-off against.

Update:

Here's new info and a trailer featuring the new Uncharted 3 villain whose name is Katherine Marlowe, courtesy of Sony:

"Marlowe is definitely not one you want to get in the way of, or worse, double cross! To give you some background, Katherine Marlowe is the coldly calculating leader of a secret society whose roots date back over four hundred years to the court of Queen Elizabeth I. She has a long-standing rivalry with Nathan Drake over Sir Francis Drake’s ring — something they both contend is rightfully theirs and is also the key to an ancient mystery. As you can tell from the cutscene above, Marlowe is a much more cerebral enemy than Drake has confronted in the past, using both psychological and physical tactics to get what she is after. Marlowe also has the assistance of her team of highly trained agents in this secret society — they are far more elusive and dangerous than the hired guns Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan have faced in the past."

Follow us on Twitter @benkendrick and @gamerant and let us know what you think of the mysterious lady villain - as well as how she'll fit into the Uncharted 3 story.

Uncharted 3 will be releasing exclusively on the PlayStation 3 on November 1, 2011.

Source: Revision3