The Uncharted trilogy was one of the most well loved series of the last console generation. The PlayStation exclusive titles told the story of Nathan Drake, and Naughty Dog succeeded in impressing gamers with a fantastic adventure and lavish environments. The three main games from the story have even transcended console generations, and will reappear as a remastered trilogy that will hit on October 9 at an updated 60FPS.
Nathan Drake’s story has not reached its conclusion just yet, however, as Naughty Dog has been working away on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. As the name suggests, the PS4 exclusive will give a finite ending to the adventures of Drake, and many fans have been wondering exactly how final Uncharted 4 is going to be. After all, there are countless other series that have seemingly reached a definite finale before being given a jolt in the arm with yet another sequel.
Naughty Dog is doing everything it can to try and alleviate the concerns that any sceptics may have, and the developer has once more spoken out to confirm that Uncharted 4 will bring an absolute end point to Nathan Drake’s story. In an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine (via Games Radar), game director Neil Druckmann has explained that the developer is feverishly working on giving Uncharted fans a fitting finale to the story. What’s more, Druckmann also hints that any unanswered questions at the end of Uncharted 4 have been left there for a reason other than simply remaining as a future link to sequels.
“If things are left dangling, they’re left dangling for a reason,” said Druckmann cryptically in the interview. The game director reiterated that any threads remaining are not there “to set up a sequel,” as no doubt many would have worried. Instead, the Naughty Dog man states that any questions left behind for players to ponder remain to “raise interesting questions about the theme of what it is you’ve just experienced.”
It sounds as though Naughty Dog has a definite plan in place, and according to Druckmann Uncharted 4 – and perhaps the story of the entirety of the Uncharted series – is “setting up this final message.” Fans of the franchise may well have a few surprises in store when they reach the conclusion of Uncharted 4, with Druckmann continuing to state that the ending “needs to be on one hand surprising, and yet, in hindsight, inevitable.”
It remains to be seen just how successful Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will be as the conclusion of the Uncharted franchise, but certainly fan hopes are high. The developer recently delayed the release of the game until March 2016 to help deliver a higher quality product to fans, so many expect to see something special upon release. Some players will get a first glance of the game’s multiplayer in October's beta – although that’s unlikely to stem the tide of anticipation for the singer player campaign. Let’s see if Naughty Dog can truly deliver.