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First hour of Uncharted in four minutes, spoiler-free
Now, GamesRadar tried their best to remove any sort of spoilers from the first hour of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, but we know that's nearly an impossibility. So consider yourself warned -- there may or may not be something you could possibly consider a spoiler in the above video. What you're seeing is basically a montage of the first playable hour of Naughty Dog's new adventure title in the timespan of a little over four minutes. The game looks, sounds, and appears to play incredible. We really are excited to get our hands on this game and give you all our review! Until then, though, we'll watch videos.
Naughty Dog wants to raise animation bar with Uncharted
It's so refreshing when development companies actually aim to raise the standards of videogame development rather than sit back and rehash sequel after sequel. While it's plain to see if you've ever watched an Uncharted: Drake's Fortune gameplay video, Naughty Dog's gameplay animation lead Jeremy Yates explains how they're pushing animation technology further than we've ever seen before. Impressively, Naughty Dog has crammed 10 times more animations in Uncharted than it has in any game its ever made, and it clearly shows as Nathan moves seamlessly from one set of animations to another. According to Yates, Naughty Dog has three goals for Uncharted's animation: realistic movement, fluidity and responsiveness. From everything we've seen so far, they're right on track.
Uncharted box art and screenshots will make you say 'wow'
Click for high-res image. Isn't that some fine box art? Nathan Drake looks like a capable gunman, shotgun casually resting on his shoulder. The green of the jungle environment and the skull juxtaposed on it give it an alluring sense of adventure. This is quite compelling box art -- some of the best we've seen on PS3.But that's not the only thing that looks good. New screenshots showcase Naughty Dog's incredible technology, taking full advantage of what the PS3 has to offer. It's undeniable: the game looks stunning, at least from a visual perspective. It won't be too long until gamers everywhere can try our Drake's first adventure.%Gallery-3209%
Uncharted developer discusses PSN demo, HD support
Over at Sony's developer and corporate soapbox Official PlayStation.Blog, Naughty Dog's Co-President Evans Wells scribed up an update on the PlayStation 3 exclusive, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. He stated that they hit beta back in mid-September, and they "received the data [they] need to make sure the gameplay is finely tuned for [their] final release" from last week's focus testing. However, the more important bits of information came from Wells' comments to the initial post. Wells stated that they're working on a demo for the PlayStation Network, and it "will be up before [its] release date." After treading the waters, he addressed letters – consonants and vowels – in a Sesame Street fashion, specifically I, P, and HDTV. The game supports 720p, and after many people requested via the comments for 1080 support, Wells filled the community in: 1080i won't a problem, 1080p will be scaled from 1080i via software. Now you can experience the game as it was meant to be, according to Wells, "in glorious high definition." Yay?
Taking a look "inside" Uncharted: Part 1
Here's Sony's promo-documentary for the upcoming PS3 exclusive adventure, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Watch the team at Naughty Dog talk about straying from the usual grays of other action games, and go for its own style. Expect some heavy pro-PS3 propaganda ... but we don't think you'll mind! Stay tuned to the historical connection, around minute 4. It's fascinating to see how Uncharted is very loosely based upon historical events. To see how, you'll just have to watch.
Watch Uncharted: Drake's Fortune's first level
After watching the first level of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, it's hard not to be blown away by the sheer graphical beauty Naughty Dog has been able to capture. At times, it really feels like you're watching a movie as Nathan shoots, punches, climbs and jumps his way throughout the level.Andrew noted the game has come a long way since its E3 showing, and we can certainly tell. The most exciting part is Naughty Dog still has nearly two months for some fine tuning before it's set to ship.
TGS07: Uncharted hands-on
An updated build of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was on display at Sony's pre-TGS media briefing. The new demo comes a long way from its previous E3 presentation, which featured some serious technical glitches, and control issues. Almost immediately, players will see that the aiming has been far improved, feeling far more accurate and responsive than before. Thankfully, players will be able to fine-tune their control settings through adjustable control sensitivity, and invert options for horizontal and vertical controls. To show off the new and improved controls, the demo featured some truly menacing levels. One level took place in a decaying courtyard, not unlike one that would be seen in Gears of War. Laser sights will aggressively pursue your character, as you hide behind cover. Grabbing a sniper rifle, the player must quickly try to kill his aggressor -- a single shot from the sniper's gun will mean instantaneous death (as we regrettably found out). The scope of your rifle focuses around whatever your vision is centered on: a nice touch that makes sniping much easier to manage. The gunplay and hand-to-hand brawling all feel a lot better than before. But, that doesn't mean things are quite perfect. The camera never feels perfect, and the action lacks the visceral punch of Gears. Regardless, the platforming and puzzle solving on display certainly add a nice touch of variety to the game. The platforming feels satisfying, thanks to Nathan's natural animation. Each jump feels weighted down by real gravity, and seeing Nathan barely make a jump, only to hold on to a ledge, adds a sense of real danger to the environment. The puzzle solving takes a page from Folklore: Nathan must read the notes from Drake's diary to progress. In the demo we played, we had to do a simple statue rotation puzzle, but we see a lot of potential in the concept. Overall, we're glad to see that Uncharted has made so much progress. PS3 gamers are thirsty for a good adventure game, and with a little bit more polish before its November release, it looks to fit the bill.
Uncharted videos map out better idea of gameplay
It's good to see games for the PS3 that really get the ball rolling for the console. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (which should have been called Uncharted: Prince Drake Gears Up for War Tomb Raiding) by Naughty Dog is one of those titles that brings hope. Naughty Dog, best known for the PS2's Jak and Daxter games, took a risk and started a whole new IP on the PS3. We'll find out if if the gamble pays off Nov. 20. The video above and after the break look good, but we can't help notice that there are still some rough gameplay issues going on. Thankfully, we've seen solid development progression as we've reported on the title the last few months. We'll try to get more hands-on time with the game this week as we report from the Tokyo Games Show.
Uncharted coming to PS3 on November 20
As you've no doubt gathered from reading the site, we're multi-system. Most of the time that makes us extremely cool and a hit at parties, but there are times when it's a curse. For example, we're going to get Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii on Nov. 12, then just one week later we get Mass Effect on 360. That's bad, but now we find out we have to contend with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune being released on that exact same day. Yep, that pretty much confirms we won't have time for turkey and cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving (though we might make an exception for pie). So, whether you can't afford a PS3, you're still desperately searching your local Toys 'R' Us for a Wii or you're left without a 360 thanks to the RRoD, just remember: It could be much worse -- you could have all three.
Uncharted sidekick gets a dye job
Elena Fisher, the sidekick to Nathan Drake in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was never the prettiest girl at the ball, but we admit to having a soft spot for her. Call us crazy, but we kind of liked the idea of a female game character we thought wouldn't automatically spray us with Mace if we tried to chat her up at a party. Now, Games Radar has reported that with just a few digi-highlights, Elena has been moved firmly back out of our league. You can see her miraculous, She's All That-esque transformation in this series of screens. No, she's still no Ivy but we doubt we'd be able to "get the digits," as the kids are so fond of saying. Where's Mystery when you need him?
PAX 07: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune hands-on
Following our interview with Sony's Sam Thompson, we were escorted to a PlayStation 3 kiosk running the latest demo of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. While it was technically the same one that was shown at E3 last month, this version had undergone significant tweaking and updating resulting in a much more polished feeling product. The first thing you notice when you pick up the controller is how visually striking the game is. There are few games out there that look as lush and vibrant as Uncharted with its heavy foliage, beautiful water, and fantastic environmental textures. Considering 'next-gen games' are so often brown, drab and depressing looking, it's refreshing to play a game as colorful as this.
PAX 07: Joystiq interviews Sony's Sam Thompson about Uncharted
At last weekend's PAX 07, one of the biggest titles Sony was showing was the latest build of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. We were eager to get our hands on the action platformer to see if any of those problems from E3 had been fixed, but before that we were able to talk to the Line Producer for Uncharted, Sam Thompson about his game. He talks about tweaks and fixes to the game, technical details surrounding development and whether or not they'll be supporting Home. Check out the interview below and come back in a bit for hands-on report as well. Can you go into the tweaks that have gone into this Uncharted demo since it's showing at E3 last month? Absolutely, one of the things we did and we looked at very closely at E3 and after the show was the targeting system. And believe it or not the targeting system is still an evolutionary process and probably going to continue until we release the game. And one of the things we are doing to focus on this is bringing in test groups and getting a lot of peoples hands on the game and listening to what they have to say about it. The development team has taken an active roll as well, into kind of tuning the system. A lot of the time, artists won't have time to play the game until they're done with their contribution to the product. But we've really been trying to get everybody's feedback as often as possible because when you're dealing with a game like this it is an evolutionary process and it takes a lot of tuning to get the targeting system to where it needs to be. The second thing we've done is that we noticed during E3 that there was actually problems with the way the enemies were animating and people were getting a little kind of frustrated. So we decided to change the way the enemies were reacting so there is no invulnerability state when they grab at their knees or flinch after taking damage. At E3, there was a two second window where they wouldn't take any damage, so it gave people the impression that you had to pump 60 bullets into the guy to kill him.
Joystiq impressions: Uncharted (PS3)
What happens when you mix one part Gears of War, one part Tomb Raider, and one part Prince of Persia? You get one potentially awesome game. We really want to like Naughty Dog's upcoming PS3 exclusive, Uncharted, but technical issues seriously hindered our enjoyment of the title. If there's one thing everyone has been talking about with Uncharted, it's the complex animation system. Thousands of animations are blended together in real-time to create a visually complex world that feels alive. Drake responds to his surroundings: you'll see him look at points of interest, struggling to keep his footing, and more. In one heated gunfight, we had him take cover fire and could see the worried look on his face as he breathed heavily The animation system helps make Drake not only a more believable character, but one we can relate to. Drake is supposed to be a normal guy in an extraordinary situation, and the platforming sequences deliver upon the feeling of overcoming overwhelming obstacles. Drake will have to climb along rocky ledges, or jump from a shaky pillar to the next. Seeing what Drake can interact with the environment is intuitive due to Drake's focus on where he must go next. By observing what Drake wants to do, players will be able to navigate tricky areas with relative ease. Swinging from a rope and jumping to a ledge feels intuitive and empowering. We love the feeling we get when exploring the environment. %Gallery-3173%
Does Uncharted play as good as it looks?
You probably read about and watched the incredible video for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune earlier today, but we're going to take a more critical look at the actual gameplay from a demo released to some individuals, like IGN. This side of the story isn't all roses and chocolate boxes, we're afraid. While the game looks gorgeous and fluid, there seems to be an issue with some mechanics. Luckily, combat is saucy and fun, the AI is boasted as being smart and difficult, so those aren't a concern.What was IGN complaining about? Some pretty important stuff, if you ask us. While the demo they played was an early, but polished graphically, build, there are a few concerns worth noting. First, they mentioned a strange sort of linearity in a jungle. Sure, it's probably made that way on purpose for demo reasons, but we hope there isn't a linear "jungle path" you have to stay on, or invisible walls will nudge you along. Grabbing onto things was hit or miss, and Drake had difficulty judging which action to take when two objects of different sizes were close to one another. Also, timing your jumps isn't a problem, but the game often did the wrong thing and allowed Drake to plummet to his doom.It sounds like pain, we know, we wanted this game to be perfect, too. But that's why it's an early build and these kinks can be ironed out with ease. Hopefully we'll be back in another month with more hands-on impressions about how the game has turned itself around and everything works beautifully.
This Uncharted video takes our breath away
This video, captured at the IDEF in Cannes, shows almost six and a half minutes of gameplay footage for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. From a graphics and animation standpoint, this game look amazing. The jungle reminds us of a much more photorealistic Jak and Daxter (the first one, before it sold out and became a GTA clone), which would make sense considering they're both by Naughty Dog. The main character's movements are fluid and nimble. This game promises to be a true feast for the eyes. Whether the story can live up to expectations is another matter. Though with Amy Hennig (writer for the Legacy of Kain series) directing, we have high hopes. Check out the video for yourselves and see what you think.
Naughty Dog wants Uncharted ready for the holidays
While the actual interview over at Kikizo is a lot longer than what we'll be talking about (so you can check out any details you're curious about yourself), they've gathered enough surprising info about Naughty Dog's high-profile title Uncharted: Drake's Fortune to merit a nod. We'll cut the chatter and summarize the important points for you. Realistic nuances in human facial features are a large concern for Naughty Dog -- they want every muscle in their character's faces to reflect their emotions. Nathan Drake, the main character, was drawn from many different personalities to grow into a unique character. He's a bit Indiana Jones, a bit "random hiker in Thailand" among other things. No damned crate puzzles here! Thank goodness. The island is the only mentioned location for the game (we expect one or two others, but it's doubtful), but with the PS3's streamless-level system, the entire island is accessible at once. So, while there may be a multitude of places, it all loads as one. Which is awesome. Some special online components are planned, but nothing specific. Only Nathan is playable, but expect some Resident Evil 4 style buddy system ... or protection system, whichever you prefer. There will be content for Home and some special trophies to acquire! Sixaxis controller mechanics so far include: balance beam mechanics, grenade throwing, steering, and crazy dancing (we made that one up). Naughty Dog is working very hard to make this game ready for shelves this holiday season. We were very surprised to hear the game would hit retailers this holiday season. The game is shaping up to be incredible, so we hope they don't do anything foolish like rush production just to get those holiday sales. What do you guys think? Since Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII have been pushed into next year, will this game be the game to buy this holiday?
SGD '07: Joystiq hands-on with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
While we've talked about Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (which we now decree shall be referred to as Uncharted from here on in, to save on all the typing) before, this is the first chance that we've had to spend any time actually playing the PlayStation 3 title. At Sony's Gamer's Day, we watched a trailer that was extremely cinematic in nature, and the game actually looks like it could be a movie starring people like Paul Walker and Jessica Alba. Oh wait, that was called Into The Blue. Okay, change the girl, tweak the plot, throw in a search for El Dorado, and that's about the theme of Uncharted. %Gallery-3173%
SGD '07: This Uncharted gallery defines next-gen
While we're not accustomed to saying this, the gallery we've gathered up for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is pretty much videogame porn. Not that it's lewd or sexual, but because when you look at it, your little synapses that regulate your excitement for a game go off like crazy, sending you into a schoolgirl-like shrill-fest. Thus, this gallery. The game looks brilliant and exactly what we'd expect from Naughty Dog. The game might turn into a better showcase for the PS3 than many other anticipated titles. We can't be sure yet, though. So ... we'll keep you posted. Until then, check out a video after the cut.%Gallery-3209%
'Crash' of the Titans headed to Nintendo systems
Is it wrong to have loved Crash Bandicoot back in the day? If it is, we'll just have to settle for being wrong ... but we will say that this news seems to have come out of nowhere. We're not going to ask any awkward questions about Sony (that would be the big elephant in the room here), but instead, we'll just quietly raise an eyebrow and hope that this game brings a fun and frenetic experience to Nintendo systems. There's also a hint of DS-Wii functionality here, and even if Crash himself doesn't excite you, perhaps that will. According to a Spanish gaming magazine, Crash of the Titans will hit shelves in October, though we're guessing that's a European date.As usual, you can see the scan after the break.
Rumor: Jak coming to PSP?
Daxter was a tremendous success on PSP, even without the presence of his broody, angsty teen co-star, Jak. Well, a rumor is circulating around the web, speaking about the possibility of a PSP Jak game. The (warning) oft-unreliable Wikipedia appears to have a record of the rumor: it began when the resume of voice actor Robin Atkins Downes revealed two unannounced titles: Jak PSP and Big. Since then, Big has turned into Naughty Dog's upcoming PS3 title, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Could Jak PSP be far behind?The only other evidence supporting this rumor comes from a previous job opening at Naughty Dog, requesting PSP-specific developers. With Ready at Dawn working on God of War, it could be possible that Naughty Dog is working on a PSP Jak game internally. However, with no concrete evidence available right now, this rumor remains exactly that. But, a new Jak game would certainly be a good part of a revived effort to make the platform successful.[Via 1UP]
