What I’m Playing
‘Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection’
I didn’t own a PlayStation 3 so my first encounter with Naughty Dog’s “Uncharted” franchise was watching videos of the cinematic trilogy cut together like a movie. Then, in preparation for “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” coming out on the PlayStation 4, a remastered collection was released. I don’t remember much from the videos, so I decided to pop in the disc and finally play the first three.
Like an interactive “Indiana Jones” film, the game follows the escapades of explorer Nathan Drake and his pals Elena Fisher, Victor Sullivan and Chloe Frazer. There’s the whole laundry list of tropes and trappings we expect in adventure media: cursed treasure, collapsing bridges, old temples, car chases and train heists. What’s not to love? I’m only mere minutes into the third installment, but the first game centered on finding El Dorado, while the second took Drake and the gang on the hunt for the mythical kingdom of Shambhala.
The difference between 2007’s “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” and 2009’s “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” is almost as big as the first entries of Naughty Dog’s earlier series, “Jak and Daxter.” The graphics are more vivid and detailed, the gameplay smoother, and the story more compelling. You can see how change in direction led to Naughty Dog making more exploration-heavy games such as their award-winning post-apocalyptic title, “The Last of Us.”
For those who aren’t into video games but want in on the fun, a movie adaptation may finally come to light with Tom Holland (“Spider-Man: Homecoming”) recently being casted as Drake. Though I’m partial to Nathan Fillion playing the protagonist (not only because he did a stellar job in a fan film), this is supposedly a prequel, so I think the younger Holland will do just fine.