We’ve found our first clue, and that means it’s time to begin the hunt for fame and fortune.
It’s interesting to go back to Uncharted in light of the criticisms that Naughty Dog has received over the past few years regarding their style of game design. Drake’s Fortune wasn’t the game that set them on the path to “cinematic” games. (That was probably Jak 2.) It is the game that cemented that style as the studio’s identity.
The big critique is the story and plot of Naughty Dog games are segmented off almost entirely from the playable aspects of the game. Neither section contradicts the other, but neither do they complement each other. One can watch the cutscenes of a Naughty Dog game, and nothing else, and still have a strong idea of what’s going on without watching a single section of the gameplay. In a medium where the most distinguishing factor is interactivity, there’s a strong argument to be had that just making “playable movies” isn’t doing enough at this point. Maybe it never was enough, we just didn’t know any better back in 2007.
That said, I can’t deny that I loved all of these games back in the day, and still do even now. It’s nostalgic, reminding me of the old high school days.
Leave a Reply