Speaking during an interview with DualShockers, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Lead Designer, Ricky Cambier, believes that Naughty Dog can squeeze a little more juice out of the PlayStation 4 for its next project.
While Cambier wouldn’t elaborate on any specific area that the studio could improve on in regards to hardware performance, he seemed pretty confident that there’s some untouched potential to tap into next time around.
“There are definitely areas that I can see that we will be able to do better things already, after this,” commented Cambier.
“You know, we have some really smart programmers at Naughty Dog, and I’m always pretty surprised of what they can do.
“I have a hard time seeing that it will take the same evolutionary jump as you know… the difference between the first Uncharted versus The Last of Us is enormous. But there is no doubt that the next thing we do, we’re gonna get even more out of that PlayStation.”
Uncharted 4 is due out exclusively on PS4 in early May. The game takes place a few years after the events of 2011’s Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and sees Nate ditching his cosy lifestyle with Elena to hunt down a legendary pirate’s treasure in Madagascar. He’s joined in his hunt by Sully and his long-lost brother, Sam.
The core action has been spruced up somewhat however, with larger environments to explore and new climbing and stealth mechanics. The multiplayer has also been given something of an overhaul, featuring AI-controlled buddies and the ability to wield mystical items against your enemies.
Naughty Dog won’t be returning for a fifth Uncharted game, but it has said that it’s fine for another developer to take over providing it lives up to the series’ reputation. Furthermore, the Sony-owned studio has confirmed it intends to revisit prototypes for The Last of Us 2 once it’s wrapped on downloadable content for Nate’s swan song.
Check out the latest screenshots and gameplay footage for Uncharted 4 via the links.