The developer behind the Uncharted franchise has teased that the next chapter in its critically-acclaimed Indiana Jones-’em-up will deliver ‘amazing’ visuals for its PlayStation 4 debut.
Speaking during an interview with Game Informer, Naughty Dog bigwigs Christophe Balestra and Evan Wells also touched base on the recent high-profile departures to hit the studio.
This of course started with Amy Hennig leaving the first-party studio back in March, who is now working with Visceral Games. A number of other employees also jumped ship soon after, including Nate Wells and Justin Richmond, with actor Todd Stashwick having his role in Uncharted 4 recast.
“In the course of the last generation, we’ve had art directors, creative directors, co-presidents, and co-founders leave the company, and we just keep going,” said Wells. “We’ve replaced that talent and we’ve filled the gaps. Some bumps are harder to smooth out than others. We work it out.”
Uncharted 4 is now being headed by Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley, who were previously responsible for last year’s seminal post-apocalyptic outing, The Last of Us.
"We’ve asked them to lead [Uncharted PS4],” he said. “They are excited as veterans of the Uncharted franchise to take the responsibility, and they’re doing great. It was not a difficult transition at all. I mean, we’ve been making enormous progress. If anything, things are accelerating instead of slowing down.”
Speaking on Nathan Drake’s next treasure hunting adventure, Wells indicated the game won’t represent a radical paradigm shift for the brand, but rather, refine what was established in past games.
“It’s not going to be that sharp of a turn,” confirmed Wells. “I think that it’s an evolution that people will be comfortable with if they’ve played the previous games in the series.”
What is clear, however, is that Uncharted 4 aims to drop jaws with its stunning visuals, just as its predecessors did on PlayStation 3.
“We sure hope that you’re surprised by how amazing it looks,” promised Wells. “It’s going to be an exciting story, and I think that people are going to really buy into this one in a way that I think is consistent with the rest of the stories.”
Uncharted 4 is in development exclusively for PS4, with a release date yet to be determined. However, it is pretty much a given it’ll take centre stage at Sony’s E3 press event next week. At least, we certainly hope so.
We’ll be there to bring you all the details as they break.