14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation 3 didn't really have a lot of blockbuster titles up until a while ago. We saw Resistance or MotorStorm, but nothing really jaw dropping appeared until Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was launched in 2007.
It featured Nathan Drake, a descendant of famed explorer Sir Francis Drake, and followed his adventures through the jungles of South America in order to find the famous El Dorado treasure, along with his friends. The game brought movie-style action sequences and created a lush, beautiful world around the player.
Now, as Uncharted 2 has been announced, it seems that Nathan has his work cut out for him and will go through a new set of epic adventures. The game promises to take things to new heights in terms of level and character design and, most importantly, to use the full capabilities of the PlayStation 3 console, as the first title only used 30 % of its power. In a recent interview with Edge, Amy Hennig, the creative director of the game reveals quite a lot of interesting things about it.
“Our last story was about Francis Drake... Our 'what if' was: what if Francis Drake hadn't died when everyone thought he had? This time we're going with Marco Polo. Our catalyst is this man who catalogued all of his journeys — all the details of everything that happened in his life — but despite that he left one gaping hole,” said Hennig, referring to the fact that Marco Polo, after he departed from Asia, lost almost all of his fleet, returning to Venice with just one battered ship.
The game will follow the movements of Polo's fleet into the fictional Tibetan city of Shambhala, or, as it is known in myths, Shangri-La. It will feature a completely new setting, replacing the tropical environments with snowy mountains and war-torn Tibetan cities, and it will take on a new stealth mechanic, which will allow players to choose when to fight and when to stay quiet. Also, as a new twist, it seems that Nathan Drake will have a love interest in a young female explorer named Chloe.
All in all, it seems that Uncharted 2 promises to deliver a stunning experience and to take us on some very interesting adventures alongside Nathan Drake. Look forward to it at the end of 2009, as no concrete release date has been established.