A brand new advert selling the PlayStation 5 has despatched followers right into a frenzy after it appeared to tease the subsequent journey in Naughty Canine’s beloved Uncharted franchise. It does beg the query; can a future installment succeed with out the guiding hand of the acclaimed developer?
The ‘Stay From PS5’ advert is offered within the fashion of a information report and options most of PlayStation’s heavy hitters resembling Ratchet and Clank, Aloy, Kratos, and Spider-Man. At first look, it seems like some other promo for PS5 designed to hype up the console and its upcoming slate of video games for the 12 months forward. However eagle-eyed viewers had been left speaking in regards to the younger lady exploring an ancient-looking cave and uncovering artifacts. The snippets of footage have led followers to consider that this might be the primary glimpse of Uncharted 5, that includes Cassie Drake on the forefront — the teenage daughter of Nathan and Elena.
Cassie was first launched within the epilogue of Uncharted 4 and might be managed by the participant as she uncovered memorabilia from Nate’s previous adventures lengthy after he retired. Uncharted 4 was all the time supposed to suggest the top of Nathan Drake’s journey, and whereas the story wrapped up in a largely satisfying method, the door was doubtlessly left open for Cassie to fill the sneakers that had been left by her father.
Uncharted is a mammoth franchise at this stage and one that’s quintessential to PlayStation’s identification, popularity, and success. There was cautious optimism final 12 months that Naughty Canine could be returning to the world of Uncharted after a recruiter took to LinkedIn in search of new expertise to “Construct future groups for not solely new titles however the legacy of Uncharted”. Nevertheless, Naughty Canine’s Co-President Neil Druckmann appeared to dismiss the prospect final week in an interview with BuzzFeed, saying:
For us, Uncharted was insanely profitable — Uncharted 4 was considered one of our greatest promoting video games — and we’re capable of put our last brushstroke on that story and say that we’re completed. We’re transferring on.
Neil Druckmann by way of BuzzFeed
If Naughty Canine actually is stepping away from the franchise then there’s the chance that one other developer might take the reigns, however can they ship the identical degree of high quality? Nicely, it’s attainable, and there may be trigger to hope that Uncharted 5 can match as much as the lofty expectations of the sequence. Naughty Canine has beforehand entrusted ports of the Uncharted sequence to each Bluepoint Video games and Iron Galaxy for collections on PS4 and PS5 respectively.
Engaged on ports of earlier video games can have given each builders a core understanding of the elemental gameplay mechanics of the sequence, nonetheless, each are largely identified for ports. Bluepoint Video games has earned their stripes within the trade not too long ago with their remake of Demon Souls on PS5 and their assist to Sony Santa Monica on God of Warfare Ragnarok. That mentioned, there’s nonetheless a method to go earlier than the studio can helm a serious AAA title.
If there’s one studio within the PlayStation household that actually deserves a shot at Uncharted, it’s Bend Studio. The builders of Days Gone? Actually? Yeah! Uncharted: The Golden Abyss is a prequel to the primary sequence and was developed by Sony Bend for the PlayStation Vita in 2011. Whereas it didn’t precisely attain the heights of the primary three video games, it was a stable installment all the identical and faithfully recreated the sequence’ excessive octane motion platforming and over-the-top set items.
It was beforehand reported by Bloomberg that Bend Studio pitched a brand new Uncharted sport however stepped away after they had been involved that the undertaking could be absorbed by Naughty Canine. Now that Druckmann has made the studio’s intention to step away from the franchise obvious, the trail might be clear for Bend to take the reigns.
The studio is considerably of a black sheep amongst first-party builders for PlayStation followers because of the underwhelming launch of Days Gone. Nevertheless, Bend has a stable basis to construct on with their success on Golden Abyss which they will take with them on Cassie Drake’s first journey. Past that although, what a narrative it will be for the studio to have a full-on redemption arc by delivering one other stellar entry in what is among the most adored sequence in fashionable instances.