The Uncharted series has blown our minds with its great storytelling, amazing gameplay, and pretty much everything the game offers. From the first game in the series released in 2007 to Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, up until the anticipated Uncharted 5, there is more to love in the Uncharted series.
In this article, we share with you 10 unknown facts about the Unchartered series. Let's go!
About the Uncharted Series
The series is an American action-adventure video game with a third-person perspective. It includes shooting, stealth, puzzle-solving, and combat to secure victory. Players control the game's protagonist Nathan Drake, as he navigates throughout the game's world.
The game was created by Amy Hennig, developed by Naughty Dog, and published by Sony for its PlayStation consoles. The series was also developed by other studios over its course of running and at some point, left the exclusivity of the consoles.
It turned out to be very successful gathering lots of fans, selling millions of copies, and is considered to be one of the best-selling franchises of all time.
Series' in the Franchise So Far
There are a total of nine titles currently in the Uncharted series. Naughty Dog developed five of them for the PlayStation consoles, from Uncharted 1 to 4, including Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Uncharted: Fortune Hunter is available for mobile devices of Android and iOS.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Uncharted: Fight for Fortune were developed for PlayStation Vita, and the last to the series is the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection for PlayStation 4 in 2015. Uncharted 5 is currently in production with Naughty Dog supervising the development by SIE Bend Studio.
An Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan is planned to be released in 2022. Interestingly, Wahlberg was tapped to play Drake when the film first went into development back in 2010.
Uncharted Bugs and Glitches
The first release of Uncharted led the way for a whole franchise. The Uncharted series, while impressive, does have some flaws in the game, and the earliest version definitely had its fair share
The first Uncharted game is a buggy game. For example, when you see the aim clipping glitch, you notice that there is more work that can be done in that area. A good thing though is that the sequels to the first game were all better, and this flaw became unnoticed.
Take a look at this YouTube video by A+Start, which shows how easy it is to clip through environments and speed run through the game using shortcuts. You could try it out yourself when you can.
No Blood for Japan
The Unchartered series does have it's fighting, and while it is a pretty realistic game, it veers from being gruesome, keeping the bloodshed to a minimum and the adventure game lighthearted.
However, when Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was released in Japan, players found that any blood had been completely removed. Even the damage indicator which was a blood red was changed to black.
This edit proved needless, especially since many other games in Japan had plenty of bloodshed, and the censorship was eventually removed with a patch.
Costume Changes but the Flashbacks Hold True
The game became known to the world in 2006, and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was released in 2007. But what you will notice in the second game is that Nathan's look was different from what was in the first game.
The first game showed Nathan wearing a white shirt with red sleeves, which was changed into a green t-shirt. That same white shirt with red sleeves was later brought back into the game in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception during the flashback segments at the beginning of the game.
Here is a video of the thriller of the said white shirt.
Naughty Dog Co-President's Children Make an Appearance
In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, you come across two children in the Tibetan village in Chapter 16, where Drake awakens after being rescued by Tenzin.
While exploring the area, Drake encounters two children kicking a ball back and forth, and he can even step in for a few kicks himself, making the kids laugh.
These kids are created after the children of Naughty Dog co-president Christophe Balestra, giving the moment a delightful inside story.
How Elena Evolved
Characters evolve with different decisions from the developers into their best fit. Elena Fisher’s character is noteworthy as she was going to be played with a Spanish accent and to be played by Claudia Black.
In fact, Emily Rose, who now voices the character, got the role by accident. She never auditioned for the role but just accompanied a friend of hers to their audition. After seeing a chemistry between Emily and Nolan North, who voices Nathan Drake, game director Amy Hennig decided to cast Emily.
Claudia Black was not left out, as the team wanted her in the game. She later voiced Chloe in The Lost Legacy.
References Here, There, Everywhere
The developers of the Unchartered series, Naughty Dog, like placing hints of their other games in the Uncharted series, also called ‘Easter eggs’. In Uncharted 4, Nathan Drake can play the Naughty Dog game Crash Bandicoot on a PlayStation 1, making it a game reference within a game.
Another is at the beginning of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Drake is wearing a wetsuit with the brand “Ottsel.” This name references another Naughty Dog game, the Jak and Daxter series.
References can also be found when it comes to the Strange Relic treasure (from Jak and Daxter) and the Strange Fruit (from Crash Bandicoot).
Meaningful Names
Uncharted was a new exploration into something big for the developers and in 2004, it was called "Project Big.”
The name was changed to the now popular title, Uncharted, a nod to how the project felt to them throughout the process.
The lead character’s name is also something to talk about. The name Nathan Drake shares the same initials as the developer, Naughty Dog.
The Original Nate’s Theme Song is No More
From Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, the music fades away. The original Nate’s Theme song we hear in the main menu in all the other series before Uncharted 4 is no more. Further to this, there are no more songs played on the main menu anymore.
Since the change in the main composer, Greg Edmonson, we’d expect some changes, but not to the original Nate’s theme song!
The new composer, Henry Jackman, made a different version of Nate’s Theme song, adding some pirate music to it and kept some other parts of the original.
Drake's Realistic Broken Ribs
Throughout the series, we have appreciated the age changes in Nate Drake. In the first series, Drake’s Fortune, he’s 31 years old, in Uncharted 2 and 3, he is 33 and 35 respectively, aligning with the two-year difference in the release of the second and third chapters.
Looking at the injuries, broken parts, and wounds Nathan Drake has acquired, the character should be dead. But, he is a character and can be brought back to life anytime.
However, the character got a dose of reality when Nolan North, the actor playing him and voicing him did Drake's motion capture work for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception while suffering from broken ribs. Talk about bringing realism to the game!
Train Wreck, Quite Literally
The train sequence in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was so good that fans still talk about the part to date. But behind the scenes, that sequence was a really bad chain of events for the game’s development, and if it did not turn out to be a huge success, there might not have been later sequels.
Then Lead Game Designer at Naughty Dog, Richard Lemarchand, considered the process of developing the sequence to be excruciating, requiring months of sleepless nights in order for the staff to meet the game’s planned release date.
He added that the period caused undue amounts of stress, illness, and reduced productivity.
Conclusion
From numerous Easter eggs throughout all of the series', homages to the developer Naughty Dog, and interesting facts about the actors who play and voice the Uncharted series' beloved characters, learning about some of the unknown facts about the series is sure to make your gameplay more exciting.
The next time you fire up one of the game to play, keep an eye out for some of these little known facts and you will appreciate the games so much more! With all this included in the series so far, it will be a hunt to see what shout-outs, homages, and sneaky hints will be left throughout the upcoming Uncharted 5.
