I can very much relate to the desire of wanting it to feel "straight and bombastic." All three Uncharteds have had a great sense of pace where I felt TLoU lagged at times, particularly during Summer. It's interesting to note that Summer is also the most "open" of the seasons in terms of action and activities. The Uncharted series has always been a roller-coaster in terms of plot pace versus the slow burn of TLoU. I really want Uncharted to stay a roller-coaster.
As for the set piece comment, I infer that he is talking about a kind of "internal set piece" akin to what TLoU had with
and the kind Uncharted 3 often used. Explosions can get only so big, but in the end they are very much still
explosions. It seems like the goal this time around is to treat the audience to unconventional moments in terms of context. For example, the Prologue of TLoU was very much a set piece in a way that it was "something impactful" and provided an emotional connection. I'm perfectly fine with this approach because it offers a sense of mechanical empathy that lets use relate to the scene in a more powerful way than cutscenes ever would have. There is something special about being involved in those story sequences that make you more susceptible to what's happening on screen.
I bring it up often, but Uncharted 3 was able to do these sequences really well. The most effective of course being the desert. Keeping the desert playable made it possible to empathize with Drake. One situation in particular required us to keep him on his feet, almost as if the person with the controller was acting as a manifestation of pure will.
People often compare the desert to the Tibetan Village and honestly, outside of mechanical similarities, I don't see how they could be similar. The Tibetan Village was a nice break from the action and helped pace the second half of Among Thieves. The Desert instead told us things about the character himself and it did it with gameplay. Both sequences are used very differently and to very different means. The Tibetan Village was a nice moment, but I really hope UC4 has sequences similar to the Desert Sequence because it really did have a sense of "playable story" to it where the Tibetan Village really didn't.
I'm not too worried though, I trust Margenau to pull it off well.
I don't know man, Uncharted 3 was already like The Last Crusade in terms of where it took characters.
I would also like to feel like I have the "Uncharted experience" down in one go. I will always replay it of course, but I expect I would have this sense of doubt, forcing me to double check every step and examine each corner. Every Uncharted in the past has simply propelled me forward and I love that about the series.
Honestly, story-wise, that's my biggest concern with where things could go. I don't want to see them override Drake's development from UC3. This whole notion of a brother was apparently a decision made since the beginning, and that is fine, but it feels like there is a need to flush out Drake's background with every new installment. Honestly though, I feel like we already know the character well. Unless there are some really dark skeletons in the closet I don't think anything could change my perception of the character, especially after learning that he wasn't really a
. I loved that self-worth was a big part of UC3, it seemed like a fresh concept that I hadn't seen many story's explore with their protagonist. I just really hope none of that is retconned.
