I have a few confessions to make, and they’re
not at all conducive to my character or credibility. So let’s go ahead and rip off each Band-Aid
as fast as we can. And then dump a vat
of acid on the wounds.
Honestly, I’ve never been that big on movies. It’s not that I hate them (even if I’m
usually left antsy, because I need to be doing something with my hands). But if we’re looking at my history, I’ve
never had a reason to even like movies.
My parents rarely took little
baby Voltech to see the latest films, and at one point I went years without a visit to the theater du
jour -- not to mention that even beyond that, it was common for me to only see
one or two movies in theaters per year.
Maybe.
And that brings me to Uncharted.
So, second confession: up until recently, I’ve
never played any of the Uncharted games. Not in any meaningful capacity; I played the
co-op in the third game to help my brother try and unlock a fat version of
leading man Nathan Drake (because hurr
hurr, he’s fat now), and to be fair I watched him play through chunks of
two of the three main games. But the
franchise that some have described as an Indiana Jones simulator is, for the
most part, lost on me.
That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, least of
all because I didn’t even have a PS3 when the first game came out. I’d like to think that I do all right when it
comes to getting in-depth with my posts, but I’ll be the first to admit that a
lot of particulars are lost on me. I
don’t have a firm grasp of cinematic language and concepts -- and obviously,
that’s not helped by the sheer number of blank spaces in my movie catalog. So not only is Uncharted’s appeal lost on me, but also its potential merits. Whether it’s because I don’t know Indy or
because I don’t get movies, there’s never been that much of a drive to get in
deep with Drake and his pals. That is,
until now.
It may have seen its share of delays, but Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is on the
way. Honestly, I want to see what all
the noise vis a vis this franchise is all about -- how and why it became one of
the flagship titles in the PlayStation library.
By extension, that means I want to figure out how and why Naughty Dog
rose to prominence, at least in the context of this franchise (independent of The Last of Us, Jak and Daxter, and Crash Bandicoot). BUT I can’t do that as I am now. I can’t even think about touching Uncharted 4 until I’ve played the other
three games. Golden Abyss I can do without, because A) I don’t have a Vita, and
B) I’m under the impression that no one, not even Naughty Dog, cares about Golden Abyss.
And so, with the advent of the recent HD rerelease
of the Uncharted trilogy -- even
though it’s about to be a tetralogy, at a bare minimum -- I’ve decided to go
full tilt. I’ll be playing through all
three games in preparation for the upcoming title. Then, of course, I’ll likely end up playing
through the upcoming title. You know
what that means, right? Yep. I’ll be posting my thoughts on each
installment, all in the hopes of judging the franchise and understanding how it
rose to prominence. After all, you have
to know where you came from in order to know where you’re going.
I’ll say upfront that you won’t see back-to-back
posts on each game, week after week. As
of writing, I’m almost finished with
the first game, and then I’ll start writing up something. So while I won’t commit to a strict schedule,
you can probably expect at least one entry in the UnchartedPalooza every
month. Probably. Technical issues on my end have already
hamstrung me recently, so who knows what’ll happen?
In any case, I want to have a firm understanding
of the franchise -- not just to understand why it took off, but its lasting
impact on the industry and the medium at large.
It’s easy to stereotype the game as a bastion of AAA gaming’s worst vices,
and/or the codifier of the setpiece extravaganza, but is it deserved? Is that a bad thing? And maybe most importantly, is Nathan Drake
the hero that the franchise deserves? Or
is he just a wisecracking genocidal marauder?
Guess we’ll find out. And I hope
you guys reading this will go on the journey with me.
And that’s about where I stand. Look forward to more posts -- Uncharted or otherwise -- from me in the
days to come. In the meantime? Obligatory shameless self-promotion incoming:
I’ve got a Patreon campaign started, as you can see from the blog’s top right
corner. Right now I’m working on
building my presence elsewhere -- as slow as a process that might be -- but the
foundation is there, at least. It goes
without saying, but if stuff gets backed, then I can produce more and better
content for you guys.
So yeah, Patreon thing is up there if you want to
become a patron. Alternatively, you
could make a single donation via the PayPal button -- which I’ve heard is
actually preferable in some cases, so you can’t say I’m not providing
options. Of course, if you don’t want to
donate, that’s fine, too. Just keep
stopping by this blog, and I’ll be happy.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you guys
soon. With some good stuff to show for it,
without --
Oh, wait, I almost forgot: LIKE, COMMENT, AND SUBSCRIBE.
Am I doing that right, internet?
Okay, now I’m
doing it right.
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