The past decade in PlayStation's history has seen Nathan Drake take up the mantle to become one of the brand's greatest mascots as the face of Uncharted. Since 2007, series developer Naughty Dog has delivered a handful of adventures for fans of the franchise that take heavy inspiration from the likes of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. With a multitude of moments that can leave players on the end of their seats, Uncharted has stuck with fans by creating a clever꧋ combination of daring moments, but also presenting a strong cast of characters that we've come to familiarize ourselves with 🃏in Nate, Sully, and Elena.
Even though Uncharted has been a predominantly linear experience that can seems to pull the curtain off of everything, there are numerous ways in which players can make the Uncharted experience fell different and new. Some of these explored avenues can be included in-game, while a number them may not necessarilyღ discovered within the game. The mantra of Nathan Drake is his obsession for discovery, and it's pleasing to see that players can uncover their own discoveries whether by finding a treasure in the, or shaking up the experience that their liking.
For the series that's all about discovery, here are twenty five awesome things you had NO idea you could do i🌸n Uncharted:
Note: Article includes discussion from the two most recent games, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Includes Spoilers!!!
25 𝓡 Be Rewarded For Using Donut Drake Character Skin ♚
The first three Uncharted games saw Naughty Dog's team crack a joke with us and make an obese-sized version of the adventurous Nathan Drake to play as in the game once you beat it for the first time. When Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection eventually released for the PlayStation 4 back in fall 2015, the Donut Drake skin was there for the꧒ taking, with a little added incentive as well. Within each game's trophy list was a separate category listed as "extended trophies". Looking through the list, it shows that you can earn a trophy for completing a speed-run of each of the respective games while using the supersized Drake skin. Whether or not trophy hunting is🍃 your thing, the irony behind the extra accolades is worth a chuckle.
24 ﷽ An Old School Easter Egg 🍒
Gone are the days of D-pad movement, now replaced by the much more precise dual analog sticks. Though times have changed, Naughty Dog had sure that arguably one of the best Easter Eggs in recent memory got that authenticity that it deserved. Early on in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Nate tries to take out Elena's high score in her favorite game, Crash Bandicoot. Now if you want a real blast from the past, you can abandon the now- familiar analog style in exchange to be able to play Crash the way it wa🍌s meant to be. Even if you can shak🅠e off the rust and complete a perfect run however, you won't be able to beat Elena's high score in the game...
23 ...Until Late🌠r On! ꦦ
So it turns out that the game intentionally won't let you beat Elena's high score in the early stages of the game (makes sense, prevents the team from having shoot additional scenes). Hardcore Crash fans probably wanted nothing more than to snag their own high score one more time, on the notorious boulder level as well. *Spoilers Incoming!* Once you reach the game's epilogue chapter, you'll have one more chance to stake your claim as the "Crash Bandicoot Champion" of Uncharted 4. Whether or not you do actually get the high score, you'll 💎probably have noticed by then that you're not in Nate and Elena's l𓂃iving room anymore. Where are you? And who's playing?!
22 Play Uncharted... On Thౠe Vita!
While the mainline games have been exclusive to the console family, Sony Bend took a stab at the series with a spin off story for the PlayStation Vita, Uncharted: Golden Abyss. The game was received well for a studio that doesn't exactly make Uncharted game regularly, scoring a respectable 80 on Metacritc. Set before the events of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Bend's take on the adventures of Nathan Drake put more focus on the elements of exploration rather than gunplay, seeing as the limitations of Sony's handheld could become cumbersome if characters were forced into fire fights the way a standard Uncharted would have been. The craftsmanship behind the Vita's touch and motion🐽 functions were cleverly and respectable implemented by allowing, by not forcing, the use of the propriet🐟ary handhelds features.
21 Pa🐬ying Tribute To The Developers 🎉
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune showed the world that Naughty Dog would certainly find success by launching a brand new franchise on PlayStation. What it also did was become one of the very first games that players could earn a platinum trophy, an award for completing all of the game's predetermined challenges. One of the more notable collectibles in the games that periodically rewarded you with trophies were the treasures scattered in the most ludicrous locations. With each game having nearly, if not more than 100 separate treasures to find, it made sense that some of these hidden gems would contain some Easter Eggs as well. One of these treasures came in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in a pendant imprinted with the firefly symbol from another Naughty Dog game, The Last Of Us. If you rotate the pendant to check out the other side, you'll notice the name "Druckley" on the back. This is a reference to The Last of Us co-directors, Bruce Straley and Neal Druckman, who also co-directed Uncharted 4.
20 ♔ The Early Days Of Jo༒el And Ellie
There's much debate on where Uncharted: Drake's Deception should rank in the series. Regardless on if you think it may be the best Uncharted game, there's no denying that it did the best job of teasing the company's next big IP right under our noses. Towards the latter stages of the game's opening bar fight scene, Nate and Sully try to run out the back door to try and escape. Instead of immediately running into the back kitchen area, head to the end of the bar and you'll fight a local newspaper headlined, "Scientists are still struggling to understand deadly fungus." At the time of Uncharted 3's release, The Last of Us hadn't been officially announced yet. Considering the post-apocalyptic story of TLOU is based off the effects of a fungal virus that has transmitted to humansཧ, it's a clear reference to the team's next big🐻 project before anyone else had known about it.
19 Marco Polo ꦕ
Who didn't love a good game of Marco Polo with your friends growing up on a warm summer day?! Don't worry, because Nathan Drake certainly did to the point that the game is referenced in the Uncharted games on four different occasions. Between Uncharted: Among Thieves and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, each game depicts the childhood backyard pool game in some way. Whether it be with fan favorite Chloe reluctantly playing along to Nathan sarcastically calling it out on a sabotaged cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, Marco Polo is just as much a part of the franchise as anything else, to the point where Chloe's recent adventures in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy saw her attempt to get compa♐nion Nadine Ross to play along. Unfortunately, she didn♌'t bite.
18 ♛ Reference The Terminator
Even though Uncharted pulls from the popular Indiana Jones treasure hunting movie franchise, Naughty Dog rarely pulls its punches when they have the chance to make pop culture and historical references in their games (see the last entry for Marco Polo). The most recent release, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy gave a tip of the cap to Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator movies during one of the larger combat areas in the latter half of the game. Once you've taken out one of the heavily armed guards, he'll drop his oversized machine gun. If you can find your way over to the weapon and pick it up, Chloe will shout out her own version of one of the movie's most famous lines, "SAY HELLO TO MY VERY LARGE FRIEND!" Yes, they tweaked the wording a little bit. But that's what makes the small quips of Uncharted special.
17 🍸 What'd You Say?
Throughout Nathan's adventures, you'll alongside a ton of companions in one and done deals. Whether it be Charlie Cutter or a brief truce with Eddie Raja in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Tenzin from the series' second installment Among Thieves may take the cake considering he doesn't speak a licꦫk of English in the entire game. If you were ever curious as to what your Tibetan friend kept ordering you to do,꧒ you can head over to YouTube and find a closed caption version of all of his and Nate's conversation dialog. It's clear there that not only could Tenzin not speak any English, but he could barely comprehend anything Nate was ever saying.
16 Make It Easy 🌄On The Hands
A lot of times when you're opening door or trying to solve one of Uncharted's many puzzles, you'll get stuck in a button mashing frenzy. While the games do occasionally trick you into button mashing moments that technically can't be executed (based on the way the story plays out), it can begin to feel like a redundant task of slamming down on the triangle button just to watch a door slowly open in front of you. Thankfully since Uncharted Among Thieves, Naughty Dog gave players the option to swap out the button mashing mechanic in exchange for just holding down the respective button for whatever you may be doing. Originally, the update was requested as an accessible option for players who physically can't press buttons fast enough in order to move on with the game. But for those of us who replay the Uncharted game's campaign multiple times, it's a nice way t🍸o ease off of what feels like an u🌳nnecessary function.
Based on the list of accessibility options shown in the image above, Naughty Dog deserves a pat on the back whಞen it comes to making their games available to as many players as possible.