Thu, Sep 22, 2011 | 21:27 BST

Uncharted’s original conception drifted more towards fantasy than reality

Don Poole, a former Naughty Dog employee who worked as an environment modeler for the firm, has suggested Uncharted may have been a fantasy game if not for Sony feeling pressure form the success of shooters on Xbox 360.

Speaking in an interview in the latest issue of Play, Poole said Sony said to instead cut the fantasy aspect out and make Uncharted more realistic.

“We were talking about a more ‘realistic’ game in terms of how it was modelled and rendered but the concepts were much more far out,” he said. “One was a forest world where the antagonists lived underground. It had elements of Tolkien in for sure.

“Sony kept pushing for a more realistic game in all respects. The market had changed a lot by then. The demographic was older and gritty shooters were really dominating. Sony wanted very much to get into that market share, it pushed all of its developers in this direction.”

Poole said this more realistic style was ordered from Sony not just to Naughty Dog, but to all studios under the corporate umbrella.

“So the big push from Sony, not just at Naughty Dog but at all of Sony’s development companies at the time, was to craft games for PlayStation 3 that were much more realistic,” he said. “The pressure from Xbox’s success with gritty shooters was a very real force on our direction at that time.”

“We had a lot of internal grumbling about the realist bent. More of the old dogs were from the Crash and Jak era and preferred that more whimsical style. But alas, that was a losing battle.”

Thanks, NowGamer.

10 comments

Freek
22/09/11, 9:30 pm

Funny, since playing the game CoD is about the last thing that springs to mind, much more of an Indiana Jones vibe. And the shooting isn’t what’s the most liked aspect of the game. Rather the exploration, level design and character interaction.

Not that that is a bad thing, the shooter inspiration aspect isn’t missed at all. Infact, remove the shooting entirely, nobody would miss it.

HeavyD-Love
22/09/11, 9:51 pm

I’d love to see a Crash reboot from these guys done proper.

ManuOtaku
22/09/11, 10:50 pm

@1 i think it has more of GoW than COD at least in the shooting mechanics and gameplay

Lounds
22/09/11, 11:43 pm

I always describe it as Tomb raider meets PoP.

Clupula
23/09/11, 1:12 am

@3 – There’s no shooting in God of War.

Phoenixblight
23/09/11, 1:45 am

Gears of War….

Bleener
23/09/11, 2:09 am

how was it a truely losing battle when you got the dam zombies at the end? and the mystical part in the 2nd one?

also GoW will always be God of War over Gears

osric90
23/09/11, 2:31 am

Thank God for globalization. It was only destiny. Uncharted, best fuckin’ game ever… after MGS series… and maybe Half-Life.

Phoenixblight
23/09/11, 3:59 am

Huh THats interesting. I would have probably enjoyed Uncharted more if it had gone its original route. I enjoyed Jak Crash. and Sly Cooper far then I ever did with Uncharted now.

#10

Clupula
23/09/11, 4:32 am

@5 – Oh, I see your mistake. You forgot the “E” in GEOW. GOW is God of War.