A Valid Question (with a heartwarming answer)

(click the blog entry title to link to the editorial)

Stephen Totilo at the MTV Multiplayer blog has a brief editorial about a question he asked before the release of Uncharted two years ago. He'd asked "Why should people care about Uncharted?" and it took Sam Thompson (producer of U:DF) by surprise. This time around Thompson beat Totilo to the question by answering it in his presentation.

His answer was something along the lines of how Nathan Drake is believable. The way he is animated and presented and played invites the player to identify with him, because he is just a normal human in a crazy situation.
I find his response particularly fascinating because it is a perfect summary of why the game resonates with so many players. At least it's what I loved about the game. He was a character with his own personality, sure, and I was still a female gamer playing a male character, which adds some distance. But it was the little things that made me able to ignore the differences and be able to get into his shoes- little snarky comments on his surroundings, grunts when he jumps or gets hit, scared cries when ledges start crumbling, and the way he honestly looks afraid when he's hiding from fire behind cover. I bought it, and it's why I cared about Uncharted. I tried playing Half-Life 2 recently, and I didn't get any of those identifiers in the silent and super-suited Gordon Freeman, so I got bored with it after like an hour.
But I never get bored with Uncharted.


Oh, one more thing: here's another preview from PSXExtreme, but they don't tell us anything we didn't already know.
PS3 Previews: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves