The first thing you'll notice when you watch this trailer is the level of detail put into this game's world and character models. While the final product may look slightly different, we know that without a doubt this game will look good. You can see every little detail in Nate's face, the world is filled with plants, the rock walls and mountains look amazing, the dark gray sky helps set the tone, and the lighting and other little effects help it come alive. In short, the game looks great (but I already said that, didn't I?)
After taking a look around at the world, Nate makes his way through some tunnels, and we get to see just what we expect. Truthfully, the gameplay trailer doesn't seem like much at first. I mean, yeah it looks nice, but in the beginning it just shows us what we already knew we'd see. The game is a part of the Uncharted series, and seeing Nate climb up some rocks, and make his way through some tunnels as he makes different remarks (sometimes funny, sometimes not). There's nothing wrong with this, it's what a lot of us love about the series, but it's nothing new. It's what we expect to see, but it's also what we want to experience for ourselves when we finally play it; however, not too long into the trailer things do begin to change.
What originally started out as a trailer that showed off more of the same, soon turns into one that mostly focused on the game's new features. Now some of you may be asking "what could they possibly add that's new?" But as it turns out, there's a lot. First of all one of the new things we see the moment Nate first encounters a wall. In the past you could climb up ledges, and grab hold of different objects to make your way to the top of a wall or cliff, but now they have added a sort of climbing pick to assist you. Similar to another recent adventure game (Tomb Raider), some walls now look different with a bunch of tiny rocks sticking out, and these walls allow you to jam your pick into them and make your own path to the top. Of course this type of climbing is limited to these types of walls, but at least it is something to help change things up.
The second new feature appears when Nate first encounters enemies. Now you have the ability to stealth attack and disarm them in the process--all while taking their weapon for yourself. Sure you could take enemy weapons in the past, but now it's seamless, and the animations look amazing. Shortly after the game trailer then proceeds to show off the much more fluid melee combat system. Enemies can grab you (which you can still try to shoot your gun during the struggle), they'll try to hold onto you if you try to pull them over ledges, and when Nate gets forced off a cliff he's able to use his brand new grappling hook (well, rope with a hook on the end) to catch himself and swing to safety. This hook/rope can also be used to swing across gaps in general, but it's nice to be able to see it used so quickly during combat. As for the general movements, cover system, regenerating health system, and fast gunplay, all of that is still here. Uncharted 4 makes it all look nicer with it's new animations, but all of your favorite gameplay elements have returned along side the new.
After the fighting and climbing, the final new shock comes in the form of a new character--one who calls Nate his "little brother." Just who is this guy? I don't know, but just hearing his short "It's good to see you're still alive little brother" line was a big bomb shell. While I always thought Nate was an only child, here I'm finding out for the first time that that is not the case. Sure Uncharted 3 hinted that he wasn't who he says he is (as in, he may not truly be a descendant of Sir Frances Drake), but the inclusion of this character may in fact prove that. Although there's always a chance "little brother" is just a nickname given to Nate by someone he is close to, but that's purely speculation. For now, let's say this guy is in fact his brother, and that he will play a key role in this game's story.
Personally I can't wait for this one to release, and I hope we learn more about it soon.
