As part of the new Conversations With Creators video published today, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End co-lead designer Anthony Newman discussed what the power of the PlayStation 4 means for the upcoming game.
The new hardware allows Naughty Dog to build bigger, richer worlds, Newman said, making a comparison to The Last of Us.
“One thing we tried to with The Last of Us, and it was really challenging because we pushed the memory of the PS3 to the limit, was have more open environments,” Newman said. “We really wanted to give more player choice; a greater sense of freedom; and kind of exploration in these levels. And that’s something that’s even better for Uncharted with Nathan Drake’s incredible moveset and navigation and stuff. So one thing that we’re definitely doing is we’re opening it up a lot more. And the memory of the PS4 is definitely allowing us to do that.”
Newman also said that the PS4 hardware lets Naughty Dog go even further with Uncharted 4’s graphics, which includes real-time cutscenes.
“Another thing that’s super exciting is the fidelity of the characters. It’s just going crazy now,” he said. “We’re actually doing real-time cutscenes in Uncharted 4, which is a new step for us. You’re not going to see those black bars that we used to have in between gameplay and cutscenes. That’s going to let us be so much more expressive and really get that seamless-ness between the storytelling and the gameplay. Which we already do very well, but it’s going to allow us to take it to that next level.
“That super great-looking Nathan Drake that’s in the cutscenes–that’s going to be the guy you have the whole time. The lighting model is nearly identical. All of that emotion you get across in the cutscenes, you’ll have in gameplay all the time.”
This isn’t the first time Naughty Dog has discussed how the power of the PS4 unlocks new opportunities for Uncharted 4. Previously, director Neil Druckmann explained how the game will have bigger, more sandbox-y levels where players can zip around in a jeep thanks to the new hardware.
For lots more on Uncharted 4, the final game in Drake’s story, check out GameSpot’s in-depth interview with Druckmann. The game was originally expected to launch this fall, but has been delayed to 2016.
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