‘Uncharted 4’ Director Neil Druckmann on Nathan Drake, Sexism in Games
Video games have been synonymous with a series of unlikely frontmen over the past 40 years, including a fireball-hurling plumber with probable furry tendencies. In the public mind – meaning, inside the empty noggin of whoever puts together your local TV news report – video games have equaled Mario, Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto or Halo. Is it finally Nathan Drake’s turn?
Uncharted 4‘s charming scoundrel moved almost 3 million copies of Naughty Dog’s newest game in its first week, according to Sony. He’s a mashup of obvious influences (one part Lara Croft, two parts Indiana Jones) who transcends genre cliches, thanks to strong acting, impeccable animation, and smart writing.
Much of that – especially the smart writing – is owed to Neil Druckmann, the game’s co-director and co-writer. Glixel sat down for a spoiler-filled talk with Druckmann about what it was like to take over his studio’s biggest franchise, whether he’s bummed about anything he had to cut from the game, and why it’s wrong to think of Uncharted 4 as “fun.” (Warning: Uncharted 4 spoilers ahead.)
Even though you worked on the first two Uncharted games, with Uncharted 4 you were taking over a series that was started by Amy Hennig, versus The Last of Us, which is something you and your co-director, Bruce Straley, created. When Naughty Dog asked you and Bruce to direct this game, where did you start?
I knew we didn’t want to kill Nathan Drake, or kill any of the main characters, because tonally that felt wrong. Even though I knew in marketing we wanted to do everything we can to make people feel like we might.
The way in for me was creating his home life. We know between each game that at the end of the previous adventure he gets together with Elena. At the beginning of the next one, their relationship has fallen apart. What happened? It’s kind of hinted at but never quite answered.
Our interpretation is that, in order to make his marriage work, Nate oversteered and decided to give up the life of adventure.
What did you want this game to say?
I want it to ask interesting questions, or at least have people ask those questions of themselves. Can you balance passion versus settling down? That, to me, is the heart of this thing, which mirrors a lot of our lives as game developers. I’m sure you’ve read about “crunch,” and how difficult that can be on personal lives. We’ve all joined this industry with the hope of affecting people, touching them in some way. Which is why we work so hard, sometimes to destructive outcomes. So in this game, I really wanted to explore that. To kind of use the pulp action-adventure story as a backdrop, but it’s all kind of a metaphor for our life’s pursuit.
You’re 37, you’re a father, and you made a game about growing up and letting go of your past – about whether you’ve been ignoring the damage you’ve wreaked on your family while you wander the world in search of fame and fortune and adventure and cheap thrills.
I find that the more personal it is, the more you follow your gut, the more successful it’s been.
But it sounds like you’re not Nathan Drake. It sounds like Nathan Drake is the video game industry.
Or is the world of treasure hunters the video game industry? A passion can veer and devolve into addiction.
How much does the game resemble your original pitch for it?
The biggest thing that changed was probably the flashbacks. It used to be just one cut scene in the beginning of Nathan and his brother Sam entering the orphanage, and his brother saying, “I’m going to take care of you.”
The game didn’t have any interactive flashbacks?
No, not initially.