15 minutes of Uncharted: A Thief’s End Gameplay

Sony had a busy evening at the Playstation Experience last week, but they snapped up the opportunity to show off one of the most anticipated titles in their exclusive arsenal.

The demonstration opens with a close up shot of a slightly older, but never the less technically stunning Nathan Drake getting his bearings before panning out and blending straight into gameplay. The player guides Drake through slippery caves and up towering walls before getting into scraps on cliff faces with swarms of henchmen as you would expect from an Uncharted game. Drake also has a new grappling hook in which we see him pull off his best Indiana Jones impression yet.

The technology shown in the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End gameplay trailer is mind-bending. Some fans were skeptical when Naughty Dog announced they would not be developing a new engine for next-gen consoles, but they have certainly improved they had before. You can tell that the lighting model has been significantly built upon as light from Drake’s torch reflects/refracts correctly and illuminates other surfaces.

Naughty Dog’s eye for detail is impeccable as Drake’s muscles move under his skin, water flattens his hair under waterfalls and mud clings to his back after sliding down a muddy slope, all with a henchman on the receiving end of his gun.

The footage is locked at 30fps and doesn’t skip a beat throughout. For a game with environments this detailed, it shows how much power they have left to play with and gives us hope that Naughty Dog will possibly target 60fps for release.

The footage shows a rich variety of mechanics including the usual platforming and [improved] gunplay but also showed a slight emphasis on stealth, enabling players with choice is tackling situations and even being able to leave areas without eliminating all remaining enemies.

No official release date is confirmed as of yet but rumours suggest the game is a year away. Whenever Drake’s next adventure hits our shelves, this gameplay for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End already makes it look like a possible contender for Game of the Year 2015.