A new video has revealed a ton of exciting new information on the original, scrapped version of Uncharted 4 by Amy Hennig. For those that don’t know the history, Amy Hennig was the writer and creative director of the first 3 Uncharted games. She was working on a fourth game for the PS4, but abruptly left the project in early 2014 and was replaced by Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann.
Rumors regarding her departure have circulated for years, but former Naughty Dog employee Gabriel Betancourt recently suggested to YouTuber Kiwi Talkz that Hennig’s version of the game wasn’t meeting internal standards. Sony reportedly threatened to pull funding from the game if things weren’t turned around, and that’s when Druckmann and Straley took over. In 2021, Nathan Drake actor Nolan North stated that eight months of work on Uncharted 4 were thrown out after the change.
For years, fans have wondered what Uncharted 4 would’ve looked like had Hennig stayed on board. A new video from YouTuber Thekempy reveals a lot of information on the project, including changes to the story, cut content, and more. The general premise of the story is similar to the final product, with Nathan and his friends searching for Henry Avery’s lost treasure while dealing with the return of his long-lost brother. Rafe remained the antagonist, though he would’ve been played by Alan Tudyk.
However, things get very different in terms of how that story would have actually unfolded. For instance, Charlie Cutter would’ve returned, Sam would’ve been more of an antagonist than in the original game, and players would’ve played as Sully as well as the legendary pirate, Henry Avery. Perhaps the biggest change, however, was that Hennig and her team were exploring a radical overhaul to Uncharted’s gameplay.
Uncharted 1 – 3 were criticized by some for allowing Nathan Drake to gleefully murder a bunch of people without any regard for their lives. The level of violence felt disconnected from the story and characters, so Hennig came up with an idea. The team was looking to have a more melee-focused approach to combat, de-emphasizing the gunplay. This is notable because Uncharted 4’s gunplay is arguably the best in the series, thanks to the ability to fluidly run and gun, as well as shoot weapons while swinging from the grappling hook.
On release Uncharted 4 sold sold over 2.7 million copies in its first week and went on to win critical acclaim and awards. It’s still interesting to hear what the game may have looked like and compare and contrast. There’s no way to really know which version would’ve been better, because ideas can be great on paper, but not be executed well. Either way, you should absolutely check out Thekempy’s video as it is a fascinating deep dive into one of gaming’s greatest “what if?” stories.
Uncharted 4 turned 10 earlier this week, leading to a lot of retrospective’s about Nathan Drake’s finale. However, the story may not actually be over. A lot of fans have been speculating that Uncharted 5 is in the works, potentially with Nathan Drake’s daughter at the helm. What we do know is that Naughty Dog is actively working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but it is also developing other mystery projects as well.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
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