‘I Think That Was a Big Flaw’ — Uncharted 3 Designer Says the Game Was Hindered by Too Many Set Pieces

An ex-Naughty Dog designer believes that Uncharted 2’s success may have negatively impacted the way Uncharted 3 was developed.

When speaking with FRVR, ex-Naughty Dog designer Benson Russell revealed that Uncharted 2’s over-the-top setpieces may have negatively impacted Uncharted 3. He noted that the big set pieces, such as the train sequence, all came organically when producing the game, but that wasn’t the case for Uncharted 3. Instead, the team came up with 10 or 12 set pieces, such as the cargo plane sequence, and came up with a plan to decide on a small handful that would actually make it into the game at a later date.

Unfortunately, that never happened, and almost all of them made it into the final product. As a result, writer and director Amy Hennig was forced into a situation where she had to write all of these big set pieces into the game because the designers had already started working on them.

“It also kind of corners Amy [Hennig] a bit, right?” he said. “Because it’s like, ‘Oh, these are the set pieces we want to do’, and she’s like, ‘Well, now I have to find a way to shoehorn the ship in, so I guess we’ll have pirates and they’ll have a pirate leader.'”

Russell went on to say that he believes making the game in this way was “a big flaw.” Uncharted 3 sold exceptionally well and was highly reviewed, even scoring a 10/10 from IGN at the time. However, it does rank lower on the list when compared to other games in the series. The cargo plane sequence, however, is a standout moment that even made its way into the Uncharted live-action film a decade later.

Naughty Dog concluded the Uncharted series back in 2016, but there are rumors that the studio is returning for Uncharted 5 soon. Although its only announced title is Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Naughty Dog has confirmed that it has multiple projects in the works. As for when we’ll start to see those other games, it’s hard to say, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they follow Intergalatic in a relatively rapid succession.

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.