E3 2011: Uncharted 3 - 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet'
Naughty Dog's promising big things from its E3 demo and beta.
E3 is next week. That means Sony's having its yearly press conference, and that means Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is going to do something cool. IGN has been bringing you Uncharted 3 love each and every day this week, but we're just warming you up for whatever piece of amazing developer Naughty Dog breaks off and throws the world's way Monday at Sony's E3 PlayStation press conference.
While we all wait, Naughty Dog Co-President Evan Wells took some time off from building Nathan Drake's next game to answer our questions about the E3 demo, pressure, and what makes ziplines so darn cool.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Interview
IGN: So, it's a quiet time for you guys and gals, right? You just have E3 next week, a beta starting after that, and a game to launch in a few months. Oh, and a multiplayer community to keep entertained. Easy stuff, right?
Evan Wells: There's definitely a lot of moving pieces going on at any given time while in the middle of development of a large scale console game. There's a lot to juggle every day, but it isn't anything we haven't experienced before many times over. That is not to say that we don't have our work carved out for us – we absolutely do, in no small part because we're trying to outdo ourselves in such a grand scale over Uncharted 2.
IGN: Obviously people expect big things from Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception in general, but they're really expecting something out of E3. What's that kind of pressure like?
Evan Wells: We've been saying for quite some time that we feel the pressure we put on ourselves internally far outweighs any external pressures that filter into the studio. There are a few times each year this level of expectation for our work manifests itself – each press demo or reveal, E3, our multiplayer beta and, of course, locking down the game and pressing our final gold master disk. In every single case, we're working right up to those deadlines (and sometimes beyond – don't tell!) to cram every single thing possible into Uncharted 3 that meets our own high standards of quality. It's sometimes grueling and can feel overwhelming in the moment – but as we see Uncharted 3 start to take shape, it's very clear that such high expectations of ourselves make the end result look and play better than we ever expected.
IGN: Do you stop working on the game proper to focus on the E3 content or is it just business as usual in the Naughty Dog offices?
Evan Wells: If you take a stroll through the studio, it's business as usual, albeit at a more intense pace. E3 works to our favor in several ways – the most vital of which is that it creates a very concrete milestone for us to work towards. Whatever we show at E3 has to play smoothly with nearly no issues (that you can see, at least!) and have the highest levels of polish we can muster, or else it won't go out the door. That's just for the demo content – the timing of E3 works out great since we're normally right at the start of the home stretch before we hit our gold master deadline in late summer. This is essentially our Super Bowl, and the excitement and energy of working on content for E3 allows all of us to kick it into high gear for the remaining months as large portions of Uncharted 3 are locked down.
IGN: Any hints you can give us as to what to expect Uncharted-related at E3?
Evan Wells: We've all been working feverishly to top our E3 2009 showing of Uncharted 2 gameplay – which is no small feat. At E3 we're going to give everyone a first solid glimpse at how everyone at Naughty Dog is pulling out all the stops to deliver incredible, technically complex action-adventure sequences leagues beyond what we were able to accomplish in Uncharted 2. If you thought the burning Chateau sequence we released late last year was exciting, you ain't seen nothing yet!
IGN: OK, the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta. Why do it? Couldn't you just try modes out in the Uncharted 2 multiplayer through the lab? What's the benefit of a brand new beta?
Evan Wells: The differences between Uncharted 2 multiplayer and Uncharted 3 multiplayer are like night and day. We're making the same leap forward for MP that we made with single player between Uncharted and Uncharted 2. We wouldn't be able to properly test everything we wanted to get knowledge about without running a full scale multiplayer beta. While the game mechanics retain much of the signature Uncharted gameplay, we've added in new traversal moves, ziplines, dynamically changing maps, a ton of new systems and much more into Uncharted 3.
Despite what I just said, the Uncharted 2 multiplayer experience as a whole, not to mention the various Title Updates and our Lab series, were incredibly helpful sources of information for us throughout development so far on the multiplayer modes in Uncharted 3.
IGN: When someone like, let's say, an out of shape game critic asks you why people should be excited about Uncharted 3 multiplayer, what do you say?
Evan Wells: Uncharted 2 multiplayer was just the appetizer for us and our players – we're pulling out all the stops with our multiplayer modes in Uncharted 3 in hopes that we provide the PS3 community with the definitive multiplayer experience that can only be found on the PS3 console.
We're expanding on the gameplay technology, the depth, and overall experience in so many different ways. We're introducing new features like 3D stereoscopic support and single-console split screen with individual PSN sign in. Our community will be able to play brand new and returning competitive modes including Team Deathmatch, Three Team Deathmatch (2 vs. 2 vs. 2), Free For All, Plunder, and Team Objective.
Customization is a major focus for us this time around and we're introducing countless ways for players to create their own unique play styles and characters. Players can now make their own hero or villain characters and choose from hundreds of customizable accessories, as well as weapon customization and modifications. Uncharted 3 is also introducing a Paid Booster slot, allowing players to spend some of their cash for a one-time booster, along with Medal Kickbacks, that allow players to activate a performance-based reward after collecting a number of medals during a match. With all these options to keep track of, we've also added player loadout slots to help players choose their weapons, mods, Boosters, and Kickbacks to create their own individualized loadout that matches their playstyle for each game and map.
We're also introducing a host of new social media features and functionality to multiplayer in Uncharted 3. In addition to being able to directly upload to YouTube and Facebook, we're also deeply integrating Facebook in ways that that are innovative and unique to console games so far. We've also expanded the Cinema Mode for creating and sharing videos, and we'll be launching a new feature called Uncharted TV that will showcase some of the best user-generated content and videos from YouTube, viewable directly in-game.
We've also confirmed Uncharted 3 will support multiple multiplayer co-op modes – there's much more to come on that front very soon. Oh! And all that is in addition to an engaging, narrative-driven single-player campaign!
And believe it or not, even after all of that, we still haven't discussed every bit of Uncharted 3 multiplayer.
IGN: Are people going to get to do all that in the beta? What's the focus this time around?
Evan Wells: The Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta that begins on June 28 is going to be one of the more extensive video game beta experiences to date. We have a solid multi-week plan that changes and updates content on a regular basis, along with providing bonuses to players who participate as much as possible throughout the beta period. We covered a good amount of this in detail with you earlier this week.
Our internal focus is to get a ton of quantitative data and community feedback that ends up in actionable updates and changes to our multiplayer modes for the final version included with the Uncharted 3 retail copy. We also really, really want to give our community some hands-on time with Uncharted 3 and there's no better way than to run a multiplayer beta.
IGN: How do you decide what makes the beta and what doesn't? Is it really to test your modes and servers or just to get people excited for the game?
Evan Wells: For us, a multiplayer beta serves multiple goals – it allows us to test our modes and mechanics, test our servers and networking code, provides us a solid milestone to get significant portions of multiplayer up to a high level of polish, all while providing our fans with an excellent way to get their first taste of what Uncharted 3 has to offer.
IGN: What's your favorite map in the beta? What's your favorite moment from playing the beta internally?
Evan Wells: Without a doubt it's The Airstrip. First, you start the match on a moving airplane being chased by military trucks that you can all jump to and from, harkening back to the thrilling Convoy sequence in Uncharted 2 BUT within the multiplayer context. Once the massive airplane hits takeoff speed, the match changes locations to the hangar area of the airstrip, complete with an environment that changes during the match, while having to contend with hazards in the form of strafing airplanes. The Airstrip is our most feature filled map and one of the most technically ambitious – but it's also a blast to play!
IGN: What's the one thing everyone should try in the beta?
Evan Wells: The ziplines – they're a great way to either escape a situation or get the jump on an opponent, not to mention you can shoot your pistol as you're zipping across the map. How can you miss out on fun like that?
IGN: The thing I'm excited about when it comes to Uncharted 3 Multiplayer is the split-screen mode. Is that available in the beta?
Evan Wells: Yes, you will get a chance to play with your buddy sitting right next to you on the couch! What better way to really experience Three Team Deathmatch (2v2v2), and all the cool features of our Buddy System.
IGN: In my experience, the split-screen causes the visual quality to drop a bit, but it's so damn fun that it's totally worth it. Was that a tradeoff you were worried about making?
Evan Wells: Split-screen was made possible, in part, by our work to add in stereoscopic 3D support into Uncharted 3 – we're already trying to render each frame of the game twice for 3D, so it didn't take long for us to wonder if we could do that to render split-screen instead. The end result was that yes, we could use all of that work and knowledge to create a great split-screen experience for our players, and we put it into our feature list for Uncharted 3. That understates things a bit as we couldn't just flip a switch to add in split-screen and many Dogs at the studio put in significant work to make it happen. It was worth it to us because we know that it's a pretty awesome experience to be able to have a friend over and play online multiplayer, side by side on the couch, instead of only meeting up online.
IGN: Will you ever let Nate and Elena get married? WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT THEY'RE IN LOVE?!
Evan Wells: Who knows what will happen with those two? They've got a very complicated relationship, as their chosen lifestyles seem at odds with each other – you've definitely seen the strain it's had on them in the events we've shown since they met in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Everything appeared rosy between them as Uncharted 2 came to a close, but you'll have to wait and see if Elena returns to figure prominently – or not – in Drake's life in Uncharted 3.
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![[Ooooo]](/images/smilies/nuevos/sorprendido_ani1.gif "Oooooo")
![[amor]](/images/smilies/nuevos/enamorado.gif "enamorado")
, al final no va a quedar nada para el E3
, pero, ¿no iban a "mostrar al hombre del desierto"???, menudo chasco!, para esto una cuenta atrás?, para dar información, igual que lo están haciendo durante toda la semana??, 
Ya decía yo que me parecía raro que mostraran algo de la campaña, o del desierto, antes del E3...pues nada, a esperar... ![[mad]](/images/smilies/nuevos/miedo.gif "loco")
![[+risas]](/images/smilies/nuevos/risa_ani3.gif "más risas")
![[jaja]](/images/smilies/nuevos2/otrasonrisa.gif "otra sonrisa")
![[carcajad]](/images/smilies/nuevos/risa_ani2.gif "carcajada")
![[poraki]](/images/smilies/nuevos/dedos.gif "por aquí!")
![[boing]](/images/smilies/nuevos/pelota_ani1.gif "pelota")
, pero me ha hecho gracia y tenía q soltarlo ![[sati]](/images/smilies/nuevos2/demonio.gif "demoniaco")
![[beer]](/images/smilies/nuevos2/brindando.gif "brindis")
![[tadoramo]](/images/smilies/adora.gif "Adorando")
![[buuuaaaa]](/images/smilies/nuevos/triste_ani3.gif "a lágrima viva")
![[looco]](/images/smilies/nuevos2/borracho.gif "loco")
![[angelito]](/images/smilies/nuevos/angelito.gif "angelito")
a esto
