In case you're not up to speed on Uncharted's storyline, you'll be thrust into the role of Nathan Drake, a fortune-seeking hustler who is in search of a lost treasure that might have belonged to Sir Francis Drake. It's all the sort of stuff that's seems ripped from the likes of classic pulp adventure novels and films, and indeed, as members of the Naughty Dog team indicated, it's very much inspired by the sorts of cliffhangers that lent ideas to Indiana Jones.
Along the way, you'll have help from your allies, Victor Sullivan and Elena Fisher. Victor is Nathan's mentor, an old con man who's looking for a big payout so that he can retire. Elena is the host of a cable TV show who's looking for a big special to pull her program out of its middling ratings. Along the way, both of them will aid Nathan in his quest for their own reasons. In regard to gameplay mechanics, that means that you'll have NPCs helping as you shoot, duck, and dodge your way to finding the location of the fortune.
Of course, Nathan's not the only one in search of Drake's treasure. Argentine crime boss Gabriel Roman is the central bad guy who's also hunting down the legend. Aiding him are Aroq Navarro, Roman's right-hand man and expert in antiquities, archaeology, and history, as well as Eddy Raja, a more thuggish and flamboyant character who's interested mostly in a big payout. Besides Roman, his two aides will also lord over the henchmen characters Nathan must combat. We're not sure if there will be more than two types of armies who he'll have to shoot his way through, but we know that in addition to the modern-day pirates that we've been blasting away at in preview coverage you'll also have to face a squadron of well-trained mercenary henchman, who are much tougher to take down; some can even take you down with one shot of a laser scope.
Uncharted will feature chase sequences as well. Hennig said that in the same way that the team has borrowed from the swashbuckling, high-swinging and gun-blazing action in pulp media, the idea of using vehicles is another element that comes from these adventure tales. Details are still very slim at this point, but we saw a still photo of Nathan and Elena on a jet ski during the presentation, so we're pretty sure that it should be an element within the final product.
In addition to seeing the game's villains, we also got a chance to check out some of the new stages that the game will offer. Without divulging too many spoilers, expect to see the action go from locales ranging from derelict U-boats filled with the skeletons of gold-toting German soldiers who failed to find Drake's fortune to the Amazon to the lost Spanish Colony that Naughty Dog has been showing off for months.
