Uncharted is an action-adventure video game series and collection of games and other media created by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Naughty Dog. The series was created by Amy Hennig and follows a group of treasure hunters who travel around the world to solve historical mysteries. The games mix stories based on real history with fantasy and folklore, and include both real people and fictional characters. In the main series, players control a character named Nathan Drake. In some additional games, players control a character named Chloe Frazer.

The first game in the series, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, was released in 2007. It was followed by Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009), Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011), and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016). Other games, such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss (2011), Uncharted: Fight for Fortune (2012), and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017), support the main series. At first, the games were only available on PlayStation consoles. Later, they were released on other platforms, including a mobile game called Uncharted: Fortune Hunter (2016) and remastered versions of A Thief's End and The Lost Legacy for Windows in 2022.

The main games are played from a third-person view, with gameplay focusing on combat, shooting, exploring, and solving puzzles. Players also move through environments using platforming, which involves jumping and climbing. Later games added multiplayer modes, stealth gameplay, and driving. The series was inspired by other games, movies, and media, and features exciting locations from around the world. Other versions of the series include a live-action movie, board games, comics, and a novel.

The main games received high praise from critics for their stories, characters, voice acting, gameplay, and graphics. The quality of the games is often compared to Hollywood action-adventure films, like the Indiana Jones series. Critics say the series raised the standards for single-player action-adventure games. The second and fourth main games are often listed as some of the best video games ever made. The series has sold over 41 million copies, making it one of the most successful video game franchises. It helped increase the popularity of PlayStation during the seventh and eighth generations of consoles and made Naughty Dog a well-known game developer.

Titles

Drake's Fortune, the first game in the series, was released for PlayStation 3 in November 2007. The PlayStation 3 system later released two more main series games after Naughty Dog agreed to make the games available only on Sony systems. Among Thieves was released in 2009. The game's developers had more freedom to use the system's random-access memory (RAM) because of a better special engine. This allowed the game to include more locations, more freedom to explore, stronger combat abilities, and a larger map. Drake's Deception, released in 2011, improved on these features and added a better online multiplayer mode.

The next main game, A Thief's End, was released for PlayStation 4. It focused on realistic details and more lifelike gameplay. This game was the last to include the main character, Nathan Drake. It added driving elements and improved stealth, role-playing, and multiplayer features. The game was a major success and broke several sales records. A free-to-play mobile game called Fortune Hunter, available for iOS and Android devices, was released to support A Thief's End.

Golden Abyss was released in 2011 and was the first game in the series for PlayStation Vita, a handheld console. It is considered a prequel to the main series, though some developers said it is a separate story. In 2012, a turn-based card game called Fight for Fortune was released. It was made by One Loop Games and included interactive features for the Vita.

Drake's Trail was an online game released in 2007. It was a browser-based game with alternate reality elements. The story, which has ten chapters, serves as a prequel to Drake's Fortune. It follows a journalist named Elena Fisher hiring a detective to find Nathan Drake, who is searching for a valuable treasure. Players used a Google Maps plugin to find real-world locations and a Flash Player to explore fictional places like Drake's apartment for clues.

The Nathan Drake Collection is a remastered version of the first three games in the series. Bluepoint Games ported it to PlayStation 4 in October 2015. It was released to make up for delays in making A Thief's End, which was originally planned for summer 2015. The collection included a code for a beta version of A Thief's End's multiplayer mode. The games had improvements like new trophies, a photo mode, and better textures and gameplay. Multiplayer modes from Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3 were not included. The collection received positive reviews for its technical improvements and visual quality. It was offered for free during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of Sony's Play at Home initiative in April–May 2020.

The Lost Legacy was released as a standalone expansion to A Thief's End. It is the first game in the series not to include Nathan Drake. It features characters Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross, who appeared in earlier games. The game was released for PlayStation 4 in 2017. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, a remastered version of A Thief's End and The Lost Legacy, was released on January 28, 2022, for PlayStation 5. A version for Windows, developed with Iron Galaxy, was released on October 19, 2022.

Common elements

The Uncharted series combines action-adventure and 3D platforming games. Players see the action from behind the character's view. To move forward in the story, players must complete physical tasks, such as jumping, swimming, climbing, and swinging from ropes. Other activities, like shooting, fighting, and solving puzzles, also appear in the games. Later games added driving, boat riding, and more complex movements.

The games allow players to explore large maps with some freedom. Later titles include open-world areas, letting players roam freely to find hidden items or avoid enemies. In A Thief's End, players can talk to other characters in side conversations. The series follows the structure of traditional action games, where players complete levels in a set order, always viewing the action from behind the character.

Shooting is an important part of the game. Players must defeat enemies using weapons like pistols, rifles, shotguns, and grenades. These weapons can be picked up from fallen enemies or found around the game world. If a player dies, they restart at a specific checkpoint in the level.

In A Thief's End, players can use vehicles to explore the game world. While vehicles can be driven anywhere, some areas must be reached to continue the story.

In Among Thieves, multiplayer modes were added. Co-operative play lets up to three players control Nathan Drake and two other characters. Missions involve fighting, jumping, and working together. Players can help others if they are hurt or captured. Competitive play allows ten players to split into two teams of five. Six game modes include deathmatches and team-based challenges. A Thief's End introduced a survival mode where players fight waves of enemies and complete tasks. Multiplayer also lets players earn points to unlock new character designs.

The first game, Drake's Fortune, is set near Panama, in the Amazon rainforest, and on an uncharted island near South America. Among Thieves includes new locations, such as the Tibetan Plateau, Istanbul, Borneo, and Nepal. Later games added settings like London, Bogotá, France, Syria, Yemen, and the Rub' al Khali desert. A Thief's End features a Panamanian jail, an Italian estate, a Scottish cathedral, Madagascar, and uncharted islands near Africa. Boston and New Orleans are also included, showing the main character's past and present homes.

The prequel Golden Abyss includes a dig site in Panama. The expansion The Lost Legacy adds locations in India's Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, and nearby areas.

Many locations in the games were studied carefully. The development team visited real places with guides and experts, taking photos and videos to create accurate settings.

The series uses many voice actors. Important characters are voiced by less well-known actors. Only three characters appear in every main game, and Chloe is the only other playable character in single-player mode:

• Nolan North as Nathan Drake
• Emily Rose as Elena Fisher
• Richard McGonagle as Victor Sullivan
• Claudia Black as Chloe Frazer

Other media

Uncharted: The Board Game is a board game created by Bandai in 2012. It was designed by Hayato Kisaragi and allows two to four players to compete for treasure and fight enemies.

Sony Computer Entertainment America released the first part of a four-part motion comic series called Uncharted: Eye of Indra on October 23, 2009. This story happens before Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The second part was released on November 25, and the third and fourth parts were released together on December 7.

A motion comic adaptation of the prologue of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was made. It begins with the discovery of Francis Drake’s coffin and ends with the first meeting between Nathan Drake and Gabriel Roman. The same voice recordings from the video game were used.

A comic book titled Uncharted was released by DC Comics around the time Uncharted 3 came out. Written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Sergio Sandoval, with covers by Adam Hughes, it was released on November 30, 2011, as part of a six-issue mini series. The story follows Nathan Drake on a journey to find the legendary "Amber Room" and explore the Hollow Earth.

A novel titled Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth was published in October 2011. Written by Christopher Golden and published by Del Rey Books, it tells the story of Nathan Drake searching for Daedalus’s Labyrinth, a maze from Greek mythology that once held the Minotaur.

Ruben Fleischer directed a movie version of the games, based on a script by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. The film features Tom Holland as Nathan Drake (who also helped produce the movie) and Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan. Antonio Banderas, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Tati Gabrielle played supporting roles. The movie was released in theaters in the United States on February 18, 2022, and was produced by Columbia Pictures, Atlas Entertainment, and Arad Productions. PlayStation Productions helped produce the film, and Sony Pictures Releasing handled distribution. In August 2023, producer Charles Roven said the studio was planning a sequel. By June 2024, Sony confirmed that a sequel was being developed.

In July 2018, director Allan Ungar made a fan-created 15-minute short film starring Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake. Fillion had long campaigned for the role. The film was well received, especially for Fillion’s performance and an action scene shot from a close-up angle, similar to the video games. The film also included Stephen Lang as Victor Sullivan and Mircea Monroe as Elena Fisher, with appearances by Ernie Reyes Jr. and Geno Segers. Some people wondered if the fan film might influence the official movie. A representative from Naughty Dog, the game developer, praised the film with a heart emoji, and film director Shawn Levy also gave it positive feedback. Ungar supported the official movie.

A ride called Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence, based on the 2022 film, opened at PortAventura Park on June 17, 2023.

Reception

The Uncharted series has been very successful, both in terms of reviews and sales. Many people praise the series for its graphics, writing, and voice acting. GamesRadar ranked it as the second best franchise of the seventh generation. The Uncharted series helped improve Naughty Dog's reputation, and the company is now considered one of the best game developers in the industry.

Nathan Drake, the main character in the series, is often seen as a symbol for PlayStation. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is widely regarded as one of the greatest games ever made. It received over fifty Game of the Year awards, and critics called it a major milestone in gaming. The game has one of the highest ratings among PlayStation 3 games on Metacritic. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is also considered one of the best games in the series and among the finest video games of the eighth generation.

The first game in the series was part of the PlayStation Essentials collection and sold over 2.6 million copies worldwide. Uncharted 2 was the best-selling game in the month of its release. By the end of their life cycles, the games sold over 13 million copies by 2011. Sales for Uncharted 3 were more than double those of its predecessor, which greatly exceeded expectations. This helped the series reach over 17 million copies sold worldwide. Before the release of the fourth main game, Sony reported that the series had sold over 28 million copies globally.

Uncharted 4 is the best-selling game in the series to date, with over 18 million copies sold. It is one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games of all time. As of December 2017, the series had sold 41.7 million copies worldwide.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was named PS3 Game of the Year by IGN.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves won several awards in 2009 and 2010, including Game of the Year, Best PS3 Game, Best Graphics, Best Story, and Best Original Score. It also won ten categories, including Game of the Year, at the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards and five categories, including Game of the Year, at the 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. It received the most Game of the Year awards in 2009.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception won awards in 2011, including Best PS3 Game, Best Graphics, Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Art Direction, and Animation. It also received awards for VideoGame Writing and Best Visual Arts. It was one of the most awarded games of 2011 in the Game of the Year category.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End won awards in 2016, including Best Narrative and Best Performance at The Game Awards, Adventure Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Story, Technical Achievement, and Animation at the D.I.C.E. Awards. It also won Best Game at the British Academy Games Awards, PlayStation Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards, and Best Video Game at the Empire Awards. It received the most Game of the Year awards in 2016.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy won awards for Game, Franchise Adventure, and Sound Editing in a Game Cinema at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, and Best Music/Sound Design (People's Voice) at the Webby Awards.