If it was all worth it?

​April is upon us which means we’ll finally be able to sink our teeth into what is supposedly the last ‘Uncharted’ game in the main series with ‘Uncharted 4: A Thieves End’. Developer Naughty Dog isn't shying away from raising the expectations, with co-director Bruce Straley suggesting it might be the "most visually stunning game ever created."

Nathan Drake reads T E Lawrence's 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' in the opening voice over, "All men dream - but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity... But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did."

Very true to its nature, by the previous offing, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, the developer had perfected the art of building a video game experience that mimicked the thrills of a blockbuster summer action movie. But that description doesn’t do the game justice, as its story, dialogue, voice-acting, humour and character development are just so much better than anything you’ll ever see in an Indiana Jones movie.

Within Sony’s arsenal of exclusives for its PlayStation business, ‘Uncharted’ is the crown jewel, the game that could keep Sony fans loyal no matter how many Halo or Mario games come out from the other guys. ‘Uncharted 4: A Thief's End’, the conclusion to series protagonist Nathan Drake's story, is now just over a month away. Sony continues to roll out new trailers for the game, the latest of which sees Drake contemplating his missed opportunities to have a normal life.

The video even offers a brief look at this, showing Drake sitting at a desk, stamping paperwork and then kissing Elena on a couch. This is then contrasted with footage of what we're most used to seeing Drake do: Shoot at countless enemies, fall off a cliff, and run from explosions, pondering ‘if it was all worth it.’

It's an impressive-looking trailer, as is to be expected. Developer Naughty Dog isn't shying away from raising expectations regarding the game's visuals, with co-director Bruce Straley suggesting it might be the "most visually stunning game ever created." Meanwhile, the studio and Sony have showcased what the PS4's power is making possible – including 10 times as much explorable space as past games.

The game was originally in development under the direction of Amy Hennig and Justin Richmond, but they left the studio in early 2014. Though it was not confirmed, reports indicated Hennig was allegedly "forced out" by Druckmann and Straley, a point that the studio has denied.

Druckmann and Straley, who worked on the first ‘Uncharted’ and its sequel before moving on to The Last of Us, were named co-directors of ‘Uncharted 4’ in June 2014, according to Game Informer. Nathan Drake actor Nolan North shared some insight in an interview last year, saying a lot of work was thrown out after Hennig left Naughty Dog.

The development team "shot eight months of her story and it was all thrown away," he said. "Amy is still a very dear friend of mine and she's brilliant. But the Last of Us guys were the next team there, so they took over and they just wanted their own flavour. They got rid of some of the other people that were involved and just redid their thing."

North said Uncharted 4's overall tone is going to be "slightly different" than Hennig's vision. "It has to be, you know," he said. "You can't have a Robert Ludlum novel that's going to be the same as Stephen King. It's just that they're different styles. But it's true to the story."

In the AP interview, Straley said ‘Uncharted 4’ is the "biggest, most ambitious" game Naughty Dog has ever made."We want to do this justice," he said. "We want it to be a mind-blowing, eye-popping, sweaty-palms adventure. Everybody is bleeding out of their eye sockets to make it come together. We want to make sure Drake is sent off properly."

"It's time," Druckmann said. "Sometimes, a character just lets you know it's time to move on. For me, that was part of the intrigue of coming back to this world. You never see something successful in the industry end. It usually just fizzles out." After multiple delays, ‘Uncharted 4’ launches exclusively for PS4 on May 10.