What's Next For Uncharted? Sequels, Spin Off's And Split Timelines

Ever since the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End many gamers have been wondering what would be next for the highly popular franchise after finishing NaughtyDogs final Uncharted game. Opinions have been split on the subject, while some gamers would want the franchise to end on a good note others would like to see it continue in some form but regardless of what happens next one thing we do know for sure is that NaughtyDog will have no part of it. In the end the franchise will literally be sailing in uncharted waters.

So where should the Uncharted franchise venture to next? One idea that’s been floating around is that it will continue with Nathan and Elena’s daughter Cassie as the leading role. This would certainly be a good idea considering they could still carry on the “Drake” name which is featured in some of the Uncharted titles like “Drakes Fortune” and “Drakes Deception since NaughtyDog has carried a small theme with the franchises titles where every odd numbered game starts with “Drake” and the even numbered games has the word “Thief” in them. Perhaps the next game of the franchise starring Cassie could be called “Drakes Legacy” and would feature a much older Cassie, possibly the same age as Nate in Drakes Fortune, stepping into her father’s shoes. However the small downside to this is that it would feature a female lead, and this obviously isn’t a problem, of course not it’s not like the world thinks of us gamers as sexist misogynist’s right? The small problem I see from the franchises point of view would that it would relate the franchise more to Tomb Raider which is also a third person action adventure platforming game with a female lead. In my opinion I feel like whoever continues Uncharted in the future would want the two games to be as separate as possible so Cassie might not be a good fit.

The other idea floating around suffers a similar problem as it would be to continue the franchise with Chloe Frazer another female lead but considering Chloe is an established character where people already know how different she is to Lara Croft and one who was not featured in the last Uncharted game she would be a welcome addition in the next instalment and is an idea I feel is the most fitting. Chloe has very similar traits to Nate and would reflect on what Nate would have been a little like before Drakes Fortune where he met his future wife Elena Fisher, someone who is on their own, doing it for riches and is not settled down with someone they care about. Her partner in crime would be another absent character in Uncharted 4, Charlie Cutter and could fill in Sully’s role as her back up. The pair of them together could feature some great banter and would give us more information on their past since the other games hardly went into their backstories at all. How did Chloe and Cutter meet? How did Cutter meet Nate? Were their other jobs in between the other games? This game could allow us to learn more about the Uncharted Universe as it shifts away from Nathan Drake. Uncharted: Frazer’s Fortune anyone?

In my opinion continuing on from the last Uncharted game might end up degrading the games NaughtyDog have done if the quality after Uncharted 4 drops. I don’t think any developer should tip toe on the legacy a highly respected studio like NaughtyDog have done with the past 4 Uncharted games, similar to how Konami will end up continuing the Metal Gear Solid games without Kojima. However there might be a way to overcome this without tip toeing on the studios past games or going down the drastic reboot path so many developers do these days and that would be to split the timeline after Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. What? Why? How? I know what you’re thinking but let me explain. Nathan Drakes backstory didn’t really expand until the third game in Drakes Deception where we were treated to flashbacks for the first time of a teenage Nate and this backstory also evolved more in A Thief’s End when you found out he magically had a brother he thought was dead, also giving us more flashbacks. In the first two Uncharted games Nathan Drakes backstory is pretty much sealed only giving us tiny amounts of information to go on like when Flynn and Chloe are introduced so making the mark to split the franchises timeline after Uncharted 2 would make the most sense.

Telling an alternate timeline from this point would also not tip toe on the ending the main developers gave the franchise. If you decide to make another Uncharted game and continue on from Uncharted 4 whether it’s with Cassie or god forbid Nate himself them you are not respecting the previous developers work. At least with splitting the timeline you are respecting that while also bringing back our main characters in a non-forced scenario, to them the last adventure was Among Thieves and they would still be younger then what we saw in A Thief’s End. The other benefits of this is that it gives the new studio more creative control and lets them come up with a new backstory for Nate or let them add things which won’t contradict things found within NaughtyDogs other two sequels. Maybe in this new “third” game Marlowe isn’t a threat (yet) and also Nate doesn’t have a brother, he’s an only child as stated in previous games. Whatever it is this would allow the new developers to create a new game without worrying what they can and cannot do.

I think it would be a fantastic idea if in this new “third” game would see Nate, Elena and Sully go after Atlantis, something fans have wanted to see for a while when it came to guessing where Nate could go in the next game. Since the real third game Drakes Deception saw Nate go after the Atlantis of the sands then the alternative “third” game could see him find the Atlantis of the ocean. Maybe we’ll see a game finally where Nate and Elena go off on the adventure together instead of being split up at the start of the game or Elena getting into a huff with Nate because he’s adventuring again. It would be a nice take on the couple to see them as husband and wife go after a treasure together along with Sully. In the end this idea of the splitting the timeline would allow them to create more games without actually ending the franchise for good. The real ending, the one NaughtyDog has done for their creation is still there, that book is closed and no one will ever be able to open back up to ruin it so if anything bad happens to the new timeline then NaughtyDog would have nothing to worry about. At the end of the day at least this franchise would allow our favourite characters come back without a new studio trying to force in newer characters, I mean let’s be honest here Nate, Elena and Sully are the faces on the franchise, just like how Lara Croft is the face of Tomb Raider, without them the franchise is nothing.

What do you think? Where do you think the Uncharted franchise to venture off next? Do you want to see the franchise continue with Cassie or Chloe? Or would you like to see a split timeline telling alternative adventures with our same beloved characters? Maybe you could see a re-telling of the franchise from the start, same characters, and a similar story. Nate might meet Elena Fisher but what if it’s not for Sir Francis Drake’s coffin but something else for another adventure? Hell what if they don’t even meet on a boat but in the middle of a dessert and they are raided by mercenaries not pirates? The possibilities are endless because Nathan Drake is a man of many adventures and has so many choices to pick from, there are worlds where he picked other adventures before another and I for one would think it would be great to see these other adventures played out in games which show alternative takes on the franchise.