The Uncharted series exploded onto the gaming scene in 2007 with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and brought with it a loveable cast, thrilling gameplay, and an engaging story rife with mystery. Since then, Uncharted has grown to become one of the flagship franchises on the PlayStation and among the most critically acclaimed video game series of all time. The franchise will also be making its silver screen debut with the upcoming Uncharted film starring Tom Holland as the charismatic series lead, Nathan Drake.
Uncharted is often viewed as a love letter to the blockbuster action and treasure hunting genres, honoring the likes of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. With that, of course, come moments that require some suspension of belief, such as instances where, in a more realistic world, Nathan Drake would’ve definitely died. However, it’s these moments that build up the mythology surrounding just how lucky Nathan Drake is, and it’s that luck and ability to overcome even the most overwhelming odds that has created Uncharted fans for nearly 15 years.
Spoiler Warning: This list contains plot spoilers from throughout the Uncharted series.
10 Drake Frequently Finds Himself Outnumbered (Multiple Uncharted Games)
In between (and sometimes during) crumbling buildings and vehicle jumping, Drake often finds himself in intense gunfights. In these fights, Drake is typically surrounded by more than ten capable and even military-trained fighters. Despite this, he always comes out unscathed.
Drake’s ability to overcome these fights has drawn references to “Ludonarrative dissonance,” which describes a detachment from gameplay and story. In this instance, Drake is mostly unaffected by the trauma of these fights and the killing of thousands of people (albeit mostly in self-defense). Naughty Dog later included a trophy in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End aptly named “Ludonarrative Dissonance,” which requires players to kill 1,000 enemies.
9 Drake Proved He’s A One Man Army By Taking Out A Helicopter (Uncharted 2)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is heralded as both one of the best sequels and one of the best overall games of all time. Among Thieves took nearly every aspect of Drake’s Fortune and turned it up to 11, and the action set pieces perfectly exemplify that.
One standout moment in Among Thieves brings Drake and Chloe Frazer to Nepal in search of clues that would lead them to the lost city of Shambhala. During this section, they find themselves not only having to combat with a relentless fighter helicopter but also gunfire from standard enemies and crumbling buildings.
8 It Took A Lot Of Luck For Drake To Survive The Cargo Plane Sequence (Uncharted 3)
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is full of exhilarating moments (many of which will make appearances on this list). Arguably, Drake’s Deception’s most iconic sequence is the cargo plane sequence. It’s a moment that defines Uncharted so well it’s being adapted in the Uncharted movie, and was also depicted as a stage in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
Drake enters this cargo plane in Yemen en route to the Rub’ al Khali desert (Empty Quarter) in Saudi Arabia. Drake, seemingly knowing that surviving in a wheel-well during a flight is an extremely rare feat in itself, sneaks to a more survivable location of the plane. However, he is caught, which leads to the cargo door being opened. Drake fends off enemies and shifting cargo before the plane falls apart, which is when Drake is finally thrust into the open air. Avoiding all debris before latching onto the netting of one of those pieces of cargo, he opens a parachute attached to the cargo and drifts down to the ground.
7 Drake Shouldn’t Have Had The Endurance To Fight After Spending A Few Nights In The Empty Quarter (Uncharted 3)
Upon landing in the Empty Quarter, Drake sets off to find any semblance of civilization, which takes him multiple days. The hotness of the day and coldness of the night would be difficult to survive without adequate supplies such as food, water, and protection from the elements. This leads to Drake seeing mirages such as an oasis.
Drake eventually finds a dilapidated village where he immediately finds himself in a series of gunfights. Still exhausted and dehydrated, Drake manages to overcome enemies and survive long enough before finally being rescued by Salim.
6 Drake’s Time Was Not Up During The Clock Tower Collapse (Uncharted 4)
A Thief’s End brought Drake out of retirement for “one last score” in the form of pirate Henry Avery’s lost treasure. That treasure brought Drake and his friend and father-figure Victor Sullivan to a city in Madagascar. There, they seek clues in a large clock tower within the city.
At the top of the already dilapidated clock tower, Drake must swing on the clock’s bell to ring it. Naturally, this bell breaks off, plummetting Drake to almost certain death. However, in an exciting sequence, Drake must make his way to the bottom of the clock tower while avoiding large clock parts as they fall. He reaches the bottom where a large part of the clock slams to the ground right next to him.
5 For Drake, The Iconic Train Sequence Was Not A Complete Trainwreck (Uncharted 2)
The first thing that comes to mind for most players when they think of Uncharted is Among Thieves’ revolutionary train sequence. Drake has to make his way to the front of the train battling in, along the side of, and on top of the train. To make matters worse, he also has to take out another helicopter. All of this makes the train sequence one of the most exciting and adrenaline-pumping sequences in all of gaming. At the end of this sequence, Drake is shot and is left to die in the train wreckage.
At the freezing-cold crash site, a still-wounded Drake must scale a train on the verge of plummeting over a cliff. After escaping the train, he is faced with waves of enemies. As luck would have it, he manages to find the Phurba dagger that is being hotly sought after, buried in the snow. Drake’s luck isn’t just reserved for survival!
4 Drake’s Hallucinations In Ubar Left Him Vulnerable (Uncharted 3)
Toward the end of Drake’s Deception, Drake and Sully reach the lost city of Ubar (the “Atlantis of the Sands”). In Ubar, Drake begins to hallucinate memories of his childhood, Sully’s death, and the supernatural Djinns. These Djinn enemies are actually just standard enemies that Drake hallucinates as supernatural fire demons.
These hallucinations were caused by tainted water, which Drake (and not Sully) drank upon entering Ubar. This sequence of delirium and rage puts Drake in an incredibly vulnerable position where he’s unsure of what is and isn’t real. This should’ve provided enemies with plenty of opportunities to take Drake out.
3 Drake’s Survival Ensure This Cruise Can Get At Least A Single One-Star Review (Uncharted 3)
Desperate to save Sully from the clutches of the pirate Rameses, Drake finds himself on a massive cruise ship. Of course, it wouldn’t be Uncharted if this ship reached its destination. While Drake is in the lower cargo section of the ship, water beings to seep in, creating a frantic sequence that requires the player to escape a sinking ship. This is a really entertaining sequence, which shifts the player’s perception of what’s up and what’s down.
Fending off enemies and rising waters, Drake manages to escape the ship and is left drifting off to sea, unconscious. Drake eventually washes up on the beaches of Yemen where he is found by Elena Fisher.
2 Drake Is Under Fire In More Ways Than One During The Chateau Sequence (Uncharted 3)
Hot on the trail for information leading to what Sir Francis Drake discovered on his voyage, Drake and Sully head to France where they investigate an abandoned Chateau. As Drake and Sully were wrapping up their time and getting ready to leave, Talbot’s agents set fire to the Chateau.
Drake and Sully battle intense fire and smoke, as well as more enemies, to escape the burning building. Drake and Sully try working their way down to the entrance before needing to head upward to escape via the roof, and there is no shortage of close calls along the way.
1 A Collapsing Building Is One Thing, But An Entire Lost City? (Multiple Uncharted Games)
For many Uncharted games, the ultimate goal is to find a lost city as, in theory, these cities are loaded with riches or even something sinister that could change the course of history. As the narrative unravels, Drake and his company learn that there’s a reason why these cities are hidden and why they should continue to stay that way. However, antagonists such as Among Thieves’ Zoran Lazarević and Drake’s Deception’s Katherine Marlowe and Talbot see things differently.
These clashing philosophies often lead to the very destruction of these cities, which for Drake, results in a race against time – not only to defeat the powerful and skilled villains but to escape the cities (both of which are far easier said than done).
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