| r505Matt said: How convienient, let's not reveal anything (or very little) about a character, call it a mystery, and then make him capable of anything. I wager, by Uncharted 5, Drake will be able to fly, cross dimensions, and will have clones of himself fighting over control of the universe. Backstory is NECESSARY in creating a stable story/plot. Otherwise it becomes a make-it-up-as-you-go-along type of story, which becomes hit or miss. I'm not saying you need to reveal EVERYTHING, but there needs to be something to explain his uncanny ability to kill (trained soldiers no less). It's not a matter of realism, its more a matter of plausible fiction. But hey, if your blind fanboy-ism can suspend your disbelief THAT much, all the power to you. |
I'd agree in principle but disagree specific to Uncharted 2 - the game does a better job than pretty much any game I've played of using subtle, effective film approaches to convey character traits and history.
Early on, when Flynn hands Nathan the dart pistol, Nathan puts him down by pointing out he knows how to use a gun, that plus the clear pointers to his past activities makes it clear than Drake can handle himself and a gun. The high number of enemies he mows down in the game is irrelevant. That's the difference between a game and a film. In a film, for example, if you take the level where you leap from truck to truck, there would be maybe 2 to 3 vehilces, Drake would take out maybe 4 to 8 people in total. In a game, that would take seconds, so there's lots of vehicles and he takes out lots of people in them, but that's irrelevant, a necessary mechanic.
From a narrative perspective we quickly and clearly learn Drake can handle himself, isn't above a bit of theft or shooting someone, but shy's from unecessary violence and is worried about harming anyone 'undeserving'. Again, that whole element of his character is well conveyed in his early dialogue with Flynn and the amusing 'Ghandi' dialogue from Flynn (which nicely makes clear Flynn doesn't see himself as Ghandi and may be a lot more criminal of a character than Drake).
Really, Drake is shown surviving no more amazing stunts than Indiana Jones or any similar character. His abilities are perfectly in line with the serial mantinee roots of his character. Now, if I was playing, say, Modern Warfare, and my solider suddenly showed amazing abilities to climb, jump and survive amazing drops and explosions I'd feel they were straying from an acceptable set of capabilities. But Uncharted is (including Tomb Raider) by far and away the best realization of an Indy type character in videogames IMHO.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
