Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Teased

I was betting on a VGAs announcement this weekend, but this’ll do just fine! Before it’s world premiere on Spike this Saturday, Entertainment Weekly visited Naughty Dog’s Santa Monica studio for an exclusive look at the third (and probably last) game in the series, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

What We Know

Searching for a lost city, the threequel takes to the Arabian Peninsula and the wastelands of the Rub’ al Khali Desert. You know what this means – sand! Drake’s father figure (Victor “Sully” Sullivan) is back, and the story focuses on the relationship between the two with some much expected (as the title suggests) deception along the way.

The theme of deception plays out in multiple ways throughout the threequel, from Drake doing the deceiving to Drake being deceived to some mysterious deception about Drake’s very identity.

Continuing Drake’s adventure, the Californian developer drew from the early years of T.E. Lawrence and ultimately couldn’t resist the challenge of taking on yet another organic element when it came up in conversation.

When we first came up with the idea of sand, you see everyone’s eyes light up here and go, ‘Yeah, that’s going to be really hard — let’s do it!’” Adds Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells: “We’re a bunch of nerds. We just look forsomething that will be a technical, artistic challenge, and allowed us to push into an area of the world and history we’ve never tapped into before.

You’ve gotta love these guys! I mean they’ve pretty much handled water and snow like Gods, do you dare doubt them? Can you imagine what crazy ideas those talented devs are conjuring up? Sand Floods, quicksand, I can see it now, drowning my aggressors in sand – boom! Ooo! That reminds me.

That’s Great But Let’s Do More

Now that Naughty Dog boasts its own in-house motion capture studio, there’s no doubt they’ll be more of the signature cinematic experience the series is so well known for. More dynamic camera work is on board and expect some new gameplay mechanics in there, like enhanced backward climbing (whatever that is), and the ability to fight multiple enemies at one time – no more mano-a-mano!

Finally, Naughty Dog plan to go to town on the game’s online multiplayer, spending a considerable amount of time and effort on improving the popular mode.

We want to take on the big boys of the multi-player genre

Get what you can out of the teaser (above): a thrill, a clue, before the “official” world premiere on Spike this Saturday – a premiere we hope is longer than this one.

UPDATE: This just in! Kotaku reports that Jimmy Fallon will show off the first live demo of Uncharted 3, on his self-titled show this coming Monday. The game’s developers will be on hand to demonstrate the game. Way a go Naughty Dog!

UPDATE 2: Here’s the game’s box art – enjoy! Did somebody say 3D?

UPDATE 3: Here’s the official announcement courtesy of Naughty Dog:

UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception features the return of famed fortune hunter Nathan Drake and follows him through a gripping, action-packed storyline that will take you all over the world. In his search for the fabled “Atlantis of the Sands,” Nathan Drake and longtime friend and mentor Victor Sullivan set off on a daring trek into the heart of the Arabian Desert. But when terrible secrets of this lost city are uncovered, their journey becomes a desperate bid for survival that will force him to confront his deepest fears.

Throughout UNCHARTED 3, you’ll be taken to spectacular new locations around the globe that will showcase all of the work we’ve taken on to take our physics, particle and visual effects to a new level.

Competitive and co-op multiplayer will return as a key ingredient to the UNCHARTED 3 package, where all of the new features we have planned will combine with our signature single-player cinematic gameplay to create a unique action-adventure multiplayer experience that can only be found in the UNCHARTED universe.

Oh, and there’s one more thing – UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception fully supports high-resolution Stereoscopic 3D.