18 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About The Uncharted Series
'Sic Parvis Magna' doesn't mean what you think it means...
For nearly 10 years the Uncharted franchise has been the crowned jewel of Sony’s lineup of console exclusives. The games push the limits of the Playstation perhaps more than any other, and the results continue to be stunning; featuring breathtaking visuals, spectacular action, and beloved characters that have since become icons of the industry.
None of this is surprising given the track record of developer Naughty Dog, which, against all odds, has remained consistently excellent and delivered top quality entertainment for two decades now. Building on top of previous hits Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune set the standard for all third-person action games to come and birthed one of Sony’s most popular franchises.
Since then three more Uncharted games have been made, and the facts and stories behind their creation, along with their impact on the video game industry, makes one appreciate this amazing series even more.
18. There Are A TON Of Naughty Dog Character Easter Eggs
Throughout the Uncharted series, Naughty Dog went out of their way to sneak in callbacks to their past games. For example, in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Victor Sullivan is shown to own his own private plane, a Grumman G-21 Goose seaplane named Hog Wild. That name is a reference to a level of the same name in the original Crash Bandicoot.
Those Ottsel brand wetsuits Nate and Elena wear in the opening of Drake's Fortune? That name comes from the Jak and Daxter series; a direct reference to the fictional Ottsel species of which Daxter belongs to. Another reference to Jak and Daxter comes in the form of Precursor Orbs, a common artifact in that series, which can be found hidden away in every Uncharted game as a mysterious treasure.
The most explicit callback however, is in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, where Nate and Elena (and you) actually spend time playing the first level of the original Crash Bandicoot on an old school PS1. It's a nostalgic connection to the past in a game that marks the end of an era for Naughty Dog.