20 Things You Didn't Know About Uncharted

19. Uncharted 2's Story Was Originally More Linear

Uncharted 2 Train
Naughty Dog

Uncharted 2's opening sequence - where Nate is trapped inside a train that's hanging off the edge of a cliff - is one of the most iconic video game intros of all time.

After Nate climbs the train and reaches solid ground, the game flashes back to a meeting between him, Chloe Frazer and Harry Flynn, before flashing forward to the present, where he has to navigate the massive wreck in front of him.

After another flashback (featuring a sexy scene between Chloe and Nate) and another bit of train wreck platforming, the game flashes back for a final time, and the rest of the story builds to reveal how Nate ended up dangling from a crashed train.

This type of non-linear storytelling is something you don't see a lot in the action-shooter genre, but it works really well here.

Interestingly though, Naughty Dog had originally planned to keep things simple, with a linear three-act narrative. The decision to start the game with the train sequence wasn't suggested until late in development, by lead writer Neil Druckmann.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.