Indiana Jones: Why Are There No New Video Games?
3. The Rise Of Nathan Drake
It is inevitable that Uncharted would be mentioned at some point. Developed by Naughty Dog Studios and released in 2007, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was an instant success on the PlayStation 3. Presented with impressive graphics and likeable characters, Nathan Drake’s adventure to find the lost city of El Dorado focused on climbing and exploration, like both Tomb Raider and the Indiana Jones series of games. Additionally, like Tomb Raider, combat and shooting had a heavier emphasis with more action set pieces. Puzzles were also included however their simplicity was not a gameplay priority or main reason for picking up the controller.
In retrospect, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune has been viewed as a weaker game than its successors however it was a great starting point for Naughty Dog to expand and develop their next games. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves added to Naughty Dog’s rising reputation by fixing some of the clunkier controls that its predecessor had. Additionally, it doubled down on action set pieces moment such as the legendary train sequence.
Where Tomb Raider had overshadowed Indiana Jones games in terms of its popularity and number of instalments, the Uncharted series had replaced it completely by introducing players to Hollywood-esque action sequences, compelling and well-rounded characters, better gameplay and sequels spanning a decade.
With Uncharted 4’s terrific ending to the series as well as the new Tomb Raider trilogy’s finale, there is the chance that an Indiana Jones game does have the potential to survive with a successful release now that both titans have at least thrown in the towel for now at least. However, the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, a standalone sequel to Uncharted 4, may result in the development of future spin-offs. This is especially notable due to Naughty Dog’s primary project, The Last Of Us: Part 2, releasing soon allowing for the company to potentially concentrate their focus on new instalments after the release.
In fact, they may have already started.
But to look at Indiana Jones' recent gaming failures, you can't just look at the competition. That would be shifting the blame too much. Because Indy did it to himself, at least partly.