Uncharted 2 Interview, Evan Wells sets it Straight

PSW Magazine recently had an interview with Naughty-Dog's Co-President Evan Wells, the interview has not been published online, so we thought we'd bring it to you.

PSW: What did Drake spend his fortune on? Is he broke or has he become a Lara-style thrill seeker?

Evan Wells: Only two years have passed since the events in Uncharted Drake's Fortune and i think it's clear that Drake is in a very different place than where we left him. He starts off Uncharted 2 a bit 'down on his luck' and he's found himseld lured back into his natural element - a world of thieves and mercenary fortune-hunters

PSW: Will we still like Drake in this game or will you slowly reveal a nastier side to the original character?

Evan Wells: Even though he may look abit rougher around the edges, Drake still retains the personality you've come to know him for. In Uncharted 2, we're tackling some more serious themes, and digging deeper into Drake's character, but he's still the same affable rogue we introduced in the first game. Humour is a critical part of this genre and to the Uncharted franchise - and it's important to us that our game should never take itself to seriously.

PSW: Are you aiming to merge gameplay more for the sequel?

Evan Wells: In Uncharted, Drake was only able to fire his weapon during certain actions or animations. This time out, we're really opening things up by allowing Drake to shoot at any time - including hanging from ledges, crossing balance beams, and even swinging from ropes. We've been calling this concept "traversal gunplay". This frees up our level designers to throw in combat setups anytime and anywhere, even when Drake is negotiating tricky traversal sections that might require some problem solving to overcome.

Here's the important question! Read!

PSW: Will there be any online gameplay or is Uncharted 2 strictly offline this time around?

Evan Wells: We've seen alot of debate from blogs and forums about whether or not we should take the Uncharted frachise online - either via multiplayer or co-op. There are some very compelling aguments on both sides of the fence about adding these extensions to our game. We're always considering ways in which we can improve our games, but only if we can still achieve the level of quality Naughty Dog is known for. For now, our main focus is on Drake as the central character - we want to concentrate the story on his personal journey.

PSW: What kind of Trophies are you aiming for - and will there be some playful challenges?

Evan Wells: Between Trophies and Medals, we have plenty of room to create some interesting and fun ways to get those rewards. For those players who are up to the challenge, we're planning to have a ton of cheats, skins concept art, secrets and video's to unlock, just like in our first game.

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So what do you think about what Evan Wells said? And what is the effect of the answer about Uncharted 2 Multiplayer?