Owning The Cinematic Style

“It’s like watching a movie” is still sometimes used as a pejorative phrase within gaming circles. I imagine that’s because some folks still have a certain level of misplaced anxiety and insecurity about video games; they want people to realize video games are the dopest medium because you can interact with it; they probably feel like “stealing” from movies and TV means developers are not embracing all the unique capabilities of games. And, on some level, I understand the line of thinking even if I think it’s wholly misplaced.

I’ve seen someone like Tom Chick critique Firewatch and wish it were something like a short story rather than a game — Chick has talked about not loving Last Of Us for comparable reasons. In most cases, these issues come back to a limiting of player agency at various points. Perhaps I’ll talk about Firewatch in more depth at some point, but the point here is I don’t have any issue with Uncharted “stealing” from movies. My general motto is “make it good.” If you don’t use the “full power” of video games to make something good, and instead rely on beats learned from other mediums at times, that’s fine with me. You still need to craft these elements in such a way where they work for games, so it’s not like you just plug these things in and they magically work.

Regardless, “it’s like watching a movie” is a phrase I remember hearing from folks who either watched this game or played it. In these situations, it was only ever used as a positive. Over the years, it’s fair to say Naughty Dog has become best known for these cinematic qualities, and Uncharted acting as the forerunner for the studio’s eventual attachment to “movie-like games” seems earned.

The voice acting is on point throughout. The direction, delivery and performances are so good that it eventually created an environment where Nolan North (the voice of Nathan Drake) was saturating the market to such a degree that some people got tired of how good he was because he was in every game. I don’t think ubiquity always means you did something right, but in this case I think the fame was earned.

The performances feel real:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF8oQB-4V0E

As of today, more game makers have gotten better at getting quality performances out of actors, but in 2007 this type of performance felt special. Beyond that, it’s a risk going this route. BioShock came out around the same time and was also loved for its story, but in the Half-Life way where you always stay within the world. I believe Uncharted proved you could make something “that’s like a movie” and still be on the same level as the thing it’s copying. That’s no small feat.

On a personal level, I remember this bridge cutscene more than any other from the Uncharted franchise. I felt for that damn camera. I was bummed when it dropped to its doom. More than that, I was bummed for Elena losing out on the story of a lifetime. I felt for the person and an inanimate object. The developers earned that reaction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDKx3Ed621M

Everything just works in unison in Naughty Dog’s cutscenes. The developers show an understanding of camerawork, music, timing and when to get out. I fully admit I’m a sucker for Lost (if you can’t tell already), but this scene above is something that would feel right at home in that series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99fMu-pPhpY

Returning to my earlier point, the reason I appreciate these cutscenes so much is because even if they’re “stealing” from movies, the developers show a clear understanding of how to use these cinematic elements. It’s not like Naughty Dog was the first to use “movie things” in games. Naughty Dog just gets associated with movies now because many clearly feel like Naughty Dog did it the right way. More or less, the rules seem to be:

• Get you into the cutscene quickly with no load times
• Deliver the next plot point or reveal
• Get you out and back into gameplay within two minutes

These are basic principles, but again, knowing how to make good on these principles is why Uncharted is remembered fondly in this arena.

Uncharted’s cinematic qualities go beyond just the cutscenes. It’s a game that blends video game insanity together with the Indiana Jones action/adventure qualities it’s trying to mimic. I think of it like the amusement park ride trying to give you the movie experience. “Star Tours” at Disneyland isn’t cool just because it’s Star Wars, that would never work. It’s cool because it’s a Star Wars experience you would not otherwise have.

It’s a game that understands Indy’s punch sound effect can be replicated in the form of nailing a big jump and getting the payoff via a musical queue:

It’s a game that understands the absurdity of the “Wilhelm scream” and mixes it with the absurdity of video games to create hilarious-yet-totally-works-in-this-universe deaths:

Uncharted is flexible on this front, too. I don’t want to just call it an Indiana Jones clone in everything but name because it’s not. When the UNDEAD SPANISH MONSTERS get revealed, it’s done in such a way where the whole feel of the game immediately turns around. It’s not so playful anymore, and instead takes on the feel of a horror game. This change occurs via gameplay, art style and the cinematics.

I believe some were thrown off by the reveal — and some thought it was stupid — because everything had been “in reality” to that point. But come on, it was hinted at like 100 times before. Chekhov’s gun was popping off left and right. The impressive part is the game handles the transition with such aplomb. It’s the From Dusk Till Dawn transition, mixed in with nods to Halo by having all the factions battling with each other by the end of the game.

Much Like Uncharted, I Don’t Know How This Should End

So yeah, we’re here now. My original plan was to go through the game beat by beat to recall each of my old memories and put them up against the new ones, but that didn’t happen. I guess I realized along the way how much I appreciate this franchise. I realized I love this game because even the worst parts are things I didn’t even remember until playing through them again.

And I also realize this is a game that inspired a lot of future developers to look more deeply at cinematic qualities in games — and not in a masturbatory Kojima way, which I don’t even really mean as a shot at Kojima. Instead, what I mean is trying to understand what camera you should be using, or when you should stay on the actor’s face or cut away to the next shot. Uncharted pulled off the “stop and watch” style by controlling itself. The developers didn’t get lost in the cutscenes that could now be pulled off with the “power” of the PS3. The question was instead, “Can we create something that works for games but incorporates what we love about movies?”

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is a game that will continue to hold up for that reason. It didn’t need a remaster to stay current because what it did went beyond the graphics. But what the remaster did do is remind me all over again why this is a style developers believe in today.

For more of Chase’s work, you can find him at @ChaseBecotte on Twitter. If you enjoyed “Drake’s Fortune: Naughty Dog’s Pilot”, please consider checking out our Patreon so we can fund more great work.