Welcome back to our reading list of books, movies and video games that all are serving as inspiration for my novel in progress “The Island and the Sea”. In the last issue I talked about two Jules Verne novels, Around the World in 80 Days and Five Weeks in a Balloon. Today I’m going in an entirely different direction.
So get ready to fire up those PlayStations because what comes next is an epic action adventure video game which I am proud to say is lending its hand in the inspiration of my novel.
Uncharted
The first thing I think of when I think of the Uncharted series of video games is not the major set piece moments such as fighting inside a falling building, escaping a sinking cruise ship, or stopping a running train. What I think of first are those opening notes to the soundtrack which, to me, sum up the emotion of the games perfectly.
It’s adventurous, epic, a little dark, and yet as the music progresses it turns hopeful and almost lighthearted before once again descending into the heavy, seismic rhythm of the resounding drums. What better way to introduce players into one of the defining video game titles of this generation?
The Uncharted games are more than just a fantastic score. While it is adventurous and action packed, it also is chalk full of character, wit, and deeper themes than your run of the mill shoot em up game. Lets watch some character interaction from Uncharated 3: Drakes Deception and you’ll see what I mean. To set up the scene, Nathon Drake, the protagonist, has just escaped a sinking ship. He washes up on shore, and this scene follows
To be honest, there is not a single aspect of these games I don’t thoroughly enjoy. But when it comes to inspirations, I’m rather picky. Out of all the video games I’ve played, this series is one of two which have impressed me enough to seriously consider inspirational.
If you haven’t played the Uncharted series, you owe it to yourself to give them a shot. They are a relatively short time commitment, but they pack quite a wallop in terms of production values, script, acting, character, plot, and game play.
To end this article, lets close it off with a trailer to my favorite game in the series, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.