Uncharted 4 Gameplay Video Introduces Nathan Drake's Brother

There's a ton of new features introduced in the latest promo video for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End for the PS4. The 15 minute video leaves little to be desired on the end of gamers, other than the desperation of wanting to play the game for themselves. Check it out below.

First up, the draw distance on the game is very impressive to be running on mid-tier quality PC hardware in a home console. I was actually impressed at the draw distance, yes. The attention to detail to the surrounding and far off environmental entities such as the cliff face, the water rushing up against the rocks and the dense, mountainous jungle areas all look phenomenal. It's amazing seeing the game in motion with that level of graphics fidelity for a home console.

On the gameplay front, we're still seeing a lot of the same stuff from the previous Uncharted games, which is a good thing. Drake can still leap, hop, climb, scale and move around the environment with avid fluidity. As usual, there's a strong affinity to the verticality of the game – but we also see something a bit different as well in the video and that's the addition of optional platforming depth.

Drake can get around the environment using multiple paths, opening up various stealth options for gameplay, as well as new tactical opportunities that players can exploit.

In addition to the above, we also get to see the new pick in play. The pick allows Drake to scale vertical faces that would otherwise be untenable to traverse. The walls are textured differently so players know where they can climb with the new pick, with Naughty Dog continuing to use visual cues instead of HUD cues to help players stay immersed in the cinematic qualities of the gameplay.

Some of the other new features includes improved environmental destruction, where Drake won't be safe hiding behind a single object for too long during firefights. This enforces players to think critically and actively about their next move, as staying in one place for too long could end up being detrimental to Drake's health.

We also get to see some of the new takedowns and fighting features in the game, and it all looks marvelous. The added cinematic quality of the fight scenes will be sure to keep players coming back for more or experimenting fighting various bad guys. I really like the seamless transition between animations and the counter-attacks; that's so sexy looking.

Lastly, we get to see Drake's Indiana Jones-style rope swinging mechanic. You can use the rope to swing across highlighted segments of the stage, which is sure to provide gamers with some interesting platform challenges throughout the adventure.

I thought the gameplay video above was the perfect way to introduce a lot of the new, improved and tweaked mechanics of Uncharted 4. That's how you get it done.

You can look for the game to launch in 2015, exclusively for the PS4. Need to learn more? Feel free to visit the official website.