I have been privileged to watch video games go all the way from a side scrolling medium to a powerful medium that tells memorizing stories. Take the Uncharted series for example; Naughty Dog crafted a five game series on the life of a snarky adventure hunter named Nathan Drake–and the world fell in love with him. Even my 70 year old father loved to sit down and watch the story and action unfold. Of course, mass murdering hundreds and my occasional shortcomings in combat would always cause him to start talking crap. “I’m better than you.” and “What, you didn’t see that guy shoot your face?” would haunt me if I didn’t have something happen that allowed me to show off during my play session. Every time he saw an ad for the next in the series he would ask when I was going to get it so that he could experience the next mini home made movie. I tell you this because my father hates everything, so him enjoying Nathan Drake and the Uncharted series is a big deal. It helped prove to me that Naughty Dog has cemented Nathan Drake in the halls of video games along with Mario and Sonic. This year I was able to play through every Uncharted game, even the Vita’s Golden Abyss, and I’m pretty proud of myself for doing this.
When I finally reached the finale of the series, I realized that I watched a character grow, change and evolve. I followed him through this story and his life. I also started his tale at about his age and ended it at about the same age. Nathan may be a tad older seeing as he has more gray hair, but either way this got me thinking. I enjoyed series finale and I think Naughty Dog did a nice job of wrapping it up. I found myself wanting more out of Nathan in the fourth game though. He felt like the protagonist that didn’t want to do anything. Sam’s always goading Nathan into doing the dangerous adventures and basically yanks him along on this journey. Nathan was no longer the danger or adventure hunter like when we were first introduced to him. It saddened me to see Nathan so boring and reserved.
For some reason I seem to relate more to younger Nathan in that he wants adventure, women and treasure with nothing holding him back. What’s even weirder about this realization is the fact that I should have the wife and beginnings of a family at this point in my life. Unfortunately I got dealt some loser hands in the card game of life and have had to make some sacrifices which has left me a little behind. One would reason that I would relate more to married-with-child Nathan, than traipsing around the world defying death Nathan. Instead I found that Nathan to be boring and too worried about every consequence. I wonder if there were cut scenes where Nathan berated Sam for eating a hot dog or getting that neck tattoo. I get that he has grown up and now has responsibilities in life but that shouldn’t have made him a square. You’d think he would want that final treasure so that he and Elena can walk off into the sunset. However he was worried about lying to her and dying than if he changed the oil in her mini-van; the worrying got ridiculous to a point. I just didn’t enjoy Nathan like this. You’d think Sully would be the worrier since he has to have COPD.
As I played Uncharted 4 I longed for single Nathan. You know, the one who laughed at danger and always got the girl. The tepid adventurer just didn’t enhance my enjoyment of the game. Sam was ballsier and more bold than Nathan the entire time. Heck, even Nadine had a pair. I just wanted Nathan to be flippant, uncaring and devil-may-care instead of a drab shell of what he used to be. Maybe this is just me wishing I was young again since I’ve yet to meet my Elena or maybe I just crave excitement more now. Perhaps as I age, I see that I have nothing to lose anymore. Nathan however was suddenly thrust into a life where he had everything to lose. I’m sure there is some psychologist out there that would love to sit me down on a couch about this, but for right now younger Nathan is my hero and older Nathan needs to man up. What do you think? Do you like older and more mature Nathan or death-defying Nathan? Let us know in the comments or on our Twitter page @bagogames! You can even feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @Superjerry13!