Uncharted 4 Gameplay Shows Off New Combat, Traversal Mechanics

During the PlayStation Experience, Naughty Dog gave a lengthy live demo of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, which showed off gorgeous environments, new combat mechanics, and a better rendered half-tuck.

Unlike many gameplay demos we'd typically see in this instances, the Uncharted 4 demo was running live, as was evidenced by the brief glitch that happened during one of Drake's deaths. Still, that just makes what we saw all that more impressive. The demo opened easily enough, with Drake traversing some caves and cliffs. The water and lighting all looked terrific in action, especially the further Drake got into the cave.

As Drake progressed back outside, we were introduced to new climbing mechanics, including the use of a climbing spike, which was a bit reminiscent of Lara's pick-axe in Tomb Raider. It wasn't until combat started that we got to see all of the new elements Naughty Dog was incorporating for the action scenes. Gun combat plays out as we've seen in previous entries, but the new stealth attacks borrow heavily from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. There's plenty of foliage for Drake to hide in and use to his advantage. There's also a new grappling hook, which can be used to swing from key points in the environment both for traversal and to eliminate foes typically out of your reach.

The demo closed with Drake meeting up with his mysterious new partner, who referred to Drake as his little brother. Looks like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End will introduce us to a lost member of the Drake family.

Uncharted 4 will be available on the PlayStation 4 in 2015.