The Moral Ambiguity of Nathan Drake (Uncharted 2)

Before I get into this, just a quick word of warning; although I have purposely avoided any story specific spoilers, I will be touching upon some of the key themes and settings featured in Uncharted 2. So, if you are currently in spoiler evasion mode, please vacate this page and start playing Uncharted 2 immediately! Otherwise, please read on.

“How many men have you killed today?”

Those words come courtesy of war criminal and general bad apple Zoran Lazarevic, directed at everyone’s favourite video game adventurer, and the protagonist of the Uncharted series, Nathan Drake. Lazarevic is rightfully questioning Drake’s right to pass judgement upon his own abhorrent actions. For all his good deeds, wise cracking and rugged good looks, Nathan Drake is a thief and a killer, and a bloody good one too.

He may put his neck on the line for those he cares about, and he manages to stumble across a noble cause and see it through until the end, but everywhere he ventures he leaves a pile of corpses in his wake. He carries no badge, no license to kill and most of his actions (at least in the first half of the game) are fuelled by greed and/or revenge. I’m sure Interpol would be fascinated to learn of his whereabouts! He doesn’t give a second thought to breaking into a museum to appropriate an artefact, and although he avoids taking lethal action against the guards, he does stoop to throwing a museum security guard off a roof into a craggy bay, far, far below. I can’t see him surviving that fall, and it made me question aloud, “Did he just kill a museum employee?” I guess he was in the way of his harmless plundering. He displays little remorse for his actions, and in most instances he openly revels in his neck snapping escapades.

How did a healthy interest in history and dead languages, and I’m guessing a childhood fixation on all things Indiana Jones, create such a cold blooded and ruthless killer? I have loved ancient history ever since I was a child, but I’ve never shot anyone in the face and then made a joke about punching their ticket. Not recently, at least. Maybe he played a lot of violent video games as a child? That must be it.

Nathan Drake is a lovable rogue, but he’s a murderous one nonetheless. Still, I’d buy him a pint.

I’m not really sure what I’m trying to say here. Am I touching upon the strength of the character created by Naughty Dog, one so sympathetic that we will entirely overlook his dark side to fully embrace him, or am I commenting on what we will accept, or even look for in our heroes? Probably neither, as to be honest I just wanted to write about a game that has blown away my already sky high expectations, without resorting to writing a straight forward review.

If you haven’t already played Uncharted 2, then you really should. It’s good.



ODDS & ENDS


Whilst cooking the other night, I managed to burn the top of my left index finger on the frying pan. It really hurt, but more than that, it put an end to a planned night of Uncharted 2 goodness. I couldn’t use the bloody left trigger, which meant no targeting. Next time I’m getting take-out!


I picked up .detuned on PSN over the weekend. For those not in the know, it’s a demoscene where you control the rhythmically induced movements of a deranged man in a chair, accompanied by either the in-game or custom soundtrack. I knew it was meant to be weird, but four men with elephant heads dancing around a chair in slow motion to a track distorted beyond recognition, whilst being cheered on by Domo kun look-alike aliens really takes the biscuit. If the above description appeals to you, then I would highly recommend picking up this dirt cheap title from PSN.