Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception revealed

Holy shit. Entertainment Weekly, of all people, have revealed Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The publication has an exclusive sneak peek at the game, where they reveal story details, setting, the game’s aspiration to be an “interactive cinematic experience,” and more. There’s a trailer, too!

Uncharted 3 has protagonist Nathan Drake searching for a legendary lost city, known as the Iram of the Pillars, that ultimately leads him to the Arabian Peninsula and the Rub’ al Khali Desert. The story has a strong focus on the relationship between Nathan Drake and father figure Victor Sullivan. According to EW, deception also plays a strong role in the game, whether it’s Drake doing the deceiving or Drake being deceived.

The inspiration for the story came from Naughty Dog‘s desire to take on the challenges of a desert locale, explained creative director Ann Hennig.

She said: “When we first came up with the idea of sand, you see everyone’s eyes light up here and go, ‘Yeah, that’s going to be really hard — let’s do it!’”

Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells added: “We’re a bunch of nerds. We just look forsomething that will be a technical, artistic challenge, and allowed us to push into an area of the world and history we’ve never tapped into before.”

The publication were ran through a level, whose location they can’t discuss, that featured all of Nathan Drake’s classic elements (jumping and climbing constantly shifting events) as well as some new elements such as “backward climbing” and “the ability to fight multple baddies at once” (we’re not sure what that bit quite means). Wells told them that much effort are being put into Uncharted 3‘s online multiplayer and co-op, which Naughty Dog will share more details on in the coming months.

“We want to take on the big boys of the multi-player genre,” said Wells. “It has become something here at Naughty Dog that will become an important part to all our games.”

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception launches in 2011, which also signals the beginning of Uncharted‘s push to become a “transmedia” entertainment brand, according to Wells.

The debut teaser trailer can be seen at EW.com. A full trailer will air during the SpikeTV Video Game Awards this Saturday, December 11.