Uncharted:The Nathan Drake Collection is more than a remaster:Digital Foundry

[Fatboi1]

The release of the latest Uncharted: the Nathan Drake Collection story trailer demonstrates that developer Bluepoint Games is indeed improving and remaking swathes of Naughty Dog's existing assets, respectfully enhancing even incidental detail. The evidence suggests that this isn't just a simple port we're dealing with here - new art or geometry is commonplace in virtually every shot in this latest trailer.

For instance, the original character models used in Drake's Fortune look rather dated next to those used in Uncharted 3. It makes sense to create a more coherent look across all three games by upgrading the models, and based on what we've seen in the trailer, that's exactly what has happened.

As expected, all three games benefit from an increase in resolution to full 1080p with post-process anti-aliasing. Anisotropic filtering, contact shadows, and improved shading are all present as well, creating a cleaner, more pleasing overall image. Simply eliminating the noticeable texture blurring that plagued the original games along with various other rendering issues makes a world of difference here.

However, there is a notable omission based on every Nathan Drake Collection asset we've seen so far: motion blur.

While motion blur was mostly absent from the pre-rendered cut-scenes in the original games, the real-time sequences in this new trailer are lacking the effect too. Motion blur shutter speed was modified for The Last of Us Remastered, resulting in a more subtle effect, but it seems to be completely absent in everything we've seen so far in the Nathan Drake Collection.

In addition [in Uncharted 2], we also note an increase in alpha effects and their density. As the chopper takes out the bridge early in the demo, there is a noticeable increase in smoke and dust that isn't there on PS3.

When Nate reaches the top of the tower at the start of the demo we also note an increase in distant detail. Buildings are more complex further out into the scene while entire chunks that were previously absent have been added into the mix. Even the mountain range has been updated in this new version and there are also noticeable changes to lighting and scene colorisation.


Uncharted: the Nathan Drake Collection is more than just a remaster

At what point does a remaster become a remake? Remastering involves improving video or audio quality, but fundamentally it is still derived from an existing source. The definition of a remaster in the gaming space is a little vague, but it rarely involves much in the way of new, creative work - it's about enhancing what's already there via higher resolutions and frame-rate boosts. But the release of the latest Uncharted: the Nathan Drake Collection story trailer demonstrates that developer Bluepoint Games is indeed improving and remaking swathes of Naughty Dog's existing assets, respectfully enhancing even incidental detail."

Keeping in mind the complexity of this project, the results so far are highly encouraging. All three games were designed specifically with the PS3's unique architecture in mind - with the wrong developer on the job, this project could have been a disaster or at least, just plain unremarkable; another in a long line of basic ports with few improvements over higher resolution and frame-rates. The evidence suggests that bringing in the experts at Bluepoint seems to be paying off in spades: over and above the accomplished performance level and new effects, what impresses us the most is the care and attention in improving even the most incidental of background detail.

Of course, we'll have to wait until the Nathan Drake Collection is complete before passing judgement but initial impressions are positive and clearly there's a lot here to be excited about. The number of changes made to the original assets suggests an overhaul exceeding that of The Last of Us Remastered, with many of the improvements reminding us of the level of effort that went into elements of the current-gen versions of Grand Theft Auto 5. Bluepoint is clearly one of the best in the business when it comes to remastering projects and all the evidence to date suggests that a highly talented developer is at work here, giving all due care and attention in porting over and enhancing three of PS3's most beloved games.

Even with the compression from the ps4 trailer it still looks significantly better.

Well...the tough thing there is that we only had poorly compressed PS4 footage. It's just there to give an idea but it's not a definitive comparison. The PS3 footage is all direct feed and much higher quality. The compression saps away a lot of detail on the PS4 side that should be there. We just didn't have access to a higher quality file for that one.

Even with the compression vs DF ps3 shots it's so much better.

Also the "warzone" footage is old on the PS4 version hence why some detail and things seem to not be there yet.

 

[King Sun]

This is dope. First day cop

 

[ltheghost]

 

[puggle]

Looks like it's worth getting for the universal 60fps alone. U2 was probably my favorite game last gen.

 

[GoldenGlove]

*sighs*

 

[Fatboi1]

*sighs*

Why are you so bothered by this? It's optional.

 

[Kingshango]

This will be great for those who didn't play the trilogy on PS3.

For me, the series peaked with 2 imo.

Hopefully 4 proves me otherwise.

 

[The Mad Titan]

 

[Deezay]

Clearance Rack Cop

 

[YourMajesty]

I didnt own a PS3 so this is a first day cop.

 

[Ronald]

Maybe I should've copped this instead of playing thru the series on PS Now

 

[homiedontplaydat]

I've never played UC 1 and I wouldnt mind going through UC3 again. I think I might cop

 

[Rozay Oro]

Maybe I should've copped this instead of playing thru the series on PS Now

I beat UC1 via ps now. Thanks to these greedy b*stards making it a streaming service instead of something you download with a window depending if you rent or cancel subscription it will be locked like when someone lets you shareplay. Would lose connection if someone hopped on the wifi via tablet or etc. You got your occasional lags that can get you killed too. I say ps now is better for games with no gunplay imho. Besides that really enjoyed it

 

[OmegaK2099]

Im playing part 2 right now that whole beginning sequence when you sneak into the museum def needs a makeover, because it looks just and i never thought id think that about a ps3 game lol

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

This will be great for those who didn't play the trilogy on PS3.

For me, the series peaked with 2 imo.

Hopefully 4 proves me otherwise.

I like the series as a whole but the games are too short and it feels like I'm watching mini-movies more than I am playing a video game.