Shortly after closing the multiplayer beta, Naughty Dog announced they have pushed back the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to Spring of 2016. A game of this size and budget will hopefully benefit with some extra time for polishing.

The multiplayer beta proved some of what was to be expected such as gorgeous visuals, solid and responsive gunplay, and more of Uncharted’s signature comedic dialogue that works so well in the heat of battle.

Some new mechanics for Uncharted such as rope swinging add some classic Indiana Jones style action flair to the mix. I found myself getting just the right touch of vertigo upon doing so, and it gives more presence to the element of constant danger. Supporting this is the added bonus of a frame rate that seems to be running around 60fps. The smoothness of the camera as well as the character models and environment makes for a very slick presentation.

I get why we need to try new things and aim to evolve the franchise. Rehashing the same formula to the point of complete boring stagnation is not how you keep people buying each new installment. Even so, I felt like some of the addition of mysticals and sidekicks were cool, but not groundbreaking. Maybe that’s all they were aiming for, maybe not. The core gameplay of run and gun for this is so solid that these are nice new bells and whistles, but aren’t necessarily game changers.

Online forums had voiced some distaste for the choice of changing voice actors, but what I had personally noticed first was the absence of the classic Uncharted music that we’ve known for years. No one seems to be able to explain much, but it is clear that fans of the series notice when things like this change. This is especially so when well known people like Alan Tudyk have something to say about it.

I left because they decided to go a different way with it, and so when they did that, when they changed leadership, it made my contract null and void and I was able to take that opportunity to walk away, which was great because I got the experience of doing it. Todd Stashwick was in that as well... and he did the same thing I did, which was, "Yeah, we're gonna leave now. Y'all are making some weird changes, we're gonna leave."

Changes aside, the multiplayer beta for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has given us a nice taste of what appears to be another killer action adventure, as Naughty Dog usually delivers. We’ll see how this whole thing comes together Spring 2016.