Game director Justin Richmond moves on to Riot Games

Just a couple weeks after Amy Hennig left Naughty Dog, the studio has now seen another major departure. Justin Richmond, the director of the upcoming Uncharted 4, has now left the studio. Talking with IGN, Richmond spoke abou?t his departure and what his plans are for the future.

"I have in fact made the decision to leave Naughty Dog," Richmond told IGN. "I love the company and the people and know that they will continue to create awesome games go??ing forward. On a happier note, after careful consideration and exploration I have joined Riot Games. There is some really innovative stuff going on here that I can't wait to be a part of."

Richmond was a designer on the earlier Uncharted titles, before moving on up to the role of director. Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends, has become a ??major player in the gaming biz, and it'll interesting to see they what they have got coming up.

But I'm ve?ry curious to know what exactly is going on over at Naughty Dog. Two high-profile departures in the same month looks very od??d. But then again, this is the gaming industry, and departures happen all the time.

What do you think, Naughty Dog fans?

Uncharted? 4 Game Director Justin Richmond Leaves? Naughty Dog [IGN]

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The two top-selling software titles in the UK last week were Vita games. Uncharted: Golden Abyss took the #1 spot, and FIFA Football followed directly, beating out console titles UFC Undisputed 3 and FIFA 12. The only other Vita title in the top ten was Rayman Origins, though its #5 rank includes sales from all platforms. Edge says that Wipeout 2048 almost made the list, coming in at #11. 

This all points to a solid launch for Sony's Vita in the UK. Data shows that a third of Vita buyers picked up Uncharted.

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A new feature has been added to the US release of Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the PlayStation Vita called The Black Market. This is a Near application aimed at the item collectors out there as it lets you send out some of the Bounty from your collection as well as send requests to The? Black Market for missing pieces. If you happen to run into another Black Market user on the street that owns the Bounty you're missing, you'll get a copy.

Sony says that there's even one rare item you can only get by sending out a r??equest that no one can answer. For that you'll get a carved Fetish to add to your collection. Much like Ni??ntendo's 3DS StreetPass feature, this will have you taking your Vita with you everywhere to gain all the Bounty items you need to earn Trophies.

We'll fill in the details on The Black Market closer to Vita's ??launch next week.

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You may have had enough of hanging from glowing ledges, jumping from crumbling floors and narrow escapes from massive explosions, but I can't get enough of the adventures of "Dude Raider" Nathan Drake. I loved all of the PS3 games, with Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception being my pick for the best game of 2011. 

That said, I had some ??reservations about the series going portable. How would the series' trademark cinematic style hold up on the small screen? I was also concerned that the title would not be coming directly from Naughty Dog, but from SCE's Bend Studio. Would this be a gimmicky, touch screen one-off?

All of my worries disappeared within 10 minutes of playing Uncharted: Golden Abyss on the new PlayStation Vita, both released in Japan on December 17. There's a huge review below to give you all the details, but here's what you need to know in short: Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the Vita's first "must buy." This game sets a new high mark for portable gamin??g. Also, if this is a launch title, the future looks very bright for Sony's new portable.

[Review Note: We used the Japanese release of Uncharted: Golden Abyss for this review. This release features the same English voices and text that we'll see in the domestic release. If any features change upon domestic release, we'll update this review.] 

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (PlayStation Vita)
Developer: Sony Bend Studios
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released: February 22, 2012
MSRP: $49.99

For those following the series, Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a prequel story, thou??gh it doesn't seem to establish much in the way of backstory. Nathan Drake may have a few less cuts and bruises in this game, but he's basically the same protagonist you've come to know and love. The rest of the cast is new, save for an old friend that series fans will immediately recognize. This old friend may have less gray hair, but he still has the same terrible shirts and jokes. 

Golden Abyss ha?s Drake working for a somewhat shady old friend named Jason Dante. He reports for duty as a historical expert for Dante in the deep forests of Central America. During their work they meet Marisa Chase, the granddaughter of a famous archaeologist. Chase is looking for her grandfather, who has gone missing during his an expedition. The group gets mixed up with a retired general from the region that is on the hunt for treasure. It seems that everyone is looking for the same ruins, but for different reasons.

The story is great, and there's some really nice plot twists and lore to be enjoyed and explored. Golden Abyss may not have quite the character depth that Naughty Dog pumped into previous series games' characters, but that not to say that the characters are bad in any way. You'll still totally hate the bad guys, sympathize with the heroi??ne, and laugh heartily at Drake's snarky interjections. No corners were cut as far as the characters are concerned, mind you. It's just that, while good, they're not quite to the impossibly high level that Naughty Dog has set with previous games.

That said, the voice acting is exactly on par with what you've experienced with the console games. Nolan North is at his best, wisecracking like a champ as Drake. Voice actress Christine Lakin also does a fine job as Marisa Chase and when Drake and his old friend meet up in the second half of the game, the wisecracks come non-stop. In the latter half of the game there's a hilarious run of "...that's what she said" jokes between the pair. I think that most players will be surprised at how much dialogue is in this game. Everything is fully voiced, m??aking you wonder how they fit it all on that tiny little Vita cartridge.

Drake has learned several new tricks with this first portable outing. The various new input controls of the Vita are all used in Golden Abyss, making the game a perfect showcase for the system. And while just about all of the t?ouch and motion controls are optional, they're implemente??d so well that I'm sure most players will end up using them and enjoying them. 

The front touch screen and back touch panel are used extensivel??y. Basic commands, like picking up items and weapons, can now be done by simply touching them on the screen. This way you won't have to walk over to it and hit a button. Flinging grenades is a joy now, as you literally flick them in the direction you want them to go with the front screen. Fist fighting also uses the touch screen, and it's much better than you'd think, with swipey cinematic attacks and dodges mixing up the standard punching and kicking. I love that the sniper rifle's zoom can be controlled by either a slider on the front screen, or by running a finger up and down across the back touch panel.

The touch control even extends to exploration. You can jump from ledge to ledge with buttons and the analog sti??ck, just as you always have, or you can simply touch a ledge to have Drake jump to it. In fact, he will follow a line you've traced across the screen with your finger to do things like move across ledges and over or under obstacles. Again, the touch controls in these cases are totally optional??, but they're pretty slick, and trying them once will likely sell you on them.

My favorite new addition to Uncharted's control is the motion control-e?nabled aiming assist. You'll still use the right analog stick to aim your weapons, but the Vita's motion sensors let you tilt the system to fine tune your aim. While larger gestures let you move the reticle from enemy to enemy, I used it more for correcting my aim, and quickly fell in love with the feature. Being able to tilt to fine tune aim is so intuitive that I don't know how I ever lived without it.

The only touch control that is not optional is found in the game's cutscenes. You'll swipe your?? way through fist fights and narrow escapes. These "quick time events" start out as pretty standard, but get really creative toward the end. I don't want to spoil any of the situations, so just know that you'll be furiousl??y swiping in all directions as quick as you can, gritting your teeth all the while. It seems like Bend had a lot of fun putting these events together, and I'm sure you will, too. 

Sure, there's a lot of new tricks with this outing, but the game's core is classic Uncharted. This means you'll get more of that perfect mix of tense platforming and climbing and epic gunfights, all presented with cinematic flair. The first time things get hairy and you find yourself hanging from a rope with shooters firing from above and snipers aiming from below, you'll feel right at home. There's no way the game's creators could have been more true to Uncharted's gameplay. They nailed it.

I'm glad to say that series fans will a?lso feel right at home with the controls. The exemplary dual joysticks of the Vita do a lot to blur that line between portable and home console. There's absolutely no learning curve here for anyone that has played any of the previous games. Nothing is lost in translation.

The Uncharted series has always incorporated puzzles, and you'll find plenty in Golden Abyss. In fact, I'd bet there are more puzzle-like instances in this latest title than in any of the other ones. While enjoyable, the majority of them are pretty shallow, and rely on the the front and rear touch panels. Your hands will be all over the screen doing things like making charcoal rubbings of anci??ent carvings, or rubbing di??rt and/or rust off artifacts to uncover clues. The game's makers are absolutely unapologetic in their excitement for rubbing things, so much so that their studio logo is presented with a charcoal rub graphics. 

There are a few other more interesting types of touch puzzles in the mix. You'll have to use your fingers to spin combination locks to gain access to treasures, and re-assembl??ing ripped up maps, posters and other papers is pretty fun, though you'll do it so often that you'll wonder why so many things are ripped u??p in the forests of Central America. Fortunately, these iPhone game-like diversions give way to some really neat puzzles near the end of the game. These are more like your classic puzzles from treasure hunting games, and they're all pretty enjoyable. 

Fans of item hunting will be glad to hear that Golden Abyss has more hidden items, treasures and other artifacts to find than any other of the series titles. Maybe too many! I found that I was almost tripping over collectable gems and coins during the adven?ture, and found a few more by accident. It's almost unbelievable how many findable items are in this game. Drake's in-game journal contains several pages of empty "slots" for all of these items, and it's a bit daunting going through them. I'd dare say that only the most hardcore will even attempt to collect them all, and that they'll probably need multiple playthroughs to do so.

As an amateur photographer I really enjoyed the new camera-based quests in Golden Abyss. Drake is free to bring up his camera at any time to shoot any of the g?ame's lovely scenery to be kept in his journal, but there are also several requested pictures to collect. You're given examples to try to match with your own photos, and the game grades you on them, with collection requiring a 100 pe??rcent match. Photography uses the Vita's tilt function to aim and the rear touchscreen to zoom. 

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a beautiful game. From a visual standpoint, it's quite easily the most impressive portable game I've seen. So much of the polished presentation and cinematic style of the PS3 games can be found in this Vita title, which is especially impressive when you consider that this is a launch title. Seeing is believing, as online footage and screenshots do this game no justice. Bend's outstanding work on this game makes it easy to forget that you're playing a portable game. At announcement, Sony kept saying that the Vita is capable of PS3-like experiences, and Golden Abyss serves as proof.

The Uncharted series is known for its beautiful backdrops, and Golden Abyss is no exception. While treasure hunting adventure games all have similar settings, Bend cranked the pretty up to 11 in this one. Some of the texture art is positively eye-popping; I found myself doing double takes many times in my first playthrough. Lush, green forests give way to sun-drenched temple ruins in the game's first hours. Beyond that explore vast underground caves that lead to gaming eye candy that's ?so dazzling that I'd hate to ruin it for you. You'll see everything from dumpy lean-tos to impossibly scenic waterfalls on your journey, wondering how the game system isn't overheating from rendering them.

This game is also lovely in motion. The same high quality motion capture you enjoyed in the console games is present in Golden Abyss. Even moving water is stunningly realistic in this game. And despite some reports, I never experienced any kind of slow down or stuttering. Golden Abyss ran smoothly from beginning to end for me.

Talk about coming out strong! From launch day Sony has a flagship title and a potential system seller with Uncharted: Golden Abyss -- it's that good. It's everything you'd expect from an Uncharted title as a graphical powerhouse, and it serves? as a technical showcase for Sony's newest hardware. It does such a good job of taking advantage of all of Vita's capabilities. It's as if Sony knew that this had to be amazing, and then spared no expense to make it so.

As far as single-player gaming goes, franchise fans will not be disappointed with the series' first portable game. Though smaller, Golden Abyss is still the deep, varied and highly entertaining adventure they've come to expect, with almost nothing lost in the move. And with mo??re than 30 game chapters and about 12 hours of gameplay, this is a full Uncharted experience. ??There's no multiplayer, though, so some followers of the series may miss that. 

With Uncharted: Golden Abyss we have the first must-buy for Sony's PlayStation Vita. It takes the series' much-loved gameplay, storytelling and presentation, and adds on innovative touch and tilt features to make a game that fits perfectly alongsi??de its predecessors. Prepare to be amazed by a portable videogame.

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This six-axis gyro tilt-to-aim feature for upcoming PlayStation Vita title Uncharted: Golden Abyss is like a dream come tru??e for me. I'm the guy that flails his controller around trying to clean up my terrible ??analog stick aim, so this fine-tuning feature will feel totally natural to me. 

This new video from the PlayStation Blog shows exactly how this motion-sensing aim works. The devs have named it the Intu-Aim feature, and they say it's more for fine tuning to pinpoint accuracy, though the video shows that you can make bigger gestures to do the aim??ing with th??e gyro alone. 

This is an optional feature, but I'?m already sold. I can't wait to try it out.

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Seriously, this is just ridiculous??. A handheld game that looks this good oug?ht to be considered witchcraft and Naughty Dog should be tried for heresy. 

Here's a new trailer for Uncharted: Golden Abyss that, like all the trailer shown today, highlights the interface options. Traditional controls, touch-screen and motion chicanery are? all included, and it looks like it works decently enough. Should be a good one.

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Wow, this new trailer looks pretty fantastic, even with the super-serious Japanese voice acting. Here we have a new trailer for Uncharted: Golden Abyss? to get Japanese gamers excited for the game's release later th??is month. 

In the trailer you'll find the Japanese version ??of some previously released story bits. Drake is working with a couple of new characters, Marisa and Dante. They get into a bit of trouble pretty quick, as you'll see. 

The trailer also shows off some?? new gameplay footage. Touchscreen climbing, screen rubbing for puzzle solving, and even swiping combat are shown. I like the screen swipes to zoom in with a sniper rifle. 

I'm really looking forward to jumping back into the Uncharted franchise again so soon after finishing Uncharted 3. This one looks like a fun ride.

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Are you importing a PlayStation Vita? If so, we've got good news. While every other launch title you import will likely be in Japanese, at least one version of Uncharted: Golden Abyss will have an English option. It's not clear whether it's voiced or just subtitled, but we'???ll take what we can get.

IGN says that a fact sheet from Sony Hong Kong confirms Golden Abyss will be in C??hinese and English. I wouldn't worry much, as HK games often are in Engl?ish. Can't wait!

Just curious, but how many of you are importing?

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A new level was shown for upcoming Vita title Uncharted: Golden Abyss at a Sony event in Tokyo last night, and I had a chance ?to check it out. This game is so hot that it's on fire. No, really. In this demo Nathan Drake is in a predicament. He wakes up from being knocked out and/or drugged i??n a prison, and the building this prison is in is on fire. Of course. 

It opens with realtime cinemas that look very nice on the Vita. When the gameplay starts, the lighting looks just as great, as does fire effects. Drake climbs his way out of a dimly lit room full of scrap wood and rusty poles. I saw that both standard and touchscreen controls worked equally well for navigation.  A brand new balance mechanic was shown off in this demo. It takes advantag??e of the Vita's motion control, letting you rock the Vita back and forth to balance Nathan across a single beam high above the floor. 

Once Nathan clears this obstacle he meets Marisa Chase, a new character to the series. She directs Nathan across even more obstacles in this building, but before he goes he picks up a machete. He'll carry this with him through the entire game, and it opens up a new mechanic in the game that lets you look for hidden pathways. By simply tapping the mache?te icon on the on-screen HUD, the game switches into a gesture mode to let Nathan swipe at obstacles.

Nathan continues to try to find his way out of this burning building, climbing up poles a?nd shimmying across ledges. It was here that I saw an example of being able to tilt the Vita toward one direction and then swiping it to make Nathan jump across to another platform.

As the demo continues, Nathan later meets up again with Chase, and then the level transitions into fighti?ng. Nathan was able to take out a guard and steal his gun, allowing for gun play. You know, standard Uncharted stuff. Sexy stuff. Just a bit smaller this ti??me around.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is going to be one of those Vita games that proves that console-quality games are possible on this portable. It looks really good. It's going to sell systems, I'm sure.

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Sony has released a trailer for Uncharted: Golden Abyss today, and it's exactly what you'd expect from an Uncharted title. There's a new babe, a new bro and a new treasure to hunt down. It also looks like the other Uncharted titles, truly making me believe this could have been launched on the PS3. It just looks that beautiful.

This trailer, and the fact that the Uncharted series is one of the most premier series out there, proves Uncharted: Golden Abyss just might be the strongest offering in the PlayStation Vita library that we've seen so far. The absolutely striking visuals on such a small scale is also a nice touch. I want a PS Vita just so I can play this game alone. Hopefully we don't have to wait too much longer to get our hands on one.

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Leading into E3, Sony is finally ready to reveal details on Nathan Drake's first handheld adventure. It's called Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and it's headed to Sony's tentatively-titled Next Generation Portabl?e and being developed by Sony's Bend Studio.

Set before the events of the PlayStation 3's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Golden Abyss is a wholly new adventure??, not a port. This is something that Sony Bend emphasized multiple times throughout the demo, stressing that the game also can't be considered a prequel… despite taking place prior to the first title in the series.

While Golden Abyss will intr??????????????????????????oduce you to new characters and new locations (what we saw was a jungle ruins environment atypical o?f the series), it'll most certainly feel familiar to fans of the series.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Sony's Next Generation Portable)
Developer: SCE Bend Studio
Publisher: Sony
Release date: TBD

If you've seen the early gameplay footage of Uncharted on the ??NGP in action, I needn't tell you that it looks fabulous. But I?? will anyhow, because it bears repeating: it looks fabulous. While it doesn't quite match the visual fidelity of the consoles, it comes damned close.

Both demo areas we were shown depicted lush jungle environments, with striking backdrops supported by spectacular dynamic lighting effects. Drake's movements are smooth and detailed, including the series' trademark facial animations as voice actor Nolan North effortlessly delivers his lines. To nail the look and feel, Naughty Dog has opened its Uncharted 1 and 2 animation librarie??s to Bend, to the tune of some 3,000 separate animations. There are even advanced water shaders at play; when Drake walks through water he gets wet, emerges soaking, and slowly dries over time.

Bend's creative director John Garvin tries to put it into perspective with some numbers. He says that compared to its PlayStation Portable title Resistance: Retribution, which had 50,000 polygons per frame, Golden Abyss features 260,000. Retribution had 10 megs of textures, Golden Abyss has 160 megs. Bottom line: Golden Abyss lives up?? to the visual hype, and looks great on the NGP's mammo?th 5-inch screen.

Hands-on with the game, it feels decidedly like an Uncharted game, which should come as no surprise. The dual sticks on the NGP have let Bend essentially map the controls as they were on a PS3 DualShock. It's immediately familiar, and was easy to play for an Uncharted veteran like myself. The studio is taking things a step further, though, supporting a full range of control styles specifi?c to Sony's new handheld, with mixed results.

For example, you'll be able to use the touch screen by tapping context-sensitive on-screen ?buttons to engage in combat. Some of these touch melee options had you using various gestures beyond simple taps, like an upwards swipe. Like all of the game's touch-screen functions, you can?? ignore this altogether and use more traditional button controls. Or, if you're feeling saucy, mix them up depending on your mood.

Touch also comes into play in the game's platforming; instead of using the analog stick to direct Drake as he moves up a wall, you can simply touch or swipe upwards across hand and footholds. The game was surprisingly smart in knowing what you were trying to do, perhaps too much so. There were a few cases where I used it simply to figure out my next move. Rather than trying to map out my path and move Drake accordingly with the analog stick, sometimes it was just easier to randomly swipe up a wall and let the game do the rest. There were areas where I could even tap on a ledge to make Drake hop to it, timing or skill be damned.

Golden Abyss also used the NGP's accelerometer (or as some devs surprisingly referred to it, "SIXAXIS controls") in a number of ways. In the first example I was tilting the entire unit in a single direction to make Drake lean out and reach towards a ledge when platforming. The second time I was able to use it was in a firefight when using a sniper's scope. Instead of controlling the reticle like in a traditional shooter, I had to move the entire NGP unit to aim at my target. I personally didn't find any of this motion stuff to my liking, particularly this sniper targeting -- I was quickly reminded of the ill-conceived forced flight controls in Lair. Fortunately, like other gestu??re- and touch-based controls I encountered, I'm told this?? is entirely optional and can be disregarded or turned off altogether.

One thing you'll probably have to use the touch screen for, however, are some of the game's puzzles. In one sequence, I had to use my finger to "rub" a charcoal etching on a series of four tablets. Once completed, I put the pieces together with my fingers jigsaw puzzle-style to reveal a clue that was key to the game's story. This kind of puzzle felt right within the game world, not forced or unnecessary like I found some of the other touch and gesture controls. I hope to see more throughout Golden Abyss?, perhaps some that require a bit more thought than simply shuffling around four bits of pape??r or rubbing the screen.

In terms of the game's story, Bend wouldn't say too much. In one of the two demos (one heavy on combat, another heavy on platforming and out-of-context narrative), Drake was working alongside a new character named Jason Dante. Older than Drake (but younger than Drake's friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan), this dark-haired adventurer talked like a New Yorker, likely from the Br?onx or Brooklyn. From conversational context, there's history between Drake and Dante, with references made to previous ad??ventures. The vibe between the two is not entirely contentious, but there's certainly a small level of distrust between the two as they casually argue with and poke fun at one another. 

As for whether or not we'll see faces familiar to the Uncharted universe, Bend's not talking. Sully seems likely, but considering love-interest Elena Fisher and Drake first met during the events of Drake's Fortune, the blonde reporter isn't likely. It's possible we'll get more insight into the relationship of the Australian Chloe Sullivan, which is hinted at in Among Thieves. For now, it's pure speculation, but I'd expect a few familiar faces throughout the adv??enture.

[Update: Long after writing this piece -- right before it was ready to be published -- Sony sent over a fact sheet that details the plot of Golden Abyss. This aft?er I poked and prodded ti?ght-lipped developers in person who wouldn't give up the goods. Neat! Anyhow, here's what it says:

"Uncover the dark secret behind the 400-year-old massacre of a Spanish expedition as Nathan Drake follows the murderous trail of an ancient and secret Spanish sect. Caught in the middle of a rivalry between Jason Dante - his old friend - and Marisa Chase - the granddaughter of a?n archeologist who has mysteriously vanished without a trace - Nathan Drake races into the treacherous river basins, undiscovered temple ruins and karst caverns of Central America in search of a legendary lost city, only to find himself pushed to the edge of the Golden Abyss."]

Whatever the case, Bend's doing everything it can to make Golden Abyss as cinematic and close to the "Uncharted experience" as possible. The studio is working closely with Naughty Dog, including creative director Amy Hennig, to make sure both the characters and stories are authentic. Bend is promising over two hours of movies to help tell the story, even utilizing the same mo-cap and sound studios used for Drake's Fortunate and Among Thieves.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is out... well, I don't really know. Sony hasn't even officially announced t??he final name of its new handheld, much less a release date. With E3 next week, we should know more soon, so stay tuned.

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