Uncharted 4 PSX panel reveals more about Nadine Ross, addresses casting controversy
Uncharted 4 features an ass-kicking South African mercenary.
We got a new Uncharted 4: A Thief's End trailer at The Game Awards 2015, but that doesn't mean Naughty Dog didn't bring the good to PlayStation Experience, too.
In addition to providing a new trailer showing Nate and Sam's reunion, the developer showed up for a panel called "Stories from the Performance Capture Set".
The whole 40 minute panel embedded below is worth a look if you're super keen on Uncharted or cinematic game development, but for more casual fans the tastiest part was a little more information on new character Nadine Ross, one of two primary antagonists.
In case you've forgotten, The Game Awards 2015's Uncharted 4 trailer showed Nadine kicking Drake's ass. Turns out this is pretty par for the course for the South African badass; she's the leader of a mercenary group called Shoreline. This group was founded by Nadine's father, a general who went rogue with a bunch of crack troops.
Ross is played by white actor Laura Bailey, and this caused some controversy in the wake of The Game Awards; people of colour are pretty under-represented in voice acting. Director Neil Druckmann met this question head-on, saying the Bailey was chosen after a general casting call was made. He said the development team was worried about the casting too, but that he elected to go with it after seeing Bailey's performance in-game.
Druckmann said that not having cast actors based on their physical appearances is a strength of video games as a medium, as with Troy Baker's role as Joel in The Last of Us, and that elsewhere in Uncharted 4 there's a white character played by a black voice actor.
Uncharted 4 is coming to PS4 on March 18.