Naughty Dog is a pretty cool developer. It’s taken plenty of opportunities to hide secrets in the first three Uncharted games. With Uncharted 4 out this week, it seems like a good time to reflect.
After all, the number of Uncharted Easter eggs has only grown from game to game. Who knows what kind of secrets Uncharted 4 holds? We’ve already received some hints, based on multiplayer beta and reviews, and people are bound to discover more in the days and weeks to come.
Let’s go ahead and savor these secrets!
Uncharted 4’s Xperia Z5
Let’s start with one of the Uncharted series’ least exciting Easter eggs. It’s an example of product placement! In Uncharted 4 ‘s multiplayer mode, every character uses an Xperia Z5 phone. It makes sense, because it’s a Sony product and this is a game on a Sony console!
Yeah, I told you this one wasn’t super exciting. But it is pretty neat!
Uncharted’s NDI
NDI is a label that constantly appears in the Uncharted series. It’s on Nate’s holster. It’s on shirts. The grenades are Mk-NDI grenades. Seems like everything’s made by NDI. By the way, who makes the Uncharted series? Oh, right, it’s Naughty Dog Incorporated. You’ve got to applaud shameless self promotion!
Uncharted’s Ottsel
Do you know what other game Naughty Dog made? The Jak and Daxter games! In it, Daxter is an Ottsel, a creature that has features from bother otters and weasels. While Daxter never shows up in Uncharted , his species’ name is everywhere. There’s a popular line of swimwear in this universe called Ottsel, and you can see characters wearing items from it in every Uncharted game.
Uncharted 4’s Firefly Pendant
The Fireflies are an important faction in The Last of Us . They want to bring the US government back, as well as create a cordyceps brain infection vaccine. There was an unintended hint that Uncharted and The Last of Us take place in the same universe, and the ability to find a Firefly pendant in Uncharted 4 is a pretty neat Easter egg.
Uncharted 3’s Sackboy
What’s great about this Uncharted Easter egg is its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nature. In Chapter 8 of Uncharted 3 , there’s a tour bus that has a Sackboy hanging from the rearview mirror. It looks like the driver has pretty great taste in PlayStation games! Because really, Sackboy is pretty awesome.
Uncharted’s “Kitty Got Wet.”
This easter egg is fun, because it shows what a cool guy Nolan North is. He’s Nathan Drake’s voice actor, in case you weren’t aware. Sometimes, he was able to ad-lib, and one impromptu line was Uncharted 2 ‘s co-op mission objective line, “Ooh, kitty got wet.” North’s son made it up when he beat his father at Wii Sports ‘ Tennis, reasoning that cats don’t like water and people don’t like losing. It also appears in Chapter 9 of Uncharted 3 , as at one point Drake says, “Aw, Kitty don’t like getting wet?”
Uncharted’s Hog Wild
In Crash Bandicoot ‘s eighth level, players went on one wild ride. They had to keep Crash on a hog, breaking 24 crates to get a gem. It was called, appropriately enough, Hog Wild. Naughty Dog honored their earlier game and that level with Sully’s Hog Wild, a Grumman G-21 Goose seaplane. And, considering the situations in which Drake, Elena, and Sully find themselves in the Wild Hog, it’s certainly an appropriate parallel. All Drake can do is hold on and hope for the best, just like players did with Crash.
Uncharted 3’s Newspaper
This easter egg is so cool, because it suggests Uncharted 3 is a prequel to The Last of Us . A newspaper in a bar called The Overseer has a headline that reads, “Scientists are still struggling to understand deadly fungus.” Hey, you know what’s a deadly fungus? The Last of Us ‘ cordyceps brain infection! It was an Easter egg accidentally left in the game. Of course, nobody knew what it meant at the time, because The Last of Us wasn’t even announced until a month after Uncharted 3 , which makes it even cooler!
Uncharted’s Strange Relic
As you can tell from previous entries in this list, Naughty Dog is pretty big on paying tribute to its previous games in the Uncharted series. One of the best Easter eggs is a longstanding one. In Jak and Daxter , you can come across a Strange Relic. Drake is able to collect this treasure in every Uncharted game so far. Will we see it in Uncharted 4 ? Better keep an eye out for it!
Before we move on to the next item, be forewarned! The first item on our list is a mild spoiler for Uncharted 4 !
Uncharted 4’s Familiar Face
This is the best Uncharted Easter egg of all. Naughty Dog does a lot of dancing around with its other references, never exactly naming names of specific games. Uncharted 4 is much more blatant. Drake and Elena actually play the original Crash Bandicoot . They sit down in front of a PlayStation and Drake has to help Crash outrun a boulder. Except it isn’t Drake doing it. It’s you. You’re playing Crash Bandicoot in Uncharted 4 . Truly, this is the best Uncharted Easter egg ever.