MORE INFO:
While much of the article explains how great the story will be while not actually getting into details, the opening paragraph gives us a nice clue:
"Sir Francis Drake had a wealth of titles to his name by the time he died at sea in the winter of 1596. To his English Countrymen, he was a hero...an explorer who circumnavigated the globe, a sea captain who sunk dozens of ships in the Spanish Armada, and a knight by Queen Elizabeth's own hand. To his enemies, he was the worst sort of villain...a marauder that heartlessly destroyed their ports and colonies, a pirate that ceaselessly stole their chests of gold, spices and jewels. Whatever people called him, his infamous adventuring career came to an end when his body was tipped over the side of his ship off the coast of Panama some 400 years ago. But what if that lead coffin held no body? What if there was instead a mysterious book that hinted at his last great adventure? What if you found that book?"
The Audio Director speaks: "If I could have a metric for how well the game is doing sound-wise, it would be how far I can get through this game with my eyes closed."
While vehicles aren't a main focus in the game, they'll be there. One concept screen shows a jeep with you in the turret seat, another level has you piloting a jetski navigating submerged buildings and looking for clues. Still another has white-water rapids in another chase scene.
Naughty Dog (paraphrasing here): "With PS1, we had to go very simplistic...cartoonish. With PS2, we could take it up a notch with Jak but not quite human yet. With the PS3, we can finally do full-on human gaming while taking all of our great gameplay from past games we've done into this."
All cinematics are motion-captured with a director on the set...it's like a real movie (a la Heavenly Sword).
You won't be alone, as the girl in the mag cover shows (like Half-Life 2 in a way).
GI sums up the game: It's Die Hard meets Indiana Jones, with gameplay that goes back to Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider and gun segments like Gears of War. Ultimately however, it's a new genre that's unclassifiable at this point.
Oh, and graphics are Blue Steel, but will be Magnum in videos and when it comes out much later in the year for sure.
