Building upon amazing water effects from the first game, Naughty Dog takes water to the next level in Uncharted 2, crafting some of the most realistic ice and snow ever seen in a video game.
One of the most striking features of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, was the way the main character's clothing would actually get wet after trudging through a stream, gradually drying over time. According to Richard Lemarchand, the co-lead designer on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Naughty Dog isn't keen to rest on their watery laurels, upping the ante with impressive new snow and ice effects in the sequel.
We've spent a lot of time focused on the distinctive look that snow has as it falls and is blown by the wind, and of course on the way in which Drake leaves footprints as he trudges through the snowdrifts in the Himalayan mountains that he ventures to. When he's out in the snow he'll accumulate a layer of snowflakes on his clothes and in his hair, which will slowly thaw when he gets back inside under cover. Ice reflects light in a way that cleverly mimics the sub-surface scattering that goes on inside a chunk of frozen water, and gives it a look of incredible volume and density.
Excellent! I spent several hours running in and out of the first stream you come across in the original game. I look forward to standing out in the snow and then running under cover over and over again in the sequel.