Speaking to the International Business Times, Naughty Dog’s director of communications Arne Mayer revealed that shorter single-player stories simply weren’t in the cards when the team began brainstorming ideas for a stand-alone spinoff game.
“There’s no way we could, sort of, constrict and restrain ourselves, and that’s exactly what was happening here. When we were doing story pitches, we were coming up with a game that would be over 10 hours long and so we suddenly realized everything we said was true and we couldn’t keep it short,” Mayer said.
A 10-hour duration would put The Lost Legacy, unsurprisingly, well behind Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which takes roughly 15 hours to complete according to player-sourced player data at the site How Long To Beat. However, both Uncharted: Drake Fortune and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception can be completed in under 10 hours. This would be the first time we’ve seen a stand-alone spinoff expansion last longer than a “main” game, but we certainly aren’t complaining.
For comparison, The Last of Us: Left Behind, Naughty Dog’s stand-alone expansion for The Last of Us, can be completed in less than three hours. Of course, length is not everything — it’s a fantastic story that makes the most of its time and helps to give background for the events of the main game.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy arrives on August 22 to PlayStation 4. It will be available both as a digital download and a physical disc for $40, and anyone who pre-orders the physical game will receive a PlayStation 4 version of the original Jak and Daxter game. Those who pre-order the digital game will receive a special PlayStation 4 theme, instead.
Updated on 04-11-2017 by Gabe Gurwin: Added pricing and release date information.
