Uncharted 4 was the climax of one of the most iconic franchises in video games. The developers at Naughty Dog managed to include a fantastic story, fun mechanics, and technological improvements into the game that made it a standout title for the PlayStation 4. Now, fans of the game have gotten a small peek behind the curtain of its development, revealing that at one point, Uncharted 4 was going to feature a stamina bar for Nathan Drake’s climbing. 

The information comes from the game’s co-writer Josh Scherr, who appeared on the YouTube channel Couch Soup to play the game and talk about its development. The video itself covers a lot of ground, including Scherr’s more than 20-year career with Naughty Dog, but it eventually turned to the development of Uncharted 4 itself. It was then that Scherr revealed that during much of the game’s earlier prototypes players had to deal with a stamina bar whenever Nathan Drake was climbing in Uncharted 4.

He said that the mechanic was introduced to the game to try, and add a level of challenge to the climbing sections of the game. However, it was ultimately scrapped because the development team felt that it got in the way of their blend of platforming and gunplay. In particular, he said that it was too much to pay attention to when the player also had to focus on shooting at enemies, running away from them, and navigating the map all at once. 

The video goes through a lot of other topics as well, and it is a very interesting look at the development of one of the biggest franchises in gaming. So, if you want to check out the entire chat, feel free to do so below: