Image: Push Square
A thoroughly researched video essay from Did You Know Gaming? reveals that Microsoft wanted to create a rival to Uncharted on the Xbox One – and Marvel’s Wolverine star Liam McIntyre was hired to portray the protagonist.
The story dates back all the way to the late PS3 days, when Sony found enormous success with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and later Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.
Microsoft was in the process of spinning up a new studio in Vancouver, originally named Black Tusk Studios. (As many of you know, it’d later be renamed The Coalition.)
It was tasked with a number of projects, including a Kinect version of Halo, before it moved on to a title codenamed Project Ranger.
This was the game the company showed at E3 2013, which colloquially picked up the name Shangheist. It was pitched internally as a mixture of Mission Impossible and Uncharted, and was intended to go head-to-head with Naughty Dog’s franchise.
Fascinatingly, avid gamer Liam McIntyre was hired as the protagonist, and Microsoft allegedly paid a “hefty sum” to include his likeness in the game. It’d later re-deploy this investment in Gears of War 4, where he starred as JD Fenix.
Indeed, Project Ranger was ultimately cancelled when Microsoft bought the rights to the Gears of War series from Epic Games. Management felt the studio would be a good fit for the franchise, as the shooting aspect of Project Ranger’s gameplay was said to be its most mature element.
In the end, Xbox never really created a rival to Uncharted, and Sony hasn’t made a new entry in the series since 2017’s standalone expansion Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
However, fans of that style of gameplay may want to keep a close eye on 007 First Light, because we think the James Bond story from IO Interactive shares a lot of DNA with the Uncharted franchise.
McIntyre, meanwhile, who’s said to be an enormous gamer, will now star as Logan in Marvel’s Wolverine – undeniably his biggest gaming role yet.
To think he could have once been an alternative to Nate Drake is fascinating to say the least.
[source youtube.com]
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As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.