Welcome Back (Uncharted 4’s Prologue and Chapters 1-2)
Uncharted 4’s tale begins with the Prologue, as most masterpiece novels do. The player takes control of a boat driven by the Nathan Drake and we’re joined by his brother, Sam. A crazy storm is happening all around them and it’s quickly clear that they’re being chased by a ton of other boats. Finally, at the end of the chase, a crash sends Nathan Drake plummeting into the sea and we’re taken to a flashback. He’s a kid now and is being scolded by one of the nuns at the orphanage. Nate got into a bit of trouble when he got into a fight with some bullies, but they’re not really seeing his side. After the nun walks out, Drake notices his brother trying to get his attention with a flashlight from outside on the rooftops. He sneaks out of the orphanage to meet up with Sam who says he has a surprise for him and couldn’t wait until Christmas. Once they parkour through the rooftops to make it to Sam’s new motorcycle, Nate guesses correctly that his brother’s only doing this because he’s making up for something– the fact that he’s going to have to go away for a year on a job. The gift ends up being that Sam managed to track down their mother’s stuff.
Flash forward years later and Nathan Drake is in a fist fight in a Panamanian prison. Officers break up this fight and one Vargas takes him to solitary confinement. Some time afterwards, he takes Nate back out and sneaks him to the back of the prison through the sewers. Once outside, Nate points out that the old, rundown tower in view is what he’s been looking for. It turns out Nate and Vargas had a deal, but Vargas now wants a cut of whatever Nate is trying to find in there. Nate calms him down and says that if there’s anything in there, he can take it up with “Rafe.” This eases Vargas and Nate begins to make his ascent up the tower.
Turns out the tower was the cell of an old pirate, Henry Avery, and he finds a sculpture of St. Dismas in there. Once he makes his way back to Vargas, he lies and says nothing was there. Vargas handcuffs him and takes him back to the prison’s yard. Nate meets up with Sam and “Rafe” who are both also playing prisoners and explains that Vargas wants a cut, as well as what he found. However, this cross is hollowed out and contained nothing inside, so it must not be the original. In order to speak privately about this, they try to go to an isolated part of the prison only to get jumped by prisoners. A fight ensues and once it’s broken up by Vargas, he finds out that he was lied to by Nate because he confiscates the cross. Taking them back to his office, he tries to negotiate a cut of whatever they find, but our lovely Rafe isn’t having any of that and shanks him unexpectedly. They have to high-tail it out of the prison and make a break for it. Running through the prison all the way to their getaway car, Nate reaches out to Sam so that his brother can make a large jump. Nate grabs him, but unfortunately an assault rifles shoots right through Sam. He lets out a clot of blood and falls below. Nate, in an absolute panic, is told by Rafe that they need to leave now and there’s no hope for Sam.
In a daze, Nate makes it to the getaway and escapes the prison.
