Yet the main focus in Among Thieves lies not with the globe-trotting, but rather in a closer examination of the hero. “We want to go deeper into Drake and see what makes him tick, and go beneath the surface in a way we didn’t have the chance to last time,” says Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells. “In the last game we met Drake under special circumstances,” suggests Hennig.

“Almost immediately he was called to rise above his normal nature and be a hero. But we hinted there were shadier sides to him. In this game we want to explore that. He’s back in his natural element this time around, a rough and lawless world. What’s a treasure hunter’s place in the modern world? We want the player to see the contradictions. He’s affable and charming, but he can also be a jerk. I don’t want to imply we’re getting heavy and angsty – it’s still a classic adventure – but we really want to show a character with more colours to him. That’s where the subtitle comes from – his world is a world of thieves.”

The emphasis on added character depth is encouraging, but once again it’s the immediacy and effortless charisma of the animation that makes Drake so interesting to watch. The first Uncharted offered some brilliantly convincing moments – panicked dashes from a nearby grenade, or frantic lunges for a ledge – but recent changes to Naughty Dog’s Uncharted Engine 2.0 allow for a layering of far more detailed animation, and the result is a hero who gives off a palpable air of forever operating on the outer limits of his skills. He gasps as he pulls himself up over ridges, pants with exertion while scrambling out of the way of gunfire, and is constantly muttering under his breath after near-misses;

Drake’s always been a lead with appealingly limited powers, but the technology behind Among Thieves brings his regular struggles and good-natured desperation to life far more vividly than the first game could. “Uncharted used 30 per cent of the PS3’s SPUs, and this time we’re maxing it out,” says Balestra. “That means we can blend and switch animations a lot quicker, and we have more facial joints in-game for characters to react with believable expressions.”

“So if he’s sneaking, his animation has to reflect that, and if he’s on shaky ground, you’ll see him checking his balance. If he’s scared, you’ll see the anguish and fear on his face,” adds Wells. The aim is to create what game director Bruce Straley describes as “a true playable cinematic experience. True interactive storytelling, essentially.” Now that’s a claim that’s loaded with meaning.

“It’s a phrase with a stigma to it,” admits Hennig. “People think it implies passivity, but we’re trying to reclaim it. We took all our cues from what I call comfort movies – those action adventure films we all grew up watching. That’s where we took all our pacing ideas from, and it seems perfectly respectable to say that’s what we’re doing: an interactive version of that experience we like so much, and that nobody else is doing.”

“It’s boiling down those elements that will work well in the game,” suggests Straley. “Every game has the challenge of trying to make an interactive experience, so there’s certain things that lend themselves to cinematic action and things that don’t. It’s choosing your battles. It’s a lot to do with pacing – ebb and flow – it’s not all go-go-go, it’s going to have character points, and sad moments to go with the action. If something’s happening, it’s you reacting to it. For example, we have the technology to allow an entire building to collapse while you’re in it – and we can throw enemies in at the same time while that’s happening. You’re playing everything this time, not just the easy bits.”