Untitled

Love 'em or loathe 'em, Naughty Dog tends to set the visual benchmark which all other developers strive to achieve. And the forthcoming Uncharted 4: A Thief's End looks to be no different, with the title's recent behind-the-scenes including a short snippet of footage which has left message boards in a spin.

We've included the animation in GIF form above. On the surface, it's not all that outstanding: Nathan Drake leans against a wall, strokes his face, and cautiously looks around. But the attention to detail is something else: his cheeks compress as he presses his fingers against them, his bottom lip flaps down as he catches it with his hand.

It's… Mind blowing stuff – and it's made all the more impressive by the fact that Naughty Dog hand animates facial expressions. After years of wrestling with the uncanny valley, Drake looks like a real human being here. And if the rest of the game can match this level of quality, then we're in for a visual feast.