Top 10 Most Insane Nathan Drake Stunts in Uncharted History

#10: Jeep Escape Down the Muddy Hills – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

One of the most exhilarating moments in Uncharted 4 comes during the Madagascar chapter, when Nathan Drake and Sully are fleeing an army of shoreline mercenaries in a wild, downhill jeep chase that’s half high-speed getaway, half uncontrolled slide into chaos. What begins as a tactical retreat quickly turns into one of the most spectacular, unhinged set pieces in the entire franchise.

Drake’s jeep barrels through muddy roads, crashes through market stalls, leaps off ledges, and practically surfs down hills as it fishtails through a winding city under heavy gunfire. What makes this stunt truly insane is how out of control everything feels. Unlike previous Uncharted escapes, this isn’t just Drake clinging to a ledge—this is Drake steering a vehicle that has no business surviving the terrain it’s tumbling through.

The chaos doesn’t stop at the hills. Midway through the sequence, the jeep is tethered to a convoy of armored vehicles, and Drake—true to form—leaps off, grabs the rope, and is dragged face-first through mud and water, dodging trees, bullets, and explosions. It’s an homage to classic action cinema, but turned up to 11 with controller-shaking feedback and explosive physics.

Eventually, Drake uses the rope like a grappling hook, swings onto moving vehicles, and hijacks a truck in the middle of a gunfight. The entire sequence is a masterclass in escalating tension. What starts as a driving section turns into a physics-defying circus of rope-swinging, shooting, and truck-hopping madness.

What sets this stunt apart isn’t just its visuals—it’s the sheer length and sustained intensity. It lasts several jaw-dropping minutes, with no clear safe spot, forcing players to constantly improvise under pressure. It perfectly captures Nathan Drake’s brand of luck-meets-chaos, where everything is falling apart but somehow he’s still alive.

This scene may not involve skyscrapers or crashing planes, but its grounded (yet bonkers) nature makes it one of the most memorable stunts in the series. It’s a rollercoaster of mud, metal, and mayhem that sets the tone for Uncharted 4’s cinematic scale. For many fans, it was the moment they realized the final Uncharted wasn’t going to hold anything back.

#9: Climbing the Derailing Train – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

If there’s one moment in Uncharted 2 that permanently etched itself into gaming history, it’s the train sequence—and not just riding it. No, we’re talking about Nathan Drake climbing up a wrecked, burning, derailing train while bleeding, half-conscious, and dangling over the edge of a Himalayan cliff.

The scene begins mid-disaster. The camera slowly pans out to reveal Drake impaled by rebar and slumped inside a train car that’s teetering vertically off the edge of a mountain. It’s upside down. It’s on fire. It’s sliding. And you, the player, must somehow climb up this deathtrap using broken rails, shattered glass, and sheer stubbornness.

As you navigate the vertical wreckage, the game does a brilliant job of layering tension. The car groans with shifting weight. Sparks fly. Metal gives way. Every climb feels like it could be your last. You’re not leaping with confidence—you’re clawing your way up like a man who knows he’s running out of time. And that’s what makes the stunt so visceral. This isn’t Nathan Drake the wisecracking adventurer—it’s Drake the survivor.

But the insanity doesn’t end with the climb. Once you escape the dangling train car, the game cuts back in time to show you how it all went wrong: a high-speed train battle across bridges and mountains, complete with helicopters shooting missiles, train cars exploding behind you, and Drake leaping between cars like he’s auditioning for a stuntman gig in Mission: Impossible.

The beauty of this entire sequence is in how it blends gameplay, storytelling, and adrenaline into one unforgettable moment. Climbing up a burning train sounds ridiculous on paper, but it becomes a deeply human experience in Drake’s hands. You’re not just scaling a wreck—you’re fighting to live.

This stunt became a turning point for the Uncharted series. It showed the world that video games could deliver blockbuster moments without sacrificing interactivity. And even years later, few sequences can match the tension and spectacle of Drake pulling himself, inch by inch, up that doomed steel coffin in the snow.

#8: Hanging From a Cargo Plane – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

In Uncharted 3, Naughty Dog took its stunt game to a whole new level with one of the most iconic sequences in action gaming history: Nathan Drake hanging out of a cargo plane mid-flight, scrambling for survival as supply crates whip past him and the desert looms below.

The setup is cinematic perfection. Drake sneaks aboard a massive plane bound for the Rub’ al Khali desert. Things go sideways fast when a firefight breaks out mid-air. Bullets fly, explosions tear through the fuselage, and chaos erupts. Suddenly, the rear cargo bay opens and Drake is sucked out—along with half the plane’s cargo.

Here’s where the insanity kicks in: Drake’s leg gets tangled in the webbing of a dangling cargo net, and he’s dragged through the air as supply crates tear loose and fall into the desert like bombs. You, the player, have to climb—while airborne—from one swinging crate to another, dodging flying debris and desperate enemies still clinging to the wreckage.

The sense of scale is dizzying. You’re staring down at the endless desert while holding on to a flying plane by a thread, literally. There’s no music. Just roaring wind, straining metal, and the thud of your heart as you pull yourself back inside.

And just when you think you’ve made it—BOOM. The plane explodes.

Drake gets launched from the blast and skydives through flaming wreckage, finally landing via an emergency parachute he miraculously grabs on the way down. It’s ridiculous. It’s awesome. It’s pure Uncharted.

This stunt is Nathan Drake at his most absurd—and most unforgettable. It feels like something straight out of a summer blockbuster, but you’re living it. You feel every second of the climb, every near miss, every heart-pounding pull back into safety. And that’s the genius of it.

For many players, this was the moment that turned Uncharted 3 from a great game into a legendary one. It blurred the line between game and film, giving you a high-stakes thrill ride that no cutscene could match.

#7: Escaping the Sinking Cruise Ship – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Few moments in the Uncharted series rival the absolute chaos and cinematic immersion of Drake’s escape from the sinking cruise ship in Uncharted 3. This isn’t just a ship taking on water—it’s an architectural nightmare folding in on itself while Drake scrambles for dear life. Think Titanic, but with more explosions and gunfire.

The stunt begins when Drake infiltrates a luxury cruise liner to find clues about the Atlantis of the Sands. But what should be a stealth mission quickly becomes a death trap when mercenaries discover him, leading to a full-blown firefight. Mid-battle, an explosion tears through the ship’s hull, flooding compartments and tilting the entire vessel like a funhouse gone mad.

What follows is a gravity-defying escape where up becomes down and hallways become vertical death traps. Drake has to swim through flooding rooms, cling to debris, and navigate upside-down staircases while everything around him collapses. It’s not just disorienting—it’s heart-pounding. The physics engine works overtime as Drake climbs through submerged chandeliers, dodges floating furniture, and narrowly avoids drowning.

The most insane moment comes when a massive wall of water bursts through a hallway, sending Drake sliding down into a submerged ballroom that’s lit only by flickering lights and swirling debris. The player feels like they’re inside a washing machine made of gold-trimmed death.

What elevates this sequence is how it keeps shifting its own terrain. One minute you’re platforming. The next, you’re swimming for your life. Then you’re falling through collapsing ceilings. It’s a stunt that constantly changes form—and never lets you catch your breath.

This sequence solidified Naughty Dog as masters of interactive cinematic tension. It’s not just eye candy—it’s gameplay that adapts and escalates with every beat. And through it all, Nathan Drake does what he always does: survive through grit, instinct, and a lot of lucky timing.

#6: Riding a Runaway Train Through the Himalayas – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

If Uncharted 2 is remembered for anything, it’s the legendary train level—a nonstop action sequence that somehow keeps one-upping itself until you’re sprinting across burning train cars while hanging off a cliff. The entire level is a technical marvel, but the stunt at its core—riding a moving train through the Himalayas while being attacked by helicopters—is pure insanity.

The sequence begins with Drake boarding the train, unaware of the storm ahead. As the train speeds through snowy mountains, he’s ambushed by a small army of mercenaries. But the madness doesn’t stop at gunfights. A helicopter joins the party, circling the train and firing rockets while Drake climbs across cargo containers, leaps between moving cars, and dodges falling debris.

At one point, Drake is literally fighting enemies on the roof of a train while missiles are blowing it apart beneath his feet. He uses wrecked cars as cover and dodges fire by jumping into windows, only to emerge on the other side and keep running. The level moves with terrifying momentum—there’s no time to think, only react.

The final moments are the most intense. As the helicopter returns for one final strike, Drake blows up a fuel tank that sends it crashing into the mountainside, triggering a derailment that sends the entire train off a cliff. Drake is launched forward, smashing through metal and glass before waking up—injured and impaled—in the now-vertical wreck from the start of the game.

It’s not just a great stunt—it’s a narrative loop. You live the aftermath, then experience the chaos that led to it, making the entire escape feel earned. This level was a milestone in game design, blending cinematic presentation and player control in a way few had ever done before.

This train ride isn’t just dangerous—it’s unforgettable. And for many fans, it’s the definitive “Nathan Drake moment.”

#5: Free-Climbing a Collapsing Clock Tower – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

In Uncharted 4, the series traded over-the-top set pieces for grounded realism—but that didn’t mean it held back on stunt power. One of the most intense sequences involves Drake scaling an enormous antique clock tower—only to have the entire structure collapse beneath him while he’s still climbing it.

It starts out serene: you’re exploring Libertalia’s ruins when you climb into the guts of a centuries-old tower. But as you climb higher, gears start breaking, walls start cracking, and the whole place begins to shudder. Then, with no warning, a bell the size of a car comes crashing down, smashing platforms and sending Drake into a free fall.

The player has to react instantly—grappling a nearby ledge mid-fall, climbing frantically as the structure tilts and tears apart. You’re not just moving upward anymore—you’re dodging collapsing balconies, shifting debris, and swinging from ledges that fall seconds later. The entire tower becomes a timed puzzle of survival.

The standout moment comes when Drake reaches the top just as the tower begins to tip over completely. He jumps to a crumbling beam, uses a rope to swing out of the tower, and crashes through a stained-glass window into a church across the street. The camera pans dramatically as the tower finally crashes to the ground behind him in a cloud of dust.

This scene is all about environmental storytelling. The stunt works because it unfolds organically—there’s no sudden cutscene or forced moment. Everything happens around you in real time, and every successful jump feels like a miracle.

It’s a quieter kind of insanity. There are no explosions or helicopters—just gravity, physics, and ancient architecture deciding to kill you. It’s proof that Uncharted doesn’t need over-the-top spectacle to deliver white-knuckle moments.

#4: Surviving a Plane Crash in the Desert – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Nathan Drake has fallen off buildings, cliffs, and towers—but in Uncharted 3, he outdoes himself by surviving a full-on cargo plane explosion at 30,000 feet. If the mid-air stunt wasn’t enough, he then crash-lands into a desert and keeps going.

This sequence is the climax of the earlier cargo plane mission. After crawling back inside, Drake fights his way through the doomed aircraft as it’s falling apart mid-flight. Explosions rip through the fuselage. Sections of the plane tear away. And then—one final blast launches Drake out of the cargo hold and into open sky, with debris raining around him.

Drake falls—free-falling in third-person as flaming crates and metal parts zip past. He manages to snag a parachute off a tumbling crate and crash-lands into the Rub’ al Khali desert in one of the series’ most cinematic survival moments.

The sheer scale of the stunt is breathtaking. You go from sneaking onto a plane to falling from the sky in less than 10 minutes. It feels scripted, but it’s all interactive. Every step you take in the plane adds to the tension, and the final fall is one of the most jaw-dropping moments in gaming.

Even more absurd? Drake then wanders the desert for days, hallucinating and nearly dying of dehydration. It’s the most prolonged post-stunt suffering we see in the series—and it makes surviving the crash feel even more heroic.

#3: Sliding Through the Ruins of Libertalia – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

At the climax of Uncharted 4, Drake and his brother Sam are forced to escape the collapsing ruins of Libertalia. What begins as a foot chase turns into an epic, mudslide-fueled escape where the entire terrain breaks beneath you.

You’re not just running—you’re sliding, falling, swinging, dodging explosions, and barely grabbing ledges before they vanish into the abyss. The ground is literally disintegrating as you flee. One moment you’re jumping rooftops, the next you’re riding a waterfall of debris.

It’s relentless and chaotic—yet totally in character for Drake’s insane luck and daring.

#2: Grappling the Chandelier – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Drake’s escape from a collapsing hotel in Nepal involves swinging from a falling chandelier across a burning building, dodging RPGs, and leaping through fire. The room explodes behind you as the chandelier tears from the ceiling and Drake uses the momentum to reach a window before the floor gives out.

It’s brief—but it’s breathtaking. A perfect mix of chaos, reflexes, and cinematic flair that shows Drake at his daredevil best.

#1: Escaping Shambhala – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The most insane Nathan Drake stunt of all time is his escape from the crumbling city of Shambhala. After defeating the final boss, the mythical city begins to collapse in every direction. Bridges fall, towers explode, and the mountain begins to devour the entire ancient civilization.

Drake, bloodied and exhausted, still manages to carry an injured friend through the madness. He jumps chasms, navigates falling platforms, and makes a final desperate leap onto a helicopter as Shambhala is wiped from existence.

It’s the perfect climax—intense, emotional, and completely over-the-top. Nathan Drake doesn’t just survive this collapse. He escapes it heroically.