Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception is deep in development and while the scale of environments and “intense set-pieces” are being pushed even further, Uncharted 3 will see many improvements in the way Drake can dispose of enemies, hand-to-hand or in stealth.

Speaking with Gamestar, Naughty Dog game designer Jacob Minkoff reveals new details on Drake’s latest adventure, discussing improvements to melee combat and how they are keeping the series fresh.

“We could probably have made Uncharted 3 with a new setting, story, levels, and puzzles, but a similar feature set, and it would be a great game,” said Minkoff.

“Of course, we’re not going to do that because we’re Naughty Dog – we’re crazy.”

“Sequences like the collapsing building or the train in Uncharted 2 allowed us to see the potential of these set-pieces and our goal is to fulfill that potential with even bigger, more intense set-pieces in Uncharted 3,” he said.

When it comes to combat improvements, new contextual attacks will allow players to use objects within the world or parts of the environment to interact with enemies. Also, Drake will have more varied options when in vertical spaces.

“In Uncharted 3, we’ve completely revamped and expanded our melee system,” Minkoff continued.

“Drake can now take on opponents in more ways than before: hand-to-hand combat with multiple opponents, contextual melee attacks (such as breaking a bottle over an enemy’s head), and new stealth options (like dropping on enemies from above).”

“Drake can also perform more attacks while climbing and use his guns in much more vertically-oriented spaces. The game also features expanded and diverse traversal moves including backwards climbing and traversal of dynamic physics objects.”

Naughty Dog has stated that they have big plans for E3 this June, so expect to hear more on the title soon. Uncharted 3 is set to release November 1 in the US, November 4 in Europe exclusively for the PlayStation 3.