The Art of Naughty Dog

Crash Bandicoot. Jak and Daxter. Uncharted. The Last of Us. One studio has been responsible for the most iconic video game experiences of this generation. Now, Dark Horse Books invites you on a thirty-year retrospective tour, observing Naughty Dog’s ascension to its place as one of the most influential production studios in the world!

Like the previous anniversary epic that I was lucky enough to experience, The Art of Naughty Dog is another shining example of how to share the celebration with the community the right way.  From their very humble beginnings in a basement onward through 30 years of trial and triumph, this is a fantastic read for studio fans, video gamers and art lovers alike.

Readers will get the privilege of following along the company's history through a large amount of visuals and tidbits of development background from all their games to date.  Starting out with virtually unheard of releases before they even became Naughty Dog, the majority of the book then gets split up with focused sections on all their hugely successful series.

Most long time gamers would easily recognize names like Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and most recently, The Last of Us.  Moving past how enjoyable it is to play games from these series, the book shares such a gorgeous collection of artwork that went towards the creation of the final product.  Quite a bit of the art in the book has never been officially released to the public before and that's always a treat.  We also get the opportunity to appreciate just how much work goes into making a game, especially early on with the limitations developers faced.

Like they say, it's almost unheard of for a studio to be around as long as Naughty Dog has.  This book does do a wonderful job of reinforcing the reason behind the studio's long life span and list of top games.  You don't need to be a particular fan of the studio, an artist or even a gamer at all for this book to be worth it.  The treasure trove of artistic content and interesting history is enough to justify picking this up.

For more information on The Art of Naughty Dog or other Dark Horse books, check out Dark Horse Comics.

The Art of Naughty Dog will be available 10/1.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All giddiness, comments, enthusiasm and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.