Which lost city is central to Uncharted: Golden Abyss?

The lost city central to Uncharted: Golden Abyss is Quivira. Nathan Drake searches for the legendary city in this PlayStation Vita prequel, alongside fellow treasure hunter Marisa Chase.

The game draws on the historical legend of the Seven Cities of Gold and the sixteenth-century expeditions associated with Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. Within the game’s fictionalized story, friar Marcos de Niza and his guide Esteban are connected to the search for Quivira. Nathan follows clues through Central American ruins, including references to the Sword of Stephen and the Sete Cidades.

Quivira’s supposed treasure is the Golden Abyss, a gold-lined cavern reached through an underground lake. The discovery turns the usual treasure-hunt expectation upside down: the gold is dangerously radioactive because of nearby uranium deposits. The city’s inhabitants died from radiation poisoning, and the supposed riches become a deadly trap rather than a prize.

Ubar belongs to other lost-city traditions, while Shambhala and Libertalia are major locations in other Uncharted adventures. Golden Abyss is distinguished by its search for Quivira and its prequel story set before Drake’s Fortune.