The Amazon rainforest is a primary location in Drake's Fortune, appearing in the chapters "The Search for El Dorado" and "A Surprising Find". While searching for the lost city of El Dorado, Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan explored an ancient abandoned temple and discovered a derelict German U-boat trapped inland.
History[]
During their search for El Dorado, Nate and Sully followed Sir Francis Drake's coordinates into the forest, eventually discovering several hidden ruins. They uncovered an entrance leading into a long-lost temple where they learned that El Dorado was not a city, but a gold statue that had been removed by the Spaniards centuries earlier. Continuing their search in "A Surprising Find", they located a German U-boat stranded in a jungle river. Nate explored the vessel alone, recovering the final page of Francis Drake's diary and a Kriegsmarine map detailing the treasure's location.
Nate and Sully's discovery of the U-boat.
After Nate exited the submarine, he and Sully were confronted by Gabriel Roman and Atoq Navarro. Forced to surrender the Kriegsmarine map at gunpoint, Sully was shot by Roman just before a torpedo Nate had accidentally triggered caused the U-boat to explode. Unarmed and outnumbered, Nate was forced to flee the mercenaries, leaving Sullivan behind. He soon encountered Elena Fisher, and the pair fought their way back through the temple ruins. They eventually escaped the forest via jeep, heading toward the hidden island marked on the diary map Nate managed to retain.
Geography[]
Overview[]
The rainforest is a lush, naturalistic environment characterized by dense vegetation, steep rock formations, and ancient stone structures. The area's primary landmarks are a sprawling temple complex and a stranded German U-boat.
Temple ruins[]
Temple entrance
The temple ruins originally housed the El Dorado statue before it was removed by the Spanish. This large, abandoned complex consists of seven rooms connected linearly. Nate gained access to the interior by breaching a hidden entrance at the base of the front wall. The exterior features several tall, climbable stone structures which, according to Nate, predate Inca architecture by 2,000 years.[1] Similar structures are located at the rear of the temple.
Brazier room
The first interior chamber is divided by a deep ravine bridged only by a fallen pillar. Beyond this gap, a stone door—operated by a hidden chain and pulley system—leads to a room containing a massive brazier. Lighting the brazier allowed Nate to clear debris blocking the path to a cylindrical chamber, where he subsequently utilized explosives to clear a ladder path for his ally.
Puzzle room pit
The subsequent area contains a second brazier puzzle that controls access to a long hallway. This leads to a puzzle room featuring floor pads that must be activated in a specific sequence to raise four pillars, opening a central pit. This pit leads to a massive underground cavern containing a sluice mechanism. By manipulating a heavy block switch, Nate partially flooded the cavern, allowing him to climb through a section of collapsed floor and bypass a closed gate.
El Dorado room
A final hallway leads to a chamber once spanned by wooden walkways; after these collapsed, Nate used fallen perimeter pillars to cross the room. This leads to a narrow staircase and the central worship chamber. The chamber features a niche where the El Dorado statue once stood, surrounded by carvings of worshippers. A passage nearby leads to a room where the Spaniards breached the rear wall to extract the statue. A narrow trail from this exit leads directly to the river where the German U-boat is located.
German U-boat[]
The abandoned U-boat
This area is defined by high cliffs draped in vines and several large waterfalls that feed into the river below. From the vantage point of the cliffs or the deck of the vessel, distant mountains are visible in the background.
The vessel, identified as the U-857, became trapped in the river after navigating inland during the flood season. Its interior is derelict and narrow, consisting of cramped rooms connected by circular hatches. Nate noted the presence of blood and "soup" within the filthy, partially flooded corridors. The U-857 was ultimately destroyed when Nate unintentionally detonated one of its torpedoes.
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