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[0neAnd0nly]

Obviously another Druckmann led game is in motion from ND. As he has been the head of ND under a lot of success, while also sharing a considerable amount of controversy, we have seen many opinions pop up online - especially after the reveal of Intergalactic at The Game Awards.

In your opinion, has Druckmann been an overall net positive or a net negative for ND? Do you think he is riding on the coattails built by Hennig, or do you think he trumped her success and forged his own, deserved, legacy? Do you believe he has been indifferent to ND?

These opinions can be based on merit, or your overall feelings - but the poll was created to be based more on your opinion and less about sales figures and data as a whole.

Feel free to discuss below!

 

[Salz01]

I expect 100% negative votes up until Interflagatic releases.

 

[Neff]

Do you think he is riding on the coattails built by Hennig

Fuck no, she sucks

 

[0neAnd0nly]

I expect 100% negative votes up until Interflagatic releases.

I actually think GAF has shown to be pretty mixed on this game since the reveal. Lots of overly negative, overly positive, but also plenty somewhere in between.

 

[killatopak]

I’m neutral.

I love his games despite my criticism. My issue is that his portfolio as head is 50% remasters.

 

[Gaiff]

Not questioning the quality of his games as they are highly polished, but I feel like people and himself give him far too much credit. He’s treated like a Kojima or Miyazaki in the sense that it was under his leadership that ND became what it is now and he was the visionary behind their most important works such as Uncharted 2 or TLOU when I’m almost positive he wasn’t.

The one game he can take full credit for is TLOU Part II and that’s the most divisive one in ND’s history.

 

[LectureMaster]

Naughty Dog collectively as a studio is head of the curve.

The state of the art graphics, the fluid animations and expressions, the breathtaking set pieces, are all crucial parts that make ND games masterpieces. But Druckmann can't be credited for those.

He just don't take all the praise that's due for the talent and diligence of the entire studio.

 

[Barakov]

I have a neutral(indifferent) opinion on the man. TLOU Part 1 and 2 are games I don't want to play. I also have no interest in playing Intergalactic. I also realized they were incredibly successful games so I'm not surprised Sony gave him and Naughty Dog a blank check for Intergalactic. He's good for Sony and Playstation as a whole but the stuff he makes isn't for me.

 

[Topher]

Positive. Great games all around.

Not questioning the quality of his games as they are highly polished, but I feel like people and himself give him far too much credit. He’s treated like a Kojima or Miyazaki in that it’s under his leadership that ND became what it is now and he was the visionary behind their most important workd such as Uncharted 2 or TLOU when I’m almost positive he wasn’t.

The one game he can take full big credit for is TLOU Part II and that’s the most divisive one in ND’s history.

Definitely wasn't. I enjoy his games, but Naughty Dog was great long before Druckmann took over leading the studio.

 

[Salz01]

I actually think GAF has shown to be pretty mixed on this game since the reveal. Lots of overly negative, overly positive, but also plenty somewhere in between.

Technical merit, Environment artists,Gameplay = Masterclass
Story, Character Artists, Agenda pushers= Crap

Druckmans agendas overshadows the rest of his orgs efforts.

 

[Insanemaelstrom]

Personally, a bit positive. While I didn't play TLOU 2( story spoilers killed the game for me), I find uncharted 4 and TLOU part 1 to be excellent games. Pretty hopeful for intergalactic especially since ND I sno longer focused on creating pretentious tragedy like they were with TLOU 2

 

[Thebonehead]

Druckmans agendas overshadows the rest of his orgs efforts.

/Thread for me.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Neutral.

ND is one of the best and most respected studios in the industry.
That doesn't happen if you're incompetent.

As for Druckmann himself, I couldn't give two shits about him personally. It's just a guy with a job.
Do a good job and I might buy and enjoy your game. If not, no harm done.

 

[peek]

Lovely! He had directed several wonderful games perfectly meant to be watched on youtube playthroughs. Saved me a lot of money and I got to enjoy some well produced animations!

 

[Fess]

Neutral.

I absolutely love the Uncharted serie. But that was before Druckmann.

I like The Last of Us too, one of my top games from the PS3 era, and that was when Druckmann stepped in.
But I’m not sure how much of it was Druckmann and Bruce Straley. Straley is credited as game director but going by interviews it seemed like a team work.

I skipped The Last of Us part 2. Can’t relate to any lbtq topics and never liked Ellie so it seemed like it wasn’t for me. Should’ve left Joel and Ellie and started a new adventure instead, first game had the perfect ending.

I’m really excited about Intergalactic even though the main character seems extremely boring. Space and sci-fi is my thing. Definitely more excited about this than anything ND has done the last decade. They should just add a character creator and leave the unveil noise behind.

 

[poppabk]

I just think he is a little too full of himself. Its the studio that is good, but everyone else has been pushed to the back. Even when movie directors have been lauded there is a whole bunch of other people who are getting credit as well.

 

[Crystal Winters]

He rode the success of his betters at naughty dog and then claimed those successes as his own. Don't @ me.

 

[LectureMaster]

 

[El Muerto]

He really has no talent and is creatively bankrupt. No one in the real world gives two shits about him.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I'm ambivalent. I believe the stories about him maneuvering within Naughty Dog for power and screwing people over. I think he has created immersion-breaking moments in games when his political ideology supersedes the narrative.

I also think The Last of Us Part 2 is unbeaten in terms of single-player action-horror gameplay, and I found the story emotionally effective. Maybe more than any other game I can think of.

He's an auteur for better or worse.

 

[Gaiff]

Positive. Great games all around.



Definitely wasn't. I enjoy his games, but Naughty Dog was great long before Druckmann took over leading the studio.

Yeah, that’s why I don’t have a great opinion of him. He revels in the spotlight and he’s taken center stage for ND the last few years to the point that he seems to be the creative driving force behind the studio’s reputation when he isn’t.

I’m sure Intergalactic will at least play very well because it’s a studio full of veteran and talented people. Neil might or might not use ND’s strengths to their best, but he almost seems like a bigger name than the studio and I don’t think he deserves that much credit. It’s not a Kojima type of deal where if he goes, the franchises fall apart. I’m reminded of that tweet by Tati Gabrielle where she calls him the video game god. I was like WTF? Druckmann is not on that level, girl.

 

[Rush2112]

I picked neutral because his games are irrelevant to me.

 

[ReBurn]

The popularity of the games he's made so far speaks for him. People generally like his output. For the most part I do, too. I don't care for him as a person, but I don't have to want to hang out with him to enjoy his games.

 

[IDKFA]

Indifferent. Maybe a bit overhyped and comes across as somebody who likes to suck his own dick, but overall I don't hold very positive or very negative opinions about him.

 

[dano1]

Naughty Dog is one of the only companies that hasn’t let me down. Day one until they prove me otherwise.

 

[Chairman Yang]

Of the Naughty Dog games I've liked and he's worked on (some of the Uncharteds and TLOU1), it's not clear to me how much he was responsible for their quality. Intergalactic will be pretty telling, for me.

 

[V1LÆM]

TLOU 1 was great but that’s it. Uncharted is awful and we didn’t need TLOU 2. This new game looks bad too. They should get someone new to replace him.

 

[MayauMiao]

I question if Druckmann was really the driving force behind TLoU 1, and when he took over without Bruce Straley, we got TLoU 2.

 

[awwr999999]

He rode the success of his betters at naughty dog and then claimed those successes as his own. Don't @ me.

Any idea who's responsible for the first TLOU being so much better than everything ND has done prior or since?

 

[Sharius]

they should kick him out long time ao when he keep licking HBO boots rather than making a game

 

[Kronark]

Neutral - I think the studio's output has been boring as fuck personally, chasing casual gamers with big budget hollywood style games that mostly play themselves. With that said it's successful and there's clearly an audience for it, it's just not me.

 

[Pelao]

The Last of Us 2 alone made sure I won't be buying Intergalactic.
But I honestly honestly don't think it is just Druckmann.
I didn't pick up Spider-man 2 after how much I disliked Miles Morales. Didn't even bother with Horizon Call of the Mountain or Burning Shores after Forbidden West.
Even God of War Ragnarok was pretty underwhelming.
Other than Returnal and Astrobot, Sony has been absolute dog shit this gen.

 

[SimTourist]

He was better when he had Bruce Straley to balance his ideas and bounce off each other.

 

[Sebastian1295]

Do you think he is riding on the coattails built by Hennig

She's literally done nothing since leaving naughty dog and her track record is abysmal. The two games she has credits for since leaving naughty dog are battlefield hardline 'fart noise' and forspoken lmaooooo. Maybe she isn't as talented as people keep hyping her up to be when she's put out two turds since leaving.

 

[ProtoByte]

The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, Lost Legacy were all around Ws. So that's the positive.

Part II was elite in gameplay, but the story had problems in both pacing and content. I blame on Haley Gross for a lot of that, but Neil was the director and didn't have to keep her around, so that's a neutral. Mixed as a game, and negative overall for the studio.

Cut to now, he and the studio seem to be trying to spite "gamerz" over the Part II controversy. I kinda get why they would - a lot of it was and still is really unhinged. But they've disregarded the need to sell a game, and doubled down on the crap they were trying to push before. Lev's storyline was pretty dumb, Abby's physique was pretty dumb, but these weren't the biggest aspects of Part II. Everything about Intergalactic's aesthetics signals the mentality behind that stuff in overdrive.

On top of that, it looks like he's caved to the campaign of lazy devs and Jason Schreier. The reveal was limp and didn't even look "next gen". It's a disaster area for Naughty Dog that people aren't uncontrollably excited by a new IP from them.

Overall, my opinion on Druckmann is neutral. It's pretty obvious that his ambitions are in tinseltown, which is a shame, since games are the better medium.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I would prefer if he put gameplay first and story second, regardless of the story being woke or not.
Right now ND games, for me, feel like cutscenes interrupted by gameplay while it should be the other way around.

 

[CashPrizes]

Henning was in charge of Uncharted 3 while Druckmann and Straley went off and made Last of Us 1. Uncharted 3 was total garbage whereas The Last of Us was a masterpiece.

Henning was in charge of Uncharted 4, and was botching it so bad they forced her out and took it over and salvaged it into the 2nd best Uncharted game after 2.

And then Last of Us 2, while not as good as 1, is still a great game. So I think he is definitely a net positive. I think Intergalactic looks really good. I honestly would prefer a cover based stealth shooter then a Souls like, but besides that I got no complaints.

 

[rofif]

I don’t understand how can someone actually play and finish uc4 and tlou2 and have anything negative to say. Just means you are a bad person lol.
Imo it’s easy to spot fake reviews with tlou2 from people who never played it.

 

[Danny22]

Everybody's talking about video games but I think he'll be able to make the tlou tv show into the biggest ongoing tv show on the planet by the time they adapt the second part into 3 new seasons. On the level of stranger things, i'd say.

 

[nemiroff]

He's a shoehorn.

 

[rofif]

I would prefer if he put gameplay first and story second, regardless of the story being woke or not.
Right now ND games, for me, feel like cutscenes interrupted by gameplay while it should be the other way around.

The game is 30 hours with maybe 2 hours of cutscenes. The remaining 28 hours of gameplay is the smoothest, best controlling 3rd person game ever. What are you talking about.
There is so much gameplay. I would argue that uc4 got 3x as much gameplay as any of previous entries and tlou2 got like raw 28 hours of it.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

I don’t think it’s all him. He must have a senior leadership team and advisors telling him all of this otherwise they’d all stab him in the back and get rid of him.

 

[Vick]

I know this may trigger some, or come across as exaggeration, but this person really did single handedly kill ND for me, my once favorite studio, and deprived this hobby of enormous amounts of joy and enjoyment.

Quite the unexpected turn of events as it was an entirely different scenario before. My respect for him started around the time Uncharted 2 launched, after hearing a speech of his about pacing. Then TLOU came, and my regard of this person naturally reached its peak.
But the painful realization started gradually materializing in the following years.. I'm now at a point where my opinion of Neil Druckmann could hardly be any lower.

Not hard to see why from the proper perspective: Uncharted was my favorite series during the whole 360/PS3 era, The Last of Us 2013 probably my favorite game ever, Naughty Dog my favorite company.
Fast forward today and Uncharted is dead, The Last of Us stuff only pisses me off, and I'm not looking forward to "The New Dogs" future projects, mostly because after the overdose of TLOU: Part II, Druckmann writing, tone, style.. everything about his work, down to the most subtle and minuscule details, even visual ones, just rubs me the wrong way immediately.

I've always been an avid Making Of kind of guy, and so ever since 2007 I've always felt Amy, Straley and Balestra brought real magic to that studio.. that studio no longer exists, and in huge part is because of this one fucking person.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

As a studio its doing fine. They have a dedicated fanbase that will buy 10 million copies of their games.

Am not very impressed by the fact they use $200 million to make 20 hrs story games. They should be using 50-80 million max. That will test substance of what they do, if people really love the game, or are they dazzled by the visuals.

 

[Ar¢tos]

The game is 30 hours with maybe 2 hours of cutscenes. The remaining 28 hours of gameplay is the smoothest, best controlling 3rd person game ever. What are you talking about.
There is so much gameplay. I would argue that uc4 got 3x as much gameplay as any of previous entries and tlou2 got like raw 28 hours of it.

And most of that gameplay was pointless and unrealistic.
When a van of enemies arrives and I have to kill around 50 men in waves from that van it completely breaks my immersion.

I also count scripted events as cutscenes.

 

[Ammogeddon]

He gives me cult leader vibes.

 

[Calico345]

Can't stand him and his agendas. Bring back video games like Crash Bandicoot.

 

[Cakeboxer]

ND was already good without him. When i think of Druckmann's influence:

- made Drake's son a daughter
- kills beloved main character
- forces you to play as the murderer
- murderer is a bulked up she hulk
- remaster spam
- main character of the new game is a bald goblin

So you can guess my vote.

 

[Superkewl]

Voted neutral. Don't think I have ever played Naughty Dog game and don't really get the hype around them and don't know really much about Druckmann except that he is some kinda wokey woke.

 

[Revolutionary]

Henning was in charge of Uncharted 4, and was botching it so bad they forced her out and took it over

Gotta love it when people do absolutely no research into what they're saying and just spew diarrhea from their mouth.