This game is so good.
Finished it yesterday and played multiplayer today...the whole day lol.
And I still want to go back (New Game Plus, Survivor difficulty) as soon as possible because I want to find everything the game has to offer.
There are now two games in my list "Best games of all time": Resident Evil 4 and The last of us.
Dat pacing.
BTW: What exactly happened to (document spoilers - side story? ~ 55% )
Ish? I know he left the sewers because I found a letter in the little town right after you escaped from the sewers. Did I miss a document/ letter? Is he alive or dead?
The Last of Us is good. Very, very good. Great, even. I'm not sure I buy into any of the game of the year/generation/forever hype, though.
This is coming from someone who really loves Uncharted 2 for what it is. I really enjoy the characters, the combat, and the crazy art direction/setpieces. I am, in general, not a fan of the current trend of cinematic shooters. I find that they put too much focus on telling a tight, controlled story that gets in the way of actually having fun with the game part. Uncharted may have a ludicrous body count, but it's at least a pretty good shooter. Likewise, I really love Bioshock Infinite, mostly because there's enough game wiggle room in between the movie-esque story sequences. Fuck a Tomb Raider. That's a barometer for taste, I guess, for the rest of this post.
Let's get the praise out of the way first. There are now two games that have come out this year that have really impressed me with their story presentation and handling of character development. The Last of Us is derivative of lots of different zombie/post apocalypse stories, and yeah, it's very predictable, but it's also impeccably put together. The cutscenes are well directed, the acting is spot-on (another win for Troy Baker especially - dude is going places), and the level of detail in the world is wonderful.
The shooting is also really well done. I'm really tired of third-person shooters, so this is a huge boon for me. I love the sparse ammo and the way the guns handle. The first encounter (even though, amusingly,
you walk into an arena filled with chest high walls
) left a huge impression on me thanks to its sudden violence and lack of music or enemy waves. The scene plays out like something out of Way of the Gun, just a few people engaging in taut, ugly combat. The gunplay also happens to be way more interesting than the stealth, but I'll get to that in a second.
The soundtrack and overall sound design is phenomenal. The sparse music fits perfectly, and it's also a huge relief to play an action game that doesn't feature Yet Another Fucking Zimmer Ripoff sound. What I was impressed with, most of all, was the use of echo and ambience - every location has a distinct noise, and every sound is traceable to its origin. It's beautiful, and goes hand in hand with the visual design in making the world on display believable.
What I don't like about this game is the zombies - more specifically, the way they are dispensed. I think the game has a pretty gnarly pacing problem.
I've mentioned this a few other times in the thread, but I really do think that the zombies are significantly less interesting to fight than humans. Clickers, in particular, get really annoying. There were several spots during my first playthrough where I simply turned the game off in frustration when the upcoming encounter was revealed to be - surprise! - a room or courtyard full of mushroom people to dump too many bullets into, run past, or get instagibbed by. None of the options for dispatching Clickers are particularly satisfying to me. I loathe bullet-sponge fights (another thing this game is guilty of across the board), and until you get a shotgun to waste them with Clickers are bullet magnets - unless, of course, you want to waste shivs on them, which is neither productive nor fun. Sneaking past them is an option, too, but it feels like such a waste to sprint or sneak past every encounter in this game. The stealth mechanics are cheap and basic - a wallhack coupled with a crouchwalk and Joel becomes Sam motherfucking Fisher.
The human enemies are just way more fun to square off against, in my opinion. It's such a clear improvement over Uncharted's shooting, even if the AI can be a little wonky. Having to fight back against a burly dude with a pipe or trading shots with another pistol-wielding bandit is infinitely more interesting than sneaking up on braindead Runners and watching the same choke animation again. I feel like the ratio of humans to zombies should be inverted - the zombies are legitimately cool and frightening in concept, but there's so damn many of them that the game ends up squandering all of its potential scares in the first act. I feel like it's somewhat of a copout; sure, The Last of Us doesn't have as high a body count as Uncharted, but only because the game is padded out with hundreds of monsters, instead of desperate thieves/rapists/soldiers/other smart enemies. Conserving ammo is a no-brainer when 90% of enemies can be dispatched by pressing square once behind them. Things get a lot more interesting when people are deciding to use ammo on you.
The walk-and-talk moments are mostly well-handled, similar to Bioshock Infinite. There are only a few times in The Last of Us when the large amount of expository dialogue gets grating, but the game's downtime does make replaying kind of a bummer. It's not Max Payne 3 levels of annoying, but sometimes there's too little going on. Sure, these are cool moments for reflection and downtime, but there's also nothing to interact with in any of these scenes other than finding planks or ladders. It's not a big deal, but considering how well the game advances shooting, it's a shame it doesn't break new ground with its downtime. The only parts of the game where I truly felt like advances were being made were (major spoilers)
the opening scene with Sarah, particularly the on-rails car part, and the mostly quiet Ellie sequence in Winter
. It's also worth echoing that the companion AI outside of these sequences is pretty bad. The first time Bill yelled "DON'T. MAKE. ANY. NOISE!" while stomping his big fucking dinosaur feet over a driveway in front of three Clickers, I laughed. The fifth time it happened, it wasn't so funny.
Huge kudos are due, though, for the lack of many Uncharted-esque "platforming" sequences. There are a few gimmicky setpieces, but they're mostly short and pretty cool. For the most part I feel way more in control in The Last of Us than I do in Uncharted, which is awesome.
I guess it's also worth mentioning that the game is sort of front-loaded with less interesting stuff (that first swimming section? Ugh), but that does make for some incredible surprises later in the game. Unfortunately the game has the classic Naughty Dog last-minute-difficulty-ramp, which feels cheap and annoying. It might not be as bad as Uncharted 1 or 2's (major spoilers for series)
zombie party or blue guy squad
, but it's definitely in the same ballpark.
Oh yeah, I haven't played too much but so far the multiplayer is a big thumbs up from me, because it's all about the super-tense small-scale firearm combat. Hell yeah.
Anyway, overall I think this is definitely a game worth playing. It certainly deserves praise for finally being a "dark" game that actually feels mature, well-acted, and earned, unlike 90% of M rated games. It's a fantastic sendoff for the PS3, too. I do think that the game's artistic and technical achievements outweigh its gameplay, though. The opportunity for a nasty, down-to-earth shooter feels slightly squandered by the jillions of zombies everywhere. If we get a sequel, I'd like to either see more humans and fewer monsters, or more interesting mechanics for dealing with zombies.
If I had to rank this years AAAA titans, I think I'd rate Bioshock slightly above The Last of Us simply because I think it has a better pure gameplay experience (a relatively unpopular view of it, I think, but whatever) with its wide-open combat areas, gun-and-power-combos, and skyhook, as well of a total lack of really basic stealth mechanics. They're both great games though, and The Last of Us definitely shouldn't be missed. It is, at the very very least, so much better at presenting a dark and depressing survival story than Tomb Raider it's a little embarrassing.
18 hours? What area/percentage you up to? I'm at 63% after 9 hours 45 minutes. Which is weird, cause it doesn't feel like I'm rushing and I'm playing on Hard.
Bioshock Infinite took me more than 20 hours, even though the average completion time was about 12 hours. As I said, I explore everything really thoroughly, checking each and every corner, tapping triangle like a madman. And if I don't find anything, I look again...and again...and again.
Not sure if you're at the same part as me... but holy shit came to post the same damn thing . People keep raving about the beginning, and they haven't seen anything yet.
Who else played with Listen mode/button prompts off on their first playthrough? After playing this game on Normal.. those features seem so god damn unnecessary.
Would anyone who has completed the game be willing to upload their save file for those of us who lost major progress due to the save bug? Not 100% sure it will work for this game but I would like to try. This process has worked for me with other PS3 games in the past. Thank you.
Serious question. Has anyone lost their weapons in this game? I lost one of my pistols with upgrades and the game immediately saved and now i dont have it anymore. Im pretty sure its a glitch cause my inventory controls got messed up. Will it be possible to get it back?
Has anyone else had their weapons knocked out their hands? It happened to me when I was fighting infected. I had my revolver out, the infected swiped at me, I pushed it back...and kept trying to shoot like an idiot. It wasn't till after I beat it to death with a pipe that I realized my pistol and revolver were on the floor
And when I picked the guns up, it said "New weapon". Is that a bug or something? Weird
Heh? Some people are posting times from 15-20 hours. That's not rushing. Some of my most memorable campaigns have been when I finish them within 1-3 days. Sticks with me way longer than dragging it out and having the "newness" wear off.
Has anyone else had their weapons knocked out their hands? It happened to me when I was fighting infected. I had my revolver out, the infected swiped at me, I pushed it back...and kept trying to shoot like an idiot. It wasn't till after I beat it to death with a pipe that I realized my pistol and revolver were on the floor
And when I picked the guns up, it said "New weapon". Is that a bug or something? Weird
I know...it's weird. It only happened once so it's not like a common mechanic where enemies can disarm you. I've had my gun up and been attacked by human and infected before and that hadn't happened.
Is this game hard to find at retail? My Walmart only got 8 copies...that sold out before noon on Friday, and I've heard other places around town are sold out as well.
Wondering if it was under shipped and if that will hurt sales figures.
I have a personal "no gaming during the day" policy. This game is so intense I can only play it during the day. Never has a game gotten under my skin like this one; when I'm not playing it, I'm thinking about it. I think my immersion is enhanced by the fact that I live in a pretty tough neighborhood in West Oakland where many of the people on the street look like infected of some kind or another.
This game is as much an indictment of other AAA studios as it is an accomplishment for ND. How many millions have been thrown into story, voice acting and gameplay by Bungie, ID or Epic only for the final product to be a jumbled mess?
Just finished it. For the first few hours I kept wondering what the hype was all about. It was pretty good, but nothing amazing. Then eventually it clicked. Loved the hell out of it. Best in the old man/young girl games.
I felt the same way. I'm 9-10 hours into the game and ever since hour 4 or 5 I've been praying that I'm nowhere near the end. I hope I have a long way left to go, which is something I don't think I've ever said about a third person action game since RE4.
I'm on my second playthrough now and there's a lot of goofy stuff that really breaks the immersion.
Two thugs are having a conversation about bacon, I strangle one mid-sentence and the other guy never even realizes that his buddy suddenly stopped talking. Then as I'm sneaking up to stealth kill the second guy, Ellie runs directly into him and they get stuck walking into each other for like 10 seconds without reacting. They get unstuck, Ellie shoots at him once with her pistol and he still doesn't even react. And there was at least a half dozen other 'braindead AI' scenarios like that.
I'm kind of shocked the AI shipped in such a poor state. The rest of the game is so great and polished yet the AI is terribly bad.
, so you dont really need to rush to complete it by this stage. I have taken it pretty slowly, exploring around and collecting as much stuff as possible and Im maybe 1-2hrs off the end
Finished it, took 17 hours on Hard with most of the upgrades/collectibles found.
Mixed feelings but overall positive, the game does alot of things extremely well and it`s very unique in terms of feel. The sense of place is unmatched, some of these environments are just really convincing and beautiful.
I found that the less scripted the game was the more I was enjoying it, some of the most scripted sequences completely broke the immersion for me. One really important scene near the end just felt completely off because I didn`t act the way the game clearly wanted me to. For a game with this much care put into it I was surprised to see this kind of stuff get through testing.
In the end though it was a cool game, definitely enjoyed playing through it. It`s definitely overhyped though, some of the flaws are too significant to overlook and brush aside. The water plank and ladder stuff was also really lazy, it was cool the first time but after 4-5 times it just feels like they stopped trying.
Also kind of sucks that I didn`t get any completion trophies for some reason, not sure what`s going on there but some people are saying it might be due to the recent patch messing things up. For a game this long it kind of sucks to not get those, oh well...
BTW: What exactly happened to (document spoilers - side story? ~ 55% )
Ish? I know he left the sewers because I found a letter in the little town right after you escaped from the sewers. Did I miss a document/ letter? Is he alive or dead?
Did I miss something, or how does Noel and Ellie know where to go at all? Suddenly they were just looking for a car, and then when I got it they seemed to know where to go, and now I'm in Pittsburgh, but I don't remember them finding any specific info on where exactly he's taking her.
I'm on my second playthrough now and there's a lot of goofy stuff that really breaks the immersion.
Two thugs are having a conversation about bacon, I strangle one mid-sentence and the other guy never even realizes that his buddy suddenly stopped talking. Then as I'm sneaking up to stealth kill the second guy, Ellie runs directly into him and they get stuck walking into each other for like 10 seconds without reacting. They get unstuck, Ellie shoots at him once with her pistol and he still doesn't even react. And there was at least a half dozen other 'braindead AI' scenarios like that.
I'm kind of shocked the AI shipped in such a poor state. The rest of the game is so great and polished yet the AI is terribly bad.
Yeah, I'm experiencing stuff like this everywhere. I feel like everyone is. For some of us, it really, really hurts the experience. Others are able to look passed it and maintain GOTG/GOTY/GOTF.
Ellie screams "look out! behind you!" when she's looking in the same direction I am, in front of me. Runners can see me from 30 feet away, but not from 2 inches. It's all over the place.
Well, it's gotten 10/10 reviews almost across the board and even the negative opinions here (mine being probably the most negative) still call it a must play. It's not Uncharted. It's more...Uncharted meets Tomb Raider meets The Walking Dead meets Bioshock: Infinite meets The Road.
How does it work when you replay chapters? Does that reset your progress from that chapter? What upgrades or supplies do you have when you replay?
Also does a new game plus make the game any harder? For example, in Arkham City, you had all your gadgets and upgrades but enemies were armored and had better equipment from the start and there was no counter icon.
18 hours? What area/percentage you up to? I'm at 63% after 9 hours 45 minutes. Which is weird, cause it doesn't feel like I'm rushing and I'm playing on Hard.
This is definitely among the best games I've ever played. The atmosphere and mood is peerless and I love the moment-to-moment gameplay. I never really get tired of the primal feel of the melee combat, the kick of the guns, planning routes around enemies or prepping an assault, scavenging for supplies in corners and off the beaten path... it's just a dream game for me. The only complaint I have is the framerate, that's it.
Well, it's gotten 10/10 reviews almost across the board and even the negative opinions here (mine being probably the most negative) still call it a must play. It's not Uncharted. It's more...Uncharted meets Tomb Raider meets The Walking Dead meets Bioshock: Infinite meets The Road.
thank you, but I need something different to sell me on it. how is consequence implemented into the survival horror theme? in what way are game play mechanics supporting the narrative?
I have a good surround sound system, but decided to pick up a pair of turtle beach pal ps3 headphones and man this game sounds awesome with them on!!!! I only paid 40 for them and thy have separate chat and game volumes on them, ppl should def. Chk them out.
As for this game, as I stated before from the sp to the mp this game is pure quality. Some very satisfying and intense moments, also likable characters. I disagree with somebody that said they enjoyed the human battles more, IMO the best parts were those dark areas with clickers and runners all around. Some priceless tense moments there.
Is the completion percentage mentioned on the save file legit? Is it only taking into account story progress, or is that also calculating collectibles, etc?
