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The Last of Us |OT| It Can’t Be For Nothing (Spoilers)

Yawnier

Banned
This game seems longer than what I thought it would be (not a bad thing!), just had a 2 hour session and I only advanced like what 6% or 7% into the story and I'm not even going that slow and looking at every little thing either.
 
spoilers!

I never said I didn't like it; it works as it's intended, emotionally-gripping intro that immediately grabs your attention and interest, which is a good idea because the real game starts pretty slow with the world-building and tutorial stuff and then increasingly grows right up into that impeccable second half of the game. It's good, but there's so much better stuff in here that ND has learned how to do. As much as I enjoyed UC2 back in '09, this is really the peak of that interactive cinematic action/storytelling game they've been trying to make all generation. A game that works on equal measure because of it's story and it's gameplay, how they reflect each other, and how every element adds up to the whole, from the incredible art direction, the fantastic sound design, the dynamic AI routines and relatively open approach to level design(particularly in the second half), the visceral but believable approach to violence, all the great animations that still control really well, etc. It's their best work to date.
 

Ourobolus

Banned
So I'm playing Survivor and I'm at the
sewers.
Is there any way to stealth through the area with Stalkers? I can't even get a stealth kill on any of them (for the tag) because they see me immediately, even if their backs are turned.
 

Neiteio

Member
I never said I didn't like it; it works as it's intended, emotionally-gripping intro that immediately grabs your attention and interest, which is a good idea because the real game starts pretty slow with the world-building and tutorial stuff and then increasingly grows right up into that impeccable second half of the game. It's good, but there's so much better stuff in here that ND has learned how to do. As much as I enjoyed UC2 back in '09, this is really the peak of that interactive cinematic action/storytelling game they've been trying to make all generation. A game that works on equal measure because of it's story and it's gameplay, how they reflect each other, and how every element adds up to the whole, from the incredible art direction, the fantastic sound design, the dynamic AI routines and relatively open approach to level design(particularly in the second half), the visceral but believable approach to violence, all the great animations that still control really well, etc. It's their best work to date.
Agreed, and I also went back and added spoiler tags.
 
Dat animation when in crouch-cover, and you shimmy over and past Ellie.


Ellie is awesome so far
, 44% in and 12 hours played. Game gets much better when you go with the flow and stop going for perfect stealth
 

LastNac

Member
I never said I didn't like it; it works as it's intended, emotionally-gripping intro that immediately grabs your attention and interest, which is a good idea because the real game starts pretty slow with the world-building and tutorial stuff and then increasingly grows right up into that impeccable second half of the game. It's good, but there's so much better stuff in here that ND has learned how to do. As much as I enjoyed UC2 back in '09, this is really the peak of that interactive cinematic action/storytelling game they've been trying to make all generation. A game that works on equal measure because of it's story and it's gameplay, how they reflect each other, and how every element adds up to the whole, from the incredible art direction, the fantastic sound design, the dynamic AI routines and relatively open approach to level design(particularly in the second half), the visceral but believable approach to violence, all the great animations that still control really well, etc. It's their best work to date.

Question then, is the combat as fantastically cinematic as they say? Particularly the melee combat?
 

Hamlet

Member
What's the difference between runners and stalkers? I finished the game but I didn't make any difference between both.

From The Last of Us Wikia

"Stalkers are the second stage of the Infected that have characteristics of both Runners and Clickers, mixed in the form of a hybrid. They are fast, can run and can see you like runners while looking and sounding as sinister in comparison to third stage clickers with the fungus just starting to sprout but attack similarly like Runners with flailing arms and in packs."
http://thelastofus.wikia.com/wiki/The_Infected
 

TheExodu5

Banned
I feel really bad for complaining about aliasing and performance. Despite these hitches, TLoU has the most beautiful and intricate hand crafted world I've seen (well, maybe after Dark Souls). The amount of painstaking detail that went into design this game is astounding.
 

TTG

Member
So I'm playing Survivor and I'm at the
sewers.
Is there any way to stealth through the area with Stalkers? I can't even get a stealth kill on any of them (for the tag) because they see me immediately, even if their backs are turned.

I just went through that on hard difficulty, and you're right, they're way too sensitive, unfairly so. If you creep even for a moment without the thumbstick down, you're toast, other times they notice anyway. There's also the holdover from Uncharted where an enemy will see you if you're aiming at them, it's a bit ridiculous. I just used the bow to get through it without raising alarms.
 

Hawkian

The Cryptarch's Bane
What's the difference between runners and stalkers? I finished the game but I didn't make any difference between both.
Like runners, they can still see, but they're more aggressive and can hide from you and follow you without having to have a clear line of sight the whole time, and make a different sound.
 
The end of Autumn / start of Winter has been really great, first time I've enjoyed the story telling and felt for the characters
Joel, noooooo! ;_; - I was genuinely shocked and lurched forward in my seat when Joel fell!

This section where
Ellie is escaping the town in the thick snow
is some real trial and error bullshit though. Maybe if you want to play it slowly you can get through without taking a hit I dunno but I just ran and ran getting to each checkpoint between oh so many deaths. It seems to me - and this is a criticism throughout the game - as soon as you engage in combat it attracts every other enemy, so stealth play is nigh on impossible for more than one enemy, you are forced to play brute force.

Any way, it feels like the game is stacked to the latter half, since the first half was pretty much very average in every single department other than visuals, but Autumn/Winter so far have been the most enjoyable.
 
Stalkers(lvl 2 infected) run around and hide and try to disorient you. Runners(lvl1 infected)...just rage and run at you :p

From The Last of Us Wikia

"Stalkers are the second stage of the Infected that have characteristics of both Runners and Clickers, mixed in the form of a hybrid. They are fast, can run and can see you like runners while looking and sounding as sinister in comparison to third stage clickers with the fungus just starting to sprout but attack similarly like Runners with flailing arms and in packs."
http://thelastofus.wikia.com/wiki/The_Infected

Like runners, they can still see, but they're more aggressive and can hide from you and follow you without having to have a clear line of sight the whole time, and make a different sound.

Thanks, I was too busy trying to save my sorry ass to notice the difference ^^
 

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
I just went through that on hard difficulty, and you're right, they're way too sensitive, unfairly so. If you creep even for a moment without the thumbstick down, you're toast, other times they notice anyway. There's also the holdover from Uncharted where an enemy will see you if you're aiming at them, it's a bit ridiculous. I just used the bow to get through it without raising alarms.

I believe they are impossible to stealth once
you aggro them
. Once they start
booking all around,
too late, you already blew it.

You have to be perfect there... and it's difficult, because
they are so numerous, and the area you're starting in is wide open. You were likely spotted by the one in the hallway on the right, but just being spotted won't always make them rush you... it'll just aggro them, and ten you're fucked.
 
I don't even know what to make of this. As you can certainly tell given past interactions we certainly don'thave the same tastes or look for the same things.
I am even more now doubtful that I will like it.
Do you like open levels with multiple ways to approach and tactics to try?
Do you enjoy stealth?
Do you enjoy a mature adult gritty story with none of the lightheartedness seen in Uncharted?
Do you like character development?
Do you like exploration and beautifully crafted environments that tell stories without words?
Do you like survival horror?
Do you like characters who are morally grey or antiheroes?
Do you like apocalyptic fiction or movies like Children of Men or The Road?

If you like any of those things, you'll like this game. It's not like Uncharted at all. The game is tense and violent, a shitty bleak kill or be killed world where every bullet and supply counts. The enemies are smart. The environments are visually incredible and just dripped with atmosphere and details

I've never had a game or movie narrative affect me the way The Last of Us did. I've never been so emotionally invested in characters, their development, and their journey.

I'd say to at least rent the game and try for yourself. But I highly highly recommend TLOU. Uncharted 2 was my favorite gamer ever before, but this game topped U2 in some many ways and just blew all my expectations away
 

nib95

Banned
Ok, this is no BS. My cousins came round yesterday to play the opening of this game round mine, we ended up playing 4-5 hours before I fell asleep (I've already completed it). Woke up and they were still playing it. They played it for 15 hours straight in-between a late night snack, breakfast, tea, numerous drink breaks etc. Neither of them have played a game that long in over decade lol. I'm pretty surprised they managed due to how bleak the game is, but I guess when there's more of you playing it's easier to manage lol.

Pretty insane. Told em both to go buy it for the multiplayer and they are lol.
 

nib95

Banned
O, and my first/only playthrough was 9h52m but I did a lot of dying and scavenging so it could probably be done much quicker.

Are you sure you played the right game? The quickest I've heard any one finish it is 14 hours. 10 hours seems excessively rushed. My first completion was 18 hours, one I'm doing now is 15+ hours just 65% of the way through (on hard).
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
Question then, is the combat as fantastically cinematic as they say? Particularly the melee combat?

The melee is a much improved version of what they attempted in UC3 with the blending towards surrounding environmental objects. Much less obvious warping around, and this extends to Joel himself who still touches the environment but in a much more natural way compared to drunk Drake in uc3.
 
Question then, is the combat as fantastically cinematic as they say? Particularly the melee combat?

The combat is easily the best I've seen in a ND game, particularly in what they're trying to achieve here. They take that environmental interactive thing UC3 had, but the sound design is so much better, and the M-rating means they can get away with more violent things. It's the way the screen shakes on impact, the way Joel falls backwards from a shot like it really fucking hurt and a speeding bullet just killed your momentum, the fluidity of the animations and how they flow into each other, the motion blur and deliciously violent sounding and looking explosion of body parts being dismembered from an nailbomb. This is making me sound like a psychopath here, but I mean it in the best way possible. There's this incredible sense of weight and impact to your blows, and the sway of your gun that makes every blow and bullet that much more effective.

The AI is rather smart too, at least the alert state ones. This leads to some very entertaining, dynamic sequences.

No spoilers here, but random situation. I'm in this building, shot one guy in the face, other guy ran the other direction and hid behind some shelves. I know he's there, he knows I'm there, too. I'm just waiting for him to come out and shoot him like all the other cover shooters I've played. But he's just sitting there. 30 seconds nearly go by and this other mothafucka sneaks up behind me, grabs me, dude in cover pops out and shoots me dead.

Another situation. 1/3rd through the game, enemies have molotovs. I'm in a room with two exits, front and the back, and a small window you can't jump out of. I stealth kill a guy, another guy sees me through the window. I try to run out of the room, somebody throws a molotov RIGHT at the door, blocking that exit. I turn back and around and pull out a revolver, waiting for these guys to show up. 3 bullets, gotta make 'em count. One guy rushes in, miss the first shot(and his leans his body to the left to avoid it, or maybe it hit him in the shoulder), nail him with the second. I run out the door, another guy is leaning against the wall waiting for me to run out, hits me with a pipe. Low on health, he's about to swing again, I'm about to die here. Then it was like the clouds parted on some shit because BAM Ellie shoots him in the back from above, I rush him when he's stunned, melee him with the butt of my revolver, then smash his head against a ledge.

There's this dynamic, scrappy feel to the combat. Bullets are a lot rarer here than UC, and every one feels precious. When you pull of a shotgun blast with your last shot RIGHT before a Clicker one-hit kills you, it feels great, in that desperate, skin of your teeth way the Uncharted series mostly does only in artificial "ledge you're climbing on broke oh no" scripted way. You scramble around from enemies and regroup, praying you have enough items to craft something useful. Running away is a legitimate strategy here, which is a big no-no for most games that are looking to empower the player through domination of all his opponents. But The Last of Us is about surviving. That means scrapping together whatever you can, desperate split second decisions to rush a guy with a steel pipe and hope you come out alive(you're not gonna win every melee battle in this game), praying to God that clicker doesn't stumble your way as you sloooowly creep by, trying your hardest not to use any ammo or get hit on this section because you know you're gonna have to live with that for the next encounter.

Best of all, it doesn't have that "happy-go-lucky adventuer killing hundreds of people" disconnect some people complained about(I didn't, but I get it). Killing people here feels like it isn't easy, and every death has a weight to it. It makes sense in the context of the world, who these characters are, and how the violence changes them. Combat is that much more effective here because of how all these elements add up to create this world where you struggle to survive, where the characters in the cutscenes and the characters in the gameplay exist in the same harsh world, and you get to experience that violent journey through your interactions.

tl;dr: the combat is good, and it works especially well at creating the desperate survivor narrative ND is trying to achieve.
 

LastNac

Member
The melee is a much improved version of what they attempted in UC3 with the blending towards surrounding environmental objects. Much less obvious warping around, and this extends to Joel himself who still touches the environment but in a much more way compared to drunk Drake in uc3.

I have seen in videos where Joel actually looks like he is physically grabbing and making contact with surfaces. Very impressed.
 

Kiraly

Member
How the fuck do I get past this part
the underground tunnel right before the hospital, with those two fucking Bloaters in the end
 

LastNac

Member
The combat is easily the best I've seen in a ND game, particularly in what they're trying to achieve here. They take that environmental interactive thing UC3 had, but the sound design is so much better, and the M-rating means they can get away with more violent things. It's the way the screen shakes on impact, the way Joel falls backwards from a shot like it really fucking hurt and a speeding bullet just killed your momentum, the fluidity of the animations and how they flow into each other, the motion blur and deliciously violent sounding and looking explosion of body parts being dismembered from an nailbomb. This is making me sound like a psychopath here, but I mean it in the best way possible. There's this incredible sense of weight and impact to your blows, and the sway of your gun that makes every blow and bullet that much more effective.

The AI is rather smart too, at least the alert state ones. This leads to some very entertaining, dynamic sequences.

No spoilers here, but random situation. I'm in this building, shot one guy in the face, other guy ran the other direction and hid behind some shelves. I know he's there, he knows I'm there, too. I'm just waiting for him to come out and shoot him like all the other cover shooters I've played. But he's just sitting there. 30 seconds nearly go by and this other mothafucka sneaks up behind me, grabs me, dude in cover pops out and shoots me dead.


Another situation. 1/3rd through the game, enemies have molotovs. I'm in a room with two exits, front and the back, and a small window you can't jump out of. I stealth kill a guy, another guy sees me through the window. I try to run out of the room, somebody throws a molotov RIGHT at the door, blocking that exit. I turn back and around and pull out a revolver, waiting for these guys to show up. 3 bullets, gotta make 'em count. One guy rushes in, miss the first shot(and his leans his body to the left to avoid it, or maybe it hit him in the shoulder), nail him with the second. I run out the door, another guy is leaning against the wall waiting for me to run out, hits me with a pipe. Low on health, he's about to swing again, I'm about to die here. Then it was like the clouds parted on some shit because BAM Ellie shoots him in the back from above, I rush him when he's stunned, melee him with the butt of my revolver, then smash his head against a ledge.

There's this dynamic, scrappy feel to the combat. Bullets are a lot rarer here than UC, and every one feels precious. When you pull of a shotgun blast with your last shot RIGHT before a Clicker one-hit kills you, it feels great, in that desperate, skin of your teeth way the Uncharted series mostly does only in artificial "ledge you're


climbing on broke oh no" scripted way. You scramble around from enemies and regroup, praying you have enough items to craft something useful. Running away is a legitimate strategy here, which is a big no-no for most games that are looking to empower the player through domination of all his opponents. But The Last of Us is about surviving. That means scrapping together whatever you can, desperate split second decisions to rush a guy with a steel pipe and hope you come out alive(you're not gonna win every melee battle in this game), praying to God that clicker doesn't stumble your way as you sloooowly creep by, trying your hardest not to use any ammo or get hit on this section because you know you're gonna have to live with that for the next encounter.

Best of all, it doesn't have that "happy-go-lucky adventuer killing hundreds of people" disconnect some people complained about(I didn't, but I get it). Killing people here feels like it isn't easy, and every death has a weight to it. It makes sense in the context of the world, who these characters are, and how the violence changes them. Combat is that much more effective here because of how all these elements add up to create this world where you struggle to survive, where the characters in the cutscenes and the characters in the gameplay exist in the same harsh world, and you get to experience that violent journey through your interactions.

tl;dr: the combat is good, and it works especially well at creating the desperate survivor narrative ND is trying to achieve.
Wow, sounds like the demo is true in regards to AI.
Also sounds like not two people can have the same fight.

Is the camera pulled in as tight as it was during the demo for aiming?
If Joel swings at a guy with a 2 by4 and he is using a 2by4 will the e emy block Joel's swing?
 

Ishmae1

Member
Finished it yesterday. The tone and setting are grounded, and there's tragic beauty throughout. I'm a bit disappointed that the controls the game defined really belonged to another game (Uncharted) and in that game, they fit a lot better for the scope of the experience offered.

Interesting that the best way to play this one is not to try to go all stealth / distraction - that makes the experience rather tedious. There's also a few segments where the enemy behavior rules shift for dramatic reasons alone, and that's kinda lame.

Likely one of the most intimately brutal games I've played in a while.
 

Cloudy

Banned
Just finished "Summer". Man, what a ride. The stuff at the end there was predictable but still heavy. This game is amazing...
 

LiK

Member
Just finished "Summer". Man, what a ride. The stuff at the end there was predictable but still heavy. This game is amazing...

yea, i noticed that the story is a tad predictable in spots especially if you watched played a lot of movies/games with similar themes. but it's so well told that i'm in love with it.
 

Jinjo

Member
How the fuck do I get past this part
the underground tunnel right before the hospital, with those two fucking Bloaters in the end
I actually stealthed that part. There´s a buttload of glass bottles and bricks laying on the left side (very near to them), slowly lure them away with it by just chucking it farther away from you each time. Then sneak to the end, boost up Ellie and haul your ass up the container lol.
 

JB1981

Member
Try loading it while you're signed off of PSN? Also, try deleting the game data and retrying?

I deleted patch data and then repatched which actually ended up doing the trick. However I was playing through the
Go Big Horns
level and I got to the section where you have to
push the garbage disposal into the fence
. The fence crashes open and I push the
garbage disposal next to a truck
. I climb up the truck and there are
4 solar panels with lights above them
. At this point I'm expecting to receive a prompt to hoist Elle up somewhere but it never appears. Was I missing something or did my game bug out ? Thinking that this section may be bugged I tried to re-load the section. The game never loaded and I I shut it off in frustration.
 

Superflat

Member
I deleted patch data and then repatched which actually ended up doing the trick. However I was playing through the
Go Big Horns
level and I got to the section where you have to
push the garbage disposal into the fence
. The fence crashes open and I push the
garbage disposal next to a truck
. I climb up the truck and there are
4 solar panels with lights above them
. At this point I'm expecting to receive a prompt to hoist Elle up somewhere but it never appears. Was I missing something or did my game bug out ? Thinking that this section may be bugged I tried to re-load the section. The game never loaded and I I shut it off in frustration.

From my memory when you get from the truck to where the solar panels are, there's an area that you can climb up yourself-- no Ellie boost required.

Edit: looked it up to confirm: here's a video showing the part I'm talking about.
 
How the fuck do I get past this part
the underground tunnel right before the hospital, with those two fucking Bloaters in the end

I actually stealthed that part. There´s a buttload of glass bottles and bricks laying on the left side (very near to them), slowly lure them away with it by just chucking it farther away from you each time. Then sneak to the end, boost up Ellie and haul your ass up the container lol.
I stealthed past the bloaters too. I didn't want to risk getting everyone aggro by getting seen by the runners, so I silently killed the two runners + one clicker with the bow, it's easy because as long as you don't alert them they're all stationary IIRC, easy headshots. Then just crouched and walked slowly past the bloaters, no problem
. Good luck!
 

JB1981

Member
From my memory when you get from the truck to where the solar panels are, there's an area that you can climb up yourself-- no Ellie boost required.

I looked all over for it and I couldn't climb up anywhere. I tried running up the panels, climbing the ledge alongside it all that. I'll have to try it again
 

Eusis

Member
This entire game.... used less than 256MB of video ram. Naughty Dog texture work on PS4 is gonna be legendary.

They used only 5MB of main RAM for animations... Everyone's animation! Joel [traversal, all ranged weapons, all melee weapons, all procedural close combat stuff] + Ellie + all enemies!!!!!!
This game is absolutely one of those special late gen games that represents a console's full potential and will undoubtedly stand as the PS3's pinnacle. It's what makes the initial loading time a necessary cost for the game to look and run as it does rather than just poor optimization like it is in something like Morrowind Xbox.
 

Flarin

Member
Does the season pass still include the documentary? Doesn't say anything about it in the description on the PSN Store. Wanted to make sure before I bought it.
 

Nokagi

Unconfirmed Member
Finally finished the game.. wow. I haven't felt this giddy about playing through a game since I first popped Resident Evil in my PS1. Great characters, great story and that combat.. that brutal and oh so enjoyable combat.This is without a doubt my favorite game of this generation. Thank you Naughty Dog, you guys and gals are amazing.*Goes to start a new game plus*
 

Jinjo

Member
Does the season pass still include the documentary? Doesn't say anything about it in the description on the PSN Store. Wanted to make sure before I bought it.

It does. Just bought it a few minutes ago and I am now downloading the documentary. You have to get the documentary through the ingame DLC menu.

Edit: Beaten like a clicker with a 4x2 in the face.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Ugh, that game was such pretentious shit.

Glad you enjoyed it though, they need the support.

I can't imagine you know what 'pretentious' means, no offense. Antichamber is practically the least pretentious game made all generation. It's completely devoid of ego, of any greater pretense than what it is: a game, that has superb gameplay and miraculous puzzle design. It makes no commentary on any subject or story, it claims no monopoly on any subject great or small.

Pretentious has nothing to do with Antichamber. You're clearly looking for another term. You may say my commentary on the game is pretentious, but the game itself is as pure as white driven snow.
 
We need gifs of our favourite animations. Wish I had recording equipment. Here's one from me:

Very slight early game spoiler (name, not event)

Runner grabs me, I mash away to get him off me before we get surrounded, I push him off, and just as he gains his footing to make another run at me,
Bill
finishes off another runner with a brutal headshot, spins around, grabs the one eyeing me from the neck, and stabs him through the spine. You clearly see the blood spread across the wifebeater, and the life go out of him as he crumples to the floor.

Naughty Dog's animators don't get nearly enough credit. It doesn;t sound like much, but the way every frame transitions perfectly and the animations mesh together, its incredible. If you didn't know better, you'd think the entire 10 second sequence of events was precanned. Gods, indeed.
 
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