Acheteedo
Member
Finished the game late last night. Had 'Last of Us' dreams all night!
The game blew me away. I've always really enjoyed the Uncharted games but they were never the type to break into my all time best lists. The Last of Us is without question a cut above Naughty Dog's previous work, I think they've really outdone themselves in almost every conceivable way - pacing, combat, characters (and character development), plot, everything. The combat was the real surprise to me here, they absolutely nailed the stealth/action/survival horror game mechanics.
The pacing was a huge treat, ND respected the player enough to know that they don't need an explosion every 4 seconds to keep their ADD from kicking in. Other developers need to take note. The lengthy downtime segments provided time to really soak the world in, to provide character interactions, and to give you a break from the horrors of combat. And boy is the combat horrible (in the "horror" sense), even towards the end of the game I would wince and even look away if a clicker caught me.
I played on normal, which was the perfect balance for me, ND aren't afraid to challenge players with difficulty, it's something I've got frustrated with in Uncharted games but always came out the other side glad that it was tough. In TLOU the difficulty seemed perfectly balanced just for me, I died 33 times according to the stats but I was never frustrated. I was always careful, always tense, and always felt like I could recover from mistake.
Loved the ending,
If there's one thing I love in any media it's anything that feels un-Hollywood. TLOU had this in spades, particularly the female characters and
.
I'm a little sad that ND said that there is no sequel planned, only because this is by far their finest work. While I think the story was wonderfully self-contained, I just have so much love for the game design and world that I don't want to let it go. That said, I also really think that it's time for ND to abandon Uncharted. They've proven what they can do with new IP, so for the love of god please do more of that.
11/10 - best PS3 exclusive game, in the running for game of the generation.
The game blew me away. I've always really enjoyed the Uncharted games but they were never the type to break into my all time best lists. The Last of Us is without question a cut above Naughty Dog's previous work, I think they've really outdone themselves in almost every conceivable way - pacing, combat, characters (and character development), plot, everything. The combat was the real surprise to me here, they absolutely nailed the stealth/action/survival horror game mechanics.
The pacing was a huge treat, ND respected the player enough to know that they don't need an explosion every 4 seconds to keep their ADD from kicking in. Other developers need to take note. The lengthy downtime segments provided time to really soak the world in, to provide character interactions, and to give you a break from the horrors of combat. And boy is the combat horrible (in the "horror" sense), even towards the end of the game I would wince and even look away if a clicker caught me.
I played on normal, which was the perfect balance for me, ND aren't afraid to challenge players with difficulty, it's something I've got frustrated with in Uncharted games but always came out the other side glad that it was tough. In TLOU the difficulty seemed perfectly balanced just for me, I died 33 times according to the stats but I was never frustrated. I was always careful, always tense, and always felt like I could recover from mistake.
Loved the ending,
it really surprised me, which I didn't expect! As the ending was approaching I kept debating in my mind - is Ellie going to die, or is Joel? No, it's definitely Joel, definitely Joel... no wait, I see how things are shaping up, it's definitely Ellie. Didn't ever expect them both to come out alive, and I was floored by the way it happened, such a sour, bleak ending, I felt so conflicted. I'm really glad I didn't get a choice in the surgery scene, I might have chosen something I regretted later, I'm still not sure what I would have done, if I would have walked away or killed the surgeon, the game did such a great job of making you care about Ellie that I may have made the same choice that the game made... but I can't say for sure.
If there's one thing I love in any media it's anything that feels un-Hollywood. TLOU had this in spades, particularly the female characters and
the ending (spoiler-ing this, don't want to give anyone any expectations going into it 
I'm a little sad that ND said that there is no sequel planned, only because this is by far their finest work. While I think the story was wonderfully self-contained, I just have so much love for the game design and world that I don't want to let it go. That said, I also really think that it's time for ND to abandon Uncharted. They've proven what they can do with new IP, so for the love of god please do more of that.
11/10 - best PS3 exclusive game, in the running for game of the generation.
