Y'know what I love? These stealth mechanics. In almost every stealth game I've ever played this exact situation will pop up: I'm slooooowly walking behind some bad guy, just trying to get close enough to activate whatever stealth kill/choke out/hold up move I have, when out of nowhere he flips an instant 180 and spots me and it's all over. The other eventuality is that I get close enough but I'm not lined up perfectly and my context-sensitive stealth kill button doesn't trigger and I have to scoot around trying to make it work.
It feels like Naughty Dog reached into my mind and specifically designed The Last of Us so I'd never get into that situation. The grab'n'choke is omni-directional, so I don't have to line myself up perfectly. There's a short grace period between an enemy spotting you and being ungrabbable, so you don't have to worry about them turning around just before you get there. And, if you're too far away to grab, you always have that auto-aim brick throw to stun them before they can start the alarm. It's the first game where I feel like I can sneak up on a guy and take him out with no doubts in the back of my mind.
Better yet, it just feels more realistic and intuitive. How many games are there where you can actually hide behind a doorway and grab someone as they walk through? Stealth games never let you do that -- they're always so concerned with visibility cones and grab moves that only activate from behind enemies. Of course I should be able to grab someone when I pop out from a hiding spot, but I've just been trained to avoid that situation by so many too-rigid stealth games.
Uncharted has always had such fantastically smooth and simple controls, and this game feels like that same design philosophy transplanted into the survival horror and stealth genres. I really love how it all works in TLOU. Naughty Gods confirmed.
