Black Republican
Member
im sure its just neogaf overreacting as usual, sigh
What's up with all the negativity around The Last of Us now?
- Thread starter Peterthumpa
- Start date
It's a certain type of game that's been extremely divisive among people lately. Understand that, and appreciate it for what it is or avoid. Or at least wait on a discount.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
So it sounds like one of the chief complaints is that the game is a narrative driven, linear experience? If so, I'm kinda more hyped for it then. I don't really care much for open world.
nah, some people just have a different opinion on the game. Hopefully I can finish it tonight. I'm going to try and write out a post about why Tomb Raider is better than this game, and break it down.
Just my opinion of course. But that actually is my opinion. It's not made up, or hipsterish, or overreaction.
I just value different things in my games I guess.
The game has some good moments, and it's definitely gorgeous, but I'm surprised it's rated so highly for its gameplay. You can read my post later and tell me what you think, because I'm interested in discussion about it.
Aside from the amazing intro and visuals I was actually worried that I might not enjoy the game. It felt overly restrictive and I felt like I was slogging through the first hour.
Thankfully it opens up after the first act, and it only gets more open as the game progresses. By the end I was heartbroken that there wasn't anymore to play. It's probably the most enjoyable AAA game I've played... like ever.
Thankfully it opens up after the first act, and it only gets more open as the game progresses. By the end I was heartbroken that there wasn't anymore to play. It's probably the most enjoyable AAA game I've played... like ever.
King Beyond the wall
Member
Definitly game of the Year for me. I was blown away by the it and have yet to play multiplayer.
Yup. Easily one of the greatest games of this generation. I wonder if GTA5 will topple it when it comes to GOTY awards this time. Will be interesting to see.
It's called jumping the gun.
There were technical issues that didn't save the game, so you had a lot of frustrated gamers who had to restart 5-10 hours worth of playthroughs.
I'd be shocked if it didn't. GTA just hits every journalist right in the g-spot.
Trent Strong
Banned
There's a lot of negativity in this thread. People saying it's like Dragon's Lair, and crazy stuff like that.
toastyToast
Member
People are crazy. The encounter design and the general thought process in each combat situation puts it above the typical AAA set-piece extravaganza.
The (50-60% spoiler)
was one of the most tense things I've been through a long, long time. I felt like I accomplished something when I finally reached that bastard.
The (50-60% spoiler)
sniper encounter at the end of Pittsburgh
Journos just love that GTA "Oscar winning story" but does that beat the Citizen Kane of video games?
But I really don't see GTA5 beating TLOU for GOTY. If GTA5 is anything like GTA4 then I dont even wanna bother with it.
Dog Problems
Banned
What's driving me crazy is the AI of Ellie and Tess. As Joel, I will be crouching and hiding while they are running around like idiots, bumping into clickers and normal zombies and being ignored. I make one small noise and everything is all over me.
Yeah. Prob the only AAA game this gen on consoles where a shootout is actually so tense and so dynamic. Lots of so called survival games like a certain CD game need to start expanding on the template set here instead of blandly copying another successful product.
Oscar wining? Try "best writing of the century." Someone actually tried to make that case. He's not talking about just games, but ALL writing whether it's books or movies or games.
If anyone's memory is foggy about what GTA IV's release was like, trust me - expect hyperbole the likes of which you cannot imagine.
The game looks stunning in parts, yeah there's bugs I had a screen half buildings half blue screen for a section. The plot and story although completely predictable and done a million times is perfect for this game, it's written superbly (bar one character that just doesn't work) and delivered better than an game this generation and possibly any other gen. Gameplay wise, it's just slightly messy for me, the gunplay and stealth just doesn't quite click for me. Non the less this is a superb game.
Seventy_X_Seven
Member
Nothing wrong with the AI? They are serviceable but extremely stupid, both friendly and enemy. For a game with so much emphasis on stealth it sucks that the enemy AI can't see worth shit or understand how to properly investigate areas where they hear noise, as well as friendly AI not understanding that sprinting across the room and knocking over everything on your way is not the best approach.
Don't get me wrong, I'd still rate the game highly and is a must-have for any PS3 owner, but it has its share of faults.
Yeah this isn't perfect as if you run into a clicker it's the end.
LOL wow unfortunately the original article seems to have been taken down but the bullshit praise around that game was insane. The worst part was the game was they took out all the fun of the game to add this oscar story. Id go back and play any of the PS2 GTAs and enjoy it for hours, GTA4 cant even touhc.
Shadow Ranger
Member
And this is why number reviews don't sit with me. So much implying of perfection goes on.
I thought it was an excellent game. My issues were;
Terrible initial load time (caching, I guess since no in game load time)
Ocassional glitchy cutscene e.g. it freezes, but audio continues, then the video plays back at super speed to catch up.
Random gitches ala Uncharted e.g. death by a fire hydrant, invincibility (never had auto-save problems). Also Ellie being retarded and running back and forth instead of jumping on the bloody raft. Means I am stuck until she gets on as Joel won't let go once the raft is in position.
It does nothing new in terms of gameplay. Great sound design but everything else are mechanics other games have but repackaged. It all comes together nicely but nothing actually ground breaking.
The delivery, voice acting and mo-cap are top notch and Naught Dog are unmatched in providing a convincing story, with convincing characters in a convincing world (aside from AI running around blatantly in front of enemies). The game itself is not groundbreaking, though.
What Naughty Dog seem to be great at doing is rolling various facets (gameplay, story, animation, sound and overall design) into a compelling package. I don't think many devs can do this, so ND definitely deserve praise in that regards. But again, from a gameplay perspective, it is not revolutionary or new, with other games using certain elements way better, such as stealth...
Still a game every PS3 owner should play, or watch someone play. Both enjoyable experiences.
Quick edit:
I thought it was an excellent game. My issues were;
Terrible initial load time (caching, I guess since no in game load time)
Ocassional glitchy cutscene e.g. it freezes, but audio continues, then the video plays back at super speed to catch up.
Random gitches ala Uncharted e.g. death by a fire hydrant, invincibility (never had auto-save problems). Also Ellie being retarded and running back and forth instead of jumping on the bloody raft. Means I am stuck until she gets on as Joel won't let go once the raft is in position.
It does nothing new in terms of gameplay. Great sound design but everything else are mechanics other games have but repackaged. It all comes together nicely but nothing actually ground breaking.
The delivery, voice acting and mo-cap are top notch and Naught Dog are unmatched in providing a convincing story, with convincing characters in a convincing world (aside from AI running around blatantly in front of enemies). The game itself is not groundbreaking, though.
What Naughty Dog seem to be great at doing is rolling various facets (gameplay, story, animation, sound and overall design) into a compelling package. I don't think many devs can do this, so ND definitely deserve praise in that regards. But again, from a gameplay perspective, it is not revolutionary or new, with other games using certain elements way better, such as stealth...
Still a game every PS3 owner should play, or watch someone play. Both enjoyable experiences.
Quick edit:
The bow and arrow is soooooo good! And so is Nolan North.
PrivateRyan
Member
The Last Of Us reviews come in - knives out for anyone who didn't give it 10/10
The Last Of Us finally comes out - knives out for those who gave it 10/10
Sigh
The Last Of Us finally comes out - knives out for those who gave it 10/10
Sigh
Just because something get's a 10 doesn't mean it's perfect.
I have lots of issues with the game as well, but at it's core, the narrative and the relationship of it's characters is what makes me want to give it a 10. Doesn't mean it's perfect, but it makes the other issues shrink in comparison.
This indicates less that game reviewers are corrupt and more that nerds are terrible, awful people in general.
GlamFM
Banned
60 something percent in.
Good game but not great. My thoughts from the other thread:
Good game but not great. My thoughts from the other thread:
I could, but I´m at work and really should start actually doing stuff
Think I said what I wanted to say already. I had fun actually playing Tomb Raider and I´m not having fun with TLOU.
I still like the story and I think it looks great and I will finish it!
However gameplay and especially gunplay is something ND simply can´t get right.
Only my opinion of course - no need to convince me! I like it - I just wish I liked it more.
i am really really glad i didn't read a goddamn thing for this and basically ignored every review that rolled in and the hyperbole that likely came with it. after a rough introduction to the game (which goes on for a few hours), it has really picked up. i think they should have introduced crafting and other stuff a lot earlier, but whatever. the level design is improving as the game keeps going, although whenever i see waist-high walls and strategically-left-behind vehicles, i kinda get taken out of the element a bit.
PetriP-TNT
Member
People like to complain about popular things.
NekoFever
Member
Right now, in an alternate universe, you're talking about how frustrating it is that your meticulously planned stealth run is ruined by the dumbass AI characters not being ignored by enemies.
I finished the game last night. It was a great experience and I admire its ambition, but I did have a lot of issues with it. Feels like a great first attempt at a concept that the second one can polish and knock out of the park, just like Uncharted.
That said, the high points are extremely high,
winter
This is by far my biggest gripe, and when I looked at my files I didn't see anything of significant size.
What the fucking hell? I respect trying to not take up too much space on a hard drive, but if it's going to be this long for loading then give me a god damn install option, if nothing else I'm sure you could at least get all the character models on there so those can be loaded in fast.
Not to single you out, but this reasoning baffles me. You want to give something that calls itself a game a 10/10 score because of things it does that have nothing to do with being a game.
If the story was directly a part of the gameplay (such as with a Mass Effect or Walking Dead, where you actually participate in the story) I could understand perhaps, but all the story in this game happens when you aren't playing the game. The first hour or so is particularly blatant in this regard, as it's basically a series of "walk down this corridor to the next cutscene."
Shadow Ranger
Member
Hence why I said "implying". I know it doesn't mean it's perfect. But to Joe Average, they'll automatically assume it means perfect. Even outside of that, I like phrases better. You know "Awesome", "Superbly crafted", "The bee's knees" or whatever. Grades like 1up (do they still do it?) are fine, too. It's just a personal gripe, really.
And this is why I left my game running when I took breaks. Who has 1.5 minutes to wait for just my save file to load? That doesn't even count the disc boot. It is trade off for no in-game load, so it's not bad. But you know, in this day and age.... aint nobody got time for dat!
Broder Salsa
Banned
9.4 from me.
You say that, but the truth is that it was never acceptable. At least it's just ONCE, unlike Morrowind Xbox which seemed to take 3 or so minutes. Though in the case of Last of Us it should probably at least auto-pause once the loading's done so you're not pressured to say in case you get killed (though we could always just restart the encounter anyway, but it still doesn't feel right to just let it run unpaused.)
HAS it been better for anyone with the digital version?
purnoman3000
Member
Don't understand the gunplay complaints, I thought it was great, especially after you get the upgrades.
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EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I like the gunplay, but I don't like the controller lag. Not sure if it's my TV (yes, it's set to low latency gaming mode), the 30fps-with-dips framerate, Naughty Dog's engine, or what. Wouldn't be the first game, and it's an issue compounded by me doing 90% of my shooter gaming on PC with a mouse. But yeah, the lag is there and drives me a bit bonkers.
I have a rough time adjusting to controller lag though.
Dr D Wayne Love
Banned
Can the AI hear her though?
They certainly can't see her.
Maybe the AI is programmed to ignore her.
JimmyRustler
Member
I guess it's because you need time to get used to. I didn't like it either the first time around but have no problems with it in my second playthrough now.
There are a lot of things that seemed to get in the way of the stealth for me, and issues with the gameplay in general.
You have to suspend disbelief and ignore that no one can see or hear your AI teammates as they run out in the open as you're trying your best to creep around slowly.
You have to suspend disbelief that zombies can see you, but can't see your flashlight, and as far as I know that is never really explained. Do they not see any light? How do they see then?
You have to go along with the explanation that newly infected zombies just stand there and literally don't do anything, and can't really see or hear.
Jumping over ledges doesn't make any noise, and neither does crafting or reloading, but walking does.
Sight lines of enemies are either extremely sensitive and spot you with annoying frequency, or they're non-existent and you can walk up to a guard in their peripheral vision without them noticing at all.
And this is the primary gameplay mechanic; stealth. There are no puzzles of any kind, aside from pushing boxes up to a wall or moving planks around. They actually managed to make the "box puzzle" thing even more aggravating by having a box puzzle in water, and in the dark. That was a new one that seemed at home in the dreamcast era of game design. The platforming is non-existent, which is fine, it's not a platformer. Compared to the use of fire, and the physics based Tombs, in Tomb Raider, it's not even a fair contest really, even if you give TLoU a pass for going for more strict realism - there's just a lack of interaction with the world.
Upgrades are virtually meaningless, with stuff like increased health, decreased reloading time, and decreased health item use time, compared to meaningful and plentiful upgrades in games like Tomb Raider.
Shiv resource management doesn't encourage smart decisions, it just punishes the player for stealthily taking down clickers instead of using them to open doors.
Just off the top of my head ...
I like how the targeting reticle gets smaller as you aim to take your shots, but I feel like enemy AI is unnecessarily accurate and fast with their shots, encouraging a more run and gun style of play then careful and deliberate aiming like RE4 does with enemies throwing axes or shooting a little more inaccurately. So it's a good mechanic that kind of goes to waste a lot of the time. And I thought the arc on the bow was a little extreme. The bow in Tomb Raider feels so much more natural and satisfying to use. I used it the entire game, despite having an arsenal of impressive guns.
Moving up against cover has some cool animations, like putting their hand on the wall and so on, but half the time it's hard to tell if you will be spotted for peeking around a corner even slightly, and it's harder to rush into cover than it needs to be. Compared to the brilliant cover system and stealth/cover animations in TR, it feels behind. And in TR you have two very realistic looking, and satisfying rolls and dodges that can be used to quickly move into cover, and they work very well.
Listen mode can be used way too much to see through walls, and you can even use it while moving. In TR there's a "detective mode" that can only be used when at a completely stationary position, and it only highlights collectibles and the direction your next goal is at.
@ shinta
- I can let slide the fact that enemies don't hear the noise from crafting, but it boggles my mind that jumping over a ledge is completely silent. The only time an enemy heard my footsteps, aside from walking, was from dropping down from a foot-height ledge. Instantly noticed me.
- And about being "punished for killing infected with shivs", I'm pretty sure when you come across your first locked door (assuming you're exploring the levels properly), the game explains very early on that shivs break after you use them on these specific doors. It's basically up to you to manage your shivs appropriately. I'd completely forgotten about that rule until I came across my 3rd or so, locked door. Didn't have any shivs and I was PISSED. Since then, I made sure that I always had 3 shivs at any given time and only used them when necessary. As a matter of fact, it was because of that moment that I started to play the game differently. I started using bricks/bottles and cocktail/nail bomb combinations way more frequently.
- I can let slide the fact that enemies don't hear the noise from crafting, but it boggles my mind that jumping over a ledge is completely silent. The only time an enemy heard my footsteps, aside from walking, was from dropping down from a foot-height ledge. Instantly noticed me.
- And about being "punished for killing infected with shivs", I'm pretty sure when you come across your first locked door (assuming you're exploring the levels properly), the game explains very early on that shivs break after you use them on these specific doors. It's basically up to you to manage your shivs appropriately. I'd completely forgotten about that rule until I came across my 3rd or so, locked door. Didn't have any shivs and I was PISSED. Since then, I made sure that I always had 3 shivs at any given time and only used them when necessary. As a matter of fact, it was because of that moment that I started to play the game differently. I started using bricks/bottles and cocktail/nail bomb combinations way more frequently.
Yeah, I know. I'm just saying that it's not really a very interesting gameplay mechanic when you think about it. Managing your shivs appropriately basically means never using them for anything but doors. And yet the best way to play the game correctly and take on clickers is to sneak up on them. It just feels weird. And it's also odd that people can find that many bullets laying around, but can't find a single knife that doesn't break in one hit. It's just weird. It's pushing the resource management angle, and I get that, but I don't think pushing that actually adds much to the game in that case. You either use ineffective means to take clickers down, or you just walk past them and have even less to do in the game.