Naughty Dog ends the console generation with the GAME OF THE CENTURY

[Eel O'Brian]

Played two hours. Think this is pretty great.

I'm really bad at this whole stealth thing

Me, too. I usually get about two stealth kills and then walk right in front of the next dude.

[Eel O'Brian]

Though you can see that its pushing the console to its limits.

My poor 60GB sounds like one of those hand-cranked cars from the early 1900s

[cool breeze]

Played two hours. Think this is pretty great.

I'm really bad at this whole stealth thing

Me, too. I usually get about two stealth kills and then walk right in front of the next dude.

yeah, the one big encounter right after the tutorials, I really tried to do it all stealthy until the last guy randomly spotted me.  I kinda like that stealth isn't so clean.  Also like that regular take downs take a good 5 to 10 seconds.

[Stoney Mason]

Played it for a few hours today.

I think its good but so far haven't been blown away by it. I guess I'm not seeing the OMG this is an amazing game sort of take. I'm still early though so maybe its keeps improving or something.

The game feels a little uncomfortable to me in that it wants to be experimental and deeper with crafting and such but it still feels like a very linear sort of big budget mainstream experience. Not that there is anything wrong with mainstream linear games but I don't think they quite go for it on the experimental side which I was kinda led to believe/was hoping for.

My first instinct was the gunplay was very bad. And then as you go on and realize its sort of that way on purpose so you don't go guns blazing into every encounter and just brute force your way through the game. The AI is fairly dumb but I also think that's on purpose so you can easily stealth around during combat and do silent takedowns from behind. And that's fun enough so far although I'm hoping it varies up the routine as I go on because 10 hours of the same stuff might start to wear on me.

I try not to judge a game on what it isn't versus what it but some of that keeps popping into my head. Like I wish the game was open world. It seems like you are on this journey but so far the world is no more expansive than Enslaved or something. This system felt fine in Uncharted because that game is really just a series of setpieces but this game is more going for the journey vibe but I feel like I'm going through this very linear constructed world and being told I'm going on a grand journey.

I'll stop there. Like I said I'm early so maybe some of this stuff is nitpicking or early observations that won't matter once I really get deep into the game. It's certainly fun enough so far and the world is interesting enough so its not like its unenjoyable or anything.

[Bebpo]

Played 2 1/2 hours straight.  Game has really good pacing.  Can't think of the last time I played 1/4th of a game in the first sitting.  Also seems kind of super short going by completion percentage and how extremely linear and non-replayable it is.  If I didn't have other things to do with my life (including keeping a normal sleep schedule), I could see myself playing the whole game in one sitting.


I never watched any trailers so I had no idea what kind of game this was going to be besides "from the Uncharted 2 guys"; kind of neat that it's a stealth game.  Reminds me of a more mainstream Siren.  I like that you can't just fight your way through the areas (at least so far because of clickers) so you actually have to PLAY STEALTHY and sneak around using diversions and such.  Cool.  The story is also a little interesting (not super interesting because it's like every zombie apocalypse movie/series ever so far).  Also I like how the game has both stealth zombie sneaking and then FIGHTIN' DUDES UNCHARTED BUT CLUNKIER combat.  The combat vs. Humans is really visceral and kind of disturbing at least so far since they're just normal dudes trying to get a paycheck and you're bashing their heads in. 

The art direction is nice and the occasional music is good. 

On the downside, coming from Tomb Raider PC and E3 full of NEXT-GEN, the graphics are pretty underwhelming.  Low-res muddy textures and fairly average character models everywhere + 30fps and kind of meh HDR implementation.  It's been a little while since I played U2/U3, but I remember them being better lookers.  Also there's not a whole ton of story/dialogue so far and the gameplay is fairly basic and everything is super linear.  Seems like it'll be a fun ride, but hopefully it'll do some creative stuff along the way for the rest of it. 

Kind of feels like a lot more low-key game coming from Uncharted.  Instead of big action setpieces, it's like slow, sneaking stealth around a few enemies and a lot of walking slow.  I'd be surprised if the game had anywhere near the staff that the Uncharted games had; seems like a lower budget/smaller team effort.  Not that that's a negative thing.  It's cool, just I hope this game didn't have Uncharted 2/3 budget/team size/dev size because it's totally not showing in scale so far.

[Bebpo]

Oh and I don't want to fault the game for not being something it's not trying to be, but man I wish they had tried to be a true horror game like Siren because the stealth vulnerability almost makes the game creepy but it just doesn't go that extra mile.  Could have been a really good unnerving Amnesia/Silent Hill/Siren scary game if they had wanted to push that angle.

[Shaka Khan]

Music is awesome.

[Shaka Khan]

And I like how this game is 20 years after the outbreak, with everyone already adapted to dystopian future. I'm rather sick of going through another breakout,

[Bebpo]

Yeah, and I want to give major credit to the sound design.  If the graphics are a little underwhelming, the sound is overwhelming.  Everytime I fire a gun it makes me feel uncomfortable.  It doesn't feel or sound like a shooter at all and I give them credit for that.  All the environment sounds and enemy sounds are great too.  It's a fantastic DTS mix sound effort.

And I like how this game is 20 years after the outbreak, with everyone already adapted to dystopian future. I'm rather sick of going through another breakout,

I agree but at the same time, the intro didn't really make it feel like it'd been 20 years.  Maybe 1-3 would be believable, but by 20 years I'd expect society to look like Half-life 2.

[Shaka Khan]

Playing the Clicker stealth segment on Hard and with Listening Mode turned off is exhausting. I had to turn it off.

[Mr. Gundam]

Was able to play through the prologue this morning while my daughter was napping.

Speaking of that...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

You know how they say becoming a parent changes you? I got teary eyed when Sarah died. Knew it was coming, still didn't help when she got shot by the soldier.

Totally never would've happened to me prior to having a kid. And yeah, Fuck you all. 

[close]

Also, I think it's pretty clear from the game so far that Monsanto really is fucking evil.

[Don Flamenco]

a monsanto angle to the story?   okay, interest rising a little. 

but i've missed launch, may as well wait till $40 or less after everyone rushes to sell off their copies after beating SP.

[Mr. Gundam]

a monsanto angle to the story?   okay, interest rising a little. 

Not really. They just mention in the prologue that

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The infection is tied to wheat. I like to think it's a jab at Monsanto and genetically modified foods.

[close]

[fistfulofmetal]

Game is quality.

However I am not in love with it. I am finding some of the segments to be pushing me in a specific gameplay style which undercuts the notion that I can play stealthy or full combat. I do not like when the game forces me to kill a dozen dudes to proceed.

I also find the melee combat to be a bit clumsy at times.

I think Naughty Dog has almost created a game where killing humans is a pretty major deal. It's not quite there but it's one of the closest examples I've seen.

[Stoney Mason]

I'm about halfway through now. I'll make one more post about the game after I'm done to sort of give my overall review. Right now I can say that its a good game but it's not close to game of the generation or anything for me at least. I have a sneaky feeling that in fact if another developer made this game, reviewers would be more critical of it on the gameplay side. They would say it has great voice acting, good immersion story wise but they wouldn't be giving it 10 out of 10's. I felt the same way about Uncharted 3 which was a much worse game than this but also got crazy good reviews. It's a solid good game by a solid good dev. I'm always happy to play those. But I think the hyperbole for what is here on the gameplay side is a bit much. (Not aimed at anyone here.) I'll go into more detail on the pros and cons rather than speaking generally when I'm done which will probably be Monday or Tuesday with the pace I'm on. 

[Eel O'Brian]

yeah, i really like the music, that doleful southwestern guitar really sells it

[Eel O'Brian]

also i was gonna download uncharted 3 and give it another chance since it's free on ps+, but then i saw 40gb and was all pffffffffffffffffffffffffft

[Himu]

40 gb?!?

[Joe Molotov]

40 gb.

[fistfulofmetal]

apparently you dont have to download all of it. i think only around 25gigs? You need the multiplayer and the singleplayer and the 2d movies.

[chronovore]

40 gb?!?

Downloading 40GB on Sony's network would take about 2 months, wouldn't it?

[Himu]

Can someone please buy Uncharted 3 on psn, download it, and see how long it would take to dl (and install!)? We need this answered for science.

[Joe Molotov]

I'd do it, but I don't even have 40gb free. 120GB dirt person PS3, here.

[fistfulofmetal]

I'd do it, but I don't even have 40gb free. 120GB dirt person PS3, here.

I have a launch 60gb PS3

[Joe Molotov]

I have a launch PS3 (Slim).

[Purple Filth]

its actually double so 80gb (until its installed)

unless it doesn't do that shit anymore

[chronovore]

Was able to play through the prologue this morning while my daughter was napping.

Speaking of that...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

You know how they say becoming a parent changes you? I got teary eyed when Sarah died. Knew it was coming, still didn't help when she got shot by the soldier.

Totally never would've happened to me prior to having a kid. And yeah, Fuck you all. 

[close]

Also, I think it's pretty clear from the game so far that Monsanto really is fucking evil.

Yeah, being a dad, I notice I get more emotional during family movies. I've also found myself rooting for the death penalty for child molesters.

[cool breeze]

There are some neat, almost elegant touches to this game.  If you're silently taking out enemies, Joel will choke them all out except the last one, where he'll do a loud violent attack to inform the player that the encounter is over.  Normally games use an audio cue or a change of music to get the same point across.

And I can't tell if the aiming is intentionally bad or just plain bad.  "Steady aim" is an upgrade but the Uncharted games all had squirrely aiming.  Although there hasn't been much shooting in the ~4 hours I've played.

[Pachterballs]

finished. GOTY. easily.

fuck its an incredibly mature game with a killer ending.

10/10

[fistfulofmetal]

Finished.

I played on HARD with LISTEN MODE off. Completion time came to little over 13 hours.

My obsessive compulsive nature when it comes to stealth games took over a lot and i pretty much restarted the encounter if I got caught or fucked up too bad. I did that... a lot.

Game is definitely quite good. It tries its very best to be as mature as possible when it comes to dealing with a lot of the tropes it's presenting. It's mostly successful. One element I enjoyed was that the relationship between Ellie and Joel grew very slowly. They aren't chummy 3 hours in, or 5, or 7. It takes a very long time for Joel to open up and allow her in. And they don't force it down our throats IMO. It happens naturally.

I'm impressed that they were able to make gunfights have a lot of weight. Looking at the stats, I killed 528 people. That's a lot... dunno how that lines up with an Uncharted game but when playing you don't feel like you're mowing tones of dudes down. In fact I mostly stuck to avoiding combat if possible. And it wasn't always possible. I wasn't a fan if the segments where I was forced to kill everyone in an area to proceed. I think overall the game would have benefited from cutting a few of the smaller gunfights which would give the bigger ones much more impact.

Going off of that, it's REALLY weird that enemies (infected or humans) SOMETIMES ignore your companions. It's especially weird when you're in a stealth section and creeping along and Ellie will be hopping and running back and forth because her AI can't figure out where to rest. All that while a Clicker is just inches away. But then sometimes they aren't ignored and you have to protect them. I mean, i understand the balance. Especially during stealth. Having to worry about an AI player fucking things up would be really annoying, so they just make her invisible. Understandable, but still weird.

I absolutely loved the moments where you're walking through old houses, searching through cupboards and stuff. Really great design there that doesn't look fake.

Uh... I'm losing the thread here. It's got some problems and drags sometimes, but it's a great video game. One of the best this year if not the best.

[fistfulofmetal]

Oh and the ending is fantastic.

[fistfulofmetal]

I originally picked NORMAL and switched to HARD about 30 minutes into the game, now that I choose NG+ I only can choose Normal and it won't even let me switch to Hard now. Lame

[Shaka Khan]

Fistful

[cool breeze]

This game seems long.  Clock says I've played for nearly 8 hours and am only 49% complete.  The ND Uncharted games are 8 to 10 hours.  Both surprising for the length and how fresh it still feels.

So far the only section that bugged me was

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the super zombie boss battle in the school gym.  Joel's explanation is "that's what happens if you're infected for too long."  Up until then there's this great logic behind the zombies...then a Left 4 Dead zombie shows up and you gotta circle strafe to take him out 

[close]

[Smooth Groove]

Why is there such disparity between how fast people are moving through the game? 

Does it depend on how stealthy you wanna be?

[Don Flamenco]

Can someone please buy Uncharted 3 on psn, download it, and see how long it would take to dl (and install!)? We need this answered for science.

18gb for AE took about 3-4 hours, i think. 

[Stoney Mason]

Why is there such disparity between how fast people are moving through the game? 

Does it depend on how stealthy you wanna be?

Probably. The game is mostly walking around looking for scavenge materials followed by story cutscenes, followed by combat/stealth sequence. Repeat that cycle. The game tries to encourage you to play it stealthily and such but about halfway through the game I just mostly stopped doing that as the stealth stuff is frustrating with the mechanics in the game imo. It also cheats the stealth sometimes which is annoying. Blasting your way through is faster of course than creeping around every section and trying to backstab people. 

I think the game is of decent length no matter which route you take probably relative to most modern single player games that aren't big expansive affairs.

[Shaka Khan]

I'm halfway through and stealth portions is possibly the biggest thing slowing me down but I don't mind. Playing on hard means you get fewer supplies so up until this I can't blast my way through even though I want to sometimes when my nerves can't handle the tension.

Everything in this game is depletable, not only your ammo, but your knife (shivs), you melee weapons (stick rods), and obviously other craftable items. And thanks to this the tension is even more enforced. My biggest gripes so far, which I've shared elsewhere, is exactly what fistful said: AI companions spazzing out trying to figure where to rest during stealth sections, to the point where they bump into the Clickers without alerting them. The reviews who rated the game lower than their peers due in part to this issue are justified; it can become jarring at certain points. At some point I just decided to let it go and stop considering the game as an uber realistic experience, but a game with hilarious unintentional missteps so I could enjoy it more.

[chronovore]

There are some neat, almost elegant touches to this game.  If you're silently taking out enemies, Joel will choke them all out except the last one, where he'll do a loud violent attack to inform the player that the encounter is over.  Normally games use an audio cue or a change of music to get the same point across.

And I can't tell if the aiming is intentionally bad or just plain bad.  "Steady aim" is an upgrade but the Uncharted games all had squirrely aiming.  Although there hasn't been much shooting in the ~4 hours I've played.

Batman: Arkham City (and I think Arkham Asylum) also cut to a cinematic angle and bolder sound effects when taking out the last enemy in any area. It's great. Tomb Raider also did something along these lines, though it may have just been a music cue.

[fistfulofmetal]

Why is there such disparity between how fast people are moving through the game? 

Does it depend on how stealthy you wanna be?

I played full stealth. Dunno why it's taking so long for most people...

[fistfulofmetal]

I wanna take some time and go through some of the really great moments from start to finish in a spoilery fashion.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

-The opening. Goddamn that opening. I replayed it and I noticed so many amazing touches. Like the walk animation of Sara when she first gets up, then when she see's the explosion outside she she starts to walk a little faster with more tension, then when she see's the police cars. it's such a little thing that they didn't have to do but it makes it all the more impressive. Just the fact that they have you play as the daughter is great. Then when you get in the car and turning your view around results in her actually adjusting in her seat like a child would. it takes a gameplay mechanic (spinning view around) and ties it to an actual conceit (a kid trying looking on in shock at what's happening around them). Then i couldn't believe how they portrayed the death of Sarah. It's not overthetop, she's not screaming 'daddy!!" or saying some dumb cliche line. it's just a brutal final moment where she's trying to cry but can barely get anything out. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that in a video game.

-20 YEARS LATER. This is weird to me. The world they show doesn't feel like it's actually 20 years moved on. More like 5-10. I mean I can just accept it that in this context it wook a long time to get things up and running but I get the feeling things would have been much more structured than this. But again, I can accept this due to the context. Plus it's required for the Ellie character to exist.

-I like the fact that they setup that Joel is NOT  GOOD GUY. He's seen some shit in the last two decades. He's done some shit. He's killed some people. It reduces the cognizant dissonance that occurs when you're mowing down countless people. In Uncharted, Drake is this easy-going bro who is also a mass murderer. In TLOU, Joel is a harsh man who's done some harsh stuff who isn't afraid to put down some people.

-Tess. This is a weird character to me. It's weird she is only all into getting Ellie to the Fireflies for reasons other than gain after she gets bitten.

-I like that any and all "goals" in the game are yellow. The Capitol building, the Bridge, any ledges. I like that they even do things like, put a yellow construction sign on the wall near a ledge you need to climb. I

-The fucking humvee with the turret. I was SURE they would have me fight it in some arena and I'm glad they didn't.

-Bill, I assume everyone picked up on the fact that he's gay, right? I like they didn't make it a part of his character. He just is.

-Henry and Sam. I didn't think they would dispatch these guys so quick. The "I'm infected but hiding it" concept comes up but isn't a plot point. Sam turns over the night which creates a great moment with his brother. Was sad to see them go.

-The stealth in the game is well implemented and has a good feel to it. but FUCK Listen Mode. What a terrible idea. It completely breaks the game IMO. I immediately turned it off and switched the difficulty up to Hard. I ended up restarting a lot of encounters because I'm obsessive compulsive about stealth.  But I had a lot of fun maneuvering around the arenas and using the various tools to stealth kill enemies. My favourite is throwing a brick or bottle at their face then BUMRUSHING them.

-The entire arc at the hydroelectric dam resulted in one of my favourite character moments and it gives a really good insight into Joel at that point in the story. Joel isn't doing this for Ellie or for humanity. He's only doing this for Tess and you realize that being with Ellie hurts him more than he's letting on, because of his daughter. He simply does not want to allow that kind of relationship to form again because it will only end badly, re-enforced by what happened with Tess. "You're right you are not my daughter and I am not your dad" Chilling stuff.

-Going off of that. Bravo to Troy Baker. Dude is a monster and gives some amazing performances between this and Infinite. I will gladly accept a one Troy Baker nation.

-Was weird how they cross the country between scene cuts. I had a hard time understanding where in the country they were and then all of a sudden we're in Colorado. All that stuff with the horse and tracking through the college was really nice. And I really liked the little stealth section in the dorm building, was short and simple but tense as hell.

-I WAS SO SURE THERE WOULD BE INFECTED MONKEYS. Thank christ.

-This was one of the spots where the combat got a little draggy. But then it all became worth it when SHIT JOEL!! Naughty Dog are really good at giving the player control over a character who is badly wounded. And I think it was one of the other great character moments in the game. Joel is fucked and Ellie has to step up, and step up she most definitely does.

-Then HOLY SHIT you're playing as Ellie. That entire section where you're tracking the deer was really great. It's such a simple idea that's executed incredibly well.

-The stand-off section with the creepy dude David in the saw mill was fucking HARD. the hardest part of game. took me like 20 minutes to get by it.

-In concept, the back and forth between playing as Ellie and Joel as she escapes. The fact that SHE ESCAPES was impressive. Also, JOELS INJURY IS ACTUALLY RELEVANT. You don't move around as fast and your aim is noticeably worse. Ellie is just such fun to play as she's faster and has the insta kill after you stun an enemy and BOY is it brutal.

-The stand-off with David was a bit gamey with the broken glass in specific parts. However it was still a really tense moment. Especially on the third go where he's sneaking around himself. I could not imagine playing this part with LISTEN MODE on. Seems like it would make it way too easy.

-The giraffe moment. It's the most manipulative moment in the game. Still touching.

-The reveal that Ellie needs to die to "create the cure". It's cliche, and IMO this entire section is the most cliche. Thankfully it's handled with care so it doesn't focus on the notion of the cure but rather, Joel's decision to BECOME the father figure he previously rejected. Throughout this entire game he's literally just "the smuggler". When faced with this choice, us, or her, he makes the choice as the father to protect his "daughter". Ellie make it clear she doesnt want it to be for nothing, so would she have gone for it? Obviously she never had the chance to make that choice. It goes deeper still when she confronts Joel and asks him straight about it and he lies to her. Did she believe him in the end? It's subjective. I think that's the core of the story and I think it's important that we end it on that moment. The infection, the bandits, the "cure", none of that is really important in the end. The story is about Joel redeeming himself and getting over the past.

[close]

phew, that was a lot. tl;dr etc.

[fistfulofmetal]

Well, the ending requires knowing what happens in the last hour or so before the actual ending.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Joel and Ellie arrive at Salt Lake City to a hospital being used by the Fireflies for medical research. Ellie is knocked out when they are found and they knock Joel out too because they don't know who he is. When Joel awakes he is told they took Ellie to surgery because they need to basically pull out her brain (which is where the infected resides) for the purposes of synthesizing a vaccine (potentially). She's the only immune person ever found so they won't let her go and won't let Joel see her.

At this point Joel has fully accepted his roles as a FATHER FIGURE to Ellie and struggles with allowing them to sacrifice her. He manages to escape, sneaks/fights his way to the pediatrics surgery ward and free's Ellie. They manage to get to the basement when they are confronted by Marlene who tells Joel to think this through, that he can still be allowed to leave as long as he gives up Ellie. She goes on saying that this is what Ellie would have wanted.

The scene cuts to Joel in a SUV driving away from Salt Lake City. We aren't sure yet if Ellie is with him... then we hear here stirring in the back seat. She's been out due to the surgery drugs and doesn't know what's going on. She asks what happened in the hospital. Joel, knowing that Ellie would not approve of what happened, lies to her saying that there were plenty of other immune people there and that it wouldn't have made any difference for her to being there. Essentially saying that all this has been for nothing, something Ellie said she most definitely DIDN'T want to be the case.

During this we see what happened in the basement. Joel shoots Marlene in the stomach, puts Ellie int he back of the SUV, then goes back to Marlene. She begs him to spare her but he refuses, siting that they will come after them. He shoots her in the head.

The scene cuts to SPRING. They are back to the outskirts of Jackson City (where Joel's brother lives). Joel helps Ellie up on to a high ledge where she confronts him about the whole deal. She asks Joel directly if what he told her about the hospital and the Fireflies is true. After a brief moment Joel says yes, it is true, lying to her.

Ellie replies with "...Okay." in an accepting tone. However it's ambiguous if she actually believed him. The game then cuts to black as they make their way to Jackson City.

[close]

[Stoney Mason]

So I beat it today. It's certainly a good game. Certainly a memorable game with memorable characters, great voice acting, and good world immersion. I just wish I liked it more for the actual gameplay part of the experience. 

The things I liked are pretty much everything I mentioned above. The story isn't especially original nor are the themes. It's a mix of Walking Dead & Children of Men but hey its post apocalyptic zombie world. It's hard to be especially original in that area. The pacing is very good. The game isn't very hard at least on normal difficulty which is a good thing. You are interested to play to the next bits to see what is going to happen story wise. From my perspective this is a game you play almost completely because of story or immersion, or characters and that is absolutely valid. My GOTY last year was probably The Walking Dead which is essentially a choose your own adventure visual novel. I found the last maybe 20% of The Last of Us overly melodramatic but that's just my take. You could argue the same about the Walking Dead.

I just don't like the gameplay offered in the last of us and by that I mean the stealth stuff and the actual shooting bits. The first few times you do it, it seems okay and its seems decently fun to throw bottles around and distract people and then flank them but very quickly it just became really tedious for me. Part of it is probably the fact that I'm not overly use to the PS3 controller. I mainly game on the xbox and I'm very used to that controller nowadays so that absolutely plays a little bit into my discomfort. But I didn't really have those problems with Uncharted. So I think a good portion of this is unique to this game. And the interesting bit is its a conscious design choice on Naughty Dog's part. I think the aim was to make the combat less glamorous and less easy so they intentionally make the gunplay funky and loose. And I can respect that from a design perspective but I just don't enjoy it from a playing the game perspective. The same with the stealth. There are clearly mechanics and things they could have done to make this better and more serviceable but once again I think they didn't on purpose to mostly go for a minimalist gritty approach. I understand it once again...I just don't like it. Halfway through the game I just started getting tired of the human and zombie encounters. They were something to be endured to get to the next area or the next piece of story or dialogue instead of something I actually enjoyed doing.  I felt like a good portion of the gameplay experience of this game is playing a b league Splinter Cell mixed with a b league shooter. Instead of that part of the game being immersive for me it was annoying. And there is a lot of it. The best I can say is at least it was relatively easy I guess.

That being said there are lots of and varied reasons to enjoy games. While I wish the game was mechanically fun to play there are lots of games that are good games beyond mechanics. Grand Theft Auto series springs to mind for instance as that game has always had bad controls and not by design. I think there is a slight difference because that series offers so much variety but still just to make a point not every experience is the sum of its mechanics. So I like the game. I think its almost certainly one of the better games of the year. I have a feeling it won't be the best game I play this year because of my personal reasons I mentioned above but I do think its a good and enjoyable experience. I probably like it similarly to the Dead Space series. Probably just a hair less.

I was interested in the multiplayer and will still give it a try but I have a feeling the mechanic issues will stop me from enjoying it as co-op or multiplayer experience are almost solely mechanic based.

[Huff]

I've actually been enjoying the multi quite a bit. But I don't really play online games much. So take this with a grain of salt

[cool breeze]

Earlier I decided to commit and finish this game today, so I did.  It's long, varied, and expertly paced.  It's kind of amazing how talented Naughty Dog can be.  Like, I really enjoyed it, and while it might not have resonated with me as much as others, throughout I was marveling at the craft of it all.  The only part that I didn't care for, and I mentioned it before, is

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the section with Bill, particularly towards the end with the lame boomer boss battle and truck escort.

[close]

My favorite section was probably

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the University.  Very little combat, just exploring and having this unnerving feeling the entire time--although the experience won't hold a second time through.

[close]

Here's hoping Naughty Dog's PS4 game in 2015 2017 is gonna be as good as this or Uncharted 2.

On a scale of Man of Steel [Godfather of superhero movies] to Citizen Kane [Metroid Prime of film], I'd rate it a Zodiac.5

[Shaka Khan]

The soundtrack is not only great, but it's available on Spotify for streaming.

[Phoenix Dark]

stumbled across Last Of Us porn

[fistfulofmetal]

stumbled across Last Of Us porn

saw that coli thread too 

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Deez Last of Nuts

[Yeti]

Blast of Butts

[demi]

Mushroom Tips Everywhere

[fistfulofmetal]

this game is dumb as rocks easy on Normal. Ammo is everywhere, enemies go down like chumps.

really pity anyone who decided to play on normal with listen mode turned on.

[Stoney Mason]

Tried the multiplayer. It's weird in both some positive and really negative ways.

The controls still are bad. And made even worse by online lag. That alone will stop most people from playing it. It only has two modes of play and they are both version of team deathmatch. Nothing objective which is odd and kinda dumb imo.

There is some weird meta game on top of everything about having a faction and trying to get them supplies. It's mostly pointless and disappointing.


On the positive side its very tactical as you move slow, you shoot slow and inaccurately, and you can't really rambo it so much. You kinda have to stick together as a team and roll together and that aspect is so missing from most shooters nowadays that even though I don't like the mechanics of the game at all in multiplayer, I found it somewhat compelling just because of that aspect alone. It reminds me a little of a chunkier and slower gears of war on the mp side.

[Stoney Mason]

this game is dumb as rocks easy on Normal. Ammo is everywhere, enemies go down like chumps.

really pity anyone who decided to play on normal with listen mode turned on.

That's the only way I could have tolerated the game. Playing on hard would have made the gameplay even worse to me.

[fistfulofmetal]

sucks to be you i guess. I would compare it to playing Rock Band on beginner. completely ruins the experience.

[Stoney Mason]

sucks to be you i guess. I would compare it to playing [insert below par stealth game] on beginner. completely ruins the experience.

Fixed.

But to each his own.

[fistfulofmetal]

shrug. it's not a brag thing. just some games are meant to be difficult. it's like if you added in manual checkpoints and respawns into Dark Souls. It makes it easier and ruins the experience.

[Stoney Mason]

shrug. it's not a brag thing. just some games are meant to be difficult.

Except in this case they made normal with that stuff so in their view as the default experience that's what they wanted their audience to experience.

[Eel O'Brian]

I play on easy and give zero fucks.

[fistfulofmetal]

they wanted people to experience the game, period. you can't say exactly which way they would prefer people to play. nobody can say that obviously. the various difficulties are for people who just don't care and if you're one of them, whatevs.