The Last Of Us PS3 Reviews review

[Golgo]

I can't believe Rowling said that! Should be pulled up under trades description act, lol!

Anyway, fair enough I wasn't best enamoured of game by that point either. I thought it was just about above average. Last half to a third of the game changed my mind, though. So I'd recommend giving it more time if you can.

[Sketcz]

Weak gunplay is a naughty dog trade mark, it annoyed the hell out of me on uncharted.

I thought it was pretty solid in UC2 actually. I loved UC2.

Right, that's enough playing and writing about games you don't like and focus on packing for Japan. I don't want to hear about you having to wear your pants inside out because you didn't pack enough!

I'm taking the weekend off!

I a need a break, man.

[rmoxon]

I might do the Sketcz challenge.

I have AitD, but never played it. I might play that and try TLoU afterwards.

What do I win?

!

You will win the opportunity to play a brilliant game just after you've played a terrible one.

Alone in the Dark was rubbish, the PS3 version was an improvement, but you can't polish a turd, so to speak. It was still a rubbish game with awkward controls and poor gameplay mechanics, it was just not quite as rubbish as the 360 version, which was completely broken.

In comparison the last of us is a great game that above all else is a very enjoyable experience. Unlike Alone In the Dark, which isn't very fun at all, or at least I didn't enjoy it anyway, I just found it frustrating and lazy, it sacrificed good gameplay for ideas that didn't even work.

Regardless of his condescending attitude with the whole "I'm a writer" thing, Sketcz seems to have lost the plot here, he's rambling about a lot of inconsequential stuff and simply ignoring the fact that one game is great and the other is rubbish.

[MrKirov]

Opinions are like arseholes etc...

TLoU was fun enough, but not the GOTY everyone makes it out to be, in fact I was surprised about how basic it all was.

I also agree with Sketcz - Alone in the Dark was far better than the some of its parts, with some genuinely inventive ideas. A much better stab at survival horror than most have done this generation!!

[rmoxon]

Opinions are like arseholes etc...

TLoU was fun enough, but not the GOTY everyone makes it out to be, in fact I was surprised about how basic it all was.

I didn't find the gameplay basic at all, I think it's quite complex in the fact that the combat situation can be tackled in many different ways.

But yeah, although many people may consider it the game of the year, not everyone will.

Trouble is Sketcz was actually talking about a design choice that improved the gameplay of a section of the game, it needed to be done that way, and he was saying that that one single moment was the reason he hated a game that he otherwise enjoyed. He wasn't making any sense.

Its what happens when games are so well received. There's always going to be people who will desperately try to find things to complain about even if their complaints make no sense.

[MrKirov]

I think the point he's making is that the upside down set piece was not a bad idea, but that just giving you unlimited ammo to complete it was completely immersion breaking considering that up to that point you were expected to conserve ammo as it was in short supply.

I understand his point, why not actually explain where the ammo comes from, or make it that Bill saves you if you run out- maybe make it that you have to use all of your saved ammo up to that point as a precautionary tale to "use it or lose it" (Alan Wake did the same thing). Even showing Ellie throwing you mags from the side would have been acceptable, but instead you just mysteriously have infinite ammo.

I understand his point, it reeks of laziness- ND want you to be immersed in the world they have created, but then take you right out of it for the sake of a poorly thought out set piece. A shame really.

I certainly am not enraged by it as much as to say that I hate the game, but certainly I understand the point he's making and would agree with him.

[rmoxon]

I think the point he's making is that the upside down set piece was not a bad idea, but that just giving you unlimited ammo to complete it was completely immersion breaking considering that up to that point you were expected to conserve ammo as it was in short supply.

I understand his point, why not actually explain where the ammo comes from, or make it that Bill saves you if you run out- maybe make it that you have to use all of your saved ammo up to that point as a precautionary tale to "use it or lose it" (Alan Wake did the same thing). Even showing Ellie throwing you mags from the side would have been acceptable, but instead you just mysteriously have infinite ammo.

I understand his point, it reeks of laziness- ND want you to be immersed in the world they have created, but then take you right out of it for the sake of a poorly thought out set piece. A shame really.

I certainly am not enraged by it as much as to say that I hate the game, but certainly I understand the point he's making and would agree with him.

I can understand his feelings to a certain extend. But I also know he's someone who has been playing video games for a very long time, and the fact that he values cinematic immersion over good gameplay boggles my mind.

Yes you could have Joel hung up next to a convieant box of ammo or have someone save him, but those are Deus ex machina's, Something which Sketcz complained about himself. Not only that but those things wouldn't improve the gameplay at all, they would just involve bad storytelling rather than infinite ammo.

Considering he's a "writer" I would have thought he would have preferred the infinite ammo route.

[Sketcz]

I understand his point, why not actually explain where the ammo comes from, or make it that Bill saves you if you run out- maybe make it that you have to use all of your saved ammo up to that point as a precautionary tale to "use it or lose it" (Alan Wake did the same thing). Even showing Ellie throwing you mags from the side would have been acceptable, but instead you just mysteriously have infinite ammo.

Genius. Not only does it remove the silly infinite ammo problem, but it's also a gameplay lesson which educates the player. Plus, it would allow a degree of non-linearity. A few games have had cool stuff like this. Players would be like: "Yeah, Bill saved me." But someone might be like: "Really? Because I got out on my own and met him later."

MrKirov gets what I'm saying. If at least one person, my job is done.

If you're happy with infinite ammo, and nanomachines, and other contrived nonsense in your games, well, more power to you for being able to enjoy those things.

A deus ex machina is only a problem when it's not telegraphed and comes out of nowhere. Having Bill save you is fine - for the last hour we've been looking for Bill. We know Bill will show up eventually. However, at no point did Joel say: "Keep this a secret Ellie, but I've actually got a magic gun with infinite bullets!"

If he'd said that, as dumb as it would have been, I'd have less problem with the upside down scene. I'd just need to realise I was in Deadly Premonition territory for strangeness.

I'm not asking for good gameplay to be removed, I'm asking for internal consistency. Having Joel fly would be super fun, but I'm sure everyone would be like: WTF? Since when can he fly suddenly?

[rmoxon]

Genius. Not only does it remove the silly infinite ammo problem, but it's also a gameplay lesson which educates the player. Plus, it would allow a degree of non-linearity. A few games have had cool stuff like this. Players would be like: "Yeah, Bill saved me." But someone might be like: "Really? Because I got out on my own and met him later."

MrKirov gets what I'm saying. If at least one person, my job is done.

If you're happy with infinite ammo, and nanomachines, and other contrived nonsense in your games, well, more power to you for being able to enjoy those things.

A deus ex machina is only a problem when it's not telegraphed and comes out of nowhere. Having Bill save you is fine - for the last hour we've been looking for Bill. We know Bill will show up eventually. However, at no point did Joel say: "Keep this a secret Ellie, but I've actually got a magic gun with infinite bullets!"

If he'd said that, as dumb as it would have been, I'd have less problem with the upside down scene. I'd just need to realise I was in Deadly Premonition territory for strangeness.

I'm not asking for good gameplay to be removed, I'm asking for internal consistency. Having Joel fly would be super fun, but I'm sure everyone would be like: WTF? Since when can he fly suddenly?

Its not that I don't get what you're saying, its that I think you're blowing it out of proportion, you basically said that one moment ruined the entire game for you, despite the fact that you liked it before that moment.

Its not even a big thing, its something that happens because it helps with the gameplay and is actually less contrived than finding ammo in that exact spot or being saved at just the right moment (which the equivalent of defusing a bomb with one second left on the counter).

There's also a chance that many wont even realise the infinite ammo thing, I personally had loads of ammo at that point anyway, and I seem to remember that the game did take most of it out of my pistol when I regained full control over Joel, which was probably an attempt to keep the immersion as much as possible while still making the sequence possible to complete. And it worked for me.

Overall I think Naughty Dogg did a great job with the game, and that moment is no exception. My first thought when I was caught upside down was "damn, I hope I have infinite ammo here". So they delivered what I wanted, even if they didn't deliver what you wanted.

[85 78 73 81 85 69]

Genius. Not only does it remove the silly infinite ammo problem, but it's also a gameplay lesson which educates the player. Plus, it would allow a degree of non-linearity. A few games have had cool stuff like this. Players would be like: "Yeah, Bill saved me." But someone might be like: "Really? Because I got out on my own and met him later."

MrKirov gets what I'm saying. If at least one person, my job is done.

If you're happy with infinite ammo, and nanomachines, and other contrived nonsense in your games, well, more power to you for being able to enjoy those things.

A deus ex machina is only a problem when it's not telegraphed and comes out of nowhere. Having Bill save you is fine - for the last hour we've been looking for Bill. We know Bill will show up eventually. However, at no point did Joel say: "Keep this a secret Ellie, but I've actually got a magic gun with infinite bullets!"

If he'd said that, as dumb as it would have been, I'd have less problem with the upside down scene. I'd just need to realise I was in Deadly Premonition territory for strangeness.

I'm not asking for good gameplay to be removed, I'm asking for internal consistency. Having Joel fly would be super fun, but I'm sure everyone would be like: WTF? Since when can he fly suddenly?

That doesn't remove the infinite ammo issue though does it? It just moves it around slightly and I'd question whether anybody would less aware of the problem you mention by them doing this.

It's certainly not a problem that's unique and it's certainly not the only issue with this game either when it comes to ammo. You're conveniently given ammo at set around the game just before you run into stuff you're probably going to need to use ammo on.

These types of gameplay mechanics are surely something that people are aware of constantly when playing through games? Your given extra ammo, there are walls to hide behind, checkpoints just before difficult parts, doors are sealed apart from the one that you need to get through,, etc, etc.

There's always going to be a line in games that break their connection to the real world and the acceptability of the positioning of that line is different for different people. These types of gameplay mechanics are incredibly common in games and unless you're willing to go to extremes such as once you die in a game you can never play the game again you're not going to be able to remove them.

All games must have rules for the people playing and the people creating them and those rules alone are enough to break the realism of that game. There's no such thing as a realistic game although there are games that use realism in certain and very limited areas of that particular game.

The ammo thing annoyed me but lots of other things in the game did too but I'm used to that in games and none of the things in this got in the way of the game experience for me. I understand these things are different for people and I think your opinion is just as valid as mine but for me I didn't have the same problems as you.

[Sketcz]

There's always going to be a line in games that break their connection to the real world and the acceptability of the positioning of that line is different for different people. These types of gameplay mechanics are incredibly common in games and unless you're willing to go to extremes such as once you die in a game you can never play the game again.

I would totally want to play such a game. Kojima actually jokes about wanting to do something similar for MGS3, but he wasn't allowed.

I've gotten up to the bridge bit. It's... Alright. Slightly better now. Though I agree with regards to resources. I've got so many I've had to start crafting stuff so as to collect more, and now I've crafted so many shivs I can't pick up those I find lying around. I'm playing on hard.

You know what this makes me miss? The original Deus Ex and STALKER. In the former you were limited physical space in your inventory, and in the latter a weight limit for your backpack.

[Lebowski]

Genius. Not only does it remove the silly infinite ammo problem, but it's also a gameplay lesson which educates the player. Plus, it would allow a degree of non-linearity. A few games have had cool stuff like this. Players would be like: "Yeah, Bill saved me." But someone might be like: "Really? Because I got out on my own and met him later."

MrKirov gets what I'm saying. If at least one person, my job is done.

If you're happy with infinite ammo, and nanomachines, and other contrived nonsense in your games, well, more power to you for being able to enjoy those things.

A deus ex machina is only a problem when it's not telegraphed and comes out of nowhere. Having Bill save you is fine - for the last hour we've been looking for Bill. We know Bill will show up eventually. However, at no point did Joel say: "Keep this a secret Ellie, but I've actually got a magic gun with infinite bullets!"

If he'd said that, as dumb as it would have been, I'd have less problem with the upside down scene. I'd just need to realise I was in Deadly Premonition territory for strangeness.

I'm not asking for good gameplay to be removed, I'm asking for internal consistency. Having Joel fly would be super fun, but I'm sure everyone would be like: WTF? Since when can he fly suddenly?

while this game dose take a lot of liberty's, infinite ammo parts, locked doors forcing you to fight certain things (i hate games that block off your escapes until you do what it wants) i think that's just a compromise were going to have to put up with for the moment until storytelling in games is taken more seriously.

it get's a lot right with its story telling and is a step in the right direction for videogames, it has a genuinely interesting lead cast and some great moments throughout, i would carry on just to see what you think about how the decisions these two make play out, it wasn't how i was expecting it to work out.

[buster_broon]

Been playing this the last few nights and gave it an 8

Is a great game and love the fact everything is so lean on the ground but there are issues

Hiding from clickers and my team are running around them or attacking them in some cases which makes all other clickers run in for some action and then the Red Cross above your companion so you have to help

I can also punch a guy to desk with 4 hits and most often than not 4 bullets do the same

->Open Spoiler<-

the boss in the gym annoyed me and took me 5 goes to beat mainly because he just came after me and seems a lot quicker and always caught me and there is nothing you can do, however if you let an infected attack you he just stays away which is odd

Some bits have been better than others, like

->Open Spoiler<-

being captured and upside down whilst Ellie tries to cut you free and you have to protect her, but there seems to be areas where if you manage to horde ammo you re going to use it up anyway and the guys who try to stop you by kidding in they re injured only for a shop gunfight

I haven't finished it yet

->Open Spoiler<-

at the bit where Ellie has the rifle and protects you from above

so unsure how long I have left to go

But yeah good story, lovely graphics and quite difficult in places but only early on when you have pish weapons

[Sketcz]

I've found it quite easy. Especially easy now that I've got all the weapons. Was on Hard mode last time I checked. I've not stealthed any section - brute forced it through every clicker encounter guns ablazing. Ammo is plentiful. Despite running out during each encounter, there's always more to pick up. The game seems to generate more ammo pick-ups from dead bodies if you run out. I've been testing this, and melee killing enemies yields nothing, but waste three shotgun shells and the enemy will probably leave something. Is this my imagination? I tried it in the sewer section. I'd die and reload, and try a different approach, and wasting ammo seemed to result in more pick-ups...

Playing this reminds me of all the other post-apocalyptic games I've played, like Fragile Dreams (Wii) and STALKER (PC). I prefer the original STALKER, modded or vanilla, since there's a lot more technical complication in it. It's very much do your own thing.

[rmoxon]

Been playing this the last few nights and gave it an 8

Is a great game and love the fact everything is so lean on the ground but there are issues

Hiding from clickers and my team are running around them or attacking them in some cases which makes all other clickers run in for some action and then the Red Cross above your companion so you have to help

I can also punch a guy to desk with 4 hits and most often than not 4 bullets do the same

->Open Spoiler<-

the boss in the gym annoyed me and took me 5 goes to beat mainly because he just came after me and seems a lot quicker and always caught me and there is nothing you can do, however if you let an infected attack you he just stays away which is odd

Some bits have been better than others, like

->Open Spoiler<-

being captured and upside down whilst Ellie tries to cut you free and you have to protect her, but there seems to be areas where if you manage to horde ammo you re going to use it up anyway and the guys who try to stop you by kidding in they re injured only for a shop gunfight

I haven't finished it yet

->Open Spoiler<-

at the bit where Ellie has the rifle and protects you from above

so unsure how long I have left to go

But yeah good story, lovely graphics and quite difficult in places but only early on when you have pish weapons

You have ages to go yet. That bit isn't even half way through.

i think you may have rated the game too early, the second half s better than the first... Just wait until you

->Open Spoiler<-

get to play as Ellie

.

You have some amazing sections to come.