The Last Of Us PS3 Reviews review

[speedlolita]

Why would you even rate a game without completing it?

Lol.

Did you play the Encharted games btw buster? Heard that can sway opinions..

[rmoxon]

Yeah, at least you can change your vote in the poll though, which I Imagine he will after playing the second half of the game.

[speedlolita]

Okay wasn't aware of that. Snarky comment withdrawn.

After what I've heard on both the Giant Bombcast and the 8-4 Play podcast I think I'll sit down and play this in one sitting.

[buster_broon]

Why would you even rate a game without completing it?

Lol.

Did you play the Encharted games btw buster? Heard that can sway opinions..

I don't think reviewers finish every game before its given a score - surely

but its how I feel at the time and it wont get any higher due to the little niggles

haven't played any of the uncharted games yet but might give them a wee shot after this, doubt it though since I start a new job on Thursday, so wont really have the time

[speedlolita]

I thought they did? Was always the impression I got from video game magazines anyway.

[dataDave]

Another BorersDown 10/10, how many is that this month?

[nakamura]

This is considerably better than most of the ****e that gets high scores.

[buster_broon]

I thought they did? Was always the impression I got from video game magazines anyway.

so games that get a 1 out of 10 do you think they would sit there for hours and play it until completion

doubt it - they may do but I know with games I didn't like or that were poor I would just stop playing or is it that most video game journalists age 25-40 are all jedi's at videogames, wouldn't surprise me if its on a machine that they all play and it might eventually be completed but not just by one person

[nakamura]

Reviewers do not complete every game they review. Pretty sure all of the reviewers completed The Last of Us though.

[capcom_suicide]

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

Cool! This is right before the game starts to really go into 6th gear! If it's already an 8 for you, the next hours are going to be awesome!!!

Nice to see so many others are enjoying this game, it's a real masterpiece.

[Colin]

Glad to see Sketcz has at least upgraded his score from a 1/10 to a 3/10. I've got no issues with him not liking it, god knows there are many beloved games on this forum that I think are ****e, but the 1/10 just looked petty and childish.

[buster_broon]

tried to play it last night and I got to a bit where there is an armour car with a mounted gun (prob not a spoiler) and it crashed big time

just went to sleep and if im half way through this I doubt im going to finish it before I start my training

I think the combat is a little broken at times because they can hit you from miles but im sure it plays like uncharted that way

tried to kill a guy with body armour using the bow and arrow, was quite funny watching them bounce off him

but...... as with the problems already stated the guy didn't even move as if he was being attacked and just went about his business

[wakka]

I completed this last night. Really enjoyed it - the cutscenes were some of the best I've ever seen in a videogame, the writing and acting combined to elevate it from the usual dross we're forced to put up with.

The gameplay I found fairly average for the most part. Run around, pick stuff up, combine stuff to make new stuff, shoot guns, sneak up on people for Tenchu-style stealth kills. But as a game it's really not about the core gameplay loops, it's all about the stuff that wraps around it. Sketcz's comments above I find pretty silly, as this game is in no way intended to be a survival simulation, but a slick thrill ride - not every game needs to be realistic.

->Open Spoiler<-

My feelings were pretty ambivalent until the end of the Fall and the beginning of Winter. This section really knocked me for six - having merrily trundled through ruined buildings shooting monsters in the face for about 10 hours, I wasn't expecting such a bold twist as to take Joel out of the equation. The first level of Winter is genuinely superb in my opinion, hunting the deer is atmospheric and starkly lonely compared to the city and its militant gangs. The vignette of the cult of cannibals that follows is intriguing and exciting, and for me felt very influenced by Damon Lindelof -I got a strong 'Lost' vibe from it (in a good way, not in an hours-of-filler-for-an-ending-that-completely-does-not-deliver way).

Speaking of endings - this game has one of the best endings of any game I have ever played. It is so rare to play a game with an ending that actually delivers. In fact I'm usually resigned to the fact that every game I play will have a crap ending that in no way rewards me for the hours I've sunk in, and I instead have to just draw satisfaction from the fact I've finished it. But LoU blew me away, my heart was racing on the final level as I fought towards the operating theatre, I was flustered as I entered the room and unsure whether I was being some sort of choice. I quickly lashed out at the doctor before grabbing Ellie and spent the next few minutes with my mouth agape as the finale unfolded.

Joel's a bad guy. A selfish, damaged psychopath. And it makes sense, because you've just spent 15 hours slaughtering people brutally left, right and centre. Nathan Drake does that and then rounds things with some banter with Sully and a wink and a kiss for the girl, which frankly just makes him seem like even more of a psychopath than Joel (at least Joel doesn't look as gleeful).

Another thing that I was really impressed with was the length of cutscenes. They're short. Like, really short. The longest one is 7 minutes and that's the exception - most of them hover around 2 - 3 minutes. There was some extremely tight editing here - to pack such an impactful story into such a small amount of screentime is impressive, and Kojima could learn a LOT from how this game is directed. I love the MGS series to pieces but 4 was simply ridiculous. You could tell that it was barely edited and the dialogue had flowed pretty much directly from Kojima's pen onto the screen.

With regards to what Sketcz was saying earlier about how they should've explained how he gets all the ammo before the 'hanging upside down' part - they may well have at some point written and storyboarded explanations for these kinds of incidentals, but they were mostly likely cut from the final script. Everything incidental must have been cut because there is no flab - these cutscenes are tight and to the point.

Rated 9, because while the gameplay is fun, it's pretty unexceptional.

[Golgo]

Glad to see Sketcz has at least upgraded his score from a 1/10 to a 3/10. I've got no issues with him not liking it, god knows there are many beloved games on this forum that I think are ****e, but the 1/10 just looked petty and childish.

Someone was complaining about a 1/10 on the Journey thread the other day. Had a check. Guess who? It's his thing.

[speedlolita]

so games that get a 1 out of 10 do you think they would sit there for hours and play it until completion

doubt it - they may do but I know with games I didn't like or that were poor I would just stop playing or is it that most video game journalists age 25-40 are all jedi's at videogames, wouldn't surprise me if its on a machine that they all play and it might eventually be completed but not just by one person

I would assume that's what they're paid to do really. But I don't think many games get 1 out of 10 as it is anyway.