Poll: Poll: TLoU vs. Bioshock Infinite

[Fox12]

There were many fantastic game of the year nominees for 2013, but the match up I was most curious about was TLoU vs. Bioshock Infinite. Since this match up was clearly not meant to be, I was curious which game the Escapist community preferred, free of outside influences and Russian youtube commentators. This poll is purely speculative, and I hope we can avoid the negativity that surrounded some of the official GOTY polls.

The reason I wanted to see these two games pitted against one another is because they both seemed so similar. Both had gritty protagonists who were ashamed of their past. Both characters lost a daughter when they were younger. Both games have an important independent female character that develops a close bond with the protagonist. In both games the plot tends to center around the female character more than the protagonist. Basically, even though the genres were different, the main characters in both games seemed to fill similar roles. Both games are good in their own ways.

Personally I preferred TLoU. I thought the writing was better, and Ellie seemed like a more compelling character than Elizabeth. The pacing of the story seemed better as well. I also enjoyed the third person stealth game play more than the first shooter game play, and felt like TLoU did a better job of making me connect with the characters.

What do you think Escapist?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Both games had bad game play and good stories.

Both games had an appealing female character whose name began with E who outshone the gruff male protagonist who was voiced by Troy Baker. Both games featured a central narrative about fathers and daughters and shots at redemption for a troubled past.

Personally I preferred Infinite. The game play was merely tepid, instead of actively broken-bad, as was so frequently the case with The Last of Us. There were times in Bioshock Infinite where I found myself thinking "I wish this had been done better". Nearly half the time I was playing The Last of Us I actively hated the game.

 

[Zhukov]

Heh. I see what you did there.

...

Personally, I'd have to go with The Last of Us.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Infinite. Great game. Until TLoU came along it was far and above my favourite of the year. However I think TLoU beats it on a couple of points.

For one, I feel the combat and gameplay in TLoU fit the game's story better than than in Infinite. Brutal, intimate, small-scale armed brawls go well with the post-apocalyptic road trip of TLoU. Slinging fireballs and flocks of crows while firing a gattling gun don't go so great with Booker's attempts at self-destruction and redemption.

Oh, and before someone starts parroting Jim Sterling at me, I don't mind that Infinite was violent. I just don't think the tone of that violence was the right fit for the rest of the game.

Secondly, in retrospect I feel that Infinite was trying a little bit too hard to make me like Elizabeth. And they succeeded for the most part. She's fun and likable and has a decent arc and all, but it feels a bit forced, especially early on (dancing scene anybody?). By contrast, Ellie was allowed to have some less likable characteristics. She's kinda bratty at times and she shamelessly steals anything that isn't nailed down. But she ends up feeling like a more complete and believable character because of it.

So yeah, two great games and my favourites of the year, but I have to give it to TLoU. It's nice to see Naughty Dog flex their muscle with something that isn't a kids game or a lighthearted foreigner-killing adventure. I look forward to seeing what they come out with in future.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Well I really didn't like either all that much. If I had to choose I'd go with Bioshock because I actually finished that one.

 

[Fappy]

Both games had bad game play and good stories.

Both games had an appealing female character whose name began with E who outshone the gruff male protagonist who was voiced by Troy Baker. Both games featured a central narrative about fathers and daughters and shots at redemption for a troubled past.

Personally I preferred Infinite. The game play was merely tepid, instead of actively broken-bad, as was so frequently the case with The Last of Us. There were times in Bioshock Infinite where I found myself thinking "I wish this had been done better". Nearly half the time I was playing The Last of Us I actively hated the game.

You know, I didn't really realize it until now, but you're right... Last of Us really didn't have very good combat >.<

I mean, I loved the Ellie stealth sections a lot, but there were a lot of times where the combat just felt broken. Also, I hated fighting zombies. Human brawls were a lot more fun.

 

[Zhukov]

...instead of actively broken-bad, as was so frequently the case with The Last of Us.

I know we've had this conversation before, but it still sounds like you played a completely different game to me.

Somehow I seem to have completed and thoroughly enjoyed four runs through a game that is not merely bad, but in fact frequently broken.

...

Y'know, I would pay admission just to watch you play that game so I could finally know what you were doing so wrong.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Both TLoU and BS: Infinite were OVERRATED GARBAGE, the Uncharted boardgame is where it's at!

 

[Fireaxe]

If it was free of outside influences, it'd probably have been AC IV and Bioshock in the final -- seeing as Naughty Dog were rallying people to vote for TLOU.

 

[Werewolfkid]

I haven't finished The Last of Us yet, but from what I have played I can truthfully that, while The Last of Us is a great game, I still like BioShock Infinite better. Just stands out to me much more than The Last of Us in my head.

 

[balladbird]

If it was free of outside influences, it'd probably have been AC IV and Bioshock in the final -- seeing as Naughty Dog were rallying people to vote for TLOU.

As opposed to Ubisoft and Reddit, who just sat back and let things be? Please.

unless you believe the deluge of people who showed up to make their sole post "AC4, brah, u mad?" don't represent "outside influence"

the whole contest has nothing to do with readers of the escapist, and honestly, compared to what happened in march, this was fairly tame.

 

[mohit9206]

I loved The Last of Us while i liked Bioshock Infinite.In my opinion Last of Us was a 9/10 while Infinite was a 7/10.Both were enjoyable but clearly one was quite a bit better than the other one.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I put The Last of Us ahead of BioShock Infinite. Just barely, but the gut punch of the story at the end puts it ahead of Infinite. I thoroughly enjoyed both games though and think they are both very impressive games that deserve to be honored the way they are.

 

[Smiley Face]

I've got to pick The Last of Us, for a few reasons, namely that I really liked it, and I ended up kind of... hating's a pretty strong word, I'm not sure it describes how I feel about Bioshock Infinite, but it might.

I went into Bioshock hoping and expecting to enjoy it, and I did at first - gunning down magic KKK is pretty awesome, the place looked great, and the story looked really promising. And then it started turning gradually more sour for me - the combat drove me nuts - so loud and chaotic and omnipresent, not to mention that eventually, once you hit the Sirens, the mechanic of respawning without your expended ammo meant that if you didn't get it right on the first couple of tries you were screwed. But I would've pushed through that if not for the story. I figured out where it was probably going to go pretty early on, because basically it's a mash-up of various cliches of time-travel/dimension-jumping and it was pretty clear that's where it was going, and that it would be a terrible mess when it got there. I played through a good chunk of the game hoping that it wouldn't turn out that way, but it did, while also managing to not make a whole lot of sense as a reasonable thing to do given the circumstances. My brother and I had a pretty good time cringing and laughing and cursing at the screen though, so that took some of the edge off. I'll probably get back to it sometime, try out the Burial at Sea DLC when it's on sale, because I really did enjoy the original and I felt this game also showed a lot of promise, but ultimately just failed, pretty much mostly because the story fell through, I can usually push through iffy gameplay if the story is compelling.

The Last of Us, on the other hand, was freaking amazing, like I expected it to be. I don't really have a PS3, but I managed to borrow one just to play it, and it didn't disappoint. The story didn't fall through, and even though some of the story was predictable, it didn't really matter, because it's a character-driven piece at heart, which means knowing what'll happen isn't qutie important, because you want to see how the character's you're investing in react and change so you learn more about them - and you also just enjoy it. It was a great story, and I found the gameplay diverting, a little frustrating at times, but I can overlook it. Music was lovely too, and well used.

Bioshock wasn't a character-driven piece, it was a mystery, a mystery about the two main characters, which meant that we couldn't really invest in them because it was clear that we weren't getting the whole picture. Mysteries either need you to like the characters or get invested in the mystery, and because I could guess the mystery and didn't like it, Bioshock Infinite didn't do it for me

 

[AldUK]

Thanks for posting the true reader's choice final. I voted for TLoU because to me, it was a sensational experience. I didn't even play it, I watched JP on Twitch play the game in one epic playthrough beginning to end and I couldn't look away. Bioshock has always felt, to me, lacking a little in substance. It's all very pretty stylistically, but the gameplay itself always felt clunky and awkward and the core mechanics didn't grab me.

I have been playing AC IV because of the GotY vote here and it's sensational, having an absolute blast.

 

[tilmoph]

Bioshock Infinite. It had flaws in the gameplay department (seriously, one of the few times in a game where a hyperspace arsenal is justified, and you limit me to two weapons and crap all for ammo? Seriously?), but was still fun overall. It sorta feels like they missed a chance to give a more thorough exploration of Columbia (for example; is it just blacks and Irish that are the menials, or are there some WASPy laborers, and how would they affect Vox Populi's politics and cohesion), but that would require lengthening the game; for the length of game they wanted, the shift from establishing the setting to character exploration is understandable and even reasonable in plot. In spite of these, and other, problems, I still very much liked Bioshock Infinite; the combat flowed fairly well, being more active and moving rather than plodding and cover-obsessed, Booker and Elizabeth were interesting and had a great dynamic, the twins were funny and creepy, hell Comstock wasn't bad as a villain. He wasn't great, he definitely needed more development, especially about his religious revival and his extreme racism and classism, and why the hell he wanted to bombard the world instead of just hanging out in his floating Eden, but he was adequate, and the reveal was interesting.

Now, I don't think B:I was the transcendental golden gaming experience; it doesn't crack my all-time top 10 (might make a top 15, definitely in the top 20). What it was is good, even very good in some parts. Not great, not extraordinary, but good.

In the interest of fairness, however, I should point out that I haven't played Last of Us; I don't think it has a PC port out, and I'm not buying a console for just one game, especially not one that seems like it might fall into the "good, not great" category.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Bioshock wasn't a character-driven piece

The fuck?

It absolutely was.

How on earth anyone could play that game and conclude it was anything BUT a "character driven piece" is utterly beyond me.

It wasn't about "a mystery" any more than TLOU was.

 

[Wackymon]

Obviously Papers Please.
...
Alright, fine, The Last of Us. The gameplay felt more... Solid. Don't know why. Bioshock Infinite I... Eh, mehed at.
Well, in terms of overall, at least, The Last ofg Us, while Bioshock Infinite felt Slow and boring, like I was spending four times the time for a story only half as long.