Revisiting The Last of Us

[asdfen]

I played this game on release and formed a general opinion that apart from a truly great ending and amazing voice acting I was greatly disappointed by everything else in the game. The gameplay was straight rip off from Uncharted with horridly done stealth from uncharted now being the only option for almost every encounter and Uncharted run and gun AI somehow was left unchanged... Enemies are deaf and blind sacks of potatoes. Then we have zombie narrative which I've experienced with better execution on many other occasions including the walking dead, State of Decay, Dead Space and some of Resident Evils. Overall narrative was unimaginative run of the mill the only thing which made it bearable for me is amazing job by voice actors that actually made trite dialogue still sound heartfelt at times. On top of that there was a huge moment for me of feeling let down because when I've heard Naughty Dog was developing a survival horror game I was filled with expectations and excitement which this game just did not deliver.

After talking to some friends who liked this game I've decided to revisit it just to see that maybe y first impression was off somehow. Well I am now nearing the end of my 2nd playthough and I am not sure I have the will to finish the game for 2nd time as without incentive to experience fresh narrative the only focus is gameplay and it is just terrible. The garbage stealth is unbearable for me.

Sorry for the rant, but I just had to share.

 

[tippy2k2]

I disagree

Uh.....good talk?

This thread seems to pop up once a month (GASP! Do we have a new "Half life is overrated" contender?!? So exciting!!!) and all the problems people who didn't like the game had (bad stealth, bad shooting, bad story, bad bad guys, not enough unicorns) are all things I had no problems with (except for unicorns of course; all games need more unicorns).

I found the stealth very effective.

I had no problem with the AI as it seemed to handle itself plenty well enough (it would search you out. If they knew where you were, they would rotate their head and move around rather than a static search pattern like 99% of stealth games, they would call for help if they were not alone, etc.)

The gun-play I would agree with adequate but I found it perfectly serviceable for the game. I never felt I was ever killed because the gun controls let me down.

I 100% disagree about the zombie and the story. I adored the story, which is probably about 75% the reason why I consider this my game of the year, if not the generation. Even with other "child protector" games like The Walking Dead, I have never felt more defensive for Ellie than I did for any other game.

So...uh....yeah, I disagree with all your points. You're free to think that way but you're not going to convince me that I didn't love this game.

 

[Drummodino]

Well I played the Left Behind DLC for the first time last night and enjoyed it so much I've started another playthrough. I adore the game, it is my favourite PS3 title and one of the best games I have ever played in my opinion.

All the complaints that get thrown at it I have no issue with.

"The gun-play is horrible and unwieldy!"

No it is not, it's just different to your regular third person shooter. Ammo is supremely limited, you have to make your shots count and aim carefully. You can't play it like Uncharted, Gears of War or Tomb Raider, you have to adapt. The scarcity of ammo and having to be very conservative with your resources really reinforces the world and atmosphere of the game - everything you can scavenge is precious and you can't waste anything. I love it for that.

The one minor nitpick I have (although this may be because I've only played on hard difficulty) is that enemies can take a few more bullets than I like unless you hit them in the head.

"The gun-play is ripped from Uncharted!"

No it's not, it plays very differently. See above. I looked at my stats from my previous run and I'd killed a grand total of 59 enemies in the entire game. 19 were from gunfire, 40 melee. In Uncharted you could kill 19 guys in one fight.

"The stealth is terrible"

Um... no? It's a perfectly serviceable stealth system, a lot better than many other games. Don't get seen, don't make noise and you won't get found. Simple.

"Listening mode is OP!"

You can turn it off. The hardest difficulties disable it automatically.

"The story and setting are generic and unoriginal!"

True, it's another zombie game of which there have been a million lately. While I would argue that the story is not quite as cliche as people say, it is certainly familiar. However it is without a doubt the best zombie story I've played (narrowly beating The Walking Dead). It takes a tired setting and shows how it should be done with a great cast of characters with fantastic interactions, voice acting and graphical fidelity.

So yea, I love this game to death. When I get a PS4 I'll probably by the definitive edition to play the absolute best version of it, despite already having it on PS3. I'm also getting a little ticked off about how people feel like they have to tell everyone why they didn't like it and why it's not as good as people say. Okay I get it, not everyone likes it as much as me. I'm sorry you feel that way, but you aren't going to convince me to change my mind.

 

[DangerRanger5]

The problem I have with the Last of Us is how artificial the mechanics are. Ammo is scarce so you have to make each shot count, right? Buy why is it scarce? I just strangled a dude with a gun but he didn't drop any ammo. Why not? I can carry nearly a dozen weapons but I can only store a few rounds of ammo for each gun. Why can't I carry less weapons and more ammo? Why does my steel axe break after a few hits? Why are clickers immune to strangling?
All of this is artificially creating difficulty. I wouldn't have a problem with no ammo drops if the guy didn't have a gun. That makes sense. But when he hasn't fired a bullet and still nothing? Forget about it.

Just frustrating.

 

[SNCommand]

I wouldn't have a problem with no ammo drops if the guy didn't have a gun. That makes sense. But when he hasn't fired a bullet and still nothing? Forget about it.

Just frustrating.

Look at it this way, they only have as many bullets as they manage to fire at you, if they never manage to fire any rounds at all they're simply brandishing an unloaded gun as a threat tool, Joel can do it as well with his gun, as long as the enemies do not hear the click if you try to fire they'll presume it's loaded and seek cover

Personally I thought the gameplay in Last of Us was satisfactory, it worked as it should, and it was gritty enough to feel fitting for the setting

 

[shrekfan246]

Your free to think that way but you're not going to convince me that I didn't love this game.

you aren't going to convince me to change my mind.

Come now, both of you surely must have games you intensely dislike. When you talk about them on an internet forum such as this, is your intention to convince fans of said game that they're wrong, or is it just to vent about things you find frustrating which you don't see brought up very often because the overwhelming opinion people seem to hold is directly opposing yours?

While I wouldn't say I entirely agree with the actual wording the OP uses, I personally did find the gameplay of The Last of Us to flit between "dull" and "infuriating", partially because I've been spoiled by playing shooters/action games almost exclusively on the PC for the past few years and partially because I thought their enemy contrivances were bland and annoying. They relied far too heavily on Clickers, for one thing, and human enemies during stealth segments had the occasional wonky fluctuating AI that flip-flopped them between being "realistic (if a bit dim) people" and "psychic super-soldiers that can see through walls". It didn't happen too often, sure, but I still saw it.

Now, admittedly for me the final nail in the coffin was the fact that I'd already experienced Bioshock Infinite and TellTale's The Walking Dead, so on top of just not being drawn in to post-apocalyptic settings in the first place the narrative was still something I had seen done really well just recently preceding it. It was good, but it wasn't good enough to overcome how much fun I wasn't having while playing.

And that's okay! Because it doesn't diminish the fun that any of the fans did have while playing.

Right?

Guys?

No?

Okay, I'll go back into hiding.

 

[Drummodino]

Come now, both of you surely must have games you intensely dislike. When you talk about them on an internet forum such as this, is your intention to convince fans of said game that they're wrong, or is it just to vent about things you find frustrating which you don't see brought up very often because the overwhelming opinion people seem to hold is directly opposing yours?

Heh you are right, I let my frustration get the better of me. It's just that I've seen a lot of Last of Us hate lately and it bugs me when people bash really popular titles just because they didn't enjoy them as much as most did. Bioshock Infinite and Sword Art Online (two other things I'm a big fan of) cop a lot of it too and it gets wearying over time.

I wouldn't say I have a game that I intensely dislike though... well maybe Assassin's Creed 3. I've probably ranted about that at some stage so I guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite

 

[tippy2k2]

Come now, both of you surely must have games you intensely dislike. When you talk about them on an internet forum such as this, is your intention to convince fans of said game that they're wrong, or is it just to vent about things you find frustrating which you don't see brought up very often because the overwhelming opinion people seem to hold is directly opposing yours?

But that's the problem I have with this thread (besides the fact that we just had one of these threads [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.858865-The-Last-of-Us-is-no-Masterpiece#21305255].

That is the ONLY point to this thread. All the OP wants to say is that he hates the game; there is no discussion value given so I have to assume that he wants to show us the errors of our ways in what games we like or dislike.

I do have games that I don't like but each time I've made a thread about them, I've had a point with a game [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.854881-Gaming-Cardinal-Sins#21162426] in my cross-hairs being the example [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.845427-Am-I-growing-soft-or-are-RPGs-using-more-bs-tactics]. I'm not going to make a thread just to bash on a popular game; there should be a reason for it and I just don't see one here.

Okay, I'll go back into hiding.

Good. It's way more exciting to hunt sport that is running. Mu ha ha haaaaaaa!!!

Spoiler

Note: I wanted to find the clip of Wolfcastle saying that but this was the closest thing from The Simpsons I found so it'll have to do

 

[shrekfan246]

Snip

Well, not everyone can be the bastion of perfect thread-making that tippy2k2 is, unfortunately.

It's a terrible burden we all must live with day in and day out. :/[footnote]Disclaimer: Not being sarcastic, making a joke.[/footnote]

Note: I wanted to find the clip of Wolfcastle saying that but this was the closest thing from The Simpsons I found so it'll have to do

What's this you say? The internet is on computers now?

HERESY.

Heh you are right, I let my frustration get the better of me. It's just that I've seen a lot of Last of Us hate lately and it bugs me when people bash really popular titles just because they didn't enjoy them as much as most did. Bioshock Infinite and Sword Art Online (two other things I'm a big fan of) cop a lot of it too and it gets wearying over time.

I wouldn't say I have a game that I intensely dislike though... well maybe Assassin's Creed 3. I've probably ranted about that at some stage so I guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite

Nah, I get it, I've had to slowly come to terms with how much more invested other people seem to get in internet discussions than I do. These days, I generally just try to keep people from breaking the website rules if it seems like they're getting too upset, and if that fails then I'll just bow out. I stopped getting defensive about the things I'm a proponent for once it became clear to me that most people on the internet just like to complain for the sake of complaining, as that's a philosophy I fundamentally disagree with.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

Yeah TLOU is the most overhyped shit i ever played. I had the "pleasure" to replay it on the ps4 and guess what? It's still the same game with updated graphics. Way to go ND, this is what you call remastered? I was expecting way more.
They didn't bother to change the ai or repair their broken stealth system. What about some rewriting? No one can't stand the dialouges, all sounding fake, forced and wannabe witty. The stupid enemies are ripped straight out of Super Mario Bros. I still wonder how ND got away without legal trouble. Nintendo would have all rights to sue the shit out of them.
The character models and animation are mediocre, i was expecting something more "remastered". The overall artdesign gets a 3 out of 10. Next time check out how real developers do it. Just to name few titles getting it right: Tetris, CandiCrush, Minecraft, SupermanN64, GianaSisters. Same goes for the sounddesign, remastered? Sure not.
I always thougt Mass Effect3 ended shitty but at least Bioware left the player with colourfull choices. ND missed the chance again. They didn't gave us new choice options during the story and they didn't even bother at the end of the game.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Huh... I was actually gonna have something to say since I didn't partake in the "The Last of Us is no Masterpiece" thread. But it seems like everyone hit the pros and cons of the game as usual.

Uuuuuh...
What to say... what to say...... oh! The Multiplayer is really god damn good! Like it almost feels like an accident at how well balanced and unique that game mode is. I could revisit that with some pals any day of the week! Definitely saved me from feeling like I wasted $60.... ok Survivor difficulty was fun and actually made the game feel as it should (minus the AI still being spotty), but golly this game takes replayability and just shoots it in the back of the head doesn't it?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I often hear complaints about the stealth in this game, but then my question is 'What games do have proper stealth?' Because nearly every game with stealth I've played sufferes from A.I. that just forgets you after a while. Realistc stealth (or anything) makes for an unplayable game.

Honestly the stealth in TLoU was probably the most enjoyable I've ever experienced. I liked that human enemies didn't have a clear vision cone. It made sneaking much more tense when you heard the sound cue swell up. I liked that you could shake enemies off and hide again -- you didn't have to wait for an alert phase to run out. And I liked that enemies didn't roam in a set pattern once they went into caution mode.

All of it made for terrific guerilla action, where I'd wait for a guy to get seperated, throw a brick/bottle to stun him, jump out of cover to quickly bash his head in, and then swiftly sneak back into cover before his buddies could catch sight of me.

But then the reason most people hate this game doesn't seem very consistent either. Some hate the gameplay and like the characters and story. Others hate the characters and story, but like the gameplay. And yes, this does seem to be the new "Half-Life 2 is overrated" thread.

 

[Benpasko]

The problem I have with the Last of Us is how artificial the mechanics are. Ammo is scarce so you have to make each shot count, right? Buy why is it scarce? I just strangled a dude with a gun but he didn't drop any ammo. Why not? I can carry nearly a dozen weapons but I can only store a few rounds of ammo for each gun. Why can't I carry less weapons and more ammo? Why does my steel axe break after a few hits? Why are clickers immune to strangling?
All of this is artificially creating difficulty. I wouldn't have a problem with no ammo drops if the guy didn't have a gun. That makes sense. But when he hasn't fired a bullet and still nothing? Forget about it.

Just frustrating.

I hate that 'FULL' message, right before he tucks a brick, two molotovs, two grenades, a shotgun, and a hunting rifle in his backpack. The tiny ammo limits were really jarring, considering that you can carry every gun in the game anyway. It completely ruined any suspension of disbelief, and made me hate Joel. I spent the entire game going "Please take the fucking BRICK out of your backpack and carry just ten more bullets, please."

 

[asdfen]

"Please take the fucking BRICK out of your backpack and carry just ten more bullets, please."

lol
oh another thing I forgot to mention playing 2nd time around I see enemies appear from dead ends/walled in closets and just randomly appear from no where.
It also totally kills the immersion for me when near the end of a lot of levels scripted hordes of zombies appear and rush you. How is it that I clear the whole area encountering maybe 10 enemies and then somehow there are hordes of enemies appear. Where do they come from? Closest zombie hatchery? Also if you decide to take last stand and kill them off with well placed molotov it apparent that games has infinite supply of them and they just keep coming from that dead end... yay.

 

[CGAdam]

I dunno if you've heard this anywhere else, but the best way to get ammo is to use the guns, weird as that sounds. I found that when I actually kept my ammo count low, bad guys dropped more bullets. I still ended up with more ammo than I needed for the big fights, too. The only thing I really stocked and saved were my arrows and molotovs.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

I am currently playing it in all its remastered glory. Love the game (on my second play through, first one was on PS3). Now having said that, there are a few points I've noticed. For starters, AI is not this game's strong point. On the other hand I would also agree that combat is very similar to Uncharted, but being a fan of the series, I don't see this as a bad thing. Regarding the story, it is masterfully done, and I consider that one of the strong points of the game, and the main reason why anyone should play it.

 

[l0lwut]

I Didn't see the appeal of Last of Us as well. Everyone seemed to absolutely adore it while I couldn't get myself to play past halfway. Now, I get why the story was decent, I watched a LP to see how it finished, but I got very tired of the gameplay. Like OP said, Naughty Dog just copy-pasted from Uncharted. And I really didn't like Uncharted as well.

All in all it seemed like ND tried to make the same lightning strike twice and just take Uncharted and give it a more critic-appealing lick of paint, changing the story and setting to the gaming equivalent of Oscar bait. It worked, and all the power to them. And good for all TLoU fans of course, they got a game they greatly enjoy out of it. It's just that I really don't get the universal praise it harvested all around.

 

[Netrigan]

Finally finished it last night. I've been playing this off and on since the PS4 version was released and while a lot of the down-time was due to a bout of Carpel Tunnel, I have to admit the game never quite took hold of me.

It really wasn't the game I was hoping it would be. All the talk about ammo scarcity and stealth made me think I could sneak my way past most of the enemies... nope. It's a low-ammo stealth shooter, where to preserve ammo you have to off as much of the opposition as you can before being forced to waste precious ammo. And while it leads to some really good tense moments here and there, it's often not that far removed from Alan Wake where you're periodically forced into arenas and have to take down all the baddies before you can move on.

The game I wanted to play was when you take control of Ellie past the stupid zombie shoot-out, where you have to make your way across town in a blizzard before a boss fight against a normal human who is simply bigger, stronger, and better armed than you. I love the cat and mouse aspect of it all, where a shoot-out simply was not an option. Unfortunately we spend most of our time as Joel, who isn't required to deviate from standard shooter tactics very often.

Plus, like the Uncharted games, I find myself being annoyed by the sheer volume of baddies I'm forced to kill. Late in the game they seem to want various deaths to be shocking and I was a few hundred corpses past that point.

And it's a frakkin' zombie game. I'm sorry, but these things don't have much in the way of narrative possibilities. I tried not thinking about where the story was heading and still ended up being not the slightest bit surprised. There's just not many ways to land one of these things and all of them suck.

Still, not a bad game and was captivated by the character of Ellie, who really should have been the protagonist. They tried their best with Joel, but after a really strong opening he just fails to be terribly interesting. Worth playing.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Still, not a bad game and was captivated by the character of Ellie, who really should have been the protagonist. They tried their best with Joel, but after a really strong opening he just fails to be terribly interesting. Worth playing.

I'm the opposite.

I like Ellie well enough, but she ultimately felt too pandering. Pandering as in 'we know you don't like kid characters, so here's one who's just "one of the guys"'. She doesn't feel written as a kid, as opposed to Sam who just felt a bit more kid-like. She was also just kind of a mary sue.

Joel on the otherhand actually had an arc as well as an extremely natural performance.

Ish still beats both of them, despite just being a bunch of notes.