| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 3 | 9.50 |
| Overall | 9.50 |
|
This industry has been desperately searching for that one game that we can hold high and claim "It's art! It's excellent storytelling! Look at me, I'm desperately trying to be like another entertainment medium because I am insecure of our public perception!!" I enjoy a good story in games but only if the accompanying gameplay is worthy of such a story. The Last of Us represents the closest this medium has come to achieving that goal of universal acceptance through the melding of an excellent story with quality gameplay. It does feel like a landmark title to me, one where the story left me emotionally invested in the characters. Many games use story to hype the gameplay sequences, I believe MGS does this better than any series but the story itself is saturday morning cartoon fluff. Last of Us made me feel for the characters much like a movie does, I would even argue that if I viewed Last of Us as just a movie it would be the best movie I have seen this year. With all that being said it is important to note that it is still a video game where you kill hundreds of enemies; play through all sorts of incredible action sequences and includes an online mode. The melding of story and game has never been done better and for that reason more than most it deserves incredible praise. The best way to describe in game terms The Last of Us is as a stealth action horror game. I don't believe there are many if any games like it which allows it to stand out on its gameplay merits alone. The action could best be described as MGS with less weapons (and options). The best moments of the game give the player a large area to mess around with. These areas are usually infested with zombie monsters of different types or human enemies. You must sneak your away around the environment to get to the next section and you can use bricks or bottles you find lying around to distract enemies or use them as weapons. Joel can grab enemies from behind to perform a stealth kill or use the enemy has a human shield. Items are scarce so when you do find supplies (which you use to craft makeshift bombs or better melee weapons) there is a great feeling of relief. Often I ended up deciding should I go into that room to find more supplies and risk being seen or try to get through this area as quick and safe as possible. The game provides you with an optional listening power which allows you to see enemies through walls; I have played both ways and with this power off the stealth is more fun and still very doable. Much credit to the sound design guys as you can tell where enemies are just by listening to the sounds. All in all the stealth is well done, not the best stealth mechanics you will play but good enough to make most situations passable without ever being seen. But there is no fun in not being seen, I personally never got much satisfaction from getting through an area unseen. This game is at its absolute best when you are caught and the shit hits the fan. I have never seen a game where the action happens so fast and so violently. The best way I could describe it is a Quentin Tarantino scene where there is a lot of talking but loads of tension cause you know a big shoot out is about to happen. The scenes builds and builds and then in a quick rush of mayhem bullets fly with people dying left and right so suddenly that it feels much more powerful than some giant 10 minute action sequence. That is what Last of Us does so well. Everything is quiet but you make one wrong move and suddenly enemies are rushing in from all sides, you quickly get up and bash in the first runner with a bat splattering its head on the floor. You spin and have a clicker right on you, a quick blast of a shotgun tears it to pieces but you are grabbed from behind and thrown to the floor by another one. Ellie jumps on it and stabs it freeing you but three more are almost on top of you, you throw a grenade and run to safety as they all blow up. This happens in like 45 seconds, your mind racing with ways to escape the situation. No matter how bleak it may be there always seems to be a way to escape by the edge of your teeth and when you do the sense of satisfaction is huge. There are not many enemy types in the game, only four type of infected and one of those is more of a sub boss than anything. There is a great dynamic going on between the running zombies that could see but are weak and the clickers who are blind, only react to sound but are one hit kills. Entering a room with a clicker and other zombies changes up the way you approach stealth considerably when facing human opponents. The human opponents handle like most human AI in stealth games, they try to flank you, call out for help, the usual. Personally I felt the infected were much more fun to fight but for some strange reason I would say about 60% of the encounters are with humans. The gun play feels excellent because every bullet matters, each shot feels powerful and your character isn’t the best aim so just landing a shot is thrilling. Though that could lead to complaints of the gunplay feeling poor, I think it enhances the survival aspect. There is an upgrade system in place to enhance Joel's skills, like weapon wobble or max health but you will not find enough to max even half the stats on your first go so choose wisely. The crafting system works well forcing you to access the menu during gameplay upping the tension considerably. This game does not feel like a collectathon like so many other games that offer useless items you use to sell or combine. Here every time you find an item you will probably need it. Don't expect this game to be like RE survival horror, while health and bullets are scarce you don't need to manage them in the same way you did in those games. Last of Us always gives you plenty of ammo or health right before a sequence where you will need it. Some of the mechanics and the AI could use some fine tuning. Melee could be abused against many of the runner zombie types as one of the best tactics is run in circles and punch one that comes up to you. Clickers help to break that cycle which is why you should always focus your attention to the clickers first, and then you can just run around and punch everything in the face. The human AI has its lapses like when they simply walk right over one of their teammate’s dead bodies. They have zero peripheral vision which allows you to jump over tables right next to them the second they pass you by. They don’t care how much sound you make as long as you aren't shooting and I don’t think light matters at all, shine a flashlight around and they don’t care. Some of the illusion of the game world is broken because your partner AI is totally immune to being caught. I am all for this as I hate having my stealth compromised by something I have no control over, still it's funny when Ellie literally runs into a patrolling enemy and they pass each other like nothing happened. Expect a good 15 plus hours to get through this lengthy campaign. If the entire game was just the enemy loadouts presented repeatedly it would get old quick luckily for us Naughty Dog understands this. Every hour or so there is a big action moment or new gameplay scenario that plays out. These are some of the most exciting moments of the game as it puts the characters in the most dangerous spots all while cranking the human drama forward. Some moments leave you vulnerable in the dark others have you in a huge chase from an army of infected like something right out of the new Dawn of the Dead film. Its these unexpected moments that really stand out. The entire buildup of the game from a gameplay and story standpoint all leads to this one section of the game toward the end which has to go down as one of the greatest levels in gaming history. My only complaint about it is that it was so amazing than the actual final level of the game was lackluster in comparison. Oh and expect to have a really slow start, the first 4 hours or so are a bore compared to the thrill ride you experience for the rest of the game. To round out the package you get a quality online mode as well. In the age of twitch based shooters I always find it refreshing to play a game where stealth and good teamwork pay off. The matches only come in two types, normal team deathmatch and survivors where if you die you stay dead until the next round. The gameplay is mostly taken straight from the single player rewarding players who stick together, stay low and quiet and who can dominate when things get nuts. The crafting system is included as well with each map having supply crates scattered throughout so that you may build bombs or other weapons. There is an in game store that allows you to buy upgrades to guns, bullets or armor. Like most online games not you unlock skills or better weapons as you level up, these allow you to basically create a more specialized class like a healer or a full stealth player. The entire mode is connected to a meta game where you need to feed a group of survivors and protect them from random attacks, this is all managed by getting a certain amount of points each match or completing specific goals like melee kills for instance. If you play with a group this online mode can be a blast but going solo could often lead you to a bad group where you will be massacred. I welcome the addition of multiplayer even if it is not as good or deep Uncharted. The Last of Us is showing the current gen's age graphically. While it does look stunning most of the time certain effects and models look like so many games before. There seems to be some odd glitches that occur like strange clipping issues or enemies freezing up. A subdued guitar focused musical score highlights the more emotional moments but most of the game goes for a no music to enhance the use of sound in gameplay. The sound design is simply masterful, play this thing on a surround system to get the most of it as you will hear noises all around you which can help pinpoint enemy locations. I hardly talked about the plot in this review because you should simply experience it on your own without much knowlegde of what is to come. All the great gameplay segments serve to grow the relationship between Joel and Ellie. As the twists and turns of the story happen you as a player are not only immersed from a game perspective but emotionally as well. I still believe Uncharted 2 is Naughty Dog's best game but The Last of Us is off to a much better first game than Uncharted was, a sequel with refined mechanics could reach legendary status. As it stands now The Last of Us is a landmark game in storytelling which still treats the gameplay aspect with the utmost respect. Both aspects come together to form a game that many will talk about for years to come. |
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Posted by Dvader Sat, 29 Jun 2013 22:38:43
Recently Spotted:
travo (9m)
I think they went with mostly human opponents, to keep the clickers and runners a special event every time you encountered them.
Hmm, so that'll be about 30+ hours for me.