The Last Of Us Hype

[rhythmic]

EmpireOnline: 5/5

[konex]

This and Man of Steel on the same day is insane :bowdown:

[Shade8780]

:eek: Pre-ordered!!

[Wavves]

Only just started getting into the hype.

I watched a video of someone playing through the demo, and I was simply amazing. Looked genuinely terrifying. No games really hit on making zombies scary, but this game has got it down pat, the way a group of them will run at you is insane.

Not much of a gamer anymore, but this really impressed me, I'll definitely be checking it out.

[niko]

My only issue is this, it's from the team that made Uncharted 3, and that game looked amazing, but wasn't because it gave you no freedom to do anything. I've been told (by people who played a demo) it is not the case with this game so I have fingers crossed.

[rhythmic]

My only issue is this, it's from the team that made Uncharted 3, and that game looked amazing, but wasn't because it gave you no freedom to do anything. I've been told (by people who played a demo) it is not the case with this game so I have fingers crossed.

You're misinformed.
This game was created by Team B, which developed Uncharted 2.
It took them 2 years to develop Uncharted 2, and 3 years to develop The Last Of Us.

"According to USA Today, back in 2008, Neil Druckmann had an idea for a graphic novel about a father-daughter zombie tale. He and game director Bruce Straley saw the cordyceps fungus segment from the BBC/Discovery channel series Planet Earth, in which then turned into a major source of inspiration for The Last of Us's primary plot. Both were working on Uncharted 2 at the time. After the development of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves finished, some team members of Naughty Dog moved on to The Last of Us while the others moved on to start on Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. The game has been in development for over two years."

Plus it is a completely different IP, why would you have no freedom in TLOU?
Completely different genre...

[Beatlezz]

:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

IGN 10/10
Machinima 10/10
Destructoid 10/10
Gamereactor 10/10
Eurogamer 10/10
Eurogamer IT 10/10
Eurogamer Sp 10/10
Edge 10/10
CVG 10/10
VideoGamer 10/10
thesixaxis 10/10
ibtimes 10/10
PS-Lifestyle 10/10
Digital Spy 10/10
Digital Fix 10/10
Post Arcade 10/10
speciogames 10/10
Gamingbolt 10/10
Godisageek 10/10
OPM 10/10
Pushsquare 10/10
PS-Nation 10/10
Giantbomb 5/5
Techdigest 5/5
Gamesradar 5/5
TheMirror 5/5
Guardian 5/5
Telegraph 5/5
Gameblog 5/5
CheatCodeCentral 5/5
Adam Sessler 5/5

[Shade8780]

^^^^^^^

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

[rhythmic]

25/49 with perfect scores so far.
4/49 below 90.

In comparison, the game with the most perfect scores (Uncharted 2) for this current gen console had 39/105 perfect reviews. :eek:

96.70% so far on gamerankings
96 on metacritics (38 reviews)

WOW

[Thorpesaurous]

This is as genuinely excited for a new game IP as I can remember probably since I saw the original Legend of Zelda came in a gold box, and you could save your progress right on the cartridge.

I've loved other new IPs in recent years, Batman, Dead Space, but I've always stumbled into them, bought them after the initial wave. Even the first Uncharted had already been out a year before I bought it.

I do understand Niko's statement (which is a pretty tepid expression of concern by the way). This game is being presented as a true open world experience, but so far the footage we've seen looks as impressive as Uncharted, if not more so, and the reason Uncharted could pull that off is by locking the camera in place for those incredible set pieces, which just isn't the nature of a true open world experience. If it's more limitedly open, like Uncharted, which is open within it's individual levels to a degree, but even then there's only one way to go, albeit possible multiple ways to approach a conflict.

Either way, I'm super pumped.

[rhythmic]

IGN 100/100 :eek:

Closing comments:

[B]PlayStation 3 isn

[Rose]

Online is getting solid reviews now, ticking it's way back to a pre-order.


I'm kinda shocked it is, because those "screen shots" or whatever looked kinda rough.

[Shade8780]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[Rose]

The story

[Rose]

Something that I'm noticing about the "negative" reviews (polygon's lowly 7.5 is that if you like shooters you won't like this game. :rolleyes: And some people are complaining about the mechanics being weird.


Although the absolute insanity going on, on gamespot right now is ridiculous. :oldlol:

[rhythmic]

Rose; there are 5 review sites I only use.
IGN, GameSpot, Edge, Eurogamer and GameTrailers.

I do it because they hardly ever give out 100 and are pretty spot on.
IGN has the BEST writers in the industry, IMO. I love reading their stuff.

So far; Edge, Euro & IGN gave this game 100% (very rare feat).
GameSpot gave it 80% but one thing you need to know about this website is that for some strange reason they never give out great scores for PS3 exclusives. Coincidence? I'm not sure...

Still waiting for GameTrailer's review...

[niko]

This is as genuinely excited for a new game IP as I can remember probably since I saw the original Legend of Zelda came in a gold box, and you could save your progress right on the cartridge.

I've loved other new IPs in recent years, Batman, Dead Space, but I've always stumbled into them, bought them after the initial wave. Even the first Uncharted had already been out a year before I bought it.

I do understand Niko's statement (which is a pretty tepid expression of concern by the way). This game is being presented as a true open world experience, but so far the footage we've seen looks as impressive as Uncharted, if not more so, and the reason Uncharted could pull that off is by locking the camera in place for those incredible set pieces, which just isn't the nature of a true open world experience. If it's more limitedly open, like Uncharted, which is open within it's individual levels to a degree, but even then there's only one way to go, albeit possible multiple ways to approach a conflict.

Either way, I'm super pumped.
Yes, tepid because i'm going to buy it no matter what, and because even if it's somewhat linear like that i'd still enjoy it given the subject matter. But if it's more open and not like Uncharted 2, oh boy. We got something special.

[Rose]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[rhythmic]

I usually use those same sites (I've never heard of gametrailers) Except I really like Kotaku. Generally they rate games around the same as I do.

I was just commenting on the low scores and how it's kinda funny why they're doing it. I think gamespot is a little more...M$ supported. I've noticed how they do their scores before. COD gets great scores...Uncharted lower scores.:oldlol:

The Last of Us - 80%
Metro: Last Light - 90%

GameSpot :facepalm

The Last Of Us - 75%
Dead Space 3 - 95%

:roll:

2 of the 4 sites that didn't give this game at least a 90 (out of 52 total reviews so far). GameSpot lost a lot of credibility, especially considering all the other really stingy review sites gave this game so much praise.

This guy (Tom) that works for GameSpot really is a douche bag though. He consistently rates every game low mostly for his own personal publicity.

I think The Escapist had a really lenghty review and they said although the story is linear; the environment is actually really broad that allows the players to have a lot of choices as to how to approach different scenarios. IGN also said it took the writer about 18 hours to beat the story mode. :cheers:

[Rose]

I actually got carried away watching last light on youtube a few days ago. It did look interesting. I know what you're saying though, it's another example of a game getting a score it didn't deserve whereas TLOU got a lower one.

From what I'm reading, besides one reviewer said it took him 11, gameplay seems to be at least 14 hours. That combined with weapons on new campaign difficulty (which means a lot to me now) that's gonna add some major replay. And typically I don't get much replay out of Naughty Dog games.

Might shop around for preorder bonuses. Normally I'm an amazon guy but the $10 video credit is kinda lame.


Sidenote: does sony not release preorder numbers like M$ does? I know I always hear about OMGZZ Halo had the biggest preorder ever! No COD does now! No gears does now! etc etc. I mean TLOU has been #1 on amazon ps3 sales for at least a month, and top 5 for....a ridiculously long time.

[LJJ]

IGN and GameSpot are pretty much the least credible sites out there. Both are known to sell scores. Gamespot actually fired one of their employees (who was actually even their editorial Director at the time) over a low review score and literally every single good writer on their staff responded to that by leaving too. (and ironically joining the fired guy's new start-up site)

[BankShot]

Regardless of the massive hype engine surrounding this game, it was a must-buy for me when I heard about the premise, the mechanics, and the development team.

I'm not sure that the survival/horror aspects of the game is really a style that would benefit from overhyping to the masses....

[Qwyjibo]

IGN and GameSpot are pretty much the least credible sites out there. Both are known to sell scores. Gamespot actually fired one of their employees (who was actually even their editorial Director at the time) over a low review score and literally every single good writer on their staff responded to that by leaving too. (and ironically joining the fired guy's new start-up site)
Beyond that one incident, Gamespot is great and isn't afraid to be hard on games. When Gamespot gives a game an 8, 8.5 or a 9 then you know it's a great game. I appreciate a site that's going to be more critical and not easily hand out high scores and praise.

IGN on the other hand seems to work on a 7-10 scale and IMO, simply has poorly written reviews.

[niko]

Beyond that one incident, Gamespot is great and isn't afraid to be hard on games. When Gamespot gives a game an 8, 8.5 or a 9 then you know it's a great game. I appreciate a site that's going to be more critical and not easily hand out high scores and praise.

IGN on the other hand seems to work on a 7-10 scale and IMO, simply has poorly written reviews.
I really disagree. Gamespot trolls for reviews, it will like a game, but give it a 7 to get a response. See Luigi Mansion, where everything in the review was positive but it's a 7. It made no sense. I also recall the review of the last Zelda, which had a bunch of factual errors (blatantly wrong things) about the controls. The reviewer who said he played through the whole game didn't know the controls.

I kind of got that vibe from their review of THE LAST OF US, IGN reviewed it high, reviewed it lower so we get people clicking over to see why.

[rhythmic]

Beyond that one incident, Gamespot is great and isn't afraid to be hard on games. When Gamespot gives a game an 8, 8.5 or a 9 then you know it's a great game. I appreciate a site that's going to be more critical and not easily hand out high scores and praise.

IGN on the other hand seems to work on a 7-10 scale and IMO, simply has poorly written reviews.

Completely disagree, GameSpot are notorious for being full-out Microsoft geeks. I love reading/watching their reviews as they are pretty spot on but their scores are highly inconsistent and confusing.

Here's a quick glance at what I'm talking about...metacritic scores are in brackets.

360 Exclusives

Gears of War 9.6 (94)
Gears of War 3 9.5 (91)
Halo: Reach 9.5 (91)
Halo 3 9.5 (94)
Halo 4 9.0 (87)

PS3 Exclusives

Uncharted 2 9.5 (96)
Uncharted 3 9.0 (92)
God of War 3 9.0 (92)
Killzone 2 9.0 (91)
Heavy Rain 8.5 (87)
inFamous 7.5 (84)

Is it a coincidence that every single Xbox exclusive has a higher score then the average, yet every PS3 exclusive gets a lower scoer then the average from GameSpot. :rolleyes:

The Last of Us 8.0 (96) :facepalm

[LJJ]

[quote=rhythmic

[LJJ]

I really disagree. Gamespot trolls for reviews, it will like a game, but give it a 7 to get a response. See Luigi Mansion, where everything in the review was positive but it's a 7. It made no sense. I also recall the review of the last Zelda, which had a bunch of factual errors (blatantly wrong things) about the controls. The reviewer who said he played through the whole game didn't know the controls.

I kind of got that vibe from their review of THE LAST OF US, IGN reviewed it high, reviewed it lower so we get people clicking over to see why.

True. Polygon is even worse.

Both sites with no identity and no real following combined with an unhealthy amount of ambition.

[rhythmic]

OMG they score 360 .1 or .2 higher than Metacritic average out of 10, and PS3 games .1 or .2 lower. It's a conspiracy!

Perfect example of a guy missing the entire point.
It's not the fact that the scores are off by points, it's the consistency at how they favor 360 exclusives. There is clear bias with the scoring on that website.

[LJJ]

[quote=rhythmic

[rhythmic]

I'm not missing the point. You think there is some grand plan at GameSpot to grade 360 games higher than they deserve and PS3 games lower. That's some fanboy bullshit.

Yet, all the best PS3 exclusives get less recognition from the site when compared to the collective critic reviews; and yet 360 gets more on a consistent basis.

It's just a coincidence?
I'm not comparing scores for just 1-2 sporadic titles, I gave you games that were released half a decade ago and there is a clear patter of distinction here.

[intrinsic]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[Scholar]

Damn! Maybe canceling my preorder over the game length was a bad decision. Oh, well. I can wait a month.

[rhythmic]

Best game this generation? Critics sure think so, can't wait till next Friday.
The scores are insane, despite 3-4 sites giving this game between 75-85; it is still 3rd highest rated game right now behind Uncharted 2 & GTA 4. :eek:

The amount of 100's this game is getting is insane, it's on pace to have the most perfect scores in current gen's history.

GTA 4 (48/86) 56% [definitely most overrated game in history, should have gotten around 94 overall score. San Andreas got 95 :oldlol: )
Uncharted 2 (39/105) 37%
Uncharted 3 (24/97) 25%
Red Dead Redemption (20/73) 27%
BioShock (34/88) 39%
BioShock Infinite (10/33) 30%
Arkham City (16/42) 38%
Mass Effect 2 (30/98) 31%
Skyrim (32/89) 36%
Guns of the Patriots (31/82) 38%
Gears of War (19/88) 22%
Halo 3 (20/86) 23%


The Last Of Us (30/61) 49% :bowdown:
Only 6 other current gen games has received 30 or more perfect scores, all of them had over 80 votes.

[Rose]

Kinda surprised Mass Effect 2 had that many perfect scores in comparison to the original.

Wait I guess it being initially a 360 exclusive effected that? I mean I like both games pretty equally and for a long time I thought 2 was my fav. but then I've replayed the games so much I can't decide really which is the better one.

[niko]

OMG they score 360 .1 or .2 higher than Metacritic average out of 10, and PS3 games .1 or .2 lower. It's a conspiracy!
It's not a bias, it's just trolling, and it's heavier toward big Nintendo releases but they do it often. There review scores and the review contents also have a bad habit of not matching each other. Just because it's recent the Luigi Mansion stands out to me, their main criticism was the first boss was harder than the 2nd or 3rd boss and they had trouble with it. (I agree it was harder but personally i had no problems.) For that they took a game almost everyone gave a 9 and gave it a 7. Also the Skyward Sword where the guy complains about the controls (valid IMO) but gave an example of how the controls work which was really really wrong.

[d.bball.guy]

Goddamn it. I'm gonna be broke as hell. GTA V, NBA 2K14, and I'm thinking of getting The Last Of Us. Shit.

[Qwyjibo]

Well, E3 pre-order deals have convinced me to get this game. Getting this at launch for $39.99 is good enough for me.

[konex]

Well, E3 pre-order deals have convinced me to get this game. Getting this at launch for $39.99 is good enough for me.

Where?

[Qwyjibo]

Where?
Future Shop in Canada. Pre-order 3 or more games and get $20 off each of them. Great deal if you 100% know you're going to buy certain games.

Ordered Last of Us, Beyond Two Souls and Dark Souls 2.

[jaydacris]

Future Shop in Canada. Pre-order 3 or more games and get $20 off each of them. Great deal if you 100% know you're going to buy certain games.

Ordered Last of Us, Beyond Two Souls and Dark Souls 2.

did you like heavy rain? i liked it a lot... im considering pre-ordering this game as well

[Qwyjibo]

did you like heavy rain? i liked it a lot... im considering pre-ordering this game as well
I just started playing Heavy Rain recently and like it a lot. It's a nice change of pace from all the action games out there.

[brandonislegend]

So basically its going to be the best game ever?

[Thorpesaurous]

:lol
I just started playing Heavy Rain recently and like it a lot. It's a nice change of pace from all the action games out there.


I finished Heavy Rain twice and I'm still not sure if I liked it. There are things about it I love, and other things that I found to be some of the most frustrating things I've ever done in a video game.

[Lebowsky]

I preordered it yesterday. 44.99 EUR, minus 10% off because I've spent more than 150 EUR at that store in the last year. Not a bad deal at all.

[rhythmic]

So basically its going to be the best game ever?

At this point, Naughty Dog & Rockstar are in the league of their own, IMO.

[Scholar]

So basically its going to be the best game ever?

From the looks of these reviews, I wouldn't doubt it, but I expect GTA V & Watch Dogs to be just as hyped, if not more.

[rhythmic]

From the looks of these reviews, I wouldn't doubt it, but I expect GTA V & Watch Dogs to be just as hyped, if not more.

I fully expect GTA V to be the greatest game ever made, surpassing Uncharted 2 & Ocarina of Time. It would be an amazing achievement for the current gen to go out with such a bang (GTA & The Last Of Us).

Watch Dogs is hands down the most promising looking title for the next gen though, I am still unsure if the actual game will match its incredibly high ambition. As well, I'm not sure if the whole "concept" is intriguing enough for me but the game is just gorgeous.

[Thorpesaurous]

This is an article posted on Grantland yesterday. It's a review of the game, but more from a big picture, cultural kind of a sense. It may come off as a little pompous I suppose, but it's an excellent read about video games as a whole.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9366466/tom-bissell-naughty-dog-latest-game-last-us

And for thesis, there is another gameplay demo from E3 on Watch Dogs I saw last night on youtube that was really interesting to me.
Other than a few minor flaws, like the fact that the buddy you're trying to help escape is named T'Bone, it was the most impressive display of the gameplay I've seen yet, in that I got a real sense of how you can use the "hack" mechanic in an open world game setting to get things done. I have a fear of that mechanic being a little too gimmicky. That you'll do a few things and then repeat ad nauseum. But this really got me excited about that game even more.

And I agree Naughty Dog and Rockstar are really in a class by themselves, with perhaps Eidos Montreal just a tick below.

[rhythmic]

This is an article posted on Grantland yesterday. It's a review of the game, but more from a big picture, cultural kind of a sense. It may come off as a little pompous I suppose, but it's an excellent read about video games as a whole.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9366466/tom-bissell-naughty-dog-latest-game-last-us

And for thesis, there is another gameplay demo from E3 on Watch Dogs I saw last night on youtube that was really interesting to me.
Other than a few minor flaws, like the fact that the buddy you're trying to help escape is named T'Bone, it was the most impressive display of the gameplay I've seen yet, in that I got a real sense of how you can use the "hack" mechanic in an open world game setting to get things done. I have a fear of that mechanic being a little too gimmicky. That you'll do a few things and then repeat ad nauseum. But this really got me excited about that game even more.

And I agree Naughty Dog and Rockstar are really in a class by themselves, with perhaps Eidos Montreal just a tick below.

I've seen it bro. It looks insane, love the idea but like you said I hope it isn't repetitive. The Last of Us got a shitty review finally, receiving 60% from some site. After reviewing the site; it gave BioShock Infinite 3 stars too (60%). But gave Metro: Last Light and Assassins Creed 3 100%; and gave Halo 4 1 star (20%). :roll:

Take it with a grain of salt, but of course the game's overall score took a giant hit to 95.

Still 32 perfect scores out of 69 is incredible.

[Thorpesaurous]

This is the Watch Dog video I was talking about. It shows a lot of elements using that hack function that really helped set at ease my concerns about it's becoming too boring. They show a lot of different uses, and talks about the ability to take different approaches to the same mission. Really looks awesome. I should post this in that thread too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPYgXvgS6Ww

[Scholar]

Watch Dogs is for PS3, too, right? I mean, I want to get a PS4, but not immediately. And if Watch Dogs is coming out for current gen systems, I'll be good for a long time playing that, GTA V, Saints Row 4 & The Last of Us.

[TylerOO]

Will this be on PS4 eventually? I don't have a PS3 but I plan on getting PS4

[crisoner]

Naughty Dog rules!!!

[Thorpesaurous]

Watch Dogs is for PS3, too, right? I mean, I want to get a PS4, but not immediately. And if Watch Dogs is coming out for current gen systems, I'll be good for a long time playing that, GTA V, Saints Row 4 & The Last of Us.


I thought it was a Next Gen exclusive, but they said in that video that they've committed to a November release for the PS3, and they have a fluid date for the PS4, depending on how firm that release date gets.

So yeah, it looks like you can get that for the PS3.

I haven't heard any info on Last of Us being available Next Gen.


Personally I'm a little torn, because I'd like to get Watch Dogs for the PS4, and get the new system on release, but I'm afraid I won't be done with GTAV, which is gonna be enormous, and I'm not sure I can get it done by the time PS4 is ready to go.

[rhythmic]

Uhm yeah, best game I have ever played by a significant margin.
I didn't think it was possible for them to create something so perfect.

[Scholar]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[rhythmic]

Nice. I'm definitely going to have to pick it up in a month or two. Let us know just how great it turns out and how quickly you finish it. No spoilers.

Got the game at 1:20 am last night, just finished playing it.
I am really tired so I'm going to take a nap until like 6pm and finish it off (hopefully) tonight. I saw a walkthrough online and it says there's 10 parts to the walkthrough, I only just finished part 5. I played about 10 hours now, so about 60% complete?

The game is amazing, I'm just dazzled at the environment. So much detail it's astonishing. The only somewhat negative I have is that although you can explore the environments and admire how beautiful and detailed everything is; it is still a somewhat linear game, but does allow you to take numerous routes. For example, I had instances where I can either kill the enemy or simply take a different route and sneak by them without ever killing them. Or I can try to look for a path that will allow me to sneak up and perform a melee attack. It's definitely A LOT more free then Uncharted but it isn't like an RPG, it still guides you on where you need to go.

IT IS A VERY DISTUBRING GAME; I have read that on many occassions from critics, but I'd say even they have underestimated the maturity that is this game. It's not only terrifying, heart-wrenching and down-right creepy; it really touches your heart and makes you feel human. You will get emotional throughout the game and I still haven't even finished it.

If I was to combine Uncharted, Resident Evil and Silent Hill = The Last Of Us, but better then even Uncharted 2 or RE 4, IMO.

Bottom line, go get this ****ing game it's incredible.

[Rose]

Autosave glitch.:lol


Which is weird since the Devs should have had to download the update when they released it, and I know they've been playing the disk for two weeks.

[Lebowsky]

Just got it 10 minutes ago:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2nqctci.jpg
Let's see what the hype is about, I haven't been this excited about a game in a long time.

[Qwyjibo]

Mine just arrived too.

I guess I'll put the other games (Heavy Rain, Beyond Good and Evil) I was playing on hold for a bit.

[niko]

I'm a few hours in, highly recommend. It's linear but not like Uncharted 3 was (where it felt like you were being pulled), it's more natural. Game is VERY serious though, if you want a shooter and to blow things away without thought this isn't the game for you.

Very good so far.

[Lebowsky]

I ****ing love this game. That's all I'm gonna say for now.

[Thorpesaurous]

Picked mine up on way home from work. Played for about 3-4 hours straight very deliberately.

Soundtrack is awesome. Story is spectacular. A better set up and pacing than a lot of movies. Voice acting is spot on. The sets are spectacular. Certainly more flexibility within the encounters than was available in Uncharted, but still very linear. The addition of the crafting, and ability to upgrade is a very nice addition. Graphically this company is in a league of it's own. It's got a genuine sense of tension, and some genuine scare moments already. This has a better understanding of the horror genre than most films.


I've found more ammo than I was led to believe that I would. To the point where I'm shooting things just for the sake of picking up more ammo. Same goes for health to an extent. The NPC AI is a little wonky. You're being demanded to sneak so slowly, yet your partners are running wildly in front of bad guys unnoticed. It's better than having them simply be a huge pain in the ass and triggering things, but it takes a few minutes to not jump out and become accostomed to it, and it does remove you a bit from the tension. And I'm so far, while obviously not fully adjusted, a little down on the controls. They're certainly good, but not the incredible fluid motion of Uncharted. Although in their defense, Uncharted and Assassin's Creed are the two most natuarally controllable games ever made IMO. In order to maintain the sense of trapped dread, I suppose they had to make it somewhat harder for Joel to manuever, so that they can build these mazey sort of level designs that aren't so escapable.

Overall, I look forward to getting home from work tommorrow and continueing.

[EnoughSaid]

Yeah so I'm about 4 hours in as well. Game is basically flawless. Voice acting, the characters so far, and just the smoothness of the game are blowing me away. I can't get enough shivs though, and it's mad annoying when dealing with clickers. I also feel like Joel is such a complicated character and hopefully we get into a little more backstory. What I've learned so far though is that melee weapons are a necessity and is what I need most. This will probably go down as one of my favorite games ever along with Arkham City, Uncharted series and Bioshock.

[crisoner]

Have not got it yet but played at E3! Excited to get it soon!!!

[Jameerthefear]

Have not got it yet but played at E3! Excited to get it soon!!!
How did you get a pass to E3?

[crisoner]

How did you get a pass to E3?
Work!

[Ai2death]

Picked mine up on way home from work. Played for about 3-4 hours straight very deliberately.

Soundtrack is awesome. Story is spectacular. A better set up and pacing than a lot of movies. Voice acting is spot on. The sets are spectacular. Certainly more flexibility within the encounters than was available in Uncharted, but still very linear. The addition of the crafting, and ability to upgrade is a very nice addition. Graphically this company is in a league of it's own. It's got a genuine sense of tension, and some genuine scare moments already. This has a better understanding of the horror genre than most films.


I've found more ammo than I was led to believe that I would. To the point where I'm shooting things just for the sake of picking up more ammo. Same goes for health to an extent. The NPC AI is a little wonky. You're being demanded to sneak so slowly, yet your partners are running wildly in front of bad guys unnoticed. It's better than having them simply be a huge pain in the ass and triggering things, but it takes a few minutes to not jump out and become accostomed to it, and it does remove you a bit from the tension. And I'm so far, while obviously not fully adjusted, a little down on the controls. They're certainly good, but not the incredible fluid motion of Uncharted. Although in their defense, Uncharted and Assassin's Creed are the two most natuarally controllable games ever made IMO. In order to maintain the sense of trapped dread, I suppose they had to make it somewhat harder for Joel to manuever, so that they can build these mazey sort of level designs that aren't so escapable.

Overall, I look forward to getting home from work tommorrow and continueing.

I noticed about the controls, but what I figured,
Drake has been jumping around like crazy and being in fights and stuff his whole life, while enzio/whoever is a trained assasin of the highest quality, so you expect them to move/react quicker and more fluid,
While our good friend Joel is a mid 40-50 year old who probably worked a 9-5 middle wage job. His not trained, his just a survivor, a regular joe. His bound to be slower and less agile.
It all makes sense when you look at it like that. His been thrust in to the situation.

[Lebowsky]

Man this game is freaking unbelievable. I'm almost halfway through, and there have been several moments I can already count among the most memorable gaming experiences I've ever had. Apart from what everyone's mentioned, I gotta say the IA is pretty remarkable. There have been some instances in which I have blown my cover and been dragged into a gunfight, just to find myself surrounded by enemies who snuck up on me by taking an alternative route. Another instance is dealing with 2 or 3 enemies at a time, like say I was in a corridor covering behind a crate and shooting at enemies at the other end of the corridor. One time 2 of those guys opened covering fire while the other guy made a run directly at me with a melee weapon. I took the running guy down just before he got to my position, and the other 2 guys split up in different directions instead of just standing there.

[jaydacris]

starting the game now.... i selected hard difficulty

HERE I GO!!!!!!!

[ukballer]

Very few games have wanted me to switch from 360 to PS3, but after watching a few walkthrough vids on YouTube, it sucks I won't get to play this game myself.

Would definitely have picked it up if PS3 games were playable on the PS4. Hopefully it'll be a downloadable option on Playstation Plus in the future.

[Thorpesaurous]

So I played the hell out of this all weekend. Keep in mind I have the torn achilles and my options are limited. So playing this some Friday was one thing, but getting in a couple 8-12 hour sessions Saturday and Sunday was not an issue at all.

The controlls have grown on me. I still wish you had access to more areas. I don't think it's as much a function of the character, but rather a function of creating the tone the story requires. In a horror setting like this, that sense of being trapped, pinned down, of an impending conflict, is a lot different than the exploration feeling you want in an adventure movie like Uncharted is portraying.

Naughty Dog really is coming as close to making playable film as anyone ever has. It has a few drawbacks. You can lose access to an area unwantingly because the pace of the story dictates you move on, but no one is telling better stories. This narrative, along with the acting, soundtrack, and visual moments, are as good as anything put on film. Their dynamic camera gives you a cinematic feel that is unrivaled in gaming, although I find it encouraging other people are trying (The Tomb Raider reboot did it to great effect).

As for gameplay. As I said, I still wish there was a little more freedom of exploration, although to be fair as the game moves along, the sets become increasingly maze-like, and we do get multiple directions to go, and choices for approach. The hide/lure/stealth/shoot combat is pretty unique. The addition of the stealth kill mechanic allowed for a much different pacing and a limitation of what's available shooting wise that makes things more tense. And the crafting, increasing of skills, and upgrading of equipment, make for a nice addition to the Uncharted mechanic (there are a ton of similarities gameplay wise between this and Tomb Raider, which I totally suggest people check out).

My lone gripe is still that the NPC AI for Ellie, Tess, Bill, and whoever, all has them running around and popping out in front of characters a lot. It's nice that if I'm hiding, then they can't be seen, but it was a little distracting until I got used to the fact that their behavior wouldn't impact my gameplay approach. It's a small gripe, but it's still there.

[nightprowler10]

My lone gripe is still that the NPC AI for Ellie, Tess, Bill, and whoever, all has them running around and popping out in front of characters a lot. It's nice that if I'm hiding, then they can't be seen, but it was a little distracting until I got used to the fact that their behavior wouldn't impact my gameplay approach. It's a small gripe, but it's still there.
I haven't played the game yet, but I think this was a regular flaw with Uncharted 2 as well.

[konex]

So, I have some impressions after 6 hours of play

Pros:

- Setting and atmosphere is awesome. Some areas are too dark for my taste but the game really captures the post-apocalyptic setting

- Character interaction and development. This is top notch. I love the random conversations between the characters when just exploring. Especially when discussing the notes they find. You really get a feel for their personalities. <3 Ellie

- Exploration. The game gives a really good sense of exploration even though it's not open world. I don't like that you can't backtrack areas though (It sucks when you reach a checkpoint after a frantic fight even though you haven't scouted all the loot)

- No ridiculous amount of enemies in an area. The enemies are pretty tough and you have to use stealth a lot but it just feels more reasonable than the swarms in Uncharted. I feel Uncharted 4 needs to move closer to TLoU in that regard. Joel's kills also don't feel so out of place unlike Drake's (Why is a treasure hunter such a finely tuned killing machine?)

- The music is excellent. I wish we heard more of it though. Too many areas with silence but I guess we need to hear the clickers!

Cons:

- Uninfected enemy AI (to this point at least). The soldiers I've encountered so far do not react to the sound of me choking out their partner right behind them. WTF? How are the clickers and runners so much more aware of their surroundings? Note: I'm playing on normal

- Scarcity of items in some early parts. I know there is always a way to clear the enemies but the game has enough tension as is. This is RE1 levels of bullshit going on here lol. I'd have preferred to not have freaking melee weapons break also

This is shaping up to be one of the best games I've ever played. I think it deserves a PS4 port just so no one misses out.

[Thorpesaurous]

So, I have some impressions after 6 hours of play

Pros:

- Setting and atmosphere is awesome. Some areas are too dark for my taste but the game really captures the post-apocalyptic setting

- Character interaction and development. This is top notch. I love the random conversations between the characters when just exploring. Especially when discussing the notes they find. You really get a feel for their personalities. <3 Ellie

- Exploration. The game gives a really good sense of exploration even though it's not open world. I don't like that you can't backtrack areas though (It sucks when you reach a checkpoint after a frantic fight even though you haven't scouted all the loot)

- No ridiculous amount of enemies in an area. The enemies are pretty tough and you have to use stealth a lot but it just feels more reasonable than the swarms in Uncharted. I feel Uncharted 4 needs to move closer to TLoU in that regard. Joel's kills also don't feel so out of place unlike Drake's (Why is a treasure hunter such a finely tuned killing machine?)

- The music is excellent. I wish we heard more of it though. Too many areas with silence but I guess we need to hear the clickers!

Cons:

- Uninfected enemy AI (to this point at least). The soldiers I've encountered so far do not react to the sound of me choking out their partner right behind them. WTF? How are the clickers and runners so much more aware of their surroundings? Note: I'm playing on normal

- Scarcity of items in some early parts. I know there is always a way to clear the enemies but the game has enough tension as is. This is RE1 levels of bullshit going on here lol. I'd have preferred to not have freaking melee weapons break also

This is shaping up to be one of the best games I've ever played. I think it deserves a PS4 port just so no one misses out.


I agree with all of this pretty much note for note. I love the change's from night to day, and the weather. It's very much stagnate, in that you can spend 12 hours playing one area and it's gonna be raining the whole time, but that's what sets like this do. And it looks great. I agree it's a little dark in spots, but it gives cause to use the flashlight. They've done some incredible stuff with the lighting in this game. Each Uncharted they always said they wanted to do one element to the nuts. The first was water. The second was fire. The third was sand. In this it seems like they went after lighting. The reflections you catch in windows is crazy.

I also <3 Ellie.

I have the same opinion on exploration as you. That 15 hour play time only holds if you're not digging through the perimeter of every set like I am looking for every scrap of goods. And I've also been burned running into a cut scene when I thought I was just looking around.

And you're right about the music. This is the best game soundtrack since Red Dead. It sets the tone perfectly. Sure it gives you a bit of a heads up about upcoming combat, but that's fine by me. If a musical cue causes me to crouch, then it's definitely doing it's job and then some.

I also had some gripes about the reaction of enemies. The choking out thing being soundless is weird. But so is it that I can't take a hard step but Ellie or whoever can run straight out in front of of them and still go stomping into hiding. But I'd rather have that than have the NPC AI blow my cover, or otherwise affect my gameplay. I suppose that was their simple solution. Once I got used to it, it's been fine.

As for scarcity of supplies, I sort of enjoy it. I'm also playing on Normal, and I'm further along than you, but I've always been a supply horder in games, so it hasn't been that bad for me. Only in one early sequence was I upset I didn't have more gear to use, and really had to skulk my way through and get away.




How is everyone handling upgrades? I'm nearing the end of the game I'm guessing, probably about 80% done. And I'm not near upgrading everything, and I've been pretty thourough in my cleaning out of areas. I've only been able to find the combo to one safe thus far though.
Anyway, what choices are you guys making? I went health on Joel himself, and I'm working on the shiv. I've picked at the other stuff. I'm a ways in on the hearing, but I've all but skipped the crafting and healing speed upgrades.

On the other hand, the weapon upgrading I've been all over the place with. A little here and a little there. I started with both holsters at a steep 75 bits of tool, but they've been really valuable in switching weapons. Then I upgraded both pistols all the way. Since then I'm choosy, focusing on the shotgun, but the tool skill level closes you out pretty quick, so I wind up spending tool bits on other guns just to use them up because the benches are usually pretty spread out. In retrospect I sorta wished I'd saved my tool money to focus more on the weapons I really use, rather than doing the random rifle or bow upgrade at 15-25 bucks. That money would've added up by now and I coulda done bigger upgrades to the weapons I use more.

Either way I will be going through it a second time and maxing everything out anyway.

[Lebowsky]

I agree with all of this pretty much note for note. I love the change's from night to day, and the weather. It's very much stagnate, in that you can spend 12 hours playing one area and it's gonna be raining the whole time, but that's what sets like this do. And it looks great. I agree it's a little dark in spots, but it gives cause to use the flashlight. They've done some incredible stuff with the lighting in this game. Each Uncharted they always said they wanted to do one element to the nuts. The first was water. The second was fire. The third was sand. In this it seems like they went after lighting. The reflections you catch in windows is crazy.

I also <3 Ellie.

I have the same opinion on exploration as you. That 15 hour play time only holds if you're not digging through the perimeter of every set like I am looking for every scrap of goods. And I've also been burned running into a cut scene when I thought I was just looking around.

And you're right about the music. This is the best game soundtrack since Red Dead. It sets the tone perfectly. Sure it gives you a bit of a heads up about upcoming combat, but that's fine by me. If a musical cue causes me to crouch, then it's definitely doing it's job and then some.

I also had some gripes about the reaction of enemies. The choking out thing being soundless is weird. But so is it that I can't take a hard step but Ellie or whoever can run straight out in front of of them and still go stomping into hiding. But I'd rather have that than have the NPC AI blow my cover, or otherwise affect my gameplay. I suppose that was their simple solution. Once I got used to it, it's been fine.

As for scarcity of supplies, I sort of enjoy it. I'm also playing on Normal, and I'm further along than you, but I've always been a supply horder in games, so it hasn't been that bad for me. Only in one early sequence was I upset I didn't have more gear to use, and really had to skulk my way through and get away.




How is everyone handling upgrades? I'm nearing the end of the game I'm guessing, probably about 80% done. And I'm not near upgrading everything, and I've been pretty thourough in my cleaning out of areas. I've only been able to find the combo to one safe thus far though.
Anyway, what choices are you guys making? I went health on Joel himself, and I'm working on the shiv. I've picked at the other stuff. I'm a ways in on the hearing, but I've all but skipped the crafting and healing speed upgrades.

On the other hand, the weapon upgrading I've been all over the place with. A little here and a little there. I started with both holsters at a steep 75 bits of tool, but they've been really valuable in switching weapons. Then I upgraded both pistols all the way. Since then I'm choosy, focusing on the shotgun, but the tool skill level closes you out pretty quick, so I wind up spending tool bits on other guns just to use them up because the benches are usually pretty spread out. In retrospect I sorta wished I'd saved my tool money to focus more on the weapons I really use, rather than doing the random rifle or bow upgrade at 15-25 bucks. That money would've added up by now and I coulda done bigger upgrades to the weapons I use more.

Either way I will be going through it a second time and maxing everything out anyway.

I don't know if you'll believe it, but I was just about to write a post directed at you to ask how make safes you had been able to unlock. You've mentioned before how thorough you usually are when cleaning out areas, so I figured you would make for a good comparison. I only managed to open one as well (the one in the metro station), and it frustrated the hell out of me not being able to open the additional 2 or 3 I've encountered afterwards. What about shiv doors, how many have you opened? I didn't keep exact count myself, but I know I opened three for sure, and a fourth one I'm not sure about. Training manuals? I've got four: upgraded healing kits, upgraded shivs, upgraded melee weapons and upgraded molotovs.

On the topic of upgrades, I made up my mind quite early in the game about what I wanted to spend pills on, so I saved every last one of them until I had enough. First thing was shiv master (one level), because clickers can be a pain in the ass. After that I went with weapon sway (one level), but I'm not sure it makes that big of a difference, to be honest. My third and last upgrade was increased health, which I got last night. Next one will probably be healing speed, because sometimes I've found myself badly injuried in the middle of a gunfight, and as I taking cover to heal myself, some bastard would come out of nowhere and kill me in the process.

As for weapons, I only managed to find two tool kits, so I'm pretty limited on what I can and cannot upgrade. I got both guns to full level one, with the automatic also level 2 in clip capacity. I (stupidly) put a scope and extended mag on the rifle, but I hardly ever use it anyway. Not really a good weapon at all imo. Very loud, very low fire rate and not as powerful as one would think. I thought it would be almost a guaranteed one shot kill against unarmored enemies, but it's not the case unless it's a headshot. The bow I do use all the time (well when I have arrows that is, which is not all that often), so I increased the range and drawing speed both to level one. What else...oh yes, both holsters (the pistol one was my first upgrade in the game and the other one I did last night I think), increased ammo and decreased recoil for the shotgun, and I think that's all. I'm pretty satisfied overall, although I could use some more ammo capatity and faster reload speed for the shotgun.

What a fantastic game, I can't wait to get out of work. One moment that impressed me a lot and gave me that "oooohhh shiiiiit" feeling was when you're at the basement of the hotel and all the rats come down the corridor running away from something. . Another great part was the metro station. I found myself holding my breath a couple of times there. So many memorable moments, and still plenty left for me.

[rhythmic]

Best Game Ever, it officially surpassed Uncharted 2/3 for me and I'm the biggest Uncharted fan on the planet (along side my boy Thorpe). Me and Thorpe have identical taste in video games, it's incredible. I need to play Dead Space, since you really enjoyed those games. I still have not played it but I have the first two.

Anyways in-depth review I will write soon, just such a spectacular and mesmerizing game. The Hunt level with Ellie was breathtaking. I just love all the "quiet" periods in the game where I just get to see the characters develop. It is a hybrid between AAA game and an academy award winning movie.

I love you Naughty Dog, you are my favorite developers on the planets now. PLEASE deliver Uncharted 4, I miss my boy Drake!!

[Thorpesaurous]

I don't know if you'll believe it, but I was just about to write a post directed at you to ask how make safes you had been able to unlock. You've mentioned before how thorough you usually are when cleaning out areas, so I figured you would make for a good comparison. I only managed to open one as well - , and it frustrated the hell out of me not being able to open the additional 2 or 3 I've encountered afterwards. What about shiv doors, how many have you opened? I didn't keep exact count myself, but I know I opened three for sure, and a fourth one I'm not sure about. Training manuals? I've got four: - .

On the topic of upgrades, I made up my mind quite early in the game about what I wanted to spend pills on, so I saved every last one of them until I had enough. First thing was shiv master (one level), because clickers can be a pain in the ass. After that I went with weapon sway (one level), but I'm not sure it makes that big of a difference, to be honest. My third and last upgrade was increased health, which I got last night. Next one will probably be healing speed, because sometimes I've found myself badly injuried in the middle of a gunfight, and as I taking cover to heal myself, some bastard would come out of nowhere and kill me in the process.

As for weapons, I only managed to find two tool kits, so I'm pretty limited on what I can and cannot upgrade. I got both guns to full level one, with the automatic also level 2 in clip capacity. I (stupidly) put a scope and extended mag on the rifle, but I hardly ever use it anyway. - . The bow I do use all the time (well when I have arrows that is, which is not all that often), so I increased the range and drawing speed both to level one. What else...oh yes, both holsters (the pistol one was my first upgrade in the game and the other one I did last night I think), increased ammo and decreased recoil for the shotgun, and I think that's all. I'm pretty satisfied overall, although I could use some more ammo capatity and faster reload speed for the shotgun.

What a fantastic game, I can't wait to get out of work. One moment that impressed me a lot and gave me that "oooohhh shiiiiit" feeling was - . Another great part was the metro station. I found myself holding my breath a couple of times there. - .

One of your favorite moments, and your safe, is the spot I've referred to as the spot I had to bail on:
The Metro Station - It was the first run in with a clicker. I was not flush with supplies, like shivs, as I am now. You are right, there was some deep breaths. That was the first spot I started getting flustered with Ellie and Tess too. I crawl at more than a whister and the thing comes and rips my face off ... but Ellie is stomping across from beam to beam freaking me out. Anyway, I skulked around, found the note regarding the safe, and as I continued to skulk around, I stumbled out of the set piece. I wasn't happy with my showing in there. I look forward to going back and shivving the hell out of all of those bastards. I couldn't even replay it because it saved right at the cutscene.

I defintely made the concious choice to focus on the health first, then the shiv, and then the weapon sway. Although after the first upgrade to weapon sway I wasn't wildly impressed, and I decided to do more of the cheaper ones.
I've found a ton of manuals. Health twice. A couple weapon ones.

Where are you in the game?

Being hurt I've done some binge sessioning over the weekend, and feel like I'm probably further along than most at this point, even though I play pretty slowly.

[Lebowsky]

In Pittsburgh. I saved right after the cutscene when you find the guy and his kid and decide to tag along with them. I would've gone on and on, but it was almost 4 A.M. already. This game is messing up my sleeping patterns so badly...thank god I work US hours, so I don't have to wake up early in the morning.

What's everyone's favorite weapon btw? Mine is probably the bow. I'm big on stealth, so it's obviously the perfect choice. It is, however, quite hard to use. It took me a while to get decent with it, which lead to many a death since enemies react to the sound of missed arrows ricocheting. Now I can hit some pretty nice long range shots against moving targets, but there's still a significant chance of missing. Furthermore, arrows are way scarcer than other types of ammo, so every shot counts.

On an unrelated note, how's your recovery going?

[Thorpesaurous]

In Pittsburgh. I saved right after all The Starks die at The Red Wedding. I would've gone on and on, but it was almost 4 A.M. already. This game is messing up my sleeping patterns so badly...thank god I work US hours, so I don't have to wake up early in the morning.

What's everyone's favorite weapon btw? Mine is probably the bow. I'm big on stealth, so it's obviously the perfect choice. It is, however, quite hard to use. It took me a while to get decent with it, which lead to many a death since enemies react to the sound of missed arrows ricocheting. Now I can hit some pretty nice long range shots against moving targets, but there's still a significant chance of missing. Furthermore, arrows are way scarcer than other types of ammo, so every shot counts.

On an unrelated note, how's your recovery going?


You've still got a little ways to go before you hit the safe that I got. And I have opened a ton of Shiv doors. I've made it a point to always have a shiv handy for that reason. They remind me of the power node doors in Dead Space. It's possible I've missed one, but I don't think so. I dug high and low for the safe combo by Bill and found nothing.


I'm healing alright. It's a horrible recoup. They also found a nasty blood clot a couple Fridays ago. That wasn't fun. It was like four weeks after the surgery and all of a sudden I'm looking for pain meds outta nowhere. It swelled up something fierce. I was put on some pretty hardcore blood thinners that first week. The word amputation was even tossed around a little more than I wanted to hear.
But with that now under control, it's back to just the achilles. I've got another three weeks before I head back to orthopedist and we start working on rehab, stretching it out, and trying to get me back to normal. That process is sposeda be in 8-12 week range too. So I gotta long way to go still, but I'm getting there.

Thanks for asking.

[Lebowsky]

You've still got a little ways to go before you hit the safe that I got. And I have opened a ton of Shiv doors. I've made it a point to always have a shiv handy for that reason. They remind me of the power node doors in Dead Space. It's possible I've missed one, but I don't think so. I dug high and low for the safe combo by Bill and found nothing.


I'm healing alright. It's a horrible recoup. They also found a nasty blood clot a couple Fridays ago. That wasn't fun. It was like four weeks after the surgery and all of a sudden I'm looking for pain meds outta nowhere. It swelled up something fierce. I was put on some pretty hardcore blood thinners that first week. The word amputation was even tossed around a little more than I wanted to hear.
But with that now under control, it's back to just the achilles. I've got another three weeks before I head back to orthopedist and we start working on rehab, stretching it out, and trying to get me back to normal. That process is sposeda be in 8-12 week range too. So I gotta long way to go still, but I'm getting there.

Thanks for asking.

Good to hear you're doing well and that blood clot incident ended up just fine. Convalescence is always the hardest part of the recovery process, keep your head up and stay strong. You know it gets much brighter once the physical therapy starts. At least videogames will keep you entertained for a while :) Anyway, best of luck to you.

[Rose]

You can't fully upgrade everything on one play through. Naughty Dog came out and said it'll take at least two play throughs, and maybe more to do it. And that's why they designed it so you could carry your weapons over when you play the game again.

[rhythmic]

You can't fully upgrade everything on one play through. Naughty Dog came out and said it'll take at least two play throughs, and maybe more to do it. And that's why they designed it so you could carry your weapons over when you play the game again.

Yeah, but I like their Plus addition.
Meaning you can start a new game with the upgraded arsenal, which adds value, IMO.

I played on Normal and found the game somewhat difficult. Will start a fresh game on Hard, and then Survivor. :cheers:

This is definitely a great game to do a walkthrough for.

[Thorpesaurous]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[Thorpesaurous]

You can't fully upgrade everything on one play through. Naughty Dog came out and said it'll take at least two play throughs, and maybe more to do it. And that's why they designed it so you could carry your weapons over when you play the game again.


For me that's a huge motivation to play through a second time. I believe you can't play the plus version of the game on a difficulty higher than where you've already beaten it. Which means I'll still be motivated to press through again on the highest difficulty after beating it a second time to max out my weapons.

I can totally get three to four fullfilling playthroughs out of this game. Something motivated in part by it's relatively short play time that people thought would be a problem, and I find to be a strength to a degree.

[Thorpesaurous]

Good to hear you're doing well and that blood clot incident ended up just fine. Convalescence is always the hardest part of the recovery process, keep your head up and stay strong. You know it gets much brighter once the physical therapy starts. At least videogames will keep you entertained for a while :) Anyway, best of luck to you.


Thanks a lot man.

[rhythmic]

Thanks a lot man.

Yes bro, best of luck with your recovery.
Achilles are the worst injuries man, huge rehabilitation process. :cheers:

[Jailblazers7]

Wow, this thread is making me want to dust off my PS3 to play Uncharted 2 and Last of Us.

I DL'd Uncharted/Uncharted 2 over the winter but I only recently finished up Uncharted. The week I started playing I got the stomach flu so I ignored the game for a week and forgot I even had it. Finished Uncharted 1 last month and thought it was good but not great. Because of that I've been dragging my feet regarding Uncharted 2 but I'll have to make it a priority.

Last of Us seems like a great game top to bottom. I'm a big fan of games with a really compelling narrative and story to it.

[glidedrxlr22]

I'm about 2 hours into it. I'm liking it a lot. I'm not at the....I'm loving it stage yet. The mood and atmosphere of the game are great.

[rhythmic]

I'm about 2 hours into it. I'm liking it a lot. I'm not at the....I'm loving it stage yet. The mood and atmosphere of the game are great.

The game takes a while before it picks up. You're just going through the tutorial mostly and introductory stage. It will pick up, all Uncharted games were the same way.

Jail: U2 is substantially better then Drake's Fortune in every single area. I can put U2 in my system right now and have a blast, but Drake's Fortune won't have nearly the same effect on me.

I think U3 is my favorite game though...
At first I didn't think it was even better then the first Uncharted but after all the patches came out and I played it more & more; I started to really love it. It's my favorite game of all-time; right there with San Andreas, RDR, Uncharted 2 & TLoU.

[niko]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[nightprowler10]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[glidedrxlr22]

You'd like Tomb Raider. Go get it.:cheers:

I concur. Get it now.:rockon:

[BankShot]

I concur. Get it now.:rockon:

Definitely.

I have a sentimental attachment to Tomb Raider because I've been playing them since the original on the Sega Saturn. Along with Resident Evil 1 and 2, the first Tomb Raider games were my earliest memories of really getting into the new generation of complexity in video games.

With that being said, even people I know that haven't every played a Tomb Raider game have had similar sentiments about how the new game is a beautiful and exciting game.

[Thorpesaurous]

Yeah Rhythmic, there's absolutely no chance you wouldn't like Tomb Raider. There are so many mechanical similarities. And if someone told me they preferred TR to TLoU, I'd think they were wrong, but I wouldn't hold it against them. It was that good.

So I just finished, and I gotta say, it just kept getting better and better and better. The winter section was such an incredible piece of aside story telling. It was sort of one of those bottle tv episodes that has a glancing relation to the main arc, but in the end adds an immense amount of depth to the story overall. It's like a side story that's almost there to kind of fill in the time you miss as the story jumps around, like "this is the sorta shit that's been happening when we've been jumping from state to state" kind of a wink.

The story is genuinely affecting, and emotional in all sorts of ways. The end, without giving anything away, was conflicting.

I got over my control issues over time, and frankly it seemed to control better as time went on. Maybe it was just my ability to recognize his capabilities.

Based on the suggestion in here, I spent some time with Bow, and it really is a fun weapon (not as good as in Tomb Raider, but very fun). I can't wait to go through again on Plus and finish upgrading.

I did pretty well on the collectables. Something like 120 or 141, which I'm pretty happy with for a first time through unassisted in any way whatsoever. I missed 3 comics, all of which were clustered together I noticed, because they're numbered (The allegory being told through the comics was really a crazy nice touch for those of us who read all that shit. The signage as well was cool if you stopped to look). And I fully know about a few spots that will require some more attention, and mostly at the beginning, where I was still adjusting, and supplies are limited enough that I wasn't clearing areas and searching the way I would want to, like The Metro station.
The pacing was incredibly well done, and I can't say enough how smart it was to not allow you to max out on one play through. The acting was top notch (Bill I picked up on his voice that he was Dan, Al Swearegan's bartender/muscle, from Deadwood). And I can't say enough about how well scored this was. Even the directing was award winning film level stuff. I'm not talking about it's cinematic camera either, which put some stunning stuff together, but the directorial choices, like the reveal to Ellie at the end after they get out of the car. Just impeccable story telling, as I said before, regardless of the medium.

And concerns over the playtime didn't effect me at all. I came in at just under 30 hours. Probably slower than most, but I also found an extremely high percentage of stuff. And I've been baited into at least a second playthrough. I can totally live with that. Especially since I'm not getting to 60 hours torturing myself over mage suit statistics.

In the end, this game is on the very short list for my best games ever. Certainly in the top three for this generation with Uncharted 2, and Red Dead Redemption. I'm putting in my original Zelda, Metroid, RE1 and 2, Vice City area as well. It's that good.


And I haven't played one iota of multiplayer yet. One of the big nods for me for UC2 is that it's the only game that's ever held my attention for any amount of time in Multiplayer.

[rhythmic]

Oh, I bought Tomb Raider guys but I haven't had a chance to play it yet.
I'm doing my internship plus taking night classes (plus studying for my level II CFA exam).

I'll definitely play it late August when I'm done with my internship.
As far as my favorite games go:

1) The Last Of Us
2) Uncharted 3
3) Uncharted 2
4) San Andreas
5) Red Dead Redemption
6) GoldenEye 007
7) Super Mario 3
8) Max Payne
9) Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
10) God of War

These are probably my most memorable games ever; the ones I played (or will play) the most. Pretty incredible how many of them are either Rockstar or Naughty Dog's.

The Last of Us now received 35 out of 77 perfect scores. :eek:
Only behind Uncharted 2 and GTA all-time. Needs 4 more to beat out Uncharted 2, and U2 had I believe 103 reviews (also has an incredible 91 as far as gamer reviews go with over 1,000 reviews).

[rhythmic]

It took me 16 hours and 31 minutes to complete it on Normal, I am now playing Plus about half-way finished. I am at 7 hours, so it will definitely take me less this time around. I collected about 60% of all things approximately.

I will play on Hard and then Survivor after I finish the "Plus" campaign.
Game is even better this time around then my initial play-through. The AI is also different, so you can't use the same strategy every time.

Just amazing...

[Thorpesaurous]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[rhythmic]

GameTrailers gave The Last Of Us 98. :eek:
Just to put things in perspective, I believe it is the highest score given to the current console game ever (on PS3).

Some notable titles that were reviewed by GameTrailers:

RDR - 95
Uncharted - 93
Arkham City - 93
Uncharted 3 - 95
Halo 3 - 98
BioShock - 95
BioShock Infinite - 94
The Orange Box - 93

Halo 3 & The Last of Us are the highest rated current gen games according to that site. Pretty impressive.

[Thorpesaurous]

I started chewing through the New Game Plus last night. I thought I'd start with a full arsenal of weapons. I'm a little disappointed that I have to pick them up as I go. I'm flying through it. My fear now is that I'm not gonna give it the thorough examination it warrants and still miss some items that is really what I'm going back for. I'm sort of pushing to get to the metro station because I know I missed stuff in there. I wish I could choose levels to play like in Uncharted so I could look stuff up my few missing items and chase them down.

Either way. I'm looking forward to ripping through it again. I'd guess if I pressed, and knowing where things are and whats coming and how to get past certain spots, I could probably finish it 12 hours.

[Heavincent]

Finished it the other day. Might be the best game I've ever played. Characters, atmosphere, and gameplay, everything was just amazing. Ending was pretty good too, although some people probably didn't like it. Definitely not a typical cliche ending.

The one and only gripe I had with this game is that I wish the enemies paths and behavior was randomized. If you die, the enemy AI still does the same exact thing when you respawn, so it basically becomes trial and error. Would have added more tension if they behaved differently every time.

It's still a 10/10 game for me though.

[Lebowsky]

That chapter called "the hunt" was intense as hell. My goodness, I was physically relieved when I finished it.

[Heavincent]

After thinking about it more, I honestly don't think it could have ended in a better way. It was a perfect ending...don't know how anyone could say it was bad. It fit the characters and the theme of the game perfectly.

The writer did an amazing job with this game. Damn near flawless...even competently written games will look like crap compared to this.

[EnoughSaid]

So is Naughty Dog officially the best developer in the business? I mean Ubisoft has some good titles coming out too.

Anyway who's down for some online? Not right now but we should get a team and try it out. Really fun mode actually.

[Heavincent]

So is Naughty Dog officially the best developer in the business? I mean Ubisoft has some good titles coming out too.

Anyway who's down for some online? Not right now but we should get a team and try it out. Really fun mode actually.

Crash, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and now The Last Of Us...so yeah, they're the best developer in the industry.

Best games of this generation:

1. The Last Of Us
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Gears of War (1 or 3)
4. Assassin's Creed 2
5. Original Mass Effect

[EnoughSaid]

Crash, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and now The Last Of Us...so yeah, they're the best developer in the industry.

Best games of this generation:

1. The Last Of Us
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Gears of War (1 or 3)
4. Assassin's Creed 2
5. Original Mass Effect

I have:

1) Last of Us
2) Arkham City
3) Uncharted 2
4) Assassin's Creed 2
5) Bioshock

I haven't played Mass Effect or Red Dead so I need to get on that ASAP. Want to finish Bioshock 2, play Infinite, and then do Red Dead. These last few months are gonna be stacked though in terms of games I want to get. You have FIFA 14, NBA 2K14, GTA IV, Assassins Creed 4, Arkham Origins. Am I missing anything? But damn wallet is gonna be thin. :lol

[Rose]

Crash, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and now The Last Of Us...so yeah, they're the best developer in the industry.

Best games of this generation:

1. The Last Of Us
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Gears of War (1 or 3)
4. Assassin's Creed 2
5. Original Mass Effect
I haven't played the last of us yet. And I love gears but I don't think it deserves to be in the top 5. I'd go with..

1. Uncharted (haven't played the third yet I'm about a week away from being done enough in my queue to get to it. And yes I'm the random oddball that prefers the original to the sequel.)
2. Mass effect 2 (one has the better story so I could swap it here)
3. AC 2 or brotherhood.
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2.
5. Probably Arkham City.

Honorable mentions: Halo Reach, Portal, Uncharted 2, and Bioshock. the last I feel really bad leaving out.

This is actually a pretty good idea for a thread. I don't think it's been done recently either.

[Heavincent]

I have:

1) Last of Us
2) Arkham City
3) Uncharted 2
4) Assassin's Creed 2
5) Bioshock

I haven't played Mass Effect or Red Dead so I need to get on that ASAP. Want to finish Bioshock 2, play Infinite, and then do Red Dead. These last few months are gonna be stacked though in terms of games I want to get. You have FIFA 14, NBA 2K14, GTA IV, Assassins Creed 4, Arkham Origins. Am I missing anything? But damn wallet is gonna be thin. :lol

Dude you HAVE to play Red Dead. It's dirt cheap by now so just buy it before anything else. And you could probably find the first Mass Effect for like $5 (came out 6 years ago).

[macmac]

I have:

1) Last of Us
2) Arkham City
3) Uncharted 2
4) Assassin's Creed 2
5) Bioshock

I haven't played Mass Effect or Red Dead so I need to get on that ASAP. Want to finish Bioshock 2, play Infinite, and then do Red Dead. These last few months are gonna be stacked though in terms of games I want to get. You have FIFA 14, NBA 2K14, GTA IV, Assassins Creed 4, Arkham Origins. Am I missing anything? But damn wallet is gonna be thin. :lol

Apparently you can already find GTA IV if you have some solid hook ups. My buddy told me he finished it actually

[rhythmic]

The best games I've played this generation (360 & PS3), top 15:

1) The Last of Us
2) Uncharted 3
3) Uncharted 2
4) Red Dead Redemption
5) Arkham City
6) Mass Effect 2
7) BioShock
8) Halo 3
9) Gears of War
10) God of War III
11) Arkham Asylum
12) Halo: Reach
13) Modern Warfare 2 (story-mode)
14) Brotherhood (Assassin Creed)
15) GTA 4

Have not played Infinite or Tomb Raider, two strong contenders to make the list. COD 4, Gears of War 2, Drake's Fortune and Assassin Creed 2 are borderline top 15; as well as Max Payne 3. Have not played Dead Space, and I really want to try.

I am sure GTA V will be at the top of the list; and possibly Two Souls. Every other notable title I believe is for the next gen console. Blacklist could be promising; as well as Arkham Origins.

[jaydacris]

just finished it first play through, played on hard difficulty

damn what an enduring and exhilarating experience.
I thought there was going to be more after leaving the hospital and the little dialogue between joel/ellie, but it made perfect sense to end it there.

I think winter was my favorite chapter, but everything was damn good.
Oh and the writing and voice acting was great, puts alot of movies/tv shows to shame :lol
I might try a survivor plus playthrough, having no listen mode would be pretty tough. I found myself relying on it heavily at times.

[stallionaire]

Best games of generation:

1. The Last of Us
2. Dark Souls
3. NBA 2k11
4. Gears of War
5. Mass Effect 2
6. Battlefield 3
7. Red Dead Redemption
8. Demon's Souls
9. World of Warcraft (Burning Crusade -> Wrath)
10. Super Meat Boy

[EnoughSaid]

So after I wrap up the Bioshock series, I need some games that are must play. Red Dead obviously, but what else? I think I might give Tomb Raider a try, maybe even do some MGS4. But I've played all the AC games, Uncharted, God of War, etc.

[Lebowsky]

Just finished it as well, 21 hours and cash. Found 104 collectibles. I'm probably gonna play through again on hard or survivor. What is the difference between regular mode and + mode? Btw, I'm down for what someone mentioned of making a group for online play.

[rhythmic]

:mad:
Best games of generation:

1. The Last of Us
2. Dark Souls
3. NBA 2k11
4. Gears of War
5. Mass Effect 2
6. Battlefield 3
7. Red Dead Redemption
8. Demon's Souls
9. World of Warcraft (Burning Crusade -> Wrath)
10. Super Meat Boy

Strange list.
NBA 2K11, Battlefield 3 are weird selections.
I feel like 2K13 was far superior, and games like Modern Warfare 2, COD 4 & Black Ops were far better FPS then BF3. But I am not an online player, so perhaps that's why you chose Battlefield 3?

Dead Space & Dark Souls/Demon's Souls I have to play soon.

[step_back]

:mad:

Strange list.
NBA 2K11, Battlefield 3 are weird selections.
I feel like 2K13 was far superior, and games like Modern Warfare 2, COD 4 & Black Ops were far better FPS then BF3. But I am not an online player, so perhaps that's why you chose Battlefield 3?

Dead Space & Dark Souls/Demon's Souls I have to play soon.

BF3 Multiplayer was brilliant. The COD series online to me don't even compare. They're so linear in comparison to Battlefield. 2 years after the game came out and I've only just stopped playing it. 790 hours! Money well spent!

[Dictator]

No skyrim or uncharted 3 in your top 10?

:coleman: :biggums: gtfo

[Thorpesaurous]

Just finished it as well, 21 hours and cash. Found 104 collectibles. I'm probably gonna play through again on hard or survivor. What is the difference between regular mode and + mode? Btw, I'm down for what someone mentioned of making a group for online play.



It sounds like you and I played in a similar fashion. I was at around 27 hours and got 114 collectibles.

The Plus Mode is a replay, but it carry's over all your weapon and character upgrades you've made. I thought I'd start with every weapon, but that's not the case. You still have to pick them up as you go along, but they're upgraded to whereever you left off on them. I'm going through a plus game now to max everything out. I'm getting pretty close to being fully maxed out, and I'm just entering the hotel now.

I've been very aggressive in this play through, and it's soaking up resources like nuts. Fortunately with everything maxed out, I can afford it.

I've found a few extra collectibles so far. I've found two Firefly Pendents up in trees that had to be shot down, which means now I'm constantly looking up in the trees.

I just played my first online game last night. I suck, but found it much better than most online stuff I've tried. I even got a few kills. So if anyone wants to put a group together, I'd give it a try. My gamertag is Thorpesaurous too.

[stallionaire]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[rhythmic]

2k11 mechanics are better than 2k13s. The 3pt cheese absolutely infuriates me. Lots of holes in the game overall. Too much tweaking to be done with sliders and you can't even do that online.

Battlefield 3 is the best online fps that has come out this generation, explain why you think it's a 'weird' selection.

Well I just feel like 2K13 was a better overall game and I didn't find it that memorable to be honest. Just shocked you included 2K11 and placed it so highly on your list.

As far as BF3, I am not an online gamer so that should give you indication as to why I don't hold that game in such high regard.

[Heavincent]

No skyrim or uncharted 3 in your top 10?

:coleman: :biggums: gtfo

I find Skyrim to be really overrated. Huge world and lots of shit to do, but none of it was very fun or interesting. Really boring plot with boring monotone characters, clunky gameplay...just couldn't get into it.

[Thorpesaurous]

So I was watching a podcast on YouTube last night that was basically an hour of these four guys waxing poetic about this game.

They touched on a lot of interesting stuff. Talked a lot about the quality, about the level of storytelling, about specific moments. It was cool to see them talking about things that others didn't experience, like actually getting killed by the guards in Boston, waiting long enough to have the Doctor attack you at the end, and actually looking at the items in Ellie's backpack during the winter level.

But the thing I wanted to bring up was that they did say that single player DLC is on it's way. They were positive about it. Then they spend some time hypothesizing about what it may be.

The easy answer is more Joel and Ellie. There's certainly time lapses in the story where they could add more content.
The second easiest seemed to be pre-Boston Joel. Joel and Tess the smugglers. Or Joel The Hunter, which he hints at when he says he's "been on both sides" of the attacks.
One of them suggested Joel just after the fall. Joel and his brother right after Sara dies, and the stretch of time that led up to their falling out.
Then there were a couple that I thought sounded great. Henry and Sam. Something happened with Henry and his little bro before meeting up with Joel and Ellie. He had a group. They got seperated. We know they were being pressed by the militia group near them. They were close but in hiding. And they had a plan to get out of town. And they have a mother who they were still talking about as alive. There's a lot of meat there to work with. Plus they're a pair similar to Joel and Ellie, so the dual take cover mechanic would port over really easily.
And Ish. The Ish story was obviously well written out. The whole thing is layed out in the notes you pick up along the way. And it's a really cool, heartbreaking story. And one that obviously contains a fair amount of combat, and some stealth, as Ish goes into hiding in the sewers. My only issues here would be that we already know how it plays out. And that as the player you'd pretty much have to die to end the campaign.

Then there were a couple more esoteric theories that were thrown out there based on some inside info. First, apparently in the early incantations of the game, there was a dog companion. There's a little nod to it apparently early on when Joel and Tess go through the little outsider comunity, and the guy tells Joel that all those dogs are sold already. So perhaps something using the already tinkered with Dog companion. Either with Joel, or fresh.

And the other thing was that apparently the game's early concept art featured a ton of San Francisco imagery. So they were theorizing that perhaps we could see a completely fresh story, shorter obviously, coming down the west coast. This is simply assuming that some layouts for San Fran had already been assembled based on the concept art.

Interesting stuff.

[Heavincent]

So I was watching a podcast on YouTube last night that was basically an hour of these four guys waxing poetic about this game.

They touched on a lot of interesting stuff. Talked a lot about the quality, about the level of storytelling, about specific moments. It was cool to see them talking about things that others didn't experience, like actually getting killed by the guards in Boston, waiting long enough to have the Doctor attack you at the end, and actually looking at the items in Ellie's backpack during the winter level.

But the thing I wanted to bring up was that they did say that single player DLC is on it's way. They were positive about it. Then they spend some time hypothesizing about what it may be.

The easy answer is more Joel and Ellie. There's certainly time lapses in the story where they could add more content.
The second easiest seemed to be pre-Boston Joel. Joel and Tess the smugglers. Or Joel The Hunter, which he hints at when he says he's "been on both sides" of the attacks.
One of them suggested Joel just after the fall. Joel and his brother right after Sara dies, and the stretch of time that led up to their falling out.
Then there were a couple that I thought sounded great. Henry and Sam. Something happened with Henry and his little bro before meeting up with Joel and Ellie. He had a group. They got seperated. We know they were being pressed by the militia group near them. They were close but in hiding. And they had a plan to get out of town. And they have a mother who they were still talking about as alive. There's a lot of meat there to work with. Plus they're a pair similar to Joel and Ellie, so the dual take cover mechanic would port over really easily.
And Ish. The Ish story was obviously well written out. The whole thing is layed out in the notes you pick up along the way. And it's a really cool, heartbreaking story. And one that obviously contains a fair amount of combat, and some stealth, as Ish goes into hiding in the sewers. My only issues here would be that we already know how it plays out. And that as the player you'd pretty much have to die to end the campaign.

Then there were a couple more esoteric theories that were thrown out there based on some inside info. First, apparently in the early incantations of the game, there was a dog companion. There's a little nod to it apparently early on when Joel and Tess go through the little outsider comunity, and the guy tells Joel that all those dogs are sold already. So perhaps something using the already tinkered with Dog companion. Either with Joel, or fresh.

And the other thing was that apparently the game's early concept art featured a ton of San Francisco imagery. So they were theorizing that perhaps we could see a completely fresh story, shorter obviously, coming down the west coast. This is simply assuming that some layouts for San Fran had already been assembled based on the concept art.

Interesting stuff.

link?

[Thorpesaurous]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vzX_sYp80Q


I didn't think anyone else would be willing to watch four grown men talk about a video game for an hour. But there you go.

I don't know when exactly they start on the DLC talk, but it's relatively brief.

They're IGN guys I think, so they're real insider guys.

The whole conversation is pretty interesting. Just adults who take this somewhat serious, I suppose not unlike those of us posting in this thread.

[rhythmic]

So what are your favorite missions so far? And the most memorable moments?
Use white font to avoid spoiling for the guys that haven't finished it yet. :cheers:

And I'm definitely down to join a clan for online play... we'll dominate. :rockon:

[Lebowsky]

I used the online mode for the first time last night, and I really, really liked it. It's not a mindless shooter, just like 99% of multiplayers out there. Like someone else said before, it puts a lot of stress on stealth, teamplay and tactics. If you are reckless or a lone ranger, you won't last 30 secons. It took me a while to get how it all worked, and another while to start getting my first downs and kills, but once you get it going it's really fun. However, you will die a lot regardless. A lot. I don't know what's up with people, but some of the guys I played against were already extremely good.
Nevertheless, I managed to complete a mission and got my group to 24 survivors already. Also unlocked a few perks and a couple of guns. I'm probably going to play it again tonight. For anyone interested in an ISH faction, my PSN ID is formion.

[Thorpesaurous]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[jaydacris]

On the topic of DLC.... im gonna talk with spoilers being revealed.
I think its okay at this point.

As for DLC content, the idea I came up with was being a firefly soldier in a mission with a group of other soldiers. That mission could of course range from a variety of different things

The idea of morality is a very blurred line when dealing with a post apocalyptic world where it's all about survival. Of course we saw that throughout the game with Joel and other characters. So seeing the game and world through the eyes of someone on the 'other side' (the fireflies) would be kind of cool.

Imagine the mindset of a firefly soldier, when they hear that a crazy guy broke into a the hospital, killed a bunch of soldiers and doctors while stealing away the one possible vaccinated cure for the zombie pandemic.

Lots of cool different possibilities that Naughty Dog can throw out there, im sure ill enjoy whatever they choose. im not sure if they would introduce a completely new narrative behind a new character. Probably be something to do with Joel pre-Ellie. Lots of years between when the breakout began and when the actual game takes place

[Thorpesaurous]

On the topic of DLC.... im gonna talk with spoilers being revealed.
I think its okay at this point.

As for DLC content, the idea I came up with was being a firefly soldier in a mission with a group of other soldiers. That mission could of course range from a variety of different things

The idea of morality is a very blurred line when dealing with a post apocalyptic world where it's all about survival. Of course we saw that throughout the game with Joel and other characters. So seeing the game and world through the eyes of someone on the 'other side' (the fireflies) would be kind of cool.

Imagine the mindset of a firefly soldier, when they hear that a crazy guy broke into a the hospital, killed a bunch of soldiers and doctors while stealing away the one possible vaccinated cure for the zombie pandemic.

Lots of cool different possibilities that Naughty Dog can throw out there, im sure ill enjoy whatever they choose. im not sure if they would introduce a completely new narrative behind a new character. Probably be something to do with Joel pre-Ellie. Lots of years between when the breakout began and when the actual game takes place


I like that idea. We do get some of that perspective a couple of times. David's group for instance refers to Joel as "some lunatic with a little girl", which actually made me pause and think if I had shot first on the college campus, and was I just some lunatic who'd been killing anyone on sight. I wasn't. They definitely shoot first. But still.

[Heavincent]

Surprised at how fun the MP is. Reminds me a little bit of warzone mode in Gears of War (which I love). Nowhere near as good as the single player (nobody bought this game for the MP anyway), but it was a nice addition to the game. I'm not really a MP guy (only game I play online is Gears), so it must be decent if it has kept my attention for more than a few matches.

[EnoughSaid]

I just played my first online game last night. I suck, but found it much better than most online stuff I've tried. I even got a few kills. So if anyone wants to put a group together, I'd give it a try. My gamertag is Thorpesaurous too.

Yeah man mines Enough_Said and I've been wanting to play online with some people. I'm going to add you and hopefully we'll get a game going.

[Lebowsky]

Yeah man mines Enough_Said and I've been wanting to play online with some people. I'm going to add you and hopefully we'll get a game going.
Add me too, formion.

[chazzy]

Awesome game and story.

[Scholar]

:( By the time I buy this in July, everybody will have moved on to the next game. Me so sad.

[rhythmic]

Last of US officially become the 2nd highest game ever to receive perfect scores with 39, tied with Uncharted 2 for the current gen.

TLoU 39/88
Uncharted 2 39/107

Insane, also has a 9.1 user rating (over 1800 reviews) compared to GTA 4's mediocre 7.9 (the game with the highest amount of perfect reviews with 48 I believe).

Safe to say best game in the last 8 years? :rockon:

[tmacattack33]

I'm not into video games much anymore...besides some NBA 2k13 when my cousin comes over.

But i randomly just saw a walkthrough of The Last of Us on youtube. I got there from a thread on here that linked to a Jason Williams highlight video on youtube.
Then I clicked on some related videos and eventually got to the Last of Us walkthrough ( i saw the beginning where the girl gives the fixed watch to her dad, then she wakes up in the morning and he's gone, then they have to kill their infected neighbors and drive away).


I didn't even really know i was watching a video game. The sh*t was pure fire.

So i started to wonder about how much control you have in it and stuff...as opposed to just watching a video on screen with no control...so i googled the game and stuff...but then i realized it was ps3 exclusive, and i have xbox360 :banghead: .

So to all you with a ps3, have fun. This seems like a classic game that can change the industry.

[Chizdog]

Shitty game. Good characters and voice acting but shitty gameplay.
COD games are so much better gameplay and character wise.

[Heavincent]

Shitty game. Good characters and voice acting but shitty gameplay.
COD games are so much better gameplay and character wise.

:oldlol: :facepalm

[konex]

Finished it this week. It's the best game I've ever played and I really want a sequel. I haven't been this hooked by a game since FFX :bowdown:

[EnoughSaid]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[stallionaire]

Lol it's funny how everyone is just now saying Naughty Dog is the best in the business.

If you asked me in 1999 who the best developer ever was I'd tell you it was Naughty Dog....

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/CrashTeamRacingNACover.png

Still the reigning king of kart racers. :pimp:

[Qwyjibo]

Shitty game. Good characters and voice acting but shitty gameplay.
COD games are so much better gameplay and character wise.
That's going too far.

Playing through it right now and while it's not close to the best game I've played in years (it's not even the best of this year, for me) but it's excellent. The story and characters are top quality.

The stealth combat/gameplay is where the big flaw of The Last of Us comes out. It's just not that great and having a companion breaks a lot of the immersion. Too often I'm hiding from clickers, moving slowly and Ellie is jumping around and actually running to the enemies. They of course don't react to her because it's programmed that way. It would be too frustrating otherwise but it kills a lot of the tension for me.

I haven't finished it yet though.

[glidedrxlr22]

On normal how long is this game taking you guys to complete? I'm about 10 hours in....just past the point where Ellie and Joel are fished out of the water by Henry and his brother. How much farther is there till the ending?

[Lebowsky]

On normal how long is this game taking you guys to complete? I'm about 10 hours in....just past the point where Ellie and Joel are fished out of the water by Henry and his brother. How much farther is there till the ending?
You're probably around halfway in, I think, or maybe a little bit further ahead. It took me almost 21 hours, but I was exploring quite a lot and trying to find as much stuff as I could.

[Thorpesaurous]

On normal how long is this game taking you guys to complete? I'm about 10 hours in....just past the point where Ellie and Joel are fished out of the water by Henry and his brother. How much farther is there till the ending?


I took about 26 hours, but I rooted around like crazy and came out with a rediculous percentage of collectables on my first play through.

I'd say you're not quite at the halfway mark.

I'm on my second play through on a new game plus, and I'm ripping through it at a better rate, and am probably three sections in front of you at probably the same 10 hour mark.

[glidedrxlr22]

A couple of weapon questions:

Are the holsters necessary? They require a lot of parts points.....just to be able to switch weapons a little faster?

Does the bow improve much with upgrades? The begining level bow just seems to launch arrows like a toy plastic bow.

[Lebowsky]

A couple of weapon questions:

Are the holsters necessary? They require a lot of parts points.....just to be able to switch weapons a little faster?

Does the bow improve much with upgrades? The begining level bow just seems to launch arrows like a toy plastic bow.
Yes and yes. Weapons holsters are not necessary per se, but you will find yourself in the middle of gunfights in which you will run out of ammo, and being able to switch weapons fast (without having to access your backpack) is huge. I got the gun holster as my first upgrade and the long arms holster a little further along the way.
The bow does improve quite a lot. Draw speed is not as important as range imo, because I usually favored the bow in stealth situations. However, the range upgrade is very nice to have, especially when coupled with weapon sway reduction. You can get some crazy shots with some practice.
In the end it all comes down to your playing style, but I would certainly recommend getting the weapon holsters at some point.

[Thorpesaurous]

A couple of weapon questions:

Are the holsters necessary? They require a lot of parts points.....just to be able to switch weapons a little faster?

Does the bow improve much with upgrades? The begining level bow just seems to launch arrows like a toy plastic bow.


I'd say yes and yes too.

I did the weapon holsters, both of them, as my very first upgrades. It did take a lot of points. I thought about it in retrospect, about perhaps upgrading a specific weapon that I fancied more aggressively first, but the truth is you're not going to have the ammo to fancy a particular weapon all that much one way or the other. And that lack of ammo for a specific weapon, combined with the limited clip size they all have, will mean you'll want those holsters. It basically doubles your clip capacity, or more depending on the guys you use.
The other issue with focusing on a particular gun to upgrade, is that those work benches can be an awfully long way apart. You can go quite some time without seeing one. So I think my strategy of just using up every tool point I had on whatever was the most efficient way to spread them out. It meant everything kind of upgraded at the same rate. Truthfully I didn't use the bow much my first time through. Actually it was someone in here who said the bow was fun and stealthy that got me using it. So I probably could've spread my tools out more aggressively a different way, but it worked.

I just got to the Winter hunting chapter last night on my first New Game+ playthrough. I know I haven't been nearly as diligent looking for stuff. But my main objective was to finish the upgradeing. I just finished off maxing out all the weapons last night. I finished off upgrading Joel pretty quickly the second time through. The weapons took a little longer. Mostly because it takes a while to get to that last weapon.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna play through a new game on the hardest level and go for that trophy, or play a plus game on the easiest level and use a walthrough to find all the items. I'm not missing many. I really wish you could go from level to level like in Uncharted.

[Lebowsky]

I'd say yes and yes too.

I did the weapon holsters, both of them, as my very first upgrades. It did take a lot of points. I thought about it in retrospect, about perhaps upgrading a specific weapon that I fancied more aggressively first, but the truth is you're not going to have the ammo to fancy a particular weapon all that much one way or the other. And that lack of ammo for a specific weapon, combined with the limited clip size they all have, will mean you'll want those holsters. It basically doubles your clip capacity, or more depending on the guys you use.
The other issue with focusing on a particular gun to upgrade, is that those work benches can be an awfully long way apart. You can go quite some time without seeing one. So I think my strategy of just using up every tool point I had on whatever was the most efficient way to spread them out. It meant everything kind of upgraded at the same rate. Truthfully I didn't use the bow much my first time through. Actually it was someone in here who said the bow was fun and stealthy that got me using it. So I probably could've spread my tools out more aggressively a different way, but it worked.

I just got to the Winter hunting chapter last night on my first New Game+ playthrough. I know I haven't been nearly as diligent looking for stuff. But my main objective was to finish the upgradeing. I just finished off maxing out all the weapons last night. I finished off upgrading Joel pretty quickly the second time through. The weapons took a little longer. Mostly because it takes a while to get to that last weapon.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna play through a new game on the hardest level and go for that trophy, or play a plus game on the easiest level and use a walthrough to find all the items. I'm not missing many. I really wish you could go from level to level like in Uncharted.
Thorpe I think you can do that. I know I found it somewhere just after I finished the game. I'm at work now, so I can't tell you exactly where to find it, but I will have a look again when I get home tonight.

[rhythmic]

I'd say yes and yes too.

I did the weapon holsters, both of them, as my very first upgrades. It did take a lot of points. I thought about it in retrospect, about perhaps upgrading a specific weapon that I fancied more aggressively first, but the truth is you're not going to have the ammo to fancy a particular weapon all that much one way or the other. And that lack of ammo for a specific weapon, combined with the limited clip size they all have, will mean you'll want those holsters. It basically doubles your clip capacity, or more depending on the guys you use.
The other issue with focusing on a particular gun to upgrade, is that those work benches can be an awfully long way apart. You can go quite some time without seeing one. So I think my strategy of just using up every tool point I had on whatever was the most efficient way to spread them out. It meant everything kind of upgraded at the same rate. Truthfully I didn't use the bow much my first time through. Actually it was someone in here who said the bow was fun and stealthy that got me using it. So I probably could've spread my tools out more aggressively a different way, but it worked.

I just got to the Winter hunting chapter last night on my first New Game+ playthrough. I know I haven't been nearly as diligent looking for stuff. But my main objective was to finish the upgradeing. I just finished off maxing out all the weapons last night. I finished off upgrading Joel pretty quickly the second time through. The weapons took a little longer. Mostly because it takes a while to get to that last weapon.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna play through a new game on the hardest level and go for that trophy, or play a plus game on the easiest level and use a walthrough to find all the items. I'm not missing many. I really wish you could go from level to level like in Uncharted.

You can select chapters bro, I did it.
Terrific game guys, I beat it on Hard, Normal and Plus already. :oldlol:
Got all the collectables and maxed out all the guns. Need another week to earn that plat. I'm a god when it comes to Naughty Dog games, been playing the shit out of this game.

[Thorpesaurous]

Thorpe I think you can do that. I know I found it somewhere just after I finished the game. I'm at work now, so I can't tell you exactly where to find it, but I will have a look again when I get home tonight.


Thanks, that would be awesome. I'm itching to go back in level by level to find the few items I'm missing.

I also can't believe I don't have the trophy for opening all the shiv doors. I have to look that up too and find out where the hell it is.

[Thorpesaurous]

So I beat my new game plus on normal last night. And in the process landed a ton of trophies. I was able to find unassisted, the last of the comic books I needed (it was two). I also found two training manuals. I do wonder if I had gotten one of them and lost it after an auto save. It's right in the tunnell just before you go into the hospital on the roof of a truck, and I know I had gotten it before. The second one was in a house just before the sniper up in the attic, and you have to send Ellie up, which I know full well I missed. Anyway, that got me the find all artifacts trophy, which I guess doesn't include Firefly Tags, because I'm still missing five of those. I got the trophy for unlocking, getting all thirteen shiv doors. Another one that I swore I did before, because none of them seemed new. I just wonder if I lost one on a reload somewhere. And I got the two trophies for upgrading Joel all the way, and upgrading all the weapons all the way.

I'm up to 136 of 141 items. Missing five tags. I did find out that you can load chapter to chapter. And not only that, they tell you how many items you found and how many are available in each chapter, so now I know where to go look up, and I can jump in and grab the few ramaining dog tags.

I'll have to beat it theoretically two more times on Survivor, once a regular game, and once +, and I'll probably be able to close out all the the single player trophies.

I may try to muscle through the multiplayer ones just to get the platinum, depending on how hard they are to get.

[glidedrxlr22]

I just completed it a couple of days ago. It took me about 17 and half hours on normal

[Scholar]

I finally bought the game today. I regret not buying it sooner. This thing is addicting. I'm 4 hours in, right around the part where you meet Bill and he agrees to build a vehicle for you. This game is so damn amazing. It's been hard to stop playing it. It's damn near midnight and I'm still on it.

[$LakerGold]

I finally bought the game today. I regret not buying it sooner. This thing is addicting. I'm 4 hours in, right around the part where you meet Bill and he agrees to build a vehicle for you. This game is so damn amazing. It's been hard to stop playing it. It's damn near midnight and I'm still on it.
:cheers:

[Anti Hero]

Been having a blasty blast with this game, just made it to where you meet up with Joel's brother.

[Scholar]

You know a game is an instant classic when you're playing it and people who are nowhere near being gaming fans stop to watch for extended periods of time.

[nightprowler10]

I borrowed it from a relative and started playing this yesterday. The environments are incredible. Only played like a half hour so haven't done anything significant yet.

[heavensdevil]

:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

IGN 10/10
Machinima 10/10
Destructoid 10/10
Gamereactor 10/10
Eurogamer 10/10
Eurogamer IT 10/10
Eurogamer Sp 10/10
Edge 10/10
CVG 10/10
VideoGamer 10/10
thesixaxis 10/10
ibtimes 10/10
PS-Lifestyle 10/10
Digital Spy 10/10
Digital Fix 10/10
Post Arcade 10/10
speciogames 10/10
Gamingbolt 10/10
Godisageek 10/10
OPM 10/10
Pushsquare 10/10
PS-Nation 10/10
Giantbomb 5/5
Techdigest 5/5
Gamesradar 5/5
TheMirror 5/5
Guardian 5/5
Telegraph 5/5
Gameblog 5/5
CheatCodeCentral 5/5
Adam Sessler 5/5

jesus... so Ive slept on this game huh?

[$LakerGold]

jesus... so Ive slept on this game huh?
Yep.

[Scholar]

I started playing the multiplayer online yesterday. It's pretty fun, but there are so many people who are already at level 50+ that it seems intimidating. Another thing is the crews. These guys all end up having mics and working together to win, while I play with random dudes who just run around throwing bombs.

[nightprowler10]

I borrowed it from a relative and started playing this yesterday. The environments are incredible. Only played like a half hour so haven't done anything significant yet.
Up to Pittsburg now.

I don't think this is a spoiler, but either way...SPOILER!

What's the easiest way to kill the bloaters? I caught the one in Bill's city and unloaded my shotgun at its head. Finally took aim with my revolver at the head and killed it. I'm guessing I significantly weakened it with the gunshot? Wish those had a health bar lol.

I'm at the building that's full of hunters and kept getting spotted in no time at all. I'll try again later this week.

I must say, the AI characters with you are annoying as hell. I was hiding behind the school bus in Bill's city and he bumps into me pushing me out far enough that the runners saw me. Grr.

[Heavincent]

What's the easiest way to kill the bloaters? I caught the one in Bill's city and unloaded my shotgun at its head. Finally took aim with my revolver at the head and killed it. I'm guessing I significantly weakened it with the gunshot? Wish those had a health bar lol.


Molotovs and nail bombs. I think there's only 1 or 2 more bloaters you have to kill though. You can just sneak by them in most cases.

[Thorpesaurous]

Yeah, the molotovs work really well. When he's burning he'll flail around some and you can get a few pops off with whatever you're most high powered gun is, the rifle probably, although it reloads really slow.

In fact, I think at that first bloater, at least on normal, they have a molotov sitting on the table when you first walk in, as kind of a givaway.

[rhythmic]

41 perfect scores, from 95 total reviews.
Officially becomes the 2nd leading game in HISTORY (behind GTA 4) to receive the most perfect scores. It is also 3rd all-time metacritic in user reviews with a whooping 9.1 user rating (only second to Half-Life 2 & Baldur Gate's 2: tied with Zelda: Ocarina of Time).

Holy hell; just for comparison sakes, GTA 4 has a 7.9 gamer review.
This is definitely the game of the current generation; in my opinion the best game ever crafted. I like how I can play this game again and the AI is totally different; therefoer you can never use just one strategy, makes the game have a lasting appeal.

[Lebowsky]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[macmac]

How the hell is Baldur's Gate II rated that highly? I liked the first much better.

BG2 is the best isometric RPG of all time. Perfection.

[Qwyjibo]

BG2 is the best isometric RPG of all time. Perfection.
Pretty much. Although I prefer Planscape Torment out of that era (and it might be my fave game of all-time). But BG2 improved on BG1 in every single way.

I just finished The Last of Us and it was an amazing experience. The first few parts of the story drag a bit but once you get to "Fall", the desperation really amps up and you finally feel that connection with the characters.

[Lebowsky]

BG2 is the best isometric RPG of all time. Perfection.
I don't know, maybe it's just me but I still prefer BG I.

[macmac]

I don't know, maybe it's just me but I still prefer BG I.

Multi classes. Way bigger world and cities. No lvl 7 cap so much more advanced spells and abilities. Great storyline. Much better graphics. Same engine and gameplay, mostly same characters but lots of new ones. Boo is as mighty as ever.

What did u prefer in BG?

[Lebowsky]

Multi classes. Way bigger world and cities. No lvl 7 cap so much more advanced spells and abilities. Great storyline. Much better graphics. Same engine and gameplay, mostly same characters but lots of new ones. Boo is as mighty as ever.

What did u prefer in BG?
Maybe it was the novelty factor now that I think of it. I have a problem with games in which you don't start at the beginning (level one in this case). Makes me feel wrongly powerful and like I'm missing something in between, if you know what I mean. It was even more so in inFamous 2. I also liked the story in BG I better. BG II was a great game in its own right, though. I kinda wish they would make a third one, I never liked Neverwinter nights too much.

[$LakerGold]

BG? Beach Girls? :confusedshrug:

Really?

[Scholar]

Is everyone over this game already? The hype didn't last long, did it? I don't think GTA V's thread will die less than 2 months after the game's release.

[Thorpesaurous]

Is everyone over this game already? The hype didn't last long, did it? I don't think GTA V's thread will die less than 2 months after the game's release.


It was relatively short, and it didn't have any multiplayer, so I do think the shelf life was a little limited. Doesn't make any less awesome for me.

I haven't played any of the online add on stuff that came out recently.

[Qwyjibo]

Is everyone over this game already? The hype didn't last long, did it? I don't think GTA V's thread will die less than 2 months after the game's release.
It was a great game but once the story is over, well, it's over. The Last of Us doesn't have some wondrous setting that I'm compelled to re-visit like say Bioshock Infinite. I've seen this type of post-apocalypse/catastrophe world many times before. Plus there's also better multi-player games out there. I'll replay it sometime because the characters were near perfect but no rush.

[Heavincent]

Is everyone over this game already? The hype didn't last long, did it? I don't think GTA V's thread will die less than 2 months after the game's release.

Different types of games. GTA 5 will obviously have more replay value. Doesn't necessarily make it a better game though.

I think many people will tell you that TLoU is the best game of this gen, including myself.

[rhythmic]

Is everyone over this game already? The hype didn't last long, did it? I don't think GTA V's thread will die less than 2 months after the game's release.

Well Black Ops 2 didn't die this quick either, is it a better game too?
TLoU is mostly a linear game, but it doesn't mean it's not the best game in the last 10 years. To me it's the best game period. I've beaten it already 8-9 times and still perfecting my strategy. The 2-3 hours playing the Winter section is the best time I've had playing a video game. It lived to the hype and exceeded it, IMO.

My favorite game of all-time; can't believe it actually surpassed Uncharted 2/3 in my book.

With that said, I've already predicted that GTA V will break ISH's record for a thread with the most posts in the video game forum; heck maybe even on any forum. I hope it is a better game then TLoU since it's a far more ambitious and longer game with more re-playability.

5 more days boys! :cheers:

[Thorpesaurous]

This company Cook & Becker has been commissioned by Naughty Dog to produce some museum quality art prints of images from and about The Last Of Us. Some of it is concept art, which I think I may even prefer. Others are straight shots pulled right from the game world.

http://www.candb.com/en/artcollectivegallery/22/naughty-dog.html


They also do a few other games too. There's some really cool images from Journey in there. I love the Journey 2-D level map.

They're expensive, but I'm totally considering buying something. They're good size. They're only in a limited quantity. They'd be totally unique. And they can in most cases stand up as individual works on their own accord. I'd stay away from anything with too much branding on it, or anything with any heavy focus on the particular characters. But it's all really cool imagery.

[Scholar]

Isn't there supposed to be some DLC for this game by now? It's been 3 months since its release. You'd think they'd have added new story-related gameplay. I don't care much for the online experience anymore since it's not very exciting. If they can add a game mode where you team up with other users and kill hordes of Infected, ala the scene with Ellie & David working together, I think I'd be willing to get back onto the multiplayer experience.

I'm just hoping that they release something worthwhile soon. All they did was add a useless "Interrogation" game mode to the multiplayer that got stale to me within a handful of matches.

Oh, well. GTA V is coming out soon, so I'll probably forget all about TLoU soon.

[Rose]

Isn't there supposed to be some DLC for this game by now? It's been 3 months since its release. You'd think they'd have added new story-related gameplay. I don't care much for the online experience anymore since it's not very exciting. If they can add a game mode where you team up with other users and kill hordes of Infected, ala the scene with Ellie & David working together, I think I'd be willing to get back onto the multiplayer experience.

I'm just hoping that they release something worthwhile soon. All they did was add a useless "Interrogation" game mode to the multiplayer that got stale to me within a handful of matches.

Oh, well. GTA V is coming out soon, so I'll probably forget all about TLoU soon.
They were supposed to announce something by the end of August but they didn't.

[jaydacris]

DLC revealed/teased


Tonight on Spike TV's PlayStation 4 launch special, Sony-owned developer Naughty Dog revealed a little tease of its upcoming single-player DLC for The Last of Us.

The video, seen below, shows only a few precious seconds of footage.


In it, we see Ellie and Riley, a character from the prologue The Last of Us comic book American Dreams. They approach a carousel overgrown with foliage before the scene cuts away. That's literally all we see before "Coming Soon" ends the video.

The PlayStation Blog notes that the DLC will launch in Early 2014. It will cost $14.99. Indeed, that blog post, written by Naughty Dog's Arne Meyer, expands a bit on the subject matter of the DLC:

In just a few short months since the release of The Last of Us, you have made it clear that Ellie has become one of your favorite characters in games. Today, we’re excited to confirm that you play as Ellie throughout the entirety of Left Behind.

Joining Ellie on this new adventure is Riley, her best friend and also a mentor of sorts at the military boarding school. Just as The Last of Us focused on the bond between Ellie and Joel, Left Behind explores the bond between Ellie and Riley through a series of events that will forever change both of their lives.

The Last of Us launched exclusively on PlayStation 3 this past June. It was a masterpiece, earning a 10 from IGN.

So there we have it
DLC based on Ellie and her friend Riley, and its a Prequel to the main game

sounds fine to me

[TheReal Kendall]

DLC revealed/teased



So there we have it
DLC based on Ellie and her friend Riley, and its a Prequel to the main game

sounds fine to me

Are they gonna make a Last of us for the PS4? Is this DLC for the PS4?

[Thorpesaurous]

Are they gonna make a Last of us for the PS4? Is this DLC for the PS4?

From what I've read the DLC will be for the PS4, but it will be a stand alone playable downloadable game, so it won't require the disc to play it, and still no sign of the original game being available on PS4. Although I'm guessing it will be purchasable digitally by the end of 2014.

[Scholar]

So the game releases in June, they have talks of releasing DLC for current gen.. Er.. Now last gen systems (PS3) by August, delay the release, instead give us a bullshit added game mode for multiplayer (the Interrogation Mode) and instead of appeasing those of us who have waited patiently for them to release DLC for the systems we actually bought the f*cking game with, they decide to release it for the new gen systems.

Maybe I'll be standing alone here but that pisses me off. I won't be buying a PS4 for a while, so.. Yeah.

[Thorpesaurous]

So the game releases in June, they have talks of releasing DLC for current gen.. Er.. Now last gen systems (PS3) by August, delay the release, instead give us a bullshit added game mode for multiplayer (the Interrogation Mode) and instead of appeasing those of us who have waited patiently for them to release DLC for the systems we actually bought the f*cking game with, they decide to release it for the new gen systems.

Maybe I'll be standing alone here but that pisses me off. I won't be buying a PS4 for a while, so.. Yeah.


I tend to agree that that's kind of horseshit. But I'm also not sure it won't be available for PS3 too.

[Qwyjibo]

This would be a marketing disaster if it wasn't also released for PS3. I'm sure it will be.

[Mr Exlax]

I wonder how amazing it will look on PS4. I love this game. I never did try playing it online though.

[Heavincent]

They better make a PS4 version for this. I really want to play through it again but I don't have a PS3.

Imagine this game running at 1080p with 60 FPS :eek:

[GASOL IS GOAT]

Has anyone played the DLC Last Of Us: Left Behind yet? I believe it came out today.

[Undisputed]

Man, I really, really want this game for the PS4. Had a 360 all of last gen, and I'd be lying if The Last of Us wasn't on the back of my mind when making the decision to switch to the PS4.

It will definitely be coming, or at least, it should. It would be a huge let down if they never get around to porting it...the demand is definitely there.

[ballup]

Dat surprise anout Ellie :O

[rhythmic]

The DLC just made me so much more hopeful for a sequel. In that 3 hour span, they did so many cool little things to characterize Ellie. The hide and seek, water gun fights etc. just made me realize how creative and pioneering ND really is.

They have to make TLoU 2. So many great possibilities too.
For instance, how about the fireflies seek revenge for Joel killing Marlene?
Tommy, Ellie and Joel go on a cross country adventure to bring back an actual cure that people found in a different state?

Heck that 20 year frame; they can easily explore more adventures of Joel (without Ellie) although that would be weird since Ellie is the best character in the game. I think having Ellie as the main protagonist is far more plausible.

Anyways, just recently played TLoU and Left Behind again, simply the best game ever created.

- Best graphics I've ever witnessed.
- The most detailed game I've ever played, even more so than Uncharted It's insane how detailed the environments really are and are consistent throughout the entire 15+ hour story mode.
- Diverse and gorgeous scenery, no chapter felt the same.
- Deep story with a lot of emotional elements.
- Perfect characterization.
- Highly rewarding if you crank up the difficulty.
- Intuitive multi-player
- Highly interrelated gameplay; just everything comes together so beautifully. The seamless transition from game to cut-scene is fluid and makes the story more realistic and dramatic.
- Some of the greatest moments in gaming history came from this game; the sniper episode, Bob's town, Winter Chapter...just intelligent writing and the freedom to either go guns blazing (or fists blazing) or stealth makes it suitable for a lot of different gamers.
- Level design was beautifully crafted; I have beaten this game 10+ times now and every play-through I go a different route. Still not sure which is the best strategy because AI actually move differently each time.

Overall, it's a game everyoe has to play. I never liked zombie games or Resident Evil (which is a very prestigious zombie title) but TLoU isn't really a zombie game. It has zombie's sure, but it feels like a very realistic (and brutal) survival game.

100/100 without a doubt. Hope Uncharted 4 can somehow manage to surpass it, I believe in ND.

[Heavincent]

Naughty God :bowdown:

They better make a PS4 edition. I really want to play through it again, but as I mentioned before, I don't have a PS3.

It really is the GOAT game though. Soundtrack and atmosphere is amazing. I love the whole "nature reclaiming the Earth" kind of thing they had going on. A lot of post-apocalyptic games/movies are just a sea of brown, but this game is gorgeous. I can tell it was inspired by that documentary about what would happen to the earth if humanity was wiped out.

Easily the strongest cast of characters in a video game. Joel and Ellie were obviously great, but it had a really strong supporting cast as well. Tess, Bill, Sam, Henry, Marlene, and David were all memorable characters. Hopefully the rest of the gaming industry follows Naughty Dog's lead. We don't have enough good story driven games. Not only that, but Naughty Dog managed to merge it with really great gameplay. Bioshock Infinite had a good story, but the gameplay was forgettable and I felt there was a pretty big disconnect between story and gameplay. It was just one big pointless shooting gallery imo. It should been an adventure game with less shooting.

[KobesFinger]

DLC was great but a little short. I know its not supposed to be a new game but for

[West-Side]

I think Naughty Dog will exceed TLoU next March; it will be called Uncharted 4.

[Thorpesaurous]

I bought the remaster of TLoU almost exclusively for the DLC, and enjoyed the hell out of it. It was a bit short, and there was a little too much cutesy-ness, which I don't mind so much with the story, which was excellent, but it was built into some of the game mechanics.

I'd love to see another game built into this world, but that stands almost entirely on it's own. Following some new survivors through some new story from another part of the country, or even somewhere else in the world.

[LJJ]

Well the big rumor is that ND is making The Last of Us 2 with Tommy as the leading character. Which would be a little....disappointing. Another hardened pre-pocalypse guy in his 40s, a familiar face, with undoubtedly many similarities and references to the first game.

I'll take more TLOU over more Uncharted any day of the week. But if they are doing it (foregone conclusion at this point) I also hope they'll move plenty far away from the original in terms of story and characters.

[outbreak]

Great game but I would have enjoyed it more if it weren't so hype. Nowhere near the best game I've ever played game play wise. I'd love a sequel though, I thought an older Ellie could work.

[West-Side]

Great game but I would have enjoyed it more if it weren't so hype. Nowhere near the best game I've ever played game play wise. I'd love a sequel though, I thought an older Ellie could work.

Only way that's possible is if you simply don't enjoy the genre.
There aren't 5 games better than this game, at any point in time on any console.

It was hyped because it was as perfect of a game as you can make.

LJJ; Uncharted 4 looks better than TLoU and by a significant margin. I've never seen something that epic.

- The graphics are the best I've seen.
- During gun-play the environment is destructive; when a grenade is thrown, everything in sight gets damaged.
- It is now far less linear and allows the player to take multiple cuts.
- Drake has new fighting animations; movement animations; climbing tools and animations.
- The game is supposedly far longer than any of its previous installments.

I think it will blow TLoU out of the water; it's the game ND spend the most time developing, so I know they're taking their time perfecting it.

TLoU 2 is a first day purchase for me; but I also want Red Dead Redemption 2. :mad:

[Thorpesaurous]

I don't think Tommy is a terrible idea. And an older Ellie would be fine too.

I just think they have to not do a mysterious cure story.

Some other plot device I think would be the key. That's why I think Tommy wouldn't be bad, because his driving plot would be establishing a defendable community, which would look past the notion of cure altogether. Although I agree the tone of the character would be hard to separate from Joel.

[West-Side]

I don't think Tommy is a terrible idea. And an older Ellie would be fine too.

I just think they have to not do a mysterious cure story.

Some other plot device I think would be the key. That's why I think Tommy wouldn't be bad, because his driving plot would be establishing a defendable community, which would look past the notion of cure altogether. Although I agree the tone of the character would be hard to separate from Joel.

I think one of the most logical sequels would involve revenge. Like the fireflies killing Joel shortly after he shot Merlene; and Tommy & Ellie set out to hunt them down one by one.

[Thorpesaurous]

I think one of the most logical sequels would involve revenge. Like the fireflies killing Joel shortly after he shot Merlene; and Tommy & Ellie set out to hunt them down one by one.


That would work.

I think I'd prefer something concurrent to the original story though. Like following Tommy's run after splitting from Joel. You could have him meet his wife and run with her for a while, developing that relationship, and eventually doing stuff to set up his town that they've put together. Early chapter could be his intro into and eventually leaving the fireflies.

Eventually you could end it at Joel's entrance into the story. Or play that through as a chapter, and then run a final chapter of a revenge plot like you suggest, perhaps with Ellie as the sidekick for that revenge sequence.

[outbreak]

Only way that's possible is if you simply don't enjoy the genre.
There aren't 5 games better than this game, at any point in time on any console.

It was hyped because it was as perfect of a game as you can make.

LJJ; Uncharted 4 looks better than TLoU and by a significant margin. I've never seen something that epic.

- The graphics are the best I've seen.
- During gun-play the environment is destructive; when a grenade is thrown, everything in sight gets damaged.
- It is now far less linear and allows the player to take multiple cuts.
- Drake has new fighting animations; movement animations; climbing tools and animations.
- The game is supposedly far longer than any of its previous installments.

I think it will blow TLoU out of the water; it's the game ND spend the most time developing, so I know they're taking their time perfecting it.

TLoU 2 is a first day purchase for me; but I also want Red Dead Redemption 2. :mad:
:biggums:
The shooting mechanics sucked, the AI was flat out broken and they used some cheap gimmicks in areas to force you to play their way.

Good enjoyable game, solid 8/10 but it was far from perfect gameplay wise.

Some people complain about the story being clich

[Ai2death]

Only way that's possible is if you simply don't enjoy the genre.
There aren't 5 games better than this game, at any point in time on any console.

It was hyped because it was as perfect of a game as you can make.

LJJ; Uncharted 4 looks better than TLoU and by a significant margin. I've never seen something that epic.

- The graphics are the best I've seen.
- During gun-play the environment is destructive; when a grenade is thrown, everything in sight gets damaged.
- It is now far less linear and allows the player to take multiple cuts.
- Drake has new fighting animations; movement animations; climbing tools and animations.
- The game is supposedly far longer than any of its previous installments.

I think it will blow TLoU out of the water; it's the game ND spend the most time developing, so I know they're taking their time perfecting it.

TLoU 2 is a first day purchase for me; but I also want Red Dead Redemption 2. :mad:

Don't worry about Outbreak too much with this game. There's already been a lot of discussion on the matter, and nothing will change his mind.
It's his opinion, but yes the general consensus is that it is definitely up there.

[LJJ]

Don't worry about Outbreak too much with this game. There's already been a lot of discussion on the matter, and nothing will change his mind.
It's his opinion, but yes the general consensus is that it is definitely up there.

To be fair, I think the consensus is more "TLOU is one of the best games of gen 7",
and much less "There aren't 5 games better than this game, at any point in time on any console.".

[Ai2death]

To be fair, I think the consensus is more "TLOU is one of the best games of gen 7",
and much less "There aren't 5 games better than this game, at any point in time on any console.".

Honestly i thought that was implied, It's not fair to rate games best of all time as technology and demographic change. Best games of generations though? Absolutely.

[West-Side]

To be fair, I think the consensus is more "TLOU is one of the best games of gen 7",
and much less "There aren't 5 games better than this game, at any point in time on any console.".

Not really; I believe it's one of the five best games ever made.
It has a 9.5 rating on metacritic. Only 38 titles in gaming history have 96 or above. Only 6 of those titles are from PS3/360/PS4/X1 (current generation).

However, it has a 9.1 gamer rating (over 6,600 reviews) which makes it the highest rated current gen game of all-time.

Every other game that has a higher score (six in total) are from the N64 & GC days.

Fact is, no other game has a higher average score than TLoU for current generation and only four games in gaming history have a higher average score than the TLoU.

I know Super Mario Galaxy and Ocarina of Time are two of those games; the other two being Metroid Prime and Baldur's Gate 2.

But I really could give a rats ass about those games.
I enjoy modern games way more. They are far more enjoyable to play. When Tony Hawk received perfect scores 15 years ago or Metroid Prime it was relative to the standard during that time. It doesn't even hold a candle to a game like TLoU.

From a current generation (Ps3/Ps4) no game has received a higher average score (critic & gamer) than TLoU.

So yeah, I can back up my opinion on the matter. :rolleyes:

[West-Side]

[QUOTE=outbreak]:biggums:
The shooting mechanics sucked, the AI was flat out broken and they used some cheap gimmicks in areas to force you to play their way.

Good enjoyable game, solid 8/10 but it was far from perfect gameplay wise.

Some people complain about the story being clich

[West-Side]

Honestly i thought that was implied, It's not fair to rate games best of all time as technology and demographic change. Best games of generations though? Absolutely.

I agree; it's not fair to compare games like that.
I mean GoldenEye looks ridiculous when you compare it to a FPS today; however at that point in time it was the most played FPS on the market because it set a high standard relative to similar games on the market.

I do believe TLoU achieved that same prestige and I think it's arguably the best game of the last generation (PS3/X360) and one of the five best games of all-time.

[LJJ]

But I really could give a rats ass about those games.

TL;DR

Disregarding all games pre-2010 seems to be pretty much the only way you can justify that opinion.

[West-Side]

TL;DR

Disregarding all games pre-2010 seems to be pretty much the only way you can justify that opinion.

Those games do not allow you to have the same experience for many obvious reasons. If you want to think games 20 years ago are better because of memories you had with them than that's fine; that's your opinion.

Don't try to spoon feed me MY opinion to me.
I have played a lot of the most popular video games like Zelda, Metroid Prime, GoldenEye and while I had incredible memories with those games; I felt different when I played a game like TLoU.

Emotionally I was far more connected with the game; the graphics and the sound were on a completely different level.

To me, I think there are too many people who will pick the old school stuff just to try and sound smart instead of using logic.

Fact is; games have improved a lot over time.
Heck, TLoU isn't even from the current gen; it's from the Ps3 days. A console that had a giant gaming library. The fact that it had the highest gamer score of any console game, tells you that you should respect my opinion.

If your opinion is different that's fine; just don't attempt to tell me that my opinion is crazy when there are thousands upon thousands of gamers who played this game who would agree with my sentiment.

[LJJ]

If we are going to talk about greatness and then say "oh yeah everything with graphics that aren't up to the current standard automatically sucks to me" it becomes a pointless discussion. Like I said, just say you don't rate games from more than 5 years ago then. Fine. You just end up sounding like and idiot, but as you said that's just your opinion.

It devalues the statement "this is one of the greatest games ever released" a lot, but we get the reasoning behind it now.

[West-Side]

If we are going to talk about greatness and then say "oh yeah everything with graphics that aren't up to the current standard automatically sucks to me" it becomes a pointless discussion. Like I said, just say you don't rate games from more than 5 years ago then. Fine. You just end up sounding like and idiot, but as you said that's just your opinion.

It devalues the statement "this is one of the greatest games ever released" a lot, but we get the reasoning behind it now.

I sound like an idiot because I consider The Last Of Us one of the five greatest games ever made? Why don't you give your reasons to the contrary.

I'm not just considering graphics. I'm comparing games relative to their time-frame. TLoU to me is the best game of the PS3/Xbox360 generation.

I think the graphics, sounds, detail, content, characterization were superb. I'm not just considering games that were developed after 2010 either. The fact that is one of the highest rated games both from a critic stand-point and a gamer stand-point simply solidifies my opinion.

It's not like I'm claiming Black Ops or Battlefield Hardline are the best game ever created; I'm talking about a game that won Game Of The Year and received one of the highest reviews in gaming history.

It's quite logical to think that games in the last 10 years give you a superior experience than games on DreamCast, Playstation or super nintendo games.

However, that is not my only rationale. I don't think TLoU is better than Super Mario Bros. 3 or Zelda because of graphics or sound; I think the game is comparable in terms of story telling, characters and the overall enjoyment. TLoU is one of the best written games in history.

Perhaps you don't agree because you prefer a different genre; perhaps you're a big RPG or FPS fan. I respect your opinion, yet you can't respect mine.

[nightprowler10]

Gaming is weird in that in order to properly rate a game, you have to have played it around the time it was released and not many years later. There is more focus on games now more than ever, graphics have the potential to be uber realistic, etc, etc. I can't tell you that Splinter Cell 1 was more enjoyable than the latest one and expect you to agree with me if you played the old one now, 13 years after release. The experience it gave me then cannot be matched by many, many games I play now, but you won't understand that unless you played the game then and compared it to what was out there.

[nightprowler10]

I'm not just considering graphics. I'm comparing games relative to their time-frame. TLoU to me is the best game of the PS3/Xbox360 generation.

I feel very differently. I would easily put the Mass Effect trilogy, Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, Uncharted 2 and 3, and maybe even the first two Arkham games over it. Many people will think I'm batshit insane for thinking that, but that's just what I enjoyed more.

Different folks, different strokes.

[Thorpesaurous]

Gaming is weird in that in order to properly rate a game, you have to have played it around the time it was released and not many years later. There is more focus on games now more than ever, graphics have the potential to be uber realistic, etc, etc. I can't tell you that Splinter Cell 1 was more enjoyable than the latest one and expect you to agree with me if you played the old one now, 13 years after release. The experience it gave me then cannot be matched by many, many games I play now, but you won't understand that unless you played the game then and compared it to what was out there.


You also kind of have to account for the changes in you, or even your mood at the time. I enjoyed games, and films, and music, and whatever, for much different reasons 10 or 20 or 30 years ago. It's sort of whatever scratches that itch at that moment. I also know I've overlooked games I probably would've loved had I given them the chance, but for whatever reason I just wasn't into it at the time.

[West-Side]

I feel very differently. I would easily put the Mass Effect trilogy, Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, Uncharted 2 and 3, and maybe even the first two Arkham games over it. Many people will think I'm batshit insane for thinking that, but that's just what I enjoyed more.

Different folks, different strokes.

I would never put Assassin's Creed in the same tier; the other games are all understandable. And you're 100% right.

I mean, your preference matters a lot. For instance, I am a big sports fan, Uncharted & Max Payne fan. I enjoy these games more than say Zelda; a very prestigious franchise.

But when I say The Last Of Us is one of the five best games; I don't think it's foolish to say at all.

1) Development wise; it's one of the best overall games ever made.
2) It's my type of game; I love action-adventure.

I mean I'll never understand how Skyrim is loved by so many; it's extremely glitchy, mediocre character detail and I hate first person. However, as an overall package I can totally understand why it's such a highly rated game. It's extremely deep with a ton of content and is suited towards people who enjoy role-playing games. Not exactly my thing, but I can respect people who like those games.

With TLoU; it's my type of game and has been superbly developed and written.

That's why it's in my top five of all-time.

Example; you put AC up there because you enjoy those types of games. Yet the consensus is that it is not as good as TLoU based on the scores critics and gamers gave each respective game.

[nightprowler10]

I would never put Assassin's Creed in the same tier; the other games are all understandable. And you're 100% right.

Example; you put AC up there because you enjoy those types of games. Yet the consensus is that it is not as good as TLoU based on the scores critics and gamers gave each respective game.

Interesting that you would pick on AC from my post and nothing else, probably because you're not a fan of the games at all. Both AC2 and AC:B got scores of around 90/100, same as Mass Effect and Arkham Asylum.

For some reason you don't put these games on the same tier as the others I mentioned, which is fine - it's your preference - but hundreds of thousands of people feel very differently. Reasons can range from the amazing story, crazy detailed cities, gameplay, etc.

By the way, if I were to go outside of PS3/360 gen games, I would also easily out Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and FreeSpace 2 over TLOU.... though I'm sure I'm being redundant at this point.

[West-Side]

Interesting that you would pick on AC from my post and nothing else, probably because you're not a fan of the games at all. Both AC2 and AC:B got scores of around 90/100, same as Mass Effect and Arkham Asylum.

For some reason you don't put these games on the same tier as the others I mentioned, which is fine - it's your preference - but hundreds of thousands of people feel very differently. Reasons can range from the amazing story, crazy detailed cities, gameplay, etc.

By the way, if I were to go outside of PS3/360 gen games, I would also easily out Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and FreeSpace 2 over TLOU.... though I'm sure I'm being redundant at this point.

It's because games like Uncharted 2, Mass Effect, Arkham City were GOTY candidates/winners. They received higher praise from the general gaming world.

Assassin Creed's were never on that level; not even the best in the series Brotherhood/AC2.

Brotherhood: 90 critic - 82 user
AC II: 91 critic - 86 user
The Last Of Us: 95 critic - 91 user (GOTY)
Chaos Theory: 94 critic - 91 user
FreeSpace 2: 91 critic - 89 user

I mean you can like those games better I don't really care; none of them are rated higher by either a) the critics or b) the users.

Chaos Theory is a fantastic game though; I loved it.
Not on TLoU's level to me either. Not only is the game (relative to its time) didn't get the same recognition; the experience you get from the two games is like night and day now.

Hence, one was on XBOX and the other is on PS3/4.

[West-Side]

By the way; Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2/3, Arkham City got higher scores than the best AC game by a clear margin.

I believe all of those games (excluding Uncharted 3) received between 94-96 critic rating and a higher user score than AC II.

Which is why I outlined AC only; as I feel it's an inferior game to the rest of those games you mentioned.

[outbreak]

If we are going to talk about greatness and then say "oh yeah everything with graphics that aren't up to the current standard automatically sucks to me" it becomes a pointless discussion. Like I said, just say you don't rate games from more than 5 years ago then. Fine. You just end up sounding like and idiot, but as you said that's just your opinion.

It devalues the statement "this is one of the greatest games ever released" a lot, but we get the reasoning behind it now.

I agree with you.

I'd put TLOU in the best games of it's generation for sure but it wouldn't be my best game of all time because there's so many great games that created entire genres when they came out. I can understand if some people put it there (especially if that gen was your first gen of console or if you don't count older gens) but I can't understand when people say it's "10/10" "perect" "flawless" or can't admit it has it's faults.

It gives great experience but it's got flaws, I probably would have enjoyed it more if the paid reviews hadn't overhyped it so much, there were too many reviews calling it perfect that when you played it and saw the AI run and reload right next to you without even noticing you you shook your head and wondered "how is this perfect gameplay?".

Using metacritic to prove a game is better is silly anyway, even the industry has big names talking about how metacritic is total bullshit and needs to be taken out of the industry. I remember when bloodborne came out and we had people giving it 0's on release day for reasons that clearly showed they hadn't played the game, same with sunset overdrive and people were giving it 0's saying it's made for 5 year olds when if they played it they'd see yes it's colourful but it's full of language and violence no 5 year old would be allowed to see/hear, happens to all the consoles because some people have a need to justify their purchases and can't enjoy and admit something is flawed at the same time.

I do like the genre as well, survival horror\adventure games are one of my favourite genres.

[Heavincent]

TLOU is the GOAT.

The enemy AI is actually quite good. I know it's jarring when Ellie runs in front of an enemy, but that's a rare occurrence. I get my ass whooped on grounded difficulty, and not in a cheap way. There were times when a dude would come up behind me while I was distracted with other enemies, and then beat my face in with a pipe...which was amazing. It was almost always my fault when I died, which is good game design. Most games don't have AI as good as TLOU. F.E.A.R is better, and maybe Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Ground Zeroes too...but TLOU is certainly above average. People act like the AI is Skyrim level, which is ridiculous. Play it on a higher difficulty and without the bullshit x ray vision...these dudes are no joke.

The shooting mechanics are excellent. The guns actually feel like legit weapons, not peashooters like a lot of games. Enemies aren't bullet sponges, and neither are you. Ammo is limited, so your aim actually matters. All of this adds a level of intensity not seen in most shooters. And the melee combat is much better than the vast majority of shooters. Show me another game where you can seamlessly transition from shooting a guy to bashing his head against a table (lots of great contextual animations).

In terms of pure stealth, yes, there are games that do it better, like Chaos Theory (GOAT stealth game), but these games don't have combat nearly as good as TLOU. That's what it's so great, because it excels at both action/shooting and sneaking. Most games can do one or the other, but not both.

I haven't even mentioned the other aspects that make it so special, like the writing, characters, atmosphere, sound design, etc.

It's obviously not perfect. No game is. I don't think anyone's trying to argue it's flawless.

I do think The Phantom Pain has a very real chance of dethroning TLOU for me. I'm not gonna EXPECT it to be better, but I think it has a chance.

[Heavincent]

Also, Joel is the GOAT video game protagonist. So much depth to his character.

[West-Side]

I agree with you.

I'd put TLOU in the best games of it's generation for sure but it wouldn't be my best game of all time because there's so many great games that created entire genres when they came out. I can understand if some people put it there (especially if that gen was your first gen of console or if you don't count older gens) but I can't understand when people say it's "10/10" "perect" "flawless" or can't admit it has it's faults.

It gives great experience but it's got flaws, I probably would have enjoyed it more if the paid reviews hadn't overhyped it so much, there were too many reviews calling it perfect that when you played it and saw the AI run and reload right next to you without even noticing you you shook your head and wondered "how is this perfect gameplay?".

Using metacritic to prove a game is better is silly anyway, even the industry has big names talking about how metacritic is total bullshit and needs to be taken out of the industry. I remember when bloodborne came out and we had people giving it 0's on release day for reasons that clearly showed they hadn't played the game, same with sunset overdrive and people were giving it 0's saying it's made for 5 year olds when if they played it they'd see yes it's colourful but it's full of language and violence no 5 year old would be allowed to see/hear, happens to all the consoles because some people have a need to justify their purchases and can't enjoy and admit something is flawed at the same time.

I do like the genre as well, survival horror\adventure games are one of my favourite genres.

1) The key word is "you" wouldn't put it up there; which is fine, agree to disagree.
2) So because there are games who created new genres in the gaming industry; we should somehow hold them in higher regard? So someone like Julius Erving is better than Michael Jordan because he pioneered a lot of the moves we see from players today?
3) I do agree that the AI in TLoU has its problems; in particular the lack of detection by enemies of Joel's allies like Ellie. However, if that's what you want to use as your deliberation than I can pin point issues from every game ever created as well. I think it's a rather silly reason to downgrade the game.

Heck, I can name 4-5 big issues I had with a game like Arkham City or Mass Effect 2 myself; I can name 10+ issues with Skyrim, yet these games are all highly rated.

Anyways, thanks for your detailed post as to why you wouldn't put TLoU as one of the very best. It's definitely one of the best games this generation has to offer (to me: the best); but I also think it goes further than just this generation. I think its greatness will be remembered for years to come and will be a blue-print to all AAA games; it's a game that many developers will use (or do use) as the standard for story-telling, detailed animations and characterization.

Heck, even the developers of Uncharted 4 have said they will use a similar approach to story-telling as they did with TLoU.

Metal Gear Solid director has already praised Naughty Dog for being on the highest tier of characterization and graphic detail. That's coming from one of the most respected and renowned game directors in the business, for decades now.

[West-Side]

TLOU is the GOAT.

The enemy AI is actually quite good. I know it's jarring when Ellie runs in front of an enemy, but that's a rare occurrence. I get my ass whooped on grounded difficulty, and not in a cheap way. There were times when a dude would come up behind me while I was distracted with other enemies, and then beat my face in with a pipe...which was amazing. It was almost always my fault when I died, which is good game design. Most games don't have AI as good as TLOU. F.E.A.R is better, and maybe Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Ground Zeroes too...but TLOU is certainly above average. People act like the AI is Skyrim level, which is ridiculous. Play it on a higher difficulty and without the bullshit x ray vision...these dudes are no joke.

The shooting mechanics are excellent. The guns actually feel like legit weapons, not peashooters like a lot of games. Enemies aren't bullet sponges, and neither are you. Ammo is limited, so your aim actually matters. All of this adds a level of intensity not seen in most shooters. And the melee combat is much better than the vast majority of shooters. Show me another game where you can seamlessly transition from shooting a guy to bashing his head against a table (lots of great contextual animations).

In terms of pure stealth, yes, there are games that do it better, like Chaos Theory (GOAT stealth game), but these games don't have combat nearly as good as TLOU. That's what it's so great, because it excels at both action/shooting and sneaking. Most games can do one or the other, but not both.

I haven't even mentioned the other aspects that make it so special, like the writing, characters, atmosphere, sound design, etc.

It's obviously not perfect. No game is. I don't think anyone's trying to argue it's flawless.

I do think The Phantom Pain has a very real chance of dethroning TLOU for me. I'm not gonna EXPECT it to be better, but I think it has a chance.

Preach on brother; well said.
I am also excited for The Phantom Pain.

I thought GTA V would exceed TLoU; but it didn't.
The story was a mess; although fun, it had no real point behind it. It was no where near as good as San Andreas.

I think Uncharted 4 will reign supreme.
ND has never took this long to develop a game and have repeatedly said they are trying to create the most perfect game they've ever created. I also have NEVER heard them be cocky but they've already said in interview "Uncharted 4 will blow your mind; it's a closure to Nate's adventure with a bang."

There is no company that's better to me; they've consistently impressed me with Jak & Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted and TLoU. They aren't Ubisoft or as big as them so they don't create games every year because their staff isn't as big and they really care about their craft.

AC has been getting worse and worse, why? Because a new game comes out every year, it's all about the $$$ for that company.

ND & RockStar are #1.

[West-Side]

I'm going to work on a massive project over the next few weeks; ranking the top games of all-time, games from PS4, WIIU, WII, X1, X360, PS3, GameCube, N64, PS2, XBOX, PS, PC and DreamCast.

The best memories I had was with my PC titles; I think people will appreciate the effort. At the very least, I'll shed light on some games that people have never heard of. I probably played/tried over 500 titles on all those consoles; SNES and Genesis games were what started it for me, but I haven't played them in ages so I don't think it would be fair to include them on the list.

I'd say top 300 or 400 games since there are so many; you can expect TLoU to be near the top. :rockon:

[nightprowler10]

Also, Joel is the GOAT video game protagonist. So much depth to his character.
He's definitely up there for someone only featured in one game. Overall, really the only guy I will be putting above him for sure is Ezio.

[West-Side]

He's definitely up there for someone only featured in one game. Overall, really the only guy I will be putting above him for sure is Ezio.

That's weird considering how anti-social he was in the game; I liked Ellie a lot more. Nate Drake easily beats him; it's not even close to me.

[nightprowler10]

That's weird considering how anti-social he was in the game; I liked Ellie a lot more. Nate Drake easily beats him; it's not even close to me.
Yeah it's a good point about Ellie as well. Thing with Drake, Ezio, maybe Sam Fisher, is that they've had plenty of games for character development (you could argue Sam had none through the first 3 games). Joel and Ellie had one game but they knocked it out of the park. I mean there are no beautiful letters to their loved ones or the repressed memories from losing them that you can reference like with Ezio, or epic moments with Drake, but for what the story set out to accomplish, I think they did a great job with one game.

Another protagonist that I usually criticize heavily around here but had a lot of character development in one game is Connor from AC3. Maybe even Edward from AC4.

[Rose]

Yeah it's a good point about Ellie as well. Thing with Drake, Ezio, maybe Sam Fisher, is that they've had plenty of games for character development (you could argue Sam had none through the first 3 games). Joel and Ellie had one game but they knocked it out of the park. I mean there are no beautiful letters to their loved ones or the repressed memories from losing them that you can reference like with Ezio, or epic moments with Drake, but for what the story set out to accomplish, I think they did a great job with one game.

Another protagonist that I usually criticize heavily around here but had a lot of character development in one game is Connor from AC3. Maybe even Edward from AC4.
I'd definitely agree with Connor. Dude had a ton of development. Edward to me had the same story as Ezio in a lot of ways. Except instead of young and brash seeking revenge it was more like middle age and pleasure seeking. :lol

AC4 was the crown jewel for them though in terms of development. All the characters really got a lot of development. Maybe not on TLOU level, but more than probably 98% of games.

[Thorpesaurous]

A lot of the character development from TLOU works so well because it's reeled out in bits and pieces. And it goes backwards. We learn about the characters histories as the plot moves forward, whereas most games are focused more on "Something Happens ... Revenge", with some history peppered in. One of my favorite things in TLoU is the little character building exploration game elements. Finding the comic books. Investigating stuff like the billboards or toys.

For what it's worth, I do think the character development is easier in a more linear game like that. The story can be tied to specific moments, whereas it's a little harder in an open world game like AC where the sequencing of events isn't as written in stone. And it's usually tied to mission locks, where some element of the character is revealed as some key mission unlocks.

I think most of the AC games do a good job with it. But I tend to like those games better than most people. But the open world game that comes to mind most is Red Dead. John was lit up really well for a game with that much freedom.

[Heavincent]

If we're talking about games with great characters, The Witcher 3 needs to be mentioned. So many great characters. Geralt, Ciri, Yennifer, Triss, The Bloody Baron, Djiktra, King Radovid, Phillipa, etc. The writing in that game is sublime. Only TLOU is better imo.

[West-Side]

San Andreas is another game with great characters.
I don't think there's a game that genuinely makes me care more about the characters than Uncharted though. At this point, it's like a family; if I see Nate, Sully, Elena, Chloe, Cutter die in U4; I'd probably shed a tear, honestly.

If TLoU has a couple more sequels, it has a chance to surpass Uncharted.
I was pretty teary when Sam & Henry die.

[Thorpesaurous]

The Sam and Henry scene was intense. I agree that Uncharted has done a great job with building those characters. But the tone is so different that it doesn't have the same impact for me as TLoU did. But I will be genuinely upset if we lose Sully or Elena. It just feels like it's taken more to get to that point.

I need to play The Witcher.


I'm playing Batman now. There's a game that's tried to add emotional character stakes to it's story. And it's worked to a degree. But it gets undercut when right after an extremely poignant moment Batman mutters something like "I can't access the Batmobile remotely from here." That's the type of problem the open world games run into more than the more linear games can do.

[nightprowler10]

And it's worked to a degree. But it gets undercut when right after an extremely poignant moment Batman mutters something like "I can't access the Batmobile remotely from here." That's the type of problem the open world games run into more than the more linear games can do.
:oldlol:

I really wish Batman didn't talk to himself so much, it really breaks the immersion. Even though it's an open world game, I can choose to do things differently based on what I'm feeling after a certain scene.

A couple of examples to drive this point home; in AC4 when you place Mary Read's body in the boat and the guards attack, man did I **** every one of them up because of I pissed I was. Now that was obviously not part of the game story but I made it part of the story that I was playing. Another example is the last Ezio repressed memory in ACB. After watching Cristina die, the game switches back to current gameplay but I was too ****ing sad to do anything.... so I just walked the streets of Rome people watching.

Basically, what I'm saying is that it's hard to do that in a game like Arkham Knight because it's hard not to break immersion.

[nightprowler10]

The Sam and Henry scene was intense.
That scene right there shows how much of an art video games have become. The look on Joel's face when Henry shoots himself was really detailed and well done, the look of someone who had been in Henry's shoes.