If you own a PS3 you better be buying The Last of Us

[Arcanum]

Look at this. (http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/the-last-of-us)

Look at these fucking scores. (http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/the-last-of-us/critic-reviews)

When is the last time you have seen a game so unanimously praised?

I'm avoiding reading any reviews, or watching any previews, because I don't want to spoil a single minute of this game for me, so I personally can't discuss much beyond this ridiculous phenomenon.

http://i.imgur.com/L5x2oMW.jpg

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Sorry I'm poor so... yeah... my PS3 probably won't be seeing this one... well any time soon anyway.

But yeah this game is getting a lot of love.

[Azisien]

Already got it preordered for a while, but man who cares, they sell Steam Wallet cards in Canada now!

Woooooooo!

[Kyanbu The Legend]

So yeah, it's safe to say this is probably one of the greatest games we've ever gotten this gen.

My god that's a lot of perfect scores.

[Aldurin]

Naughty Dog is doing their thing again. You know, the thing where they totally stomp their genre and generation, even though it looks like they're laying off the vehicle cocaine this time.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

It looks... ok, I guess? Basically just Uncharted 4. Not sure I get all the hype for this one.

[Ramary]

It looks... ok, I guess? Basically just Uncharted 4. Not sure I get all the hype for this one.

Well Uncharted 2 and 3 got a lot of 10s as well, also if you put an at least alright story on a AAA polished games, reviewers eat that up, it is the video game equivalent of Oscar Bait.

[Magus]

This is the one game that the clerk lady at the game store picked for phony rapport with me, so apparently it is getting quite a bit of hype. Of course, they are being paid to hype it up.

[Arcanum]

Well I'm pissed off now. Turns out there was a save glitch, where if you paused and saw "Autosaving. Please wait" then your game was never actually saving. I just lost 7 hours of progress. I don't even want to look at the game right now, let alone trek back to where I was. Unfuckingbelievable.

[Aldurin]

Well I'm pissed off now. Turns out there was a save glitch, where if you paused and saw "Autosaving. Please wait" then your game was never actually saving. I just lost 7 hours of progress. I don't even want to look at the game right now, let alone trek back to where I was. Unfuckingbelievable.

Pfft, when I was playing Metro 2033 earlier today, I triggered that glitch where I can't interact with the environment during the first mission of chapter 3, I had to backtrack a whole 10 minutes to fix it.

I don't buy games Day 1 anymore because BS like that is easier to let slide since everything is patchable.

[Arcanum]

So let me get this straight. You just compared losing 7 hours of play (Completely gone. Nothing saved. At all.) to backtracking for 10 minutes.

:argh::argh::argh:

[Revising Ocelot]

I had to rewind a chapter in The Walking Dead yesterday because I forgot to fix the swing in Episode 2, and it was terrible.

[Aldurin]

I also lost my first match of Assault in Smite today due to bad team comp, so I had to play Assault AGAIN so I could chalk that off on my daily wins.

[Shyria Dracnoir]

I'm going to try and delay Arcanum's impeding rage aneurysm and mention that I'll consider picking this up if I follow through on getting a PS3 after the price drop.

[akaSM]

See Arc, plaiyng Minecraft with us wasn't so bad after all, was it?

OTOH, I lost several days worth of Mother 3 progress because that magic thingy that plays GBA games, had a horrible battery which die on me a couple days ago. Playing the (fan-translated) game on an actual GBA SP and, later a DS Lite was worth it though. Luckily, there are saves online and, with a save editor, I should be able to get back what I had.

[Arcanum]

So I'm practically back to where I was before I lost all my progress. Maybe like, 30-40 minutes of gameplay and I'm good to go. But that's not why I'm posting.

It turns out this game likes to use Monster Closets. There are certain segments where the game wants you to fight two waves of enemies. Under normal, first playthrough circumstances, unless you're really good and patient and methodical, you will screw up stealthing through the area. Then once you clear out the area, it makes sense for backup to arrive, thus the second wave.

However, if you stealth through the entire segment, and kill everyone without being detected, it just spawns in the second wave and they are alert to your position (since when you stealth kill the last guy in the area, instead of strangling him you do a violent take down (the same kind as if you were in combat) since there's nobody around to be alerted by it).

There are only two or three segments where I saw this happen, across ~5 hours of gameplay. But still, it's a little jarring when you get that satisfying last stealth kill, and then all of a sudden you're surrounded and forced to use some of your precious ammo.


The ally pathing AI also tends to freak out when you're sneaking around. Your NPC friends might stand in plain sight for a brief moment or run around to get to a better bit of cover, and that last part is especially jarring when you're sneaking around Clickers, which detect you by sound.

This doesn't really effect gameplay, since the enemy AI ignores your allies when you're sneaking, so you can just not pay attention to their shenanigans and focus on your stealth. But it can be pretty harmful to your immersion.


Anyway, other than those two minor gripes the game is really fun. And the writing and voice acting are top notch. Not to mention how gorgeous the game is. Definitely a must-have for any PS3 owner. Especially now that it will actually save your game.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Would you guys say this game is better than the recent Tomb Raider? Cos I picked that up for 20 quid the other day and have been enjoying the hell out of it, way more than I expected to actually, and I figure both are probably similar, what with the 3rd person, story driven, survival thing aspects.

[Azisien]

I'm one hour in and so far I would have rather Naughty Dog made Uncharted Karting (keeping in line with their development cycles).

Also so far definitely cool game, definitely NOT 95 or 100 score.

So far I liked Tomb Raider more, though admittedly Last of Us is a bit prettier graphically (it's ALMOST as good as PC lolololol [except for that 6 minute load time with no HUD])

[Aldurin]

I'm one hour in and so far I would have rather Naughty Dog made Uncharted Karting (keeping in line with their development cycles).


But they can't top Jak X: Combat Racing. In fact, where's Jak X II: Murder Racing and when do we get it for the PS4?

[Arcanum]

Just going to preface this by saying I haven't played the latest Tomb Raider, so I can't compare TLoU to it, but here are my impressions so far.

The game starts off slow, but when it opens up it really opens up. Every encounter has multiple ways to get through it, be it a variety of stealth paths, going head on, avoiding the fight, or a combination of all of the above.

Combat can be very tense since you need to make every shot count. Melee is viable if you can flank someone and get in close without them noticing, but if you try to run straight at them you will get shot, which staggers you, and you will die. And even then, if you try to melee someone with other people watching, they will punish you for it. Bricks are awesome though, since you can kill a guy with 4 melee hits (whereas a bottle will smash on the first hit), and bricks are practically everywhere.

Stealth can be equally tense, especially when sneaking around the Infected. My first time through I thought the game was being cheap, and the infected runners were just magically noticing me when I was sneaking up on them. However my second time through made me realize they were hearing me when I pushed the analog stick full tilt while crouched, which human enemies don't do. Not to mention trying to stealth a mixed group of runners and Clickers is especially nerve-wracking.

After every fight you tend to spend some time looking across every nook and cranny of the area, scavenging for supplies. This is purely optional though, since you can find a decent amount of supplies as you go sneak/fight through the area. But I'm a pack rat so I love making a second pass and ensuring I've grabbed everything.

I'm also loving the interactions between Joel and Ellie, and Ellie is looking to join Clementine on the list of "Good child characters in games."

All I'll say about the plot (no spoilers) is that your goal (at least from what I've played) is rather generic, but the characterization and the journey so far has been fantastic.

Is the game a solid 10? I would say no, mainly for the reasons I stated in my previous post. But from what I've seen so far, a 9 or 9.5 is not out of the question.

[Aldurin]

Whelp, the Two Best Friends hinted at The Last of Us being tomorrow's new LP.

Dammit, gonna have to buy it after my shift is over tonight.

[Azisien]

Okay four hours in now. Man, these are beautifully done cut scenes. Plot is pretty mediocre, but the digital acting is like HBO quality. The gameplay...fun but not spectacular. So far the game has just been an unending sequence of humans-zombies-clickers-zombies-humans-humans-clickers-clickers set pieces. I had one level in a flooded subway tunnel that was so suffused with spores that everything just turned to Brown, it was like the apocalypse of realism gaming come true.

This is merely a personal preference, but I really don't care for insta-kill situations in regular gameplay unless I'm playing an arcade game or something. The clickers are pretty irritating in that way. And chase sequences. It has rendered a couple of the stealth set pieces a little boring as I wait for their slow-as-hell pathfinding, which seems to favour moving towards me, to move off so I can crawl through the level a little more. Even human patrols are pretty slow and the game is a little more tedious for it. On the positive though, some of the scripted events for the human pathfinding has been really nice. The game has done a pretty great balancing of coming off as a realistic experience while still being pretty fun.

I just got the bow, and being able to save arrows via accuracy is pretty amazing. Thank you developers. So far, still prefer Tomb Raider/Deus Ex: HR (minus boss fights), but like, it's pretty sweet and all.

[Arcanum]

Re: The flooded subway, did you turn on your flashlight? I mean, that area is really brown regardless, but my first time through I had my flashlight off for over half the sequence before common sense clicked in and it made a significant difference.

Also, you can negate the clicker instant kill by upgrading your shiv skill in the supplements tab. Otherwise, bash their head in with a brick if you don't have a melee weapon. And if you don't have a brick, or you're iffy on the melee swing timing, just chuck a bottle/brick at them to stun them, and move in for the shiv kill.

I don't really mind the instant-kill, I feel it adds a lot of tension and panic when things go south. But like you said, it's personal preference on that one.

[Bells]

the next best thing for those who don't have a PS3?

njp0udtgg6c

[Bard The 5th LW]

Man I'm sure this game is fun and all and I'd look into if I had a PS3, but it just seems really played out in a lot of ways. I'm really surprised people aren't sick of things involving zombies yet. Not too mention 'young girl emotional attachment sidekick' that shows up a lot as well. I'm sure it may handle both of these aspects WELL, but it all just seems really panned out and cliche to me at this stage.

[Arcanum]

Not too mention 'young girl emotional attachment sidekick' that shows up a lot as well. I'm sure it may handle both of these aspects WELL, but it all just seems really panned out and cliche to me at this stage.

Walking Dead, Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us.

So, three is apparently a lot?

[Bard The 5th LW]

Not too mention Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2 and Ashley from RE4, both of which were really examples of the character ANNOYING players as opposed to Bioshock though. If we're being generous, Alyx from Half Life 2 still played the role but combined it a bit with love interest. Not to mention Eleanor and the rest of the Little Sisters in Bioshock 2 (although one could just combine those with Elizabeth). Also Dana from Prototype. And then Kratos's daughter in God of War. Then there's Maya/Trucy/Kay for a triumvirate in the Ace Attorney Games. And Yorda in Ico. Also Link's little sister in Wind Waker, and various other female characters like the girl from Link's awakening whose name escapes me.

The list goes on. Plenty of these games certainly present the character type VERY WELL and even creatively but it just seems sorta tired to me.

[Aldurin]

Also The Last of Us has the most acceptable and least science-bullshit zombie premise that I've seen so far, something that could actually realistically happen in real life (no seriously, look up the fungus they're talking about).

[Bard The 5th LW]

Like, thats cool and all, but it doesn't really matter a whole lot how 'gritty and realistic' your zombie apocalypse narrative is because when looked at objectively its really the same story and narrative being played out. And the media is super obsessed with it so its being played out a thousand times repeatedly in the same couple years what with 'Riptide', 'World War Z', 'The Walking Dead', and this all being big in like the same year. Dead Rising 3 apparently decided to stop being fun too, so there's another one that is exactly the same as every other entry in its genre. Like, that's even bigger than the trope I mentioned above. How long can zombie tropes be milked?

[Arcanum]

Not too mention Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2 and Ashley from RE4, both of which were really examples of the character ANNOYING players as opposed to Bioshock though. If we're being generous, Alyx from Half Life 2 still played the role but combined it a bit with love interest. Not to mention Eleanor and the rest of the Little Sisters in Bioshock 2 (although one could just combine those with Elizabeth). Also Dana from Prototype. And then Kratos's daughter in God of War. Then there's Maya/Trucy/Kay for a triumvirate in the Ace Attorney Games. And Yorda in Ico. Also Link's little sister in Wind Waker, and various other female characters like the girl from Link's awakening whose name escapes me.

The list goes on. Plenty of these games certainly present the character type VERY WELL and even creatively but it just seems sorta tired to me.

Bard, you're kind of just naming secondary female characters, a lot of which don't even accompany you through the entire game. Hell, Kratos's daughter is just a plot point, and only shows up in a few cinematics (although I think her ghost shows up in one of the games). And Alyx from Half Life doesn't even fit in with everyone else, since she's badass and doesn't rely on Freeman for protection.

Clementine, Elizabeth, and Ellie are characters that, for the most part, rely on you for their protection (from a plot standpoint, since the game's don't play like giant escort missions like ICO), and accompany you through the entire game. You can actually form an emotional attachment to these characters because you have both the incentive to protect them and the time to actually form that attachment. Compare that to games like God of War or Prototype that just thrust a girl at you and say "care about her now because the protagonist knows her." Or compared to ICO where you spend most of your time trying to save Yorda from shadow creatures with a lackluster combat system instead of seeing character development. Not to mention that the writing for these three characters is leagues beyond most of your examples.

"Emotional attachment female character" only seems cliched if you look at all the poor examples of it. The games that do it right, well we only have three of them.

Like, thats cool and all, but it doesn't really matter a whole lot how 'gritty and realistic' your zombie apocalypse narrative is because when looked at objectively its really the same story and narrative being played out. And the media is super obsessed with it so its being played out a thousand times repeatedly in the same couple years what with 'Riptide', 'World War Z', 'The Walking Dead', and this all being big in like the same year. Dead Rising 3 apparently decided to stop being fun too, so there's another one that is exactly the same as every other entry in its genre. Like, that's even bigger than the trope I mentioned above. How long can zombie tropes be milked?

Oh I definitely agree with you here. Zombies are overplayed to all hell. In fact, the overall plot of The Last of Us, it turns out Ellie is immune and you need to get her to doctors so they can make a vaccine, is extremely generic. But the cinematics, and the journey to that goal, are absolutely fantastic. And as crazy as this sounds, TLoU's take on zombies actually felt refreshing. Maybe it's because the game focuses a lot on how different people deal with the infection, maybe it's because you witness first hand the various stages of infection, or how the fungus slowly consumes an area. Maybe it's because the infected aren't just your average flesh craving zombie, but brutally violent and rage-filled psychos.

Also, TLoU is one of the few games were you can feel like a normal person instead of a super soldier. In Dead Rising you mow down hundreds of zombies no problem. In TLoU I start getting worried when I see a runner and a clicker in the same room, or if there are more than 2 bandits with overlapping patrols.

[Azisien]

This game is so much better now that I have the Shotgun. I hereby declare war on this lukewarm stealth game.

Clicker Encounters I Ran Through So Far At Sprinting Speeds Dying 5+ Times But Still Doing It Faster Overall Than Actual Stealth: 2.

Also, you can negate the clicker instant kill by upgrading your shiv skill in the supplements tab.

It's on my list of upgrades to get, but I got a health increase first, which I don't really super regret, but supplements come in really slowly compared to other things in the game, and the first level of the damn thing costs 75 vitamin D capsules.

Speaking of shivs, I just got a second manual for shiv durability and I love that.

[Arcanum]

Shiv durability manuals are pretty much the greatest thing. Before and after getting them your thought process basically transforms from "I need to only use shivs in emergencies" to "I CAN SHIV EVERYTHING!"

Also, there's nothing really wrong with playing the game as an action game. Especially since enemies tend to drop ammo when you kill them in open combat, compared to dropping nothing when you stealth kill them.