Has anyone played this yet? I hadn't even heard of it until today, though it only got released last week. It has the highest ratings of any game I've seen in a long time, and I do love me some post-apocalyptic dystopias.

Perhaps this shall be the first game I'll buy for my ps3 in over 6 months. Any thoughts?

 

I've been playing it - good game, good story with lots of visual details, lots of deaths & you really need to conserve ammo/materials. Haven't tried the multiplayer yet, but I've been enjoying the single player.

First new PS3 game I've bought in a while, since the ratings have pretty much been 10/10 across the board, on lots of different sites. If it's the pen-ultimate send-off for the system before the PS4 comes out, I didn't want to miss it.

 

Only a couple of hours in, not all that far because I spent maybe 30 minutes screwing around and trying things out when you meet your first real challenge with Runners and a Clicker.

Loving it, Naughty Dog really went all out and it shows - Character interaction is great, cut-scenes slip effortlessly into the game (aside from the fact they're Uncharted in style - slight black cut into the motion-cap scenes), it's very atmospheric and is great at building tension in my eyes as you're constantly scrounging for supplies and wondering if you'll have what you need for the next bunch of enemies.

A few complaints, bearing in mind I'm only maybe 3 hours into the game thus far;

- Runners are blind to your flashlight, but have a sixth sense when it comes to you sneaking up on them.
- Being stealthy seems detrimental, at least early on - That said, this could be because I start to get impatient watching enemies shuffle around and work out who I can & can't take out silently.
- I dislike the 'listening' radar you get akin to Dresden from the book series Dresden Files, though you don't have to use it so, it's entirely up to you.
- Melee combat can feel very clunky, especially against other humans, and seems somewhat unfair (though this is much like the real world, so, accurate) in that you can be beaten by multiple opponents whilst held/pinned. - Though this is much less of a complaint, more an observation.

Will be playing more of it over the weekend, trying my best to avoid any spoilers and it supposedly clocks in around 15+ hours in length, though that may be if you die often. Either way, playing it on 'Hard' currently and clocked up around 15 deaths, loving it thus far and would thoroughly recommend if you own a PS3.

Edit; Graphically though it looks like Uncharted (which is still great) but it distances itself completely from Nathan Drake, perhaps one of my biggest concerns was Joel turning out like Nate in some form, thankfully that isn't the case.

 

I don't have a PS3, but if I did, it'd be to play Naughtydog games. The Last of Us looks great.

 

The Last of Us and Uncharted are on my list once I finally get a PS3.

 

You can play them once you get a Ps4.

oh wait, no backwards compatibility. :/ I do plan on getting a Ps4, so hopefully they release The Last of Us on Ps4 as well.

 

If gaikai streaming works then you will eventually get to play it.

This game is freaking amazing. Anyone who owns a ps3 should buy it and anyone who doesn't should go watch a lets play of someone playing the game. Its a great swan song for this generation of consoles.

 

Yeah, I watched an hour and a half of RadBrads version.

 

Just completed it this morning, took me about 17 hours on hard, my opinion on the game falls in line with almost every review.

Definitely worth playing (or hell even watching a playthrough), if only for the world building and character interaction; Joel & Ellie were extremely believable as characters. Whoever wrote the story/characters did an amazing job, although it is predictable.

Melee combat isn't the greatest until you have better weapons, and even then I avoided it. Personally the 'stealth' side of the game is far more polished and is how Naughty Dog intended it to play. Though that may just be me.

One thing I can say about Uncharted vs. Last of Us, the only comparison really is graphics. I didn't really get any uncharted feeling from the game at all.

 

Uncharted shouldn't even be mentioned when talking about this game, which annoyed me because it's, mentioned on the box. Both games are 10s for me, and both are remarkably different.

As for melee being clunky, i read it as being the point. It plays better that way in my opinion in the genre of survival horror.
Shooting people and running up to them should be your absolute last option, and when you're forced to do so, you should be shitting your pants and frustrated with how hard it is kill and GTFO. That's tention, the clunky 'slowness' is what makes these kinds of games for me.

If you're looking for a light hearted, action movie like game, stay the hell away from this. You won't like it, or rather, you'll not get the experience you're after.

This game is dark, yet oddly beautiful, brutal, terrifying and confronting.

It's also a masterpiece.

P. S This game became my favourite one ever the second Ellie saved my ass from an annoying, sneaky enemy by jumping on his back and carving him up like a steak.

 

Just finished it and loved it. Easily the darkest, grittiest game I've ever played. The game forced you to be flexible in your technique and approach. It was well worth the 60$ and I haven't even looked into the multiplayer yet.

And the character development for this game is outstanding. It felt more like an interactive movie than anything else. Joel and Ellie are vicious. Ellie could be cold and deadly, but Joel was a straight fucking wrecking ball.

That giraffe scene really made you forget you were 20+ years into the Apocolypse, just from the awe. After the numerous scenes like that, and I tried to do as many of the Joel/Ellie interractions as I could, I've got to say I was 100% with Joel's decision making for the game.

Lastly, there was no problem that couldn't be straightened out with a full backpack of Molotov cocktails.

 

Never have I wanted a PS3 so badly as I do now. When I first saw how amazing it looked I thought it was for the PC and got my hopes up, only to find out it was a PS exclusive...the horror.

 

Just to be clear, I mentioned Uncharted since it was made by the same company, not necessarily because they were similar games to this.

Frankly I don't consider that a point in its favor.

Yeah, I've heard this... though as a complaint against it.

 

I think it's all a personal preference at that point. Some scenes are just hard to watch because of the pure terror or sorrow being portrayed.

For that very reason the games lighter moments are all that more poignant. Christ, I was looking high and low for Ellie's comic books because I felt for a kid who was trapped in this god-awful world, filled with ruthless survivors and grotesque monsters that literally make me tremble at time.

The recent-ish affair between video games and almost complete sandbox settings has really jaded the gaming community when it comes to something less than complete and utter freedom. The game doesn't choke you with a rope as it drags you through the plot. Honestly you need to spend a lot of time exploring parts of the game that aren't directly connected to the central theme. Otherwise you won't be able to scrounge up enough supplies to survive, let a lone have fun.

 

Basically, I've grown very sick of grimdark. I like there to be heroes, whose struggles are rewarded. Stories that just wallow in misery and leave everything hopeless and bleak don't appeal to me and just waste my time. But some of my favorite stories are those that use darkness to accentuate positivity and have an ending that leaves things better. Typically a lot hinges on the ending.

Given how things like A Song of Ice and Fire and The Walking Dead are popular these days (I'm not a great fan of either, with TWD ranking lower -- still have to play the game though), I'm probably an anomaly. "Idealism is for kids" after all. Feh.

Well I can't judge this particular game until I've played it (same goes for the above issue), though generally I feel that there's been a trend where games are more and more movie-like in presentation. I mean I love games with stories. Stories aren't the problem. And taking inspiration from movies isn't bad considering they're both visual mediums, but the best games, I feel, are the ones that embrace the game format rather than just try and be like a Hollywood blockbuster, full of quicktime events and lots of scripted portions to simulate the kinds of things you see on the big screen.

 

I think the praise for the game is exaggerated (some reviewers called the game a "Kitizen Kane" of gaming, which is utterly ridiculous). The AI is lousy (as usual), the level design is a bit more open than Uncharted in some places, but it's still too railroady (and I'm not asking it to be a sandbox game - this isn't an issue of Life or Death, you can be non-linear with small levels, VTMB did it just fine). The protagonist isn't all that likable (which for a videogame is a pretty big deal). The gameplay is still your standard run and gun, just expanded upon slightly. There aren't enough enemies - the variety is pretty slim.

But it's a decent enough high production value game. Worth a play when it comes down in price, that's for sure. Though, I can't help but think less-is-more when it comes to games these days. Journey for me was a more evocative experience than all the drama of The Last of Us.

 

I think there's a whole new market opening up for games out their that are more story driven. Sure, there are the traditional gamers who love games that are based on them just blowing stuff up, solving a puzzle, etc.

However, I feel like there might be a lot more people who enjoy a good story than playing a traditional video game. The storytelling medium is popular throught history and culture. Movies, books, TV shows, hell, even telling passing down stories orally are all examples. Really great ones get the audience immersed and invested within the characters, and games like The Walking Dead and The Last of Us are no different. Games such as these can appeal to a much wider audience than the stereotypical gamer demographic. Everyone enjoys a good story, but not everyone loves to play shoot-em-ups.

 

I guess I'm not in that demographic, but if I hadn't had the chance to play it at a friend's, I wouldn't have played it until it came down to $5 or $10 in price.

I don't know if game-movies will be as appealing as movie-movies, but going to see a movie is <$25 USD. Going to see The Last of Us is $60 on day one. The budgets for these games are high and I don't know if they're as economical/effecient as a AAA movie, or if it's the case of movie-games having a more serious story? (Heavy Rain didn't...) I mean, The Walking Dead / Game of Thrones are sweeping advertising revenue while the non-cable stations (like MSNBC) are tanking hard - a comparison I look to when comparing video games and movies (movies are maybe getting a bit too "epic" for their own good? Or are movies being too samey these days and video games offer fresher movie-like experiences?). I don't know, really, but I'm pretty guarded when it comes to movie-games, because I'm afraid they're going to swallow up game-games. You can have a game that tells a story by not telling a story, but by giving us gameplay (Journey does, as do other games, like Dwarf Fortress) instead. Why is the industry against doing that? When was the last AAA game that came out that didn't have QTEs, hyperrailroad hallway-based level design, and/or high-budget voice acting?

Bioshock Infinite is a recent example of gaming media giving 10/10's too easily (the game is fine, but it's not a 10/10 game)... it feels like they latch onto movie-games too easily and they get too much exposure and promotion, which is this huge negative feedback loop, where more and more companies justify making these kinds of games over other kinds... I guess I'm tired of the industry being too afraid to do different things with their games. But that's what happens when big money gets involved.

The Last of Us I think had more potential for its gameplay, but Naughty Dog played it safe again. I didn't expect them not to, but it's annoying they get praised for it. It's kind of like The Avengers making all the money it did. Okay, great, it's a good enough movie. But I'm tired of the industry making more bloody superhero movies, remaking everything they can get their mitts on. It's annoying how success stifles creativity.

 

Why do people pay $60 for The Last of Us instead of just going to watch a movie? I'd wager that part of the reason is because the story of The Last of Us is so much better than the shitty movies that come out these days. Another reason is that the game allows you to become a part of the story itself; your actions have direct effects on dialogue and character actions. Maybe not in The Last of Us, but there is a definite trend in that direction. Also, moving around an avatar and immersing yourself in the rich graphical environment is pretty great and has only gotten better (I'm thinking of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's graphics compared to new games).

The Last of Us definitely had more potential for the gameplay, but the developers decided not to go that route for a reason. I think that they wanted to make the game accessible to different people. Maybe they wanted to make a game that your mom, your girlfriend, or even your grandparents can play. The gameplay is simple enough that people who want to play for the story and aren't gamers can get by on easy mode while typical gamers can have more of a challenge on hard mode.

Also, I don't think you should fear the market for traditional games to dry up. There will always be people willing to play both types of games. Just because I like hot dogs, does that mean I can't have hamburgers too? As long as people want to play, developers will develop, especially now with the rise of indie games and more powerful dev tools.

I disagree with you that creativity is being stifled. It is true that lately, there have been more games like the Last of Us and Walking Dead coming out. But how many more Call of Duties or NBA games are there? Zelda, Super Smash Bros., etc. I'd argue that the movement from the industry towards a more story-oriented gameplay is advancing creativity, not stifling it. Strong story-oriented games only started being produced a couple of years ago. Much like the music or the art world's periods and phases, the gaming world is going through a phase of story-driven gameplay right now.

And monies. Developers like monies. That may be also why Naughty Dog made this game.

 

That isn´t exactly true... Such games exist since the beginning of "real" PC/console gaming, so for at least 2 decades.