Ben-DutkaThe Last Of Us is the most critically acclaimed game of 2013 thus far and in fact, one of the most revered in video game history. Amazing, it is.
But did our readers agree with the assessment of many critics? Well, yeah. The vast majority of PSXE pollsters said that Naughty Dog's latest elite title qualifies as one of the very best of all time, and most of the remaining participants at least agreed that it's a "damn great game."
We are one of many sources who said The Last Of Us deserves its place in the annals of gaming history. Unlike 30 some-odd other sources, though, we couldn't see our way clear to deliver a perfect 10…hate us if you wish. 😉 Either way, there's no doubt that this game deserves to be prominently featured in most end-of-year awards when the time comes. Can any title on the horizon hope to beat it out? Maybe GTAV or something…
This week, we know it'll be required to be a PlayStation Plus subscriber if you wish to play games online with the PS4. So, what do you think of the service? Are you already a member and do you totally love it? Or are you hemming and hawing, not sure if you want to shell out the bucks? Not everyone in the world has to have the ability to play online, ya know.
Related Game(s): The Last Of Us
You guys will have to forgive me but I spent a good part of the day playing more TLoU and I just don't see it. It's high quality for sure, definitely a 9+ but I must be missing that special something you guys see because so far the story is predictable stuff that's been done a hundred times before with some samey gameplay.
I think Plus needs to get better, the free games are great but the discounts are rarely on good things and the wallpapers, themes, and avatars never get added to.
I don't understand you. You didn't like MGS4 either. =P
Just not picking up the wow factor, but I do think it does the survival/horror portions really well. Sneaking through Clicker areas is very tense.
Beat the game and then we'll talk.
I do hope to beat it.
Yes, that's odd World. You should love the game. I can't think of anything like The Last Of Us. What is it you think it's missing?
Well I was hoping for something more unique from ND, so far the story has been standard, expected infection story cliches. That story is told very well and the characters are well built, but I know everybody's part and fate as soon as I meet them. Maybe there are still some surprises in store, I'll keep playing.
It's very post apoloyticy but at least it isn't bland to look at like so many of the others. Usually its baron waste lands with hardly any color or vegetation. In The Last of Us you get the sense that world just moving along just fine. It's civilization and humanity that's completely fallen apart. Also I think its a nice change from a zombie virus to something that actually exists as the cause of the infection. While I agree its not a completely original concept it has just enough changes to still add some freshness to the genre. That said I think the story telling, characters, gameplay and the tension are its strong points and ultimately what ND was most focused on.
World-
I think you're looking at the story wrong. Sure its set in the post apocalyptic setting. The way they handled the infection is very original, if you happened to find things in game to explain it, its even more interesting.
But what Im getting at is beyond the setting you have a story about these two strangers lives. Thats where the story is strong and where nothing before it compares. The way ND has portrayed their story and events is so good and continually gets better as the game goes on as their relationship grows stronger. Thats the story here. When you see the bonding is when ND story telling shines.
Anyways I dont know, atleast you see the quality.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 7/1/2013 2:21:25 AM
@ World: U may be suffering from "hype" syndrome. Your expectations were super high, before u even started to play.
No-one said the story was original. It's how it's done where TLoU shines
So, this is what civility looks like…
exactly what i said.
about as predictable and been there done that as a south park episode!
Originality is only one factor in the quality of a story, and to me it's a somewhat overrated factor. It's all in the execution.
Why is it still an incredible experience to go see a great performance of Macbeth? You know the story. You know how it ends. In such a case, originality expresses in the performance, direction, etc.
I see The Last of Us in the same way. A familiar setting, but with brilliant execution. My heart is right there with Joel and Ellie all the way, and that's not something every game can pull off.
"exactly what i said.
about as predictable and been there done that as a south park episode!"
Yet still less predictable than your posts.
Civility is good 🙂
lol. I can tell.
Bigrailer
You're right I should probably focus more on the relationships instead of the plot, they are among the best in this industry.
Puts the movie "The Master" in mind, it was supposed to be about the relationship between the two main characters but I got lost in looking for other things in the story and ended up not liking it.
World, don't worry about it. I've experienced the same with certain games that everyone are hailing.
We are not a flock of sheep. No game can click with everyone.
World- I dont really know your tastes, I can only imagine as the game goes on you'll really start to appreciate (for a lack of better words) the effort. The story of these 2 is quite amazing and very impactful stuff.
Beam is right though, some games just dont click for everyone. But like I said I imagine pretty soon the story will hit you, and it hits pretty hard.
I somewhat agree with world. I actually enjoyed the game, but for it to be called the citizen kane of gaming I honestly expected way more.
I look at it like this, as a piece of interactive fiction its great, however if you take away the production value, the graphics and just had a bunch of boxes moving around so that you could get a good look at the gameplay well…it leaves a lot to be desired. Now obviously you have to look at the over all package but there were a lot of times when I was playing this game and was just thinking how much better this would be if I was watching a movie or a tv series. That is because the gameplay didn't feel like anything special, what was special was the character interaction, the mocap, and all the production values in the game.
Melee combat is brutal and cinematic but simplistic, the crafting system is cool but I felt like they could have done more with it. The gunplay is cool I like how weighty it feels and inaccurate in the harder modes, but again its really just TPS combat we have seen before. AI was absolutely horrendous though, but I didn't expect it to be good, stealth games always have really bad AI.
Now the story is what drove me to play this game, and I like how they did a lot of things in this game, I don't want to spoil anything so I will leave it at that.
Its still a 9 out of 10 for me because it does what it does well, however I can't overlook its simplistic gameplay elements just because ND put so much effort into the production values and story.
So to recap I do think its a great game, but it is absolutely in no way revolutionary, it just took a lot of things that have been done before and did them well all in one package.
Already a PSN+ member, and absolutely loving it.
Uncharted 3 and Kingdoms of Amalur in June, Battlefield 3 and Payday:The Heist in July. F**k. That alone has paid for this years subscription.
I can't even type the full list of games that have been available this year, its huge.
I can't lavish this game with enough praise. It's just so damn good. Even after a few play throughs the intense moments in the game are still just as intense as they were when I played the first time. Especially since I am playing it on Survival mode now. This game gives me the same creepy tense feeling I had when I played the Resident Evil remake on the Gamecube for the first time. Can't get enough of it. I actually like watching the cut scenes again too. No skipping for me!
Been sold on Plus. So worth the money. The number of free games is staggering. My only complaint is they keep coming so often my 500gb HDD is nearly out of space on my Slim.
I've had to delete games along the way, but it's nice to know they stay in your download list for any time you need them. I wonder if Xbox Live's new free games system will let them do that.
Don't worry about it, that "free games system", will last on;y last until the launch of the XBOne.
I don't understand the difficulty people have with the gameplay of TLOU.
Plus is great, as a non/rare multiplayer gamer, I'd still pay for plus regardless.
I think too many kids these days are just used to mindless shooting that refills your ammo after every kill. I was reading some complaints by people on IGN and one guy was pissed that he kept running out of ammo. I for the life of me don't know that how could be if you're playing the game the way its intended to be played, that is use every item, tool weapon available. This isn't Uncharted. It's how survival horror, namely Resident Evil used to and should be.
lol, oh noez I ran out of ammo in a survival game!
I'm pretty good at balancing the use of my weapons and attacks. I'll actually use guns as a last resort. So far I've managed to hold into just enough ammo to get me out of tight spots.
I use guns as a last resort as well. Stealth is really the way to go through the game, but yeah, when you give today's gamers a game that features a gun they think it means you're supposed to just run in shooting, and if you do that in TLoU, you will get destroyed. The thing I've seen people complain about that I laugh at is the lack of regenerating health. It's not even an issue anyway if you search for items and know how and when to craft.
I always go stealth as much as possible, if i'm close to someone and I get spotted I will knock the guy out, run away and hold up and figure out a plan.
They usually follow me and I will take them out one by one, I ALWAYS try to use my weapons (pistols, rifles etc) as a last resort and to try and conserve my ammo as much as possible for any upcoming hard spots that I might be put into.
I usually try and take out people who have the Assault Rifles first depending on the situation and placement of where they are. Second in tight areas always the shotgun guys they always seem to rush towards me, If I don't have enough space to grab them and choke them out, I will usually shoot them especially if they have spotted me and they all are coming at me.
Where's the option for already using it but almost cancelled when I saw they would require it to play games online?
Just finished TLoU. I'm still thinking about what just happened.
Incredible game.
The effects subside after a week.
I'm not quite sure about the ending.
I loved the game, it was the best story I've played this generation. Just not crazy about the way it ended.
I feel like there is another story to be told….I don't have closure.
I didnt think it would ever happen, but Im one for story telling and ND has blown me away again. So much so that Uncharted has been dethroned I think. The way ND has done the story in The Last of Us is just to good. This game deserves every bit of praise its gotten and honestly probably deserves more.
Im still bummed I need to pay to play online but at least I wasnt blind sided by it. I kind of had a feeling I guess, that it would happen. Im trying to move on.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 7/1/2013 2:20:40 AM
Oh most definitely. Uncharted is great fun but The Last of Us is just so much deeper and meaningful. I have two daughters so I can relate to how a man like Joel must feel. There was a scene with Joel and Ellie that really struck a chord with me. Without giving anything away I'll just say that even after having watched it 3 times now, it still evokes emotion. No games do that. They try but usually fail big time. The interaction and struggles of these characters that are played so well by Baker and Johnson, its believable on a real human level. Only music, certain books and select films have made me emotional. No game has ever done that for me until now.
Last edited by Jawknee on 7/1/2013 3:52:27 AM
Im with you 100%. Ive had a strong connection with Drake and the supporting characters and thats really why I love the games, including the over all quality of course.
But, The Last of Us is on another level, the game will absolutely play with your emotions. Joel and Ellie are done so well, it is absolutely on a real level. I would imagine this story and their lives, exactly how it would play out had something like this truly happen. Thats the great thing about this game, if events like this were to truly happen, I can see it being just like this. Theyve excelled and gone beyond anything any other game has set out to do realistically.
I have no children, but I admire the humans response to caring for one another especially in times of need and I equally admire how ND captured that emotion perfectly.
I'm going to have get Plus. Not exactly sold on it, but if I have to pay for PS Plus or XBL, then Plus is the obvious choice. Not really because of free games I've already purchased when they were released. It's because I like playing online on PSN way more than I do XBL. I met so many good and cool people when I was regularly playing Soul Calibur 4, Super Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars(best icon music ever), Warhawk, Fat Princess, and Killzone 2.
Totally agree. The screaming adolescents on XBL drove me insane. Not to say u don't get annoying imbeciles on PSN, there's just generally more mentally mature peeps on PSN.
Already made my feelings well known about The Last of Us. It's my favorite game of this gen and unless GTA V or Beyond: Two Souls really surprise I don't see that changing.
As for this week's poll. I love PS+. Now it could improve but that's something that can be said about any product or service. I expect Sony will listen to consumers feedback to try and come up with ways it cane make things better but I honestly have no problems with it the way it is now. Being able to own the free games after your subscription runs out would be nice but there has to be an incentive for you to keep your sub so I can't really blame Sony for that decision.
(minor spoilers in this post) As far as The Last of Us….it's a stealth game that tries hardly anything new. And even if the parts there are flawlessly executed, a few enemy and friendly AI issues withstanding, it doesn't raise anything to the next level. It plays it too safe. And sometimes the design is questionable. If a guy has a gun and I stealth him, why can't I pick up that gun? And shouldn't that just be the only way to get any real ammo or weapons in the game? And why carry 9 weapons? What game does that these days? Why go to something so 'gamey' in a world that supposed to permeate realism? And upgrading guns? I pick up numbers labeled as 'parts' and put them on a gun. No model changes, no real inventive cobbling together, just spending fake currency on GUNS IN A GAME THAT DISCOURAGES GUNPLAY!! Why waste my time with that padded out silliness? Don't get me started on 'indestructible knife' vs. the shiv. Makes no damn sense at all. What would have been cool? If I actually had to scavenge fuel from old cars for my flamethrower fuel using the siphon Bill gave me. But that would have been TOO much like something different in games. 9 out of 10, never best of generation.
Last edited by n/a on 7/1/2013 5:25:27 AM
For me it wasn't about "playing a game" but "revealing a story". "Playing" the game did have a very Uncharted feel about it, from gameplay style, level design, to the use of vibrant foliage, all expected coming from ND. I think to see it as a zombie/stealth/survivor story is kind of missing the point. For it being a video game, not many other games have told a story this well. *SPOILER* The fact that it doesn't have a happy or "feel good" ending isn't something that very many Hollywood movies, let alone video games, try and do.
You and ________ make a cute couple.
Simcoe
spoiler
That's my beef with the game. It left too many game things in when it was also trying to transport me to this experience and it clashed too many times. Each different area bringing a new play type or tense situation beyond what you experience in the first few hours would have been appreciated. They were content with working in a secure area. The ending really brought me around, though. THAT was amazing and as much as sometimes I am against linearity that was an absolutely perfect gem of an ending. Any choice would have ruined it. I give ND much respect for that.
Jawknee
Don't jinx it! It's really early. We definitely aren't on your level of making play dates and sticking your tongue out at other grown men around here. You got any tips? I don't drink but should I drink wine like you when I'm on my play date to feel more loose, get over the tension?
Last edited by n/a on 7/1/2013 12:35:11 PM
SPOILER
Kid,
During *that* moment in the game, I really did want to have a choice, but reflecting on it afterwards, especially during the last two scenes of the game, I got it. One of the great things about this game was, and it could be an even 50/50 split, was how the player interpreted the ending. I thought that all along Joel was the hero, but then realised at the end, and especially after that very last scene, Joel was only in it for himself. I'm sure other people had quite the opposite view, and I get it.
Also, I read an interview with some from the ND team and they described that until the very late in the process they had the entire operating room scene as a cut scene but changed it to be playable so that the player had to take-down the doctor. I thought that was a brilliant decision on ND's part.
Simcoe,
spoilers
I think that's what's so great about the ending. That you can actually see clues throughout and are like "THIS is what I was actually doing?"
I think Joel was always in everything for himself. The initial deal was to get his guns back. Then when he started feeling for Ellie, it was to keep her. I think the moment that Marlene was willing to sacrifice Ellie was it for him. Mankind had already sacrificed the life of his daughter out of fear and self preservation. He wasn't going to let that happen again. There are a lot of layers that can be peeled away there and that is a rarity in gaming.
Last edited by n/a on 7/1/2013 1:51:04 PM
SPOILER
Oh I know, there are a few moments of foreshadowing in the game that show his character, even before what happens to Sarah. When both Tommy and Sarah want to stop and help that family and Joel says that "Someone else" will come along, even then he's not concerned about others.
good game, held back from being great by its own roots.
its a survival game.
the world has gone to sh*t!
so why every single time i find a item i can never pick it up because my inventory is full?
why do enemies rush me with a baseball bat when i have a shotgun pinned on their head?
why do enemies shoot me, or waste a molotov, when im in fisticuffs with their mates?
the whole point of the last of us is this is a survival game, resources are a precious thing.
but the AI is as good at being conservative as that AI buddy from RE5!
the AI is no where near as aggressive as it should be either.
so many times ive been a bit careless, ran into a fight and been outnumbered i take cover with 1 slither of health left so instead of the enemies rushing and finishing me off they fall back giving me plenty time to heal myself and search for supplies.
all the humans behave like terrified kids, everytime they see you instead of taking advantage of their numbers, they shriek and run away like cowards!
instead of power in numbers they sit behind cover and make it so simple for you to hide behind cover and flank them and sneak up strangling one by one.
the last of us is suppose to be a SURVIVAL game, and thats where it falls down under its lofty ambitions.
that and the predictable story and faceless characters.
as for plus, couldent give a flying %$#@ about it!
allot of the "features" should be standard, ie the cloud saves, automatic updates, automatic save uploads, ect.
speaking of automatic updates why do you have to install updates manually?
whats the point of letting the ps3 turn on and download a new firmware update but leaving it in the background and forcing me to install it when i turn my ps3 on next.
whole point of automatic updates is to get the ps3 to organize itself when im not home that way when i want to use it, i can!
rather than having to waste what precious gaming time i have left!
early access to betas, well when was the last beta they ran?
GOWA, and that was not early access people who did the challenge of the gods thing got far earlier access.
in fact since i bought the ps3 on launch $ony actually put together a little program for certain people who bought it on launch, and we actually get priority access to betas and the such.
and ive been given access to betas WAY more through that than my friend has from plus, and he has subscribed since it launched!
as for IGC, a bit useless since 99% of the games are so old, or so unpopular you can find them at the shops for like 20 bucks!
that and they always choose the silliest titles, i mean RDR, seriously who hasent played RDR?
uncharted golden abyss for the vita, i mean who has not played that?
thats like saying hey heres a free copy of avatar if you have recently bought a 3D bluray player and 3D TV.
chances are avatar was the reason you bought one, it was, and still is, the pioneer of 3D technology!
they need to add more new games, and more rare games not many people have tried.
instead of offering the CODs and R*s of the world, how about we add some under appreciated titles like enslaved?
ICG is the perfect way to encourage and entice people to get people to play games they would of never played, so lets stop squandering it on games every man, dog, cat, cow, and bird has played a million times over!
Yeah I feel like I wasted my $60 on this game. I should've waited till it dropped. Everybody I know loves the game but I remain unimpressed. I think Uncharted 2 was a better game in all honesty.
I was expecting a certain level of impact that was on par with the impressiveness that Uncharted 2 gave me. Even though they are very different games I feel I have the ability to make dissimilar comparisons like that.
I admit that what it does is far better than lots of other games, but since I expected it to do the story and characters well (being from Naughty Dog and all) it has only managed to fulfill what I expected and not gone anywhere above and beyond the ordinary in the sense that Naughty Dog has it's own category of ordinary.