Hands On: Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us” | TheSixthAxis

TSA: "This is almost nothing like Uncharted in any way, but rather takes Naughty Dog’s technology and experience and applies it quite brilliantly to a new genre, setting and characters."

[Walker]

I think The Last of Us is gonna be highest-rated game of this year .

[miyamoto]

Tess looks so real.
I hope the single player campaign is long adventure indeed so I can marvel at nature.

I feel this game has some dose of Demon's Souls in the difficulty department.

[DigitalAnalog]

What's the matter? Did this statement made you choke?

"This is almost nothing like Uncharted in any way, but rather takes Naughty Dog’s technology and experience and applies it quite brilliantly to a new genre, setting and characters."

OUCH!

[DigitalRaptor]

I can't wait for this game to come out, I can't wait to play it, I can't wait to be immersed in tense post-apocalyptic survival and astounded by the beauty Naughty Dog have shaped in a forlorn world. I can't wait for the game to be recognised industry wide for its irrefutable quality and gain rave reviews and GOTY nominations and awards.

And mostly I can't wait to taste j-blaze's bitter, bitter tears.

[Ezio2048]

I dont think so.......when it comes to rating n reviews (fair or unfair)......gta has always been on top.......I believe gta5 is gonna be the highest rated game of this year.

[Sketchy_Galore]

I'm still hating the fact that there's one of those stupid 'highlight the enemies through walls' mechanics in this game. Yes I know I don't have to use it but still knowing its there feels annoying. Obviously everything other than that looks amazing though.

[Thatguy-310]

How is knowing that is there annoying you if you don't have to use it?

[Sketchy_Galore]

I'm not saying it ruins the whole game but its irritating since somewhere in my subconscious I'm no longer this powerless, scared human trying to blindly fight his way through the dark. I'm a guy with the magical ability to see through walls who has decided not to use his superpower.

Imagine if Dark souls 2 had a very forgiving checkpoint system and every time you died you could either load up your last manual save at the last bonfire you passed or you could keep all your gear and start at the door of the room you just died in. Well, you clearly don't have to use the checkpoint system if you don't want to but doesn't knowing you could if you had to take something away from the tension?

If you leave it up to me to make a promise to myself that I'm not going to take advantage of certain aspects of the game to make it a more tense experience that's a long way from giving me no choice but to play through an already tense experience. I could make any game more difficult by breaking my fingers before playing or lengthen a short game by refusing to use a run button. Still, leaving it up to me to hobble my own experience isn't a very elegant solution.

Edit- I reloaded this page seconds after I posted this comment and saw I already had a disagree. Nobody could have read my comment in that amount of time. Unless that's just a glitch with the site some of you really need to grow up. I'm discussing elements I don't like of a game I'm really looking forward to playing. If all you see is, 'he say he no like game me want be good. Me must disagree' then you really need to bow out of the discussion.

[VonBraunschweigg]

Even if you don't have to use it, he has a valid point. I agree with him, but it's hard to explain why we don't like those features to be in this type of game, a game with a serious undertone. Imo it just doesn't fit and I haven't even seen how it works. It's just a feeling. It has nothing to do with realism - we're gonna be fighting and dodging fungus infested people in this game - but when I heard about it I had the same feeling when I heard about Codemasters rewind function in DiRT and GRiD. It sounded...casual for lack of a better expression, and so did the games turn out to be. But I was never forced to use it, so I hope ND does the same. Perhaps it's only an option added for say, the less experienced gamer, or the ones easily scared, but I really hope I don't have to see through walls in this game.

This generation I've only looked through walls using an Auger:) I peeked under a few doors here and there and scouted ahead with the MKII, but that's it. I rather proceed to said wall to have a look myself, up close and personal.

edit: good reply Sketchy. It can indeed deminish the personal experience when you just know you've got these abillities to back you up. But it's a matter of how much you can control yourself not to use them. With DiRT, the real tension of rallying only came back when I forced myself never to use it, never. You crash, you start over. That's it. Even when you were about to set a new trackrecord and you f*cked up the last turn, restart at the beginning. I'll probably do the same with this see-through-wall option, just act like it isn't there and just not use it.

Because in this game, if there really is something behind that wall, I want it to scare the hell out of me:)

[Thatguy-310]

I understand that but then simply don't use the mechanic then. It's there to give you an advantage if you want it. If you don't then simply don't use it. Problem solve right?

[GribbleGrunger]

Sketchy, I fully understand your worries and I've got to be honest and say that when I heard about it, it was the first time I felt any reservations about TLOU. They are simply 'reservations' though, and the sheer weight of goodness that pervades every corner of this title is enough to enable me to put it out of my mind ... but, it IS there and I will probably use it.

We don't know exactly how it's going to be used though. Perhaps it only comes in useful at specific locations. For instance, how far away from that wall do the clickers have to be before they are undetectable? Will they literally have to be almost touching the wall before you can see their outlines? There must be more to it than we've been told because in the clips we've seen so far, no one has used it.

Reservations aside, I don't think TLOU will just be a great game, I think it will be a revolution in games design and signal a new era of quality that will take us smoothly into next gen.

[r21]

Theres also the fact that if you use said mode, you leave Joel to become an easy target for human and non-human enemies.

[VonBraunschweigg]

Thanks for the info, but I'm not sure if it's good news because then it wouldn't be a feature added for 'the less experienced' gamer but a mechanic we have to use, in order to experience the vulnerability. On the other hand, being vulnerable is what this game is about, so it could turn out to be not so bad after all.

I need to stop worrying about it and just wait and...see:)

[MoonWheel]

I think they said the main reason it is add is if you don't have surround sound or headsets that could pinpoint the sounds.

[VonBraunschweigg]

Yeah, you're right, besides it doesn't seem to bother the author and I like the way he writes about this game and all, so it will probably not kill the mood for me as well while playing.

Only two things to do: upgrade to 5.1 and take his advice, stop reading about it and just wait untill releaseday.

[NextGenHorny]

Somehow I agree with you, but we don't know everything about the game yet.
What if this mode is only available in the easiest play? If you play in normal or hard mode, then it will not be there for you.
We have to wait ;-)

[kingPoS]

Then don't use the daredevil sense or whatever it is that let's see through walls.

Who knows? Maybe there's a number of times you can use that skill before mentally exhausting yourself.

[SOULJER]

The last great game for my collection will be bitter sweet for me.

[KillrateOmega]

Possible GoTY contender?

[THC CELL]

Can't wait for this game.

[Inception]

What the...some people in here still complain about listen mode?

Enemies (clickers) with one hit kill, limited ammo / item, real time crafting system, no health regeneration like CoD / Uncharted, and you must protect Ellie. Compare to that, listen mode is optional and a little advantage for players. Even if you use listen mode, that doesn't mean this game will get easier. Just read this from the article:

"I think what really caught me most off guard was just how easy it was to die, and the fear and trepidation that comes with this fragility. The graphics were impeccable, the animation superb, and the little moments of incidental dialogue exactly what you’d expect from Naughty Dog, but the game drips with a very different atmosphere compared to their most recent work.

Whenever I was spotted, with the volume of clicking and shouting louder in my ears, I knew that my almost inevitable death was coming. Knowing for those few seconds that you’re probably going to die very soon, before seeing your throat get ripped out just makes it feel that much worse. It made me want to live just that little bit more."

See? this come from the people who already played TLoU. So for people who still complaining about listen mode, please, save your judgement before playing TLoU demo / full game!

[VonBraunschweigg]

See? Well that's just the thing, you see:) Some people don't want to see through walls, they want to be scared by what could be behind that wall, and now fear this 'listen' mode will somehow make the experience less intense.

That's not really complaining imo, I think getting the most out of a masterpiece is a valid discussion here. But I know what you mean, and the article is seriously written and very positive, so I trust i will work out fine. I just need to upgrade my lousy 2.something dolbystuff.

[Inception]

Than what's your problem? If you don't want to see trough walls and be very scared with clickers who will kill you in one hit while you crafting your items / while you protecting Ellie, than don't use listen mode. Easy right?

I respect people who wants a discussion about "flaw" in this game. But this article is one of the proof that people needs to play the game first before worried too much.

Besides, there's still four month before people get their hands on this game. Maybe ND will 'fix' listen mode for people like you who wants to immerse their self in TLoU world.