User Review : The Last Of Us

Ups

• Atmosphere
• Character Development
• Sound

Downs

• Low Res Textures
• Weak Story
• Multiplayer fishing

Amazing, but not perfect

OMG this guy is giving "The Last of Us" something other than 9.5+ ermagurd, flame him, he must be an Xbox fanboy. Now if this sounds like the first thoughts that went through your head than I implore you to actually read the review before attacking me in comment section. With that said here's the actual review.

Graphics 8.5/10

"The Last of Us" is simply beautiful. Truly this is a game that will put you in awe of what 8 year old technology can do. Naughty Dog once again mystifies us with the simple beauty they can achieve. The worlds are lush and green when you're outside, you can see the particles in air when you are around a spore source, the cities are mechanical, decrepit, and falling apart. It is truly truly beautiful, which is why it's so painful to see low resolution textures. These low res textures are everywhere, from the trash on the ground to the barbwire lining the fences. I understand that in an effort to keep the game flowing fluid, compression, and other reasons not everything is going to be high resolution but in a game as beautiful as this the low resolutions stand out like a sore thumb and break the immersion. It just rips you straight out of getting lost in the beauty of the game.

Sound 10/10

Beautiful music serenades you as you explore, fills you with adrenaline as fight, and amplifies your emotions at all the right moments. The characters are all voiced well and deliver their lines flawlessly. There is no corny, cheesy, or awkwardness to be found here. I loved the characters and felt a sense of emotion and attachment with all of them, but more on that in a bit.

Story 8/10 *minor spoilers*

Unfortunately "The Last Of Us" suffers from a fairly generic story for this type of genre. World is almost destroyed by a mysterious plague, one (or more) person(s) is(are) magically immune to the plague and now the hero(s) are trying to get that person(s) to the people who can extrapolate a cure. It's a common plot we've seen several times and regrettably it's the one you'll experience the majority of the game with. But the good news is that "The Last of Us" is more about the journey than the destination. As you play through the game you will meet different characters and visit different places, while learning more about Joel and Ellie. I know it sounds like a no duh thing but it is done so well in "The Last of Us" that by the close of the game you really feel like these people matter, you want to care about them and protect them. Ellie is the obvious foil to Joel and on some sense she is constant reminder for us of the emotional pain Joel experiences. The other characters do well in adding to the immersion of the world but it's the developing relationship between Joel and Ellie that really takes center stage making everything else, even the story, a back drop. It's the lack of real story that hurt this score. It's predictable and fairly bland and if not for the excellent interaction between Joel and Ellie it would be downright boring. The story also has some moments of genuine WTF, such as when Ellie drives a manual truck flawlessly the first time. She is a 14 year old girl who has never driven a car before let alone a manual car but can magically drive it. I drive a manual so I can tell you I was not able to drive flawlessly my first, second, tenth times. I have never met a single person who was able to drive a manual flawlessly the first time.

Gameplay 7/10

There is so much good to say about the gameplay, however for everything good there is something bad as well. Stealth is the residing factor here, and it feels good. This is not a post apocalyptic world where you will survive if you try to run and gun. Ammo and supplies are rare, and it's awesome. You might spend an hour or two sneaking around because you have no ammo, and when you do find some it's only one or two bullets, and even saving everything one wrong move and you could wind up out of supplies from a firefight you weren't ready for. You really feel like you're in a world that is on the brink. However this feeling is broken as soon as you get in a fight. All of the AI, enemy or friendly, magically have limitless supplies of ammo and even if you render them unconscious, or dead, very very rarely will you be able to take any ammo from their bodies. In fact, you can't take anything from them. No supplies, no ammo, no weapon, nothing. This enemy that just unloaded dozens of bullets on you and suddenly as soon as their dead they have no more ammo? So what is the best strategy? Stealth. Sneak past your enemies or silently take them down (taking no ammo from them afterwards of course). However this is wonky as well. You are the only thing that the enemies can see. Your partners can and will run literally right in front of the enemy without being seen, in some cases actually clipping through the enemy. The AI will clip into each other often generally occupying the same cell at the same time. However they don't realize that they can't clip into you, so on more than a dozen occasions I would be hiding behind a wall only to have Ellie, or a different partner, run past the enemies and straight into the cell Joel was occupying, effectively knocking Joel out of cover and straight into the enemies line of sight, which is razor sharp. However (notice the trend yet) the enemies razor sharp vision can't see their allies. Basically if you take down an enemy and another enemy walks by that body they either don't see it or don't care because they have absolutely no reaction to it. "The Last of Us" is a game striving for a harsh realism to survival but breaks the realism by giving you the ability to store a full length shotgun, bow, and hunting rifle in a backpack at the same time. "The Last of Us" has the elements of a survival apocalypse game I've been so desperately looking for but the oddities with the AI make it hardly matter. There are some other problems with the game such as enemies that can one hit you just by touching you, but when the Clickers touch your companions they can fight them off. You are later able to fight off Clickers by getting an ability upgrade but it takes well over half of the game to earn enough points to purchase this, and that's if you're saving every point.

Online 6/10

I was quite a bit upset when I heard that they were adding multiplayer to "The Last of Us". As an Uncharted 2 veteran I was severely disappointed with the direction Naughty Dog went with Uncharted 3's mutiplayer and so I was worried about "The Last of Us". My fears, as it turns out, where only partially grounded. The multiplayer is fun, mostly, and with a few balancing tweaks (why does it take more than a full magazine with a bust fire rifle to kill someone, but only 5 pistol shots) it could be even better, however just like everything else it has problems. The gritty, dark, slow mechanics of the single player transfer over well to multiplayer. The first problem is that you have to have "Facebook" to play. You log into your "Facebook" account and the game accesses your friends list to populate your clan. Every win means more people join you, while every loss means more people die. As you play you earn resources used to support your clan. Win enough and your clan will complete the nultiplayers "campaign". Lose to much, or don't play for a while, and everyone in your clan dies and you start over. Yes you read that right, if you don't play for a while your clan dies and you start over. You need a certain number of resources each day to support your clan and the only way to earn these is to play the multiplayer. No play = no resources = clan dying = start over. This really becomes a problem as all of the customization is population dependent. You need xx many people in your clan to unlock different customization options, but when people die you lose that customization again. Did you leave on that family vacation, PSN go down, had to move, no internet? Guess what, say good by to your clan and your customization. Luckily weapons and load outs are unlocked by obtaining a certain number or resources and even though resources are used daily it's only once you hit a collective number of the entire clan career. This is fairly obviously a grab to keep people playing the multiplayer.

Conclusion 8.5/10

This is a dangerous world, and "The Last of Us" exemplifies that perfectly. Even when you're at your most powerful in the game you still feel like you are barely surviving. "The Last of Us" is the type of post apocalyptic world you want, but to achieve that it has to make some sacrifices. I love this game, truly I do, but the small things break the experience and keep it from being that perfect survival apocalypse game.

Score

8.5

Graphics

"...in a game as beautiful as this the low resolutions stand out like a sore thumb and break the immersion. It just rips you straight out of getting lost in the beauty of the game."

10.0

Sound

"Beautiful music serenades you as you explore, fills you with adrenaline as fight, and amplifies your emotions at all the right moments."

7.0

Gameplay

"There is so much good to say about the gameplay, however for everything good there is something bad as well."

8.5

Fun Factor

"This is a dangerous world, and "The Last of Us" exemplifies that perfectly. Even when you're at your most powerful in the game you still feel like you are barely surviving. "The Last of Us" is the type of post apocalyptic world you want, but to achieve that it has to make some sacrifices."

6.0

Online

"The multiplayer is fun, mostly, and with a few balancing tweaks (why does it take more than a full magazine with a bust fire rifle to kill someone, but only 5 pistol shots) it could be even better, however just like everything else it has problems."

Overall

8.5

[moegooner88]

I wholeheartedly disagree about the weak story, game had one of the best stories I have played this gen, many unexpected moves, and turns of events. Besides about the Ellie driving part, didn't Joel instruct her through out it, and she even failed to pull it off during her first attempt, she didn't just " magically " drive it.

[lex-1020]

It's a generic story. Any yes she did. They told her "Now keep your foot on the clutch..." And she replied "I know how to pop a clutch." She couldn't pop the clutch coming out of the driveway because the truck didn't have enough speed to turn the alternator. And I was refering to ***Spoilers*** Where they were running away from the infected and climbed in to the back of the truck. Ellie took off without stalling the truck?!?! Having never driven a stick shift before she was able to take off from a complete stop without stalling?

The story was generic, the interaction between the characters was wonderful.

[moegooner88]

POSSIBLE TLOU SPOILERS AHEAD.

Does Ellie strike you as a normal 14 year old, a normal 14 year-old girl wouldn't be so eager to hold/use a weapon, it's obvious that her difficult childhood, and the time she spent with Marlene influenced her in many ways, she is intelligent, witty, and initiative survivor, you complain about her, somewhat having no difficulty driving a manual car, but yet don't mention her outsmarting, and killing tens of grown up, weapon yielding thugs on her own.

[lex-1020]

@Moegooner

Pretty much yea. She grew up in a harsh world of fighting and death. It's not hard to kill someone. It takes no real skill or practice. But driving a manual car does. You have to know what you're doing and practice it to do it.

[moegooner88]

MILD TLOU SPOILERS AHEAD

@Lex

I do understand your point, and I agree as well, but looking back at the events of my entire play-through I realize that Ellie is no stranger to adapting to situations, even the ones which require skill, including using weapons, such as the hunting rifle, and the bow, in the case of the former, she was able to use it with great precision, from a distance as well, despite being introduced to it just moments ago by Joel. I believe we can't really make a clear judgment on such situations without exact knowledge about Ellie's past, and whether she had any former interaction with the subjects in question, something which even after beating the game, remains somehow vague.

[ShabbaRanks]

You gave TLoU an 8.5 !!!

Do you even know what you did to the metascore ????

Just kidding lol, but wow I dont understand how you gave it an 8.5... Seriously because the way you talk you don’t seem like you even enjoyed the game. Btw you are not forced to use facebook in multiplayer lol. By linear story I think you’re getting confused with the levels. The story was far from linear. Oh well you cant please everyone

[Valenka]

An 8.5 is a good score, but nonsensical when compared to other scores and given your nitpicky reasons for giving TLoU an 8.5. You're going to criticise its story as a whole because of a technicality error in a scene involving a manual transmission truck? What evidence do you have that indicates it was Ellie's first time driving? Considering the fact that she knows how to do it indicates she's done it before, hence her ability to pull it off. Your reasonings are utterly absurd.

If you ask me, this review comes off as you trying to garner attention by giving it a score different than the general consensus. If you're going to start nitpicking just to say something negative about it, there's an issue.

[lex-1020]

I didn't criticize the story as a whole based on that one scene. I criticized it for being generic. I can name several movies and books that follow the same plot line of a plague almost wipes out humanity and there is one person who is magically immune to it and trying to find a cure: I am Legend, Containment, Soft Apocalypse, just to name a few. As for evidence here's the reasoning. It's been 20 years since the plague started (This was shown in the start of the game) meaning that Ellie, since she's 14, wasn't around at the start. Now based off the fact that Ellie has never left her quarantine zone (She states this) and based on the fact that the only cars we see in her quarantine zone are military vehicles that deliver the rations (observation) and the fact that almost every car outside is rotten (Conversation later in game) it's logical to assume that she has never actually driven a car. Unless the fireflys managed to get a military vehicle and hide it somewhere in the city (unlikely since the military has almost completely eradicated them). I would advise you to ask for someone's reasons before calling them absurd.

As for your second paragraph you are welcome to your own opinions but seeking attention from random people on the internet without a monetary incentive is incredibly stupid. If you look at my other reviews I have a tendency of being exceptionally harsh on games, however I stand behind all of my scores based on the reasons I provide in the review.

"The Last of Us" has immersion breaking AI, and points that make absolutely no sense (not talking about the car this time). Was this game fantastic? Absolutely without a doubt. Was it perfect? No. Do I still love this game? Yes. Yes I do. Will I still play it a dozen more times? Yes I probably will. But it does have some relatively major problems.

[uncharted56]

First of all this game is pushing the ps3 console without the need to load between levels or anything with the graphics it has so can definatel expect a few low res textures. Second the story is generic? Wtf. The premise of the story is that the world has been affected by this plague virus and it has wiped out most of the humanity. That is a premise not story. Learn the difference. The story itself is about Joel and Ellie. Their relationship and how they survive and interact with other creatures in this world not how humanity is surviving. The effort gone into gameplay is second to none. You play how you want with different options. As far as A.I. is concerned it shines unlike other games but has its flaws. I like npc A.I. search for you if they become aware of your presence and talk and work together and react differently to if you have a weapon equipped or not and how Ellie helps you out. At the same time sometimes you are hiding behind cover and they walk past but they dont see you and Ellie doesnt take cover or hides in plain sight takes you out of the game for a bit. For online wow you are a retard, no offense but you dont need facebook to play. Now I dont know if you dont play for a while then your clan dies off as I have tbh not noticed that so I will not comment on it. Game is fun online really pushes for playing with a friend or a group of people you can talk to as the game lends to teamwork if you want to survive, but it is not impossible to take out a bunch of people on your own but quite hard. I would give it at least a 9 because the games campaign in terms of fun, immersion, gameplay, story and character development is top notch. Online can be a miss or hit depending on your playstyle and preference.

[IcyEyes]

I agree with Valenka.

Anyway there is a nice trick in the journalism that a review may use, a trick that makes you famous to the masses, but pretty lame in front of any expert/pro, a trick that some people use without knowledge.

[IcyEyes]

Sorry, my mistake : (reviewer instead review).

Anyway there is a nice trick in the journalism that a REVIEWER may use, a trick that makes you famous to the masses, but pretty lame in front of any expert/pro, a trick that some people use without knowledge.

[Valkyre]

You know when a review is fishy when the guy starts having issues about the credibility of a characters ability to drive a car with manual stick...

Also, for your information there is a story before the LOU unfolds and it is in regards with Ellie and the way she was bit. It is even mentioned in game, as well as how she always was sneaky and adaptable to situations....

Furthermore, the "generic story" argument of yours is completely destroyed by the game's final 2 hours and its eventual dialogue in the end.

In short, rubbish review, not because of the score but because of the absurd reasons for explaining its "flaws".

[lex-1020]

You didn't read much of the review, or the comments did you. I'm not going to reiterate the manual transmission comment, it's already in a reply to Valenka so you can read it if you want.

As for the story let me put this exert from my review. "It's a common plot we've seen several times and regrettably it's the one you'll experience the majority of the game with." I'm aware that the plot changes slightly and explains things. But in the scope of the game it's not until close to the end of the game that you actually get any story other than a generic one. Which is why I said "...it's the one you'll experience the majority of the game with."

In short, just because someone disagrees with your opinion doesn't mean it's wrong.

[Valkyre]

Reading comprehension is not your best quality now is it?

I never said you are "wrong", learn to read.

Only thing I expressed is my OPINION.

Am I entitled to my opinion, or is it just your exclusive right?

I am? Oh thanks.

Well then my OPINION is that your review is rubbish.

oki doki?

[e-p-ayeaH]

The story is about people with feelings and thoughts rather than an overly convuluted plot revolving around those characters as an excuse for things to happen like so many games do.

Last of Us as a great story its not about conspiracies (like bioshock) and figthing wars (like killzone) its about humanity.

[wickedthumbz]

Not too impressed with your review. I appreciate you taking time to reply to everyones posts I run a blog site and review site myself so I know how frustrating it can be. But I just wanna say I gave this game a 10. The story although was something we saw partially before it wasn't exactly the same. It has differences as well as making the player build a relationship with the characters. We don't see that much anymore in stories. The last game that really showed the bond between the characters that MADE you want to play the game better was Heavy Rain.

She stated that she knows how to pop a clutch and by saying it like that, I'm sure she did it before. She grew up in a military school in which 90% of the vehicles are manual transmissions. So focusing on that one thing makes no sense.

Also with the comment of knowing how the story will turn out, I had no clue neither did anyone else who played it that I have spoken to. Each time I thought I was close to the end of the game more stuff happened making the game not only longer but building that bond between Joel and Ellie. The whole time I was hunting that deer the only thing in my mind was if Joel was still alive. Then when she asked for medicine I got happy because I knew he was alive and when she was taken I knew he'd somehow come to the rescue. He really didn't but he was there to comfort her.

The story was amazing and I've read some of your past reviews and not only are you being to harsh but you put a game of this caliber on par with Lost Shadows? That game was no where near this game in any way. This is only the second review I've read where this game didn't get a perfect score. If not perfect then the high 9's would have made this not sound so bad. Especially in you closing where you stated that the feeling and game were perfect but little things brought it down. If the game destroyed my console after I finished like in Mission Impossible I still would have given this game a 10.

There aren't too many studios doing new things, and by being over critical it will make them stop and doom us to buying COD every year like we do now. This fresh idea is what we needed and I loved every minute of it. You don't have to respond to this if you don't want like I said I know how it is. Just wanted to toss in my 2 cents.

[e-p-ayeaH]

wickedthumbz quote:"The whole time I was hunting that deer the only thing in my mind was if Joel was still alive. Then when she asked for medicine I got happy because I knew he was alive and when she was taken I knew he'd somehow come to the rescue. He really didn't but he was there to comfort her."

When she said to David (that despicable old man) she liked to be alone i knew she was hiding something :D Before Joel got impaled Ellie said to him she was afraid to be alone.

[OcelotRigz]

##SPOILERS AHEAD##

I just finished the game so now i can finally read some reviews and see what other people think about it.

First off, i loved it. The atmosphere, the interactions, the soundtrack & voice acting, the gameplay, the characters... I agree that the story was cliche but i didnt mind, it was more of a vehicle for the main focus which was Joel & Ellie's adventure together. This was even more apparent by the non-typical ending. I love non-typical endings. Thats one reason why i love No Country For Old Men so much. In TLOU's case there was no 'Happy' ending. There was no 'Joel gets bit but hides it until he gets Ellie to the hospital and then when he was dying he sang for her' scenario, which i thought it would do. It was a more realistic ending.

I cant remember a enemy not noticing a man down though, they always seem to say something like "We got a man down" and then inspect the body. Infact i used to have big piles of bodies in the same spot because of this, as i would stealth kill every guy who noticed the body(s).

Anyway, i agree with a lot of what you said or rather agree that its true. But i wouldn't feel as aggrieved by such things as you. I enjoyed reading the review though.

By the way, this is a very popular game at the moment and no matter what you say, if you criticize and give a lower than average score for this game people aren't going to like it, as you can see above with the replies and high disagrees on your replies. Thats the internet for you.

[lex-1020]

Ocelot

I was really trying to save my last bubble for a comment but I feel you deserve it. First off thank you. While I always welcome outside opinions what you said is absolutely true. I knew going into this review that I was attacking a sacred cow by kicking a hornet's nest at it. No matter what I say, whether factual and justified or not, it's going to be taken as a troll attempting to discredit a something perfect. Not to attack the people who've commented above, but a lot of the disagrees come from Rose color glasses and the euphoria effect. You finish a game that you absolutely loved and are still on the "high" from the game. That I feel is what is happening. A lot of people have finished the game and are still going the the euphoric state that they overlooked the flaws. I'm okay with this as I already predicted it was going to happen.

I would't say that I was necessarily aggrieved, nice use of that word btw, but they were moments that broke the immersion of the game, and some that just plane didn't make sense.

As for the story. I think you fairly well summed up what I was trying to say in my review. The story was cliche so that it could be a backdrop for the relationship developing between Joel and Ellie.

Once again thank you for being able to take an objective opinion to the popular consensuses.

To everyone else. Let the disagree's flow, but do me a favor. Explain why.

[OcelotRigz]

Glad you understand what i was trying to say.

What i meant by saying "aggrieved" was that i agreed with what you seen as flaws in the game, but they didn't affect my general view of the game as they did you. Basically they didn't bother me as much.

People don't understand that either. A guy will give his reason for giving such scores and a guy will say "Thats not good enough reason". Well like i said above, people are different and some things annoy people more that it would others, people still cant grasp the concept of opinions and personal preferences.

I also agree about having a certain euphoria after playing a great game that blinds you to its flaws. The same applies for movies. Every time i watch a movie and people ask me what i think, i can never answer them straight away, i always have to think about it and it could take days before i really make up my mind.

I was in your shoes for Bioshock Infinite. Im a huge fan of those games but after Infinite i grew more disappointed with it each day. For me its a good game but a poor Bioshock game. It was like a badly rehashed Bioshock 1, which got everything just right whereas Infinite didn't. Of course a lot of people were claiming it the game of the generation, an amazing story and twist. When i disagreed i got slaughtered, people always assumed that i just didn't "get it" and things like that, instead just accepting that i had a different view than them.

Objectivity is also a very rare thing these days.

[Revolver_X_]

Read my post below. Your review of the online is quite inaccurate. It should be revised or removed as the functions of the online you are either lying about intentionally or out of ignorance. If its out of ignorance, then why are you reviewing this game?

[Nes_Daze]

I think you were too harsh on the AI, Ellie being seen and not caught by the enemy AI only happened to me 3 times, and I'm already on my second playthrough, so no it's not perfect but imo not really game breaking. Stealth works excellent otherwise, and Ellie throwing a brick at a hunter so that then you can come out of cover and blast him with a shotgun is quite awesome.

[Revolver_X_]

FYI, your supposed to upgrade your weapons during an online match. If you ran around every game with basic gear, no wonder you dont like it. A semi-auto only takes 3 shots to down an enemy after upgrades. 5 if they have armor. While, I would say you need friends to enjoy the MP, becuz randoms suck, its no where near as generic as you make it seem.

Heres some truth. Facebook is NOT needed. And you DONT have to keep playing to keep your clan. Thats a complete fabrication. You do NOT lose customizations when you lose people. If that was true then when you finish your 12 weeks and start over you would have to unlock everything again, but you dont. I have lost people enough times to know your lying.

A review is one thing. Fabricating information is another. 90% of your review of the MP is a lie.

[plmkoh]

I've read many official reviews and user reviews that describe the story in 'The Last of Us' as "generic" and "done before", but I think if you have concluded on that, you've very much missed the point of the game and can't see it as a near perfect or indeed a perfect game.

The the story was very much intentional to be generic, however the focus is clearly not on 'why the world turned out this way', 'how the infeection came about', why 'Ellie is immune', but rather it's the journey between a man and an adolescent girl. In fact throughout the 13-15hours the character growth between the pair is the story, not the fact that Ellie is immune, had this been a Zombie game from any other studio it would've been the later. Which is exactly why Ellie being immune or news of the world takes a back seat and serves as context or a driving force for Joel's decisions to cling onto humanity and Ellie's search for her belonging takes the focus.

This is why it's a much celebrated game, it doesn't delve into convoluted stories of voodoo midichlorian count to explain things, it doesn't talk of global conspiracies with twisted ideologist trying to cleanse mankind, in fact there's no 'bad guy' in this game. It's a game that explores character in a changing world, not one that pisses on your intelligence.

This is mature gaming at it's finest.

[TheDivine]

Great game but technically one of the buggiest games I've played up there with Skyrim ps3. It doesn't load half the time, freezes, levels don't load in so I fall off into blue nothingness, sound cuts out exc. I can't play it half the damn time and it shouldn't take five tries to load a save. It's a flipping mess brother.

[aaronobst]

"in a game as beautiful as this the low resolutions stand out like a sore thumb and break the immersion. It just rips you straight out of getting lost in the beauty of the game"

I'm sorry, what?

As for the rest of the review well;