Why I Hate The Last of Us (Now With More Hate)

How could Mr. Wolfe possibly hate this game? He's not biased against big-budget action games with emotional narratives and cinematic shit all over — this is a Metal Gear fansite, after all — and Mr. Wolfe appreciate that the game is a PS3 exclusive in a console generation strangled by Microsoft’s dirty money and bully tactics. Hell, Mr. Wolfe didn’t even know for himself why he hated it at first, but he has finally been able to put his finger on it: Mr. Wolfe hates The Last of Us because it’s supremely disingenuous.

[MariaHelFutura]

Adjective

Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does

Synonyms
insincere - false - devious - hollow-hearted

[Godchild1020]

I read up to that part of the article and then scrolled through the article to the bottom to see how long he (The Writer) goes on about the game.

I understand that not everyone will like this title and the first time the game was unveiled, I was pretty intrigued by the concept and it left me wanting more. Every trailer after that, has left me the same way. I have watched the VGA trailer so much that I know it will be up there with my top games of 2013.

The concept of the title is similar to what we have seen in I am Legend and The Walking Dead, with it's own little mix. How far the game expands is up to ND and I can't wait until, I get my chance to explore the world and make a real conclusion of my own. I rather hate the game and love the concept after playing, than hate the concept & the game, but never playing it, to make a real judgement.

[MariaHelFutura]

Exactly. Every word.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Ok, the writer is just ridiculous. He's complaining about stuff that is prevalent in almost, if not all video games that have a story. Video games just simply aren't at that level of story telling yet and

***"Worst of all is the surrogate conscience. I don’t care what kind of woman she is, or what the relationship angle might be, I just don’t want to hear them yammer at me about dying horses or gasping at the horrors I’ve wrought, because we both know it’s not a real girl; it’s a contraption made by some middle-aged guy who thinks he’s got you in the palm of his hands. Those sensitive reactions are as scripted and forced as the very shit they comment on, so it doesn’t work. I didn’t design the murder simulator — you did, sir. I didn’t spend a week creating the physics of the Molotov cocktail, or take a microphone to the back yard to record what boiling flesh sounds like. I don’t know, maybe by the time the developers are done constructing their 40th way to slaughter a man, they get so insecure about their own moral code that they have to start vocalizing it in the game. “Oh, that’s so horrible!” they have someone say. Then they walk into every interview promoting the game as some kind of deep, provocative thriller, when all they really wanted to make was a really brutal game about an dude surviving the zombie apocalypse. Just be honest, man. Don’t give us the song and dance."***

This paragraph is full of fail. So because you know it's not a real girl the developer should just not put any life into the character? After all she isn't real right? Wow. I hope this guy does realizes that when a character says "Oh that's horrible!" that the character is speaking to the main character and not to player directly right? Is every word spoken in a film directed at the viewer now? The author comes off as going on a stupid rant.

[Nimblest-Assassin]

So... this is what its come to?

WE ARE ACCEPTING RANDOM POSTS FROM FAN BLOGS AS OPINION PIECES? REALLY?

This guys problem is

1) He believes that if any game has a female side character its a cheap cynical way from "lazy" developers, and thus the last of us, walking dead, and Bioshock Infinite, will and are shit

Really? read this

"Whenever these bitches talk, all I hear is an insecure developer, constantly explaining shit in the worst way possible. I’d rather have a big red arrow at the top of my screen and a checklist, thank you very much. “Look out! There’s one coming up behind you!” is the designer equivalent of “Here, let me take the controller, I’ll beat this part for you.” Games are so paranoid and lazy these days, it’s maddening. “What if they don’t know where to go right now?” “What if they forget what the objective is?” “What if they don’t know what to do in this situation?” “How are they supposed to beat this poorly designed challenge using the lame abilities we’ve given him?” “Is there some way we can we trigger their protective instincts any time we want, without having to actually write a good story?” These questions are all answered by the female sidekick. Oh, and shitty button prompts. Classics like Half-Life were linear as well, but they let us figure things out for ourselves, equipped us with unique and powerful weapons, and didn’t feel the need to redistribute responsibilities. And yes, for the record, Alyx Vance is the only real blemish on the Half-Life series."

MORAL DILEMMA FROM A YOUNG FEMALE CHARACTER IS LAZY? REALLY?

So that means Kojima is cynical based on the whole Rose issue in MGS4 as Otacon watches his love die behind a computer screen.... this idiot loves a franchise that does all the things he is complaining about

I love MGS, but the hypocracy in this article is ridiculous

1) AAA games are whores, and force you to watch cutscenes in order to see "the most cinematic way through"

*Cough* Metal Gear Solid 4, Raging Raven *Cough* Final fight with Ocelot *cough*

2) Lazy quicktime events to progress the story will obviously be in Last of Us and Bioshock

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLO! WHAT ABOUT EVERY MGS GAMES INFAMOUS MASH TRIANGLE TO MOVE ON SEQUENCE?

2) All these games are linear= bad

Honestly, Im f***ing done with this site, I come here for news, and I see half assed opinion pieces most of the time

We are approving rant pieces from fan blogs, ironically a MGS fan blog as well, a poorly written hypocritical one at that

If this really is the quality of articles Im stuck seeing, then I do not want to be on this site anymore, Im done

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Apparently 3 people object to the English dictionary.

[MariaHelFutura]

5 and counting. :P

[MRMagoo123]

its probably ppl that wont have the right console to play the game

[HBK619]

The writer of this piece seems to be a complete sexist pig.

A woman is in a game? Well, it MUST be cynically put in there to lull the gamer into a false sense of security and is most definitely always an emotional crutch.

[Christopher]

From the article: "Tell me I’m wrong."

You're wrong and you're also rude, repulsive, and attempt to write from a perspective of wisdom when all you do is take a common trope in games, movies, TV shows, and the like that is supposed to do what you're complaining about and make it a bad thing. Just because it's a trope doesn't make it something that, when used, creates an inferior product. It doesn't.

Examples: Leia in Star Wars, Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings, Mathilda in The Professional, Mary Jane in Spider-Man, and so on.

[MastaPiff]

I think that pushing through all the ranting he has some very good points. Does this make me think this game is garbage & I won't be buying it?

No, I still want this game but I'm definitely 2nd guessing why this game is peaking my interest especially when I'm interested in exploring & the point he makes about the lack of it is seeming more valid the more we see.

I feel like the author of this article is trying to open my eyes. I'm definitely making sure my view of this isn't thru rose colored glasses now. hmm...

[Walker]

Because youre a hater lol !

[miyamoto]

yeah haters only see negatives not positives
because he obviously failed to see how Joel was referenced to an old Hugh Jackman XD

[Irishguy95]

Well, good point, but it's not enough ruin a good game. Deal with it basically, or don't buy it whatever. As you say at the end the game will probably be good anyway, but ND have become linear only creators this gen. Yes, their games are overrated this gen but still good.

You can look at it one way or the other. Ellie is a gameplay mechanic and a characters of the story, the story will probably be average again as usual but at least they are trying a mature one finally, yes this is just a 'zombie' with Fungus heads replacing the zombies(story object, gameplay wise they may as well be zombies). At least the gameplay looks good. Naugty dog don't innovate is all you are right. But what they do, they generally do it better than everyone else.(Linear, Cinematic, tps). Except of course Uncharteds climbing segments god damn they were a waste of money

Edit---I didn't say they were Maria, read my post for **** sake, I said this gens ones are. The Uncharted series. With Uncharted 2 often called the best game this gen. Yeah...not even close.

That's right Majiebeast...Overrated does not mean bad, it means "overrated". Higher ratings than it deserves

[MariaHelFutura]

Naughty Dogs games are not overrated. They have been cranking out gems for way over a decade.

[majiebeast]

Yes, their games are overrated this gen but still good.

Notsureifserious.jpg

[rezzah]

The most awarded game in history overrated? Over 150 awards were all mistakes?

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Everything is overrated to someone one way or the other. At the end of the day Uncharted is a great series which contains one of the best games to came out this gen in UC2. Since Uncharted is a great series it deserves every praise it gets. Don't be upset that people don't praise something at the specific itsy-bitsy level that you deem as not "overrating" it too much.

[GenericNameHere]

You always mention linearity, so can you just stop talking about it? Yes, we ALL know Uncharted is linear, and that's a fact. Stop talking like it's the worst thing in videogame history. What, does a game have to be open-world for it to not be "overrated"? Skyrim was an open-world, and I hated it? Why? Because even though I agree the game is HUGE and the replay value is certainly highfor some, I just didn't find it fun enough. The game was repetitive, open-world games are likely to have more bugs than linear games, and just didn't interest me enough. Now that you know that, I'm not gonna go to every article about open-world games or any Elder Scrolls games and whine about it.

Uncharted doesn't innovate? While I might not kind of disagree with you, it was the first game to have gameplay and cinematics to flow so smoothly that even other games try to copy it. And also, just let go of the award thing already. It won over 150+ awards for GOTY and other accolades, but you don't think having all those awards mean the game is any better ? Sure, fine with me. That's your own opinion. But it did something special to get all those awards, and saying it's overrated just makes you seem like a butthurt fanboy because your favorite game didn't get the recognition you wanted it to get :/

/sorry for the long opinion about you

[stage88]

@Irishguy95 From your username you were only born in 1995. Your post makes sense now.

[MysticStrummer]

"Uncharted 2 often called the best game this gen. Yeah...not even close."

Oh ok. I see the problem. Someone along the way taught you that your opinion was the same as fact. Yeah... not even close.

[ritsuka666]

I enjoyed most of Naughty Dogs’ stuff immensely, but the whole formula is just starting to get a stale and boring. This game smell so much of uncharted that it bore the hell out of me .SHM, want something new not something uncharted with new skin… -__-

[Soldierone]

Why do people keep complaining bout linear? Thats like the new trend now? Uncharted is some of the best games this generation. Is it "linear" yeah, but it puts puzzles in your way and you need to figure out how to keep going. It's not like you are literally walking in a straight line smashing buttons....

Not everything needs to be open world, and even then games need to be linear to an extent. The Walking Dead was very linear, no matter what you did it was the same story with minor dialogue changes....

[Bathyj]

Linearity is the new dirty word. Sandbox is overrated.

Yes, you have this open world where you can go anywhere and do anything. Yet the main missions are all basically go from point A to point B and shoot guy C. The world is open but the gameplay is still linear.

Side missions are about 5 different things, repeated ad nauseam.

While I do enjoy these games and have nothing against them theres nothing wrong with a focused story and good pacing. I'd rather play a 10 hour game that keeps you riveted than a 100 hour snoozefest that just feels like going through the motions.

And lets face it, linearity is just the latest thing for people to b*tch about who have no intention of buying the game anyway because they've made up their minds to hate the console its on.

Just like MGS5's cutscenes, Killzones pre-rendered trailer, Heavy Rain's QTE's and GT5's cockpit views. I dont remember any of those things detracting from the game for me.

[Soldierone]

Exactly. Thats also what I meant by "those games still need something to be linear" While you could very well go "explore the world" it will do you no good in the mission. Heck sometimes they will cut you off from the rest of the world till you finish the mission.

[GribbleGrunger]

I have no idea whether I'm going to love or hate this game. Why? Because I haven't played it yet and neither has anyone else. I hate game journalism. Why? Isn't it obvious?

[Hellsvacancy]

Mr Wolfe? I kept thinking was this guy http://25.media.tumblr.com/...

[rbailey]

How is it possible for anyone to hate a game when they know absolutely nothing beyond what everyone else already knows about it?

At the end of the day, the real judgment comes once you actually play that game. On that note, i'd say come back with some credible complaints and documented proof and maybe I'll consider listening to them.

Naughty Dog is a quality studio and while they aren't necessarily perfect, you'd have to be insane to think this game isn't going to be a big deal in 2013.

[Conzul]

You should read the article. It's a keeper.

About 2000 words in it occurred to me that it was written by someone who snoozed in and out of a pop-psi class which they have now synthesized fond memories of.

[BanBrother]

"How is it possible for anyone to hate a game when they know absolutely nothing beyond what everyone else already knows about it?"

I ask myself that every single time I come on the internet.

[thebudgetgamer]

I don't like the fact that he wrote that headline in the third person.

Why thebudgetgamer doesn't like your pompous writing.

[Conzul]

"... I know the unflattering truth. “Ellie” is not a girl at all. Ellie an emotional pawn, designed by a hyper-cynical team of unoriginal douchebags to manipulate as many demographics as possible into buying their game and looking past its festering black soul. Worse yet, she’s a lazy crutch for the designers to lean on..."

Dafuq?

[League_of_Draven]

I don't think anybody cares about some nobody that hates a game he hasn't played.

I sure as hell didn't bother clicking on the article.

[MysticStrummer]

Yet you troll Dark Souls 2 articles and call Dark Souls "casual", which means you never played it.

[r21]

Oh god, this is gonna heat up. Hopefully Im wrong cause this article was just rude, probably the most rudest blog I've ever read in my whole gaming life. Probably even worse than Kotaku :L

I downvoted this site, horrible. He is hating on games that havent even released!

[Skips]

"Perhaps you’ve seen the trailer for BioShock Infinite, which also looks like shit"

Just -____________________________-

[Rumplebumpkin]

This guy should be locked up with all the other cynical people in the world. Then they can all talk together about how shitty everything is.

[AznGaara]

There's a reason why Naughty Dog is always praised for its storytelling even though the plot is "generic" and that is... dun dun dun their CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

If you look at games that have great stories this gen, most of them can be classified as "generic". Red Dead is a story about revenge. Walking Dead, is about the zombie apocalypse. Heavy Rain is about finding a serial killer. MGS4 is about a soldier saving the world. All sound generic right? So why are these games with so called "generic" story lines praised so much? Because within those games are characters that you grow to love and appreciate. Character who feel real and exists and change within the game world aside from just "being" in it. And with that said, you can't deny that Naughty Dog creates some damn good characters.

[CaitSith]

Why the hell should I care about what this Mr. Wolfe thinks?! As far as I'm concerned, this game hasn't even come out, yet he thinks it warrants hatred? Wow, journalism. Wow.

[black911]

Make about Gears OF War.

(This Time With More Feeling)

[TheHardware]

i didnt read the article ..thank goodness. from what i get from the comments i think i made the right choice

[IQUITN4G]

This sort of stuff is actually just as obvious in films though to the point that it's bit of a joke now. All fueled by money unfortunately so it's unlikely to change. Games are no longer in their infancy as far as an awareness for sales potential and that pretty much dictates all this. A shame when the magic is lost though this way

[Hicken]

Damn, it's a shame the site has no place for comments.

Then again, maybe that was done on purpose, given the "quality" of this article...

[BrianC6234]

What a bore. I don't give a crap if you hate the game. I don't even know who you are. That is all.

[FuzzyPooka]

This guy is pretty funny. You want to nit-pick every microbe of a game apart to analyze and find even the slightest problem with it? Go ahead. But at least do it too a game that has REAL flaws.

[ALLWRONG]

Isn't this a blog?

[MehmetAlperTR]

I dont know why Mr Wolfe hate one of my favorite game but i hate from Mr Wolfe now.. What a good idea to take a hit? But already gave negative point to the site..

[th3n00bg4m3r]

It is his opinion, and i respect it, but man, he is just biased. It sounds like he hates The Last Of Us because it is way too good for him.

[linkenski]

My only problem about games like these are that they are going to be beat in the next generation, in terms of how it impresses visually and most importantly cinematically, and that's when we will realise how little replayability it has because it's only the gameplay that's left to impress.

[stage88]

Who the hell is Mr Wolfe?

[Ganzi]

After reading through a portion of this guys blog post (yeah it is a blog), I found the article to be pretty unpleasant to read. However, when I went back and tried to read it in the context of a joke, it was... still pretty unpleasant, in a different way. I will say, though, that I while I think this is very much one of those hit-grabbing sort of posts, it makes more sense as a piece of humor (I always do this for any particularly flame ridden article, as I think it is a good tactic for avoiding adding to the flame). Unfortunately for this writer, he has some pretty substantial flaws he needs to work on, most importantly, he seems to be devoid of any sense of humor at all.

[ghostrider32]

Whoever started this trend to bash games WAY before it's release need to be kicked in the head.

[ratcop22]

This site is becoming horrible! With Opinion articles that are biased and downright stupid! Aka: This one. Nimblest-Assassin I agree 150% with what you are saying. Why is Ng4 accepting this Bs? If I wanted to search up that. Then it'd be in my search engine..(Bing)

[Gratisfaction]

This guy is purposely screaming out "sexist".