The Last Of Us: disappointing demo syndrome? (VG247 preview)

The Last of Us publisher Sony recently sent VG247′s Dave Cook a demo build. He genuinely didn’t enjoy it, but could see greatness forming. Was it just a bad demo, or is there cause for concern?

[ltachiUchiha]

It had to be the demo because every other preview seems to enjoy it.

[OmegaSlayer]

Dave is a good guy but liked DmC :p

[ABizzel1]

"and occasionally an encumbrance like Resident Evil 4′s Ashley"

Lies. Nothing can be compared to that mess of a section. I stopped playing for a while, because the b!^@# kept dying. I'd put her in a trash can, and her nosey @$$ would peek out and get caught. What's the point of being able to hide her if the infected check EVERYWHERE for her.

I went back and purposely let her get caught / killed hundreds of time, before finally getting serious and beating it.

[morganfell]

Maybe it was just the player...

[ABizzel1]

@morgan

Lies.

Why even be given the option to hide her, if the Infected already know where she's going to be. Your'e better off keeping her next to you.

I sat back and watched. I put her in the dumpster ran ahead killed everyone, and turned around and a randomly spawned group of infected were digging in the trash for her.

I started over and put her in the trash before they could even see me. Ran up to them, then ran back past the dumpster, and the AI dropped me from being their focus and started digging in the trash.

RE4 has the worst escort ever.

[joab777]

I am sure there are some thinhs that we hav seen and done and at the end of a gen, we r growing very tired if a lot of things...that's why I am playing dark souls. But, I guarantee its one of the best games to come out in awhile. It will suffer from some stiff critique after it gets praised...it will b very similar to bioshock infinite

[Riderz1337]

Disappointing article.

[ltachiUchiha]

"As an immense fan of the stealth genre, I’m all for being sneaky instead of going in guns blazing, but this felt weak compared to the likes of Mark of the Ninja or even Tenchu. Stealth is dependent on Joel slinking around cover in a low stoop and hurling bricks and bottles to confuse enemies, similarly to Rockstar’s Manhunt games."

What does he expect? Joel aint no damn ninja and hes not a typical stealth assassin like snake or sam, hes a regular person trying to survive. I know reviewers will nitpick on this awesome game but I dont care, as a fan of all naughty dog games from crash to jak to uncharted, I know they will deliver an awesome game.

[andibandit]

He didn't expect anything, just gave his own opinion. Sounds to me like you expect everyone to love it.

[Baka-akaB]

Except no , it's obvious he expected more , at least in the stealth departement , when he starts complaining that isnt like tenchu or actual stealth centric games . Well it never claimed to be .

If he isnt impressed , well it's his right . But with the amount of comparisons he's doing , sounds more like he just didnt get it or was expecting other things , instead of the game having concerning flaws and issues , at least thus far

[LOL_WUT]

That makes it all more awesome IMO ;)

[Awesome_Gamer]

Exactly.

Silly excuses by a (most likely) a FPS fanatic.

[Bathyj]

You had me at similar to Manhunt.

[ArchangelMike]

lol, my thoughts exactly :)

[violents]

Manhunt was awesome, I wish they would make a ps3 version. I bought that game just for the fact that it was banned in 7 other countries for being too violent. And it was a freakin blast for the entire game.

[Braid]

It's not a surival horror game, as simple as that. Maybe the writer shouldn't have had unrealistic expectations and he could enjoy the demo.

It's not Silent Hill, not an open-world game, not a game which heavily depends on RPG elements. It has never been marketed that way, I don't know where some people got the impression from. It's just a TPS in a different shell, with amazing story-telling. If you adjust your expectations accordingly maybe you'll have no problems with the game at all, and enjoy it for what it is.

[Bathyj]

its not really a tps either

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Actually it is and isn't. TPS (the gameplay mechanic) is the only thing readily recognisable about this whole title. But it's indeed not a TPS (the gaming genre) as the objective isn't necessarily to hit the enemy.

This is one of those titles you can't simply define the genre based on gameplay. It's an action game that doesn't fit centrally in any sub-genre... It has shooter, survival horror and stealth in it, but not really centred in either. It's almost like the gameplay reflects the story premise: "whatever it takes...".

[MysticStrummer]

vg247.com : Shocking Headline Syndrome? (Give us hits)

[Insomnia_84]

Dafak is this?

[wyattman]

Everything he didn't like just made me want the game more, this game sounds like its going to immerse me in its world completely.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

You can't please everyone no matter how good a game, product food or anything is. Everyone is just a critic. He is entitled to his opinion but not all opinions are right. For Example, There is this guy who beats up his wife. In his opinion its the right thing because he thinks his wife is cheating on him and is annoying.

[PrivateRyan]

That might be the worst analogy I've ever read

[CEOSteveBallmer]

It could be a worse analogy to you but that example really happens around the world, and what reason do you think it happens? because of opinions and free will that anybody can do what they want. Bottomline, just like I said, not all opinions are good and right. You could give me a better example if you wish

[BlmThug]

Agreed with PrivateRyan. That analogy has little similarities to the writer not liking tLoU. Not everyone has the same opinion and not everyone has to agree on the same thing. This guy has actually played the game too so as of now, his opinion has far more value than yours

[M-M]

No man, it was just a horrible analogy lol.

[Gamer-40]

2013 Gran Turismo 6 the king for Ps3.

[VonBraunschweigg]

No that has to be The Last of Us, one of a kind, and besides, there's a good chance that when GT6 launches by the end of this year it will do so alongside a new Forza game, nextgen material. Nothing has been confirmed of course, but we'll hear soon.

[ZapFool]

If the writer isn't impressed with the game then he isn't impressed. What I do think is evident is he just didn't 'get' it. No one can blame the guy for that. I think anyone who is going to enjoy this game - as ND intend for the player to - will have to have a keen interest in post-apocalyptic survival. I for one am one of those people. I cannot wait to scavange, and potentially wait for a while behind a battered old sofa while I carefully and nervously plot my next move (and moves of the enemies). I am excited and I want this game to be good, but my interest in survival games is key to that excitement. The writer of this article seems to have built his excitement on everyone elses expectations (hype), without really sitting back, thinking about it and coming up with any of his own. We've all done it and hype is a dangerous thing. If you are a survival fan - as I am - then you have already seen this game for what it is and are quite rightfully excited,this guy went into the game without a clue of where his thoughts were actually at.

[plaZeHD]

None of this guys argument really bothered me, except the stealth part. If the game is really not stealthy, I am gonna be a sad puppy.

[ScepticTankAvenger]

Maybe he's just being honest. Before games come out, especially highly anticipated games like this, all the previews are filled with only good things to say, but then reviewers give them 6s or 7s when they release.

[Bumpmapping]

I suck at a game so I blame the game/demo that is the feeling I got after reading this trash.

[tommygunzII]

He was mostly saying it was just a bad demo, not a bad game, because it didn't feel like it represented the game well. At one point he was just walking for 5-10 min, same thing in U3 at certain scenes and those were key moments to the development of the story.

Maybe not on everyone's radar, but I'd be willing to bet that no one would dislike it if given the chance to play (game, not demo). I personally am looking forward to it.

[plaZeHD]

He just said that he suck at the game in other words. I mean come on he complained about dying repeatedly.

[violents]

Why is everyone getting down on this article so bad, the guy even states,
"I think I was expecting one thing in my mind, thanks to being excited for the game for so long, that what I eventually got felt almost entirely out of sync. It was a rookie error on my part."

the guy even admits he kind of overhyped himself into some unrealistic expectations so I would take his disappointment with a grain of salt. But then goes on to say
"I’m not even remotely convinced that The Last of Us is a bad game, but I do think that the studio has come down with a case of the ‘shit-demos’. To me, it didn’t feel like an effective showcase of the title’s potential"

But also admits he is playing a alpha build demo so the final product could be radically different.

Really the guy is just giving his opinion on a known beta build of a game, and even discloses all of that info. so to all those hating on this guy for giving an honest opinion, get bent. I would much rather have reviewers like this than blatant ND fanboys telling me everthing is great with it.

Either way tho I am excited to see this game play out and definitely will be picking up a copy next month. ND usually don't disappoint so I'm drooling over this game.

[Sketchy_Galore]

People tend to act aggressively towards anybody who voices a negative opinion of something they're really looking forward to. Having said that there are quite a few red flag moments in this article that make me think the author just isn't suited to this kind of game. Intentionally breaking cover by firing your gun into the air then suggesting that the fact that you immediately got your throat ripped out might become an issue with the game is a little strange, as is comparing the stealth to Tenchu and Mark of the Ninja.

I'm replaying GTA4 at the moment so I know all about how annoying it is to accidentally slip out of cover and struggle with awkward controls but I might have sympathised more if the author had made a comparison to that game or maybe even a game like Far cry 3 in which you play as a desperate regular guy. Tenchu and Mark of the Ninja are, unsurprisingly, attempts to simulate the experience of being a Ninja. This means the stealth is going to be intentionally much smoother and more effective than most other games.

I'm not immediately discounting this author's opinions, partly because I got the slight impression from a hands on report by Adam Sessler a while back that he hadn't enjoyed the game quite as much as he hoped and I've been worried ever since that this may be another case of a game that looks amazing but just doesn't feel good to play, like the original Assassin's creed. I just have to say that the specific complaints in this article seem a little odd and give the impression that this game might just not be for the author. I still have no idea whether the game will live up to the hype but I really hope it does.

[violents]

IDK, the way its written sounded like the guy really wanted to like it but just wasn't what he was expecting, I've been there before. Its always a disappointment when you were hoping for something specific and it doesn't quite live up to the dream. I'll agree tho that the games he references aren't really a fair comparsion.

With the whole random gun fire thing, I'll admit I've done the same kind of stuff before just to see how the AI plays out, and frankly its good to know that kind of info ahead of time, I will be carefully selecting when to use firearms now.

Survival horror types of games are a hard bunch, if you don't do it just so, than a lot of people will have little nitpicky problems with it like this. Either way should be one hell of a ride by the time you see the credits right?

One thing he points out that I don't understand why everyone is getting all worked up about is the ability to kind of echo locate the badguys, if it were real life you could guesstimate peoples positions if they are making noise, ill have to see how its used and if its just a plain old see through the walls crap then that's a little over the top in my opinion however if you only see the people making noise and it gets a little hazy the farther away they are, that would seem more realistic in my eyes. We'll have to see when the game releases I guess.