The Last of Us Review – A masterpiece in storytelling that falls short in gameplay. - Gamer Horizon

The opening 10 minutes of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us are the most incredible and emotionally impactful moments in a video game I have ever experienced. These moments set the tone wonderfully and resonated with me throughout the game’s entire 16 plus hour emotionally gruelling experience. In fact, I will say this right now – The Last of Us has the best story in a video game I have ever been told.

[wishingW3L]

falls short in gameplay

9/10

LoL

[N2NOther]

Thanks for reading. It did! The story is a masterpiece and the gameplay isn't.

If I were scoring both it would be 8 for gameplay, 10 for story, 9/10 is in between.

;)

[Lovable]

Wow for not liking the gameplay you still give it a good score lol..

no comment

[GribbleGrunger]

Well, they could have also included a few carrier bags so that you could carry more bullets. Or perhaps even built a makeshift trolley to carry more crafting material. Joel and Ellie could have stolen bullet proof vests too ... There is also a chance they could have travelled all the way through the game and never met an enemy once! Isn't reality an interesting game play concept!?

Yeah, it is nitpicking, you are right when you say that in the review.

[Utalkin2me]

He said puzzles, lmao. The game was not designed with puzzles.

[GribbleGrunger]

I'd also like to point out, baring in mind you seem to want this game to be more realistic, that when you die in real life, you don't get checkpoints, just a funeral.

[hulk_bash1987]

I disagree with you whole heatedly on the gameplay. It stand out as a positive. I haven't encountered a game as of yet with as much tension-filled gameplay as TLOU.

[N2NOther]

@utalkin2me The game definitely had puzzles, that they were so insignificant speaks to my point, so thanks! ;)
@gribblegrunger Fair point!

[AAWELLS09]

I'm more than half way thru the game, where are the puzzles?

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Figuring out what wall to lay the ladder on is not a "puzzle."

[Utalkin2me]

@N2NOther

I'm sorry those was not puzzles. Grabbing a board and laying it here is not a puzzle, or a floating pallet to take ellie to a different location is not a puzzle. It's not really meant to be. Maybe we have 2 different definitions of puzzles. But the whole time i played i never thought of anything being a puzzle.

I would like to know, why you assumed there was puzzles in this game? I'm just curious.

[THE-COMMANDER]

How in the world the gameplay is not!

You can go stealth or aggressive.

You have combat that is absolutely stunning.

You have weapon upgrading,, which by the way you can upgrade your Revolver capacity to hold more than 12 bullets that you mentioned!

You have item crafting.

and also you mentioned the partner AI, which Naughty Dog said it like million times that they meant to make the enemies don't see the partner, because if it did it would be frustrating for the player to stealthy while enemies can easily see the partner:

Read This:

http://www.playstationlifes...

Scroll down in link and you will see this:

"Actually, I think the aiming and shooting is awesome. You aren’t a trained killer or a cybernetic soldier, you are just a dude who has a gun. You don’t have perfect aim, and you can’t just cruise through head-shoting everyone. The enemy AI will pay attention to the friendly AI if the player is “in combat”. If you are sneaking around and being stealthy we do what is called “player favouring” and allow them to be unseen by the enemies. The alternative would be extremely frustrating, if a buddy AI accidentally revealed your location."

Im sorry but your review is totally unfair, not because it got 9/10, but because you mentioned some issues with the gameplay that is simply isn't there.

And by the way you said "Puzzles lack depth and variety"

i don't know why this needs improvement, this is not a game about puzzles and definitely not Uncharted!

[MajorLazer]

It's his opinion, ok? Fanboys seems to jump on anyone who speaks anything negative about a game they love. It got a 9/10, be happy. Not that reviews or awards mean anything anyway

[Polysix]

I agree, the story is great, the gameplay was sadly 'meh' and I'm a fan of uncharted and that style of gunplay, it just felt less well implemented in TLOU.

8.5/10 - an epic story and great emotion/acting but for gameplay it's not a patch on UC2 or many other games that do gunplay and stealth better.

The intro was amazing, the ending was one of the best if not the most thought provoking I've ever seen in a game, the gameplay wasn't bad, the game picked up around meeting bill and felt better for a few hours before dropping again. Winter was quite intense emotionally and the immersion/atmosphere was at it's best in that part.

I didn't like the game that much for the first 8 hours, it felt tedious gameplay wise, then ramped up to a much better game. I feel ND could have done with some editing on the first part to cut back the linearity, as it feels more open later on (even though it's not really).

Combat too wasn't as pleasing as in UC or other games this generation, it did improve after many upgrades but the game was almost done by then! I think they should have started with the gunplay feeling fun straight off with upgrades being a bonus not essential to your enjoyment. This is a game afterall regardless of hollywood pretensions, and games should feel fun to play and very interactive, the first half felt less fun than a lot of lower rated games I've played the last couple of years. It did redeem itself as I said after meeting bill but still had the problem of using pockets of combat sporadically dropped in among the cutscenes and slow non eventful empty room exploring.

All I know is I feel far more like replaying UC2 (again) than TLOU, I felt drained after TLOU and not emotionally (it's a game, the story was great but it's a game and I can manage to not have tears for what are essentially cartoon characters) but drained because of all the overly slow sections that were super linear, where forced to walking pace or removal of choice/interaction bored me.

yes I already see all the disagrees coming but seriously I just want them to do better with a sequel and any future uncharted because I feel UC3 was already a step in the wrong direction of cutscene/set piece over interaction and TLOU took that even further. They had good balance with UC2 and even UC1 felt more fun to actually interact with.

Can't fault the graphics on TLOU though - stunning for such an old console.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Yeah, I kinda gotta throw in some support for that opinion too, regardless of all the hate people are blindly throwing around.

It truly...TRULY has some of the best storytelling and characterization in gaming, but the gameplay is just kind of repetitive and standard.

You shoot some guys, you wade across some water with a pallet, you shoot some infected, you find a latter to reach a high place, rinse, repeat.

The AI is fairly stupid, and the stealth and shooting is wonky because taking cover is very hit-or-miss.

The best parts of the game were the quieter exploration bits when you could talk to Ellie and the other characters.

[N2NOther]

@Utalkin2me

"In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution"

"a toy, problem, or other contrivance designed to amuse by presenting difficulties to be solved by ingenuity or patient effort."

Trying to get Ellie from point A to point B is a puzzle by the definition of the word.

This is the extent of puzzle solving in the game, and while I think it's fair that the lack of depth means they didn't present themselves as puzzles to you and others, these were situational puzzles. They lacked depth and variety. If they only did this once or twice it wouldn't be a big deal, but they repeat this mechanic several times.

I don't know what else to say. I'm totally OK with people disagreeing with me though.

[Dee_91]

by definition of the word,crafting objects would be a puzzle too.
You used the word puzzle out of context.Bottom line

[Utalkin2me]

A basic puzzle is to confuse or persistence in solving or assembling. The last of Us, had none of this. I new exactly what to do without thinking, in these so called "puzzles" Unless you consider crafting a puzzle.

I'm not trying to be a d1ck or anything, just trying to have a discussion and express some views. So don't take my statement the wrong way.

[yewles1]

..........................LMMF AO!!!!

[ExposingLames]

Yes the ammo system is stupid..you should be able to carry more, but the game is soooo good! FYI if you want to be correct in the future a "clip" is what would go inside say...an M1 Garand/SKS. If you're talking about a pistol or something its a magazine.

[Utalkin2me]

I think if you changed how much ammo you could carry it would change the tension of the game. There was parts where i was shooting enemies and then looked at my gun only having 2 bullets. Then i had to quickly decide of what i was going to do next. I thought that added to the gameplay.

[N2NOther]

I agree that being able to carry more ammo would kill the tension. Having so much of it lying around is my issue.

But, again, I'm playing it on Survival now and this seems to fit much better with the overall world-building. Too bad this mode needs to be unlocked after the first playthrough.

[ExposingLames]

Maybe its just me....but sheer scarcity of the ammo has me exploiting things. I am in the "fall" part of the game (playing on survivor as well) and have used less than 10 rounds. In my circumstance it pulls me out of the game as i feel ripped off. I will sit back in a dark corner and let the combat be done for me as I feel participating is a waste. I LOVE the game. I'm just telling you how it makes the game for me.

10 rounds as in total from every gun I have combined.

[Utalkin2me]

Yeah survival is the way to play this game. Love not being able to use R2 to scan for enemies.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

A huge part of what has turned Resident Evil into what it is today, is the infinite amount of ammo on you. You only feel threatened by the sheer amount of enemies coming at you, not because you're unsure of whether or not you'll be able to defend yourself, as in the old school Resident Evils. 2 different types of tension, but I prefer the older games, as the lack of ammo made you feel more claustrophobic, like how a horror should be.

[tenacious_b]

It needed executions like manhunt, grab a bottle and the longer you stalk the more gruesome the execution, not just bash or throw the bottle

[xPhearR3dx]

Well, you can use a brick as a melee weapon. It would have been cool to break the bottom half of a bottle and use it as a knife though.

[MikeyDucati1]

I hear what you're saying. I will say that the intro by no means compares to the rest of the game. Now while folks will say that it was only a platform to bring about setting and tell the story, I still thought that high intensity and tension would extend to the gameplay. Instead it was just in the narrative. Now while there were tense moments, nothing compared to the beginning. I remember Joel running with daughter in his arms and coming to the blocked off street to only suddenly notice that infected were there munching on some folks. I turned quickly and was so excited by what I just saw that I got hung up on the fence for a second. "C'mon!" I shouted at the screen. Of course he can't respond to my mouth commands only my input. But that shows you how tensed I was, that I frantically ran into the fence. I was hoping that feeling extend to the game.

And yea, I didn't get that part about the ammo either. I thought I would find less ammo to justify the scarcity/conserve system. Finding a whole bunch of ammo that had the three letters F, U, L, and L was a little breaking a bit.

But anyway, interesting to read a different opinion.

[Insomnia_84]

About the intro not comparing to the rest of the game, I think it's obvious since the game is set years AFTER that. But hey! There can always be a pre-quel and we can experience what happens right after the intro ends! Ohh! So much goodness can come out of this game.

[MikeyDucati1]

It's quite obvious that anything is possible, so even with years passed afterwards, the tension could have been the same tension as the intro. In attempt to match it though, they limited your ammo, kept the game running as you searched through your backpack, thrown in a plethora of clickers for the tense moments and such. I wanted more tension. I didn't exactly fear the infected like I did when I was introduced to them. I wanted World War Z tension...

[Polysix]

I agree, the intro was so well done it set certain expectations in my mind about how the game was going to play out. And frankly it was like a different game for the next 8 hours (mostly boring!) - If it had started similarly to just after you met Bill around half way through the game and are in the suburb areas, the environments and gameplay ramped up here - and into pittsburg - then I think it would have lived up to the intro. It put story way above gameplay and that's why I can't say it's the best game this gen or even this year sadly.

It took me 21 hours to finish!! I search everywhere and so many empty rooms, yes it's 'realistic' but also quite dull. And out of those 21 hours I can honestly say I only 'enjoyed' maybe 10 of them, and even then at best it was only as good as some other games I've played (inc UC2) for those 10 hours. I think the game was over-rated and reviews skewed too far towards story/emotion over gameplay which is a bad thing they keep doing with modern games. They are not films!

With all the glowing reviews and quotes about this game you really would think ND had found some new fangled way of delivering visceral immersive gameplay and that's what I'd hoped for, only to find basically a reskinned and slowed down Uncharted with less showy pieces ( I was fine with less set pieces btw, just sadly there was also less gameplay )

8.5/10 which for me is still a good rating but it gets that for presentation, atmosphere and story - not for gameplay.

[MikeyDucati1]

Glad to hear someone else felt the same way about the tensity of the intro compared to the gameplay.

[Insomnia_84]

I'd say it's a fair review since the things he didn't like are a matternof opinion.
In my opinion the gameplay mechanics are just perfect for the game, it IS simple but perfect for it. I do agree with the partner AI thing, It's not an annoyance but just something you can't ignore.

Overall this game is F*****G AWESOME!!

11/10

[ginsunuva]

The gameplay was some of the most refreshing in many many years. What are they talking about?

[smashcrashbash]

I disagree about the rest of the game not being comparable to the rest of the game ***Spoiler alert*** I don't know about anyone else but when the guards caught you at the border and they had to run from reinforcements was very intense especially when you realized that they were fully armed and you couldn't kill them and had to make a run for it.The fact that you were in the dark and rain trying to run away from armed soldiers that out number you and can't be killed was very intense to me.*****End spolier.My heart hasn't raced that much in this type of game in a long time.I almost felt tired out at the end of it and I wasn't even the one running away. And that was before I even fought the monsters.I don't know what kind of heart attacks that will give me. But I will agree that was a great intro.I actually started to tear up.

[N2NOther]

@THE-COMMANDER

I am aware of the crafting, my complaint is that the game gives too many bullets when they shouldn't have. It butts up against the world they are presenting. And since they had so many bullets in the world, logic, based on the world they presented, would dictate that Joel would take every bullet he could find.

As for the partner AI, again, it breaks the immersion when I see Ellie running into a Clicker or a Hunter and they don't move. I understand why they did it, but I am allowed to be critical of that decision since the world and characters are so well crafted.

"Actually, I think the aiming and shooting is awesome. You aren’t a trained killer or a cybernetic soldier, you are just a dude who has a gun. You don’t have perfect aim, and you can’t just cruise through head-shoting everyone. The enemy AI will pay attention to the friendly AI if the player is “in combat”. If you are sneaking around and being stealthy we do what is called “player favouring” and allow them to be unseen by the enemies. The alternative would be extremely frustrating, if a buddy AI accidentally revealed your location."

Well to be fair, if Joel was living that life for 20 years, and seeing as how he says he's "a survivor" he would most likely be a very good shot by the time the game starts proper.

I sincerely appreciate you reading and your comments. What I love is how a game like this brings out the most passionate players. One of the things I love about video games!

I'm sorry my complaints are a sore spot but they are legitimate because that's how they made me feel.

Anyway, this is my last reply availible to me so again, thanks everyone for reading and commenting. Feel free to leave comments on the review itself and I'll be more than happy to address each and every one!

[Bathyj]

what a joke of a title. the gameplay was intense. there were moments when I breathless. there were other moments I realised I'd been holding my breathe. the sneaking and scavenging are unlike any other game except maybe a manhunt rpg. the story is brilliant but it lacks nothing in gameplay.

[N4g_null]

Looks like only certain types of gamers like this game. As a game try replaying it. That is the test of game play. Plus I think I'll watch the gameplay on YouTube since it is mostly story.

Instead of puzzles you should say choirs since you don't enjoy moving floating rafts and placing planks.it sounds like a heavy rain uncharted red evil remix. I'm glad some one liked it though.

I'll judge the story my self though.