The Last of Us has been highly anticipated since its announcement. The breaking point for Naughty Dog (as it is their first original venture since the beginning of Uncharted), The Last of Us sets out to do something very different with the survival horror genre and zombies as a whole.
Almost instantly (once the actual survival gameplay started) I was able to draw comparisons from the new Tomb Raider. The differences lay in execution though. The Last of Us is far more limiting and therefor far, far more about survival. Ammunition is unbelievably difficult to find, and you can only carry so much of it, forcing you to really keep your inventory in check and search everywhere for more supplies. It also seems like you go through ammo very quickly, adding more to the tense feel of the game. The tutorials even tell you specifically to find alternative methods to survive when low on or out of ammo. The gunplay is solid, the melee combat is fluent and the stealth elements are nearly perfect.
Speaking of which, stealth is crucial to the gameplay; serving as your opportunity to choose whether or not to simply silently do in unsuspecting patrols or infected, to pass by them altogether if possible, or to start a loud gun fight (though this option should be the last of all last resorts). Your character, Joel is fragile and he cannot cycle through his backpack quickly. So you really need to plan ahead when walking through enemies. This is one of the only games that has ever made me really think about how to get from point A to B alive. A minor issue I have is that stealth killing enemies without a shiv/knife takes some time to perform and can be frustrating to pull off only to be spotted by enemies anyway.
For those who may have been concerned, AI escorts serve absolutely no detriment to you in stealth mode. The AI is not always the sharpest, but enemies don't ever seem to see them until after a battle has begun. This leads to some awkward moments when using stealth, but it's a minor and ignorable flaw.
I encountered one glitch during the game where I fell into level zero during a segment where I was moving through a motel to get to a bridge. Eventually Joel landed and I was able to shoot all the enemies in the area, but then I had to restart from my checkpoint a half hour prior (I had been using stealth mostly and therefor had moved on sluggishly). This was humorous, but overall a waste of time. This was the only glitch of this kind I encountered and most likely a rare fluke.
Graphically, this is one of the best games the PS3 has to offer. Massive environments with motion blur, dynamic lighting and shadows makes me understand why the engine is being used for the next generation. Naughty Dog's attention to detail is at its best in this title.
Not much to say on the multiplayer. It's fun, but it doesn't carry the same tense feeling from the campaign.
Finally, this is hands-down one of the most cinematic games I've ever played. Gameplay fluently shifts into cutscene and vice versa, making for an extremely tense and interactive experience. Every second feels like there could be potential danger and forces the player to keep on his or her toes. This falls well in line with the brilliantly written story and overall gritty atmosphere of the game.
This is the finest in video game storytelling; if you're a Sony fan, shame on you for not already having played this. You are completely missing out on this amazing game if you have not already played it. It is a must-have for any PS3 owner and a brilliant send off for Sony's third home console.
"The Game Music Foundation are today very proud and pleased to announce an additional concert, circling back to the roots of Game Muisic Festival in Poland. On April 28th, 2024, the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw will once again become a place to celebrate the art of video game music, featuring scores from The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II." - The Game Music Foundation.
Najam from eXputer writes "It's time fore a new installment in the series, not another pointless remaster."
They are working on something new. Not to be rude but it is impossibility stupid to think ND next major announcement is going to be a remaster or their next Last of Us entry is going to be another remaster.
I think this is in response to them releasing a remaster for the sequel, a game that didn't need a remaster.
Basically a "why did you put out a remaster no one asked for when you have all there options available"
They remaster is to put out something quick while they are deving new stuff. I don't get how people can be so static.
That was a Remake. I guess they could do that to 2, but man…. They should wait a couple generations so it can look like a major upgrade.
Naughty Dog released The Last of Us Part 2 over 3 years ago, and since then, the only good thing we have received is a TV series.
not complaing tbh, i love the last of us but for me the story is done, i dont need more it. they couldve left it at 1 and i wouldve been happy with it.
i have no interest in playing as abby what so ever or anyone else not named joel or ellie for that matter.
give us a new IP naughty dog, its bloody time, insomniac has snatched your throne as sonys best studio, remind us again how talented you are!!
I'm with you on that. People might not have noticed yet, but Naughty Dog has worked on basically only Uncharted and The Last of Us for almost two decades now. It's pretty much 3/4 of their entire history under Sony, dedicated to those two franchises.
This series should have been put to rest since the first one.. tlou2 was absolutely not needed because the first one was perfect.
Now i how ND wake up and give us something to be excited for
Honestly even if Joel was was still in it, I'm still fine with just not having another game period. Like even after the first game, I was fine with the option of just leaving things as they were, and I feel the same about TLOU2. yeah they're great games but the story would be fine left as it is imo, just takes if a messed up situation in a messed up world
insomniac is only big because they are working on Spider Man. Give that ip to any good studio and they will succeed. So i don't feel that is fair to say for that reason. i would like a part 3 with ellie only, where she is old 40 years old or more and end the story there somehow but there were some rumors of multiple playable characters which makes me not so interested. A new ip is a hard sell, i trust them but at the same time not sure about current ND talent to deliver on that front.
Yea let's just ignore 4 games in 5 years and ratchet and clank.
All absolutely quality quality games, theybdeserve the kudos!!
It did! It’s called The Last of Us Part II and it currently holds the record of the most awarded game of all-time! Highly recommend it!
And yet I could give you a dozen games which didn’t get as many awards but are better.
Even 2020…Ghost of Tsushima gave us not just one great revenge tale but two.
Well that's on you Fox. Most people seems to like it wich the awards are a proof of.
Honestly, TLOU2's story came off as more of a comedy of errors masquerading as a 'serious' game.
Not to mention, despite having all of these awards much of which only existed once, TLOU2, a sequel to a critically acclaimed game, took as much time as Horizon: Zero Dawn, a new IP and a huge gamble for Guerrilla at the time, to hit 10 million sales. Heck, Ghost of Tsushima nearly hit 10 million sales by the 2 year mark and that one was also a new IP.
@CombatEmu
"Heck, Ghost of Tsushima nearly hit 10 million sales by the 2 year mark and that one was also a new IP"
Exactly
And they were only behind TLOU2 by like a million
Put it into perspective
A brand new IP which could have gone either way vs a massive 7 years in the making sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games in the last 10 years.
Yet they only managed a million more...
People are still mad about TLOU2. 😂😂
Great game and I’m prepping for another playthrough. Might have to wait until they release the PS5 version and see how that is
The rumors say it's development wasn't up to par with internal expectations, so it's on ice for a while, but there's been nothing official saying what's happening with it for a while.
We should have gotten some new information once the remake of Part 1 was done.
ND has to have something new to announce, they've been quiet for a while now.
Meanwhile half their dev's are now unemployed... I wouldn't count on anything for quite awhile.
@JackBNimble: The studio had over 400 Staff back in July, about 25 staff have been made redundant, this could very easily be because a game has had a large part of it's development finished and ND are the biggest they've ever been.
Scaling back to focus more and cut the fat isn't a bad thing.
The studio could easily still have close to 400 staff, it's also been 3 years since their last release, it's very likely that they're gearing up to announce their next game and release it within the next year or so.
Dude great review! I hear the mp is like mgo. Gotta have it!
I agree.
I really hope this game make realize people that games are a whole package; and not just gameplay. The story; the graphics, the gameplay; the soundtrack; the narrative...EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT IN A GAME!!