The Last of Us' flamethrower is powerful because Naughty Dog ran out of time

For the most part, The Last of Us is meticulously balanced to keep resources scarce and build tension. Some of that tension goes away when you find the flamethrower, which toasts zombies with relative ease. Why include such a powerful weapon? Apparently, Naughty Dog ran out of time.

[Thatguy-310]

It is over powered but the ammo runs out quick and is pretty scarce. Its best to use it wisely. *last face off with all the infected, clickers and bloaters under the highway*

[Lovable]

Or stealth the whole area without killing anything.

@Grave

You don't need to be gaming god to do that. It's nerve wracking for sure having two big mamas just a few inches away from you, but man was it satisfying getting pass that section.

[GraveLord]

Unfortunately many of us aren't gaming gods.

[RytGear]

It wasnt all THAT difficult and I played on Hard for my first playthrough. I am seriously not looking forward to that area on survivor though, or that goddamn basement generator! That part ALWAYS scares the living shit out of me.

[ziggurcat]

@ RytGear

it's no more difficult on survivor than it is on hard.

also, basement generator: as soon as you turn it on, run for the door, and avoid the enemies.

[MonChiChi]

threw a couple bottles, and I was on my way.

[KUV1977]

I thought that section was super-easy, even in survivor... if you didn't waste your molotovs before that is. Just throw a bottle to one of the bloaters when the other is near and have them gather in one spot. Throw 2 molotovs and you're good to go without any real risk.

[mt]

I have phobia in games like the last of us, I don't feel comfortable till I kill every last one of them.

[Nuggie]

Did everyone just kill all the infected there? I just sneaked past them. I went down that hallway with the runners and killed them all with a crossbow, then I threw a bottle to get the one clicker and runner out of the way and crouched to the other side of the highway. Then I killed the clicker and the runner blocking my path to the bus with a crossbow, boosted Ellie up, and she pulled me up and that was that.

[BeardedPriest]

Its just a Bow and arrows. Not a crossbow with bolts. Just letting you know. A crossbow was the thing you find in Uncharted 2.

[Cam977]

I tackled that section by using guerrilla tactics to kill them all. I threw bottles, choked them all out and got them all on Hard mode with ease and no scratches were taken. I stayed stealthy too.

[Dark_Vendetta]

I played the game on normal and never ran out of flamethrower ammo because you got new ammo most of the time (well of course not always, but it was pretty frequently) when you killed an infected with it.
The weapon is waaay to powerful especially on that scene under the highway. First I thought about being stealthy, but seriously the FT makes it so easy. Just one fire burst is enough to kill one of those big guys.
Actually how effective is the weapon against human soldiers? Never really tried it

[sprinterboy]

You can stealth that part without being noticed on survivor plus

[Lord_Sloth]

I only really use it against Bloaters.

[kingmushroom]

i stealth mode under the high way like a boss, no need to use any weapon.

[lilbrat23]

I wish I could have kept this weapon when replaying it. :-/

[RedSoakedSponge]

well it definitely isnt the case in multiplayer lol.

[Lovable]

Wahahahaha yeah. It's terrible in MP specially with the points you need to equip it.

[RedSoakedSponge]

really? i got a disagree? please teach us all your l33t skills mr phantom disagreer lol.

[DarkBlood]

eh i wouldnt put too much emphasis on disagrees its not a political thing where it effects values lol

[Knushwood Butt]

I haven't used it in MP myself but I did see someone use it to wipe out at least 3 members of my team (myself included) in a confined space...

It was probably one of those, '1 in 1000', moments though.

[Kiddcarter]

I have a load out with the flamethrower in it and what you described is definitely a once in a blue-moon moment.

[Williamson]

SPOILERS*** Last time I used the flamethrower was on 2 of the doctors during then end...yes I know im evil.

[Cam977]

I saw him pull out a knife so just spilled his brain all over the floor. I was PO'd from the part beforehand and furious at what they'd done to Ellie so wasn't in the mood for anymore resistance. That was the accumulation of anger and hate. He deserved that revolver bullet that sits firmly in the wall right now.

That felt really good.

[HammadTheBeast]

Your only a real monster if you kill the other one not doing anything lol.

[Ezz2013]

i killed them all in my first playthrough
so that make me a monster :)

[CrisisOne]

I killed all three of them....after i realized i killed two perfectly good doctors the world may need...oops.

[DigitalRaptor]

I don't know how anyone could have killed all 3 for a good reason.

The first surgeon threatened you with a knife, and so was a risk that could not be avoided easily. The other two were just sat/stood against the wall trembling for their lives. What the hell? Maybe they were all bad people though.

There are so many grey areas in this game as far as characters, their history and their intentions go, even for those people we don't even know, such as the hunters and infected. The hunters might have been evil, but they also were just trying to survive. The clickers had no choice in the matter, the fungus told their brains to kill. You can see the runners' struggle, as they are slowly losing their humanity. They see you as a threat, not because they're evil.

I know i'm getting off point, but I love discussing it almost as much as I love playing it.

[kingmushroom]

y U so evil bro o_O ?

[MrDead]

Ever throw a mushroom in the fire, it burns pretty quick. I would say the flamethrower is quite true to life.

[Hufandpuf]

yes, but this is a game.

[MrDead]

True, I guess the only way we can get an answer for this predicament is to find every game with cookable or burnable CG fungi and record the time it takes to burn. Then with our recorded data we could find and average fungi burn time and see if it's comparable to TLOU flamethrower.

I'm drawing the graphs though, I just got me a 4 colour biro and I'm itching to use it.

http://www.ryman.co.uk/Cata...

[Tei777]

And it works well in context of the game. You don't get it till near the and there are still plenty of situation where it can be used, like when guys are shooting you from afar.

[kingmushroom]

How could you !!!! you monster!!!

[MrDead]

Hang on..... you could sort out this entire issue!

How long would you take to burn kingmushroom, has TLOU got it right?

[kingmushroom]

yes the last of us has it very right, the living are the real monster, lol.

[Cam977]

I've just imagined Dark Souls' baby mushrooms on fire wiggling around.
Cute.

[Jury]

I've rarely seen it in multiplayer. Nice to have in single player.

[Ripsta7th]

I thought it was powerful but the range sucked, you had to be like right in front of your enemy for it to kill. So its even in my opinion

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Thought it was powerful because it's a flamethrower.

[DeletedAcc]

Agree

[Inception]

I used flamethrower in mp. It's good to kill two or three enemies in one shoot if you know the right timing. But if you don't, than flamethrower is preety useless in mp.

[ginsunuva]

I never got to use the flamethower..
I was saving it and then the game ended. DAMN!

Just like every awesome gun in every game. I keep saving them in hope of some super hard battle at the end, but it seems modern games don't do that anymore. They just end.

[CYBERHATER]

I don't seem to understand why people say fire is overpowered. I mean are you not suppose to burn when it hits you in real life? And since video games are reflections of life shouldn't it do the same in the game? Why is it that folks feel like they should be able to run through it like Gears of War just to get off a gnasher shot? I just don't get some of the complaining these days.

[DarkBlood]

Because you play games to escape reality no? lol

[CYBERHATER]

But everyone talks about making games realistic. So which one is it? fake or real? Whatever it is, I just wish people would make up there ##$%@% minds lol!

[kingmushroom]

no I'm supose to sparkle like nyan cat

[InsaneGam3r]

Yeah the game was rushed.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol..

[ghostrider32]

Anything that can shoot flames up to 800 to 1,200 degrees is supposed to be overpowered.

[TheGrimReaper0011]

doesnt matter on survivor mode though
I just finished it on survivor mode (yay!) and only got to use it 3 times
For the rest of the game, i didnt find ANY ammo
God, i still hate that last fight
So fuckin hard ......... until i realise you can just sneak past everyone!!
Not in the last hall, but before that? You can skip all the fighting!! I was dieing over and over, again and again and when i took my time it worked
Just thought i'd let you know for anyone playing this game on survivor