This week on The Balcony:
On episode six of The Balcony, I am joined by Marc Washington of the Phoenix Project and Robert Clarke of the Level Zero Podcast. We start the show by comparing the impact of the stories from The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite and The Walking Dead (no spoilers). Which companion character had the greater impact, was it Ellie, Clementine or Elizabeth? And why game play is the deciding factor it comes to telling a story in a video game.
As the discussion continues we debate the importance of PC gaming vs console gaming and why both have their merits, it is one conversation you do not want to miss!"
"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.
The team is sad for losing out on such a great project but celebrates its growth because of spending time on it.
All they had to do was make a basic online mode like their previous games. Instead they wanted more money and choose to go live service which makes games worse in my opinion.
What a waste of time and money, what a shame.
I can't wait for season 2 so they can kill Joel off in the first 2 episodes!! Then it will be just Abby and Ellies revenge plot!
Something is telling me that this won't happen though because it wouldn't make sense, oh wait
Not sure why they didn’t just make Factions 2. There was no need to make it a live service.
TLoU Factions was a great addition such a shame they couldn’t be bothered to remaster that for PS5 considering the crazy high price tag of the remaster of a remaster…
This is something to be celebrated. This studio is smart and they get it, even factions 2 wouldn't've have been worth the time. I am surprised they didn't just remaster the first one though, but actually how popular was Factions?
Both are completely different types of games... Just play both and enjoy how good they both are. No need to debate.
I prefer bioshock infinite because it's the more original of the two, last of us is just naughty dog cashing in on the zombie fad
Both are great games, but they both have their flaws. I'd rate them both 9/10.
Edit: *********minor spoilers*******
I think these people in this podcast are lying about Bioshock Infinite's AI and gameplay.
One of the guys complains about Ellie as an AI partner but has no issue with Elizabeth who is a less capable Ellie. He claims Ellie is on the rails but Elizabeth is dynamic.
Someone explain that to me, because Elizabeth is good for conversation and unlocking doors. And everything she does is scripted. She doesn't just randomly choose to start dancing with beach goers. Ellie, on the other hand, will hide or stab someone if she has too. Elizabeth is undetectable for the bulk of the game or until the scripted songbird events. Ellie can and will be attacked during combat but is invisible during stealth so it won't feel like a long escort mission. ND HAD to do that. Irrational CHOSE to make Elizabeth ineffective.
Also, they both talk about TLoU failing to deliver what was promised. I admit the AI won't go about scavenging for items to use against you like in the early builds, but that's about it. It's still a game of balancing force with stealth. Nothing has changed.
Bioshock Infinite is not the same game we were promised. If the game were terrible, which it is not, we'd be calling for Ken Levine's head like we're doing for Randy Pitchford at Gearbox, with Aliens. Elizabeth is quite worthless in this game and is only good for opening doors, portals to puddles,and handing you nickels. In the early builds we were shown right up until release, She can't levitate you, open up portals and use a bus to smash into enemies, or combine abilities with Booker to increase his power.
Because she can't combine powers with Booker, his powers end up weaker than the protagonists of B1 and B2. So you lose all of the tactical gameplay from previous games and don't even get to use Elizabeth in any meaningful way.
Lastly, Infinite is a shooting gallery. The final battle is basically horde mode. There are no other ways to complete the game other than shooting people. You can't set up a room full of traps and lure a handyman into them, because the gameplay has been dumbed down from previous entries in the series. Even the weapon upgrades, which use to be stat based and cosmetic, are now all stats, as well as the fact that all the weapons have Vox/columbia pallet swapped are hold no differences.
In the Last of Us, there's only a handful of cases where you can't just stealth by everything. If you don't want to fight the last group of soldiers at the end, you don't have to. You don't want to waste ammo on the tunnel full of infected, you don't have to. You don't want to deal with David's men? Don't. Yes there are times when the game demands action. It would be pointless to have an upgrade system without a way to test if you are making proper upgrade decisions.
I don't know what the guy in the podcast was on about with the latest Splinter Cell because I guarantee there will be sections where you must defend yourself when enemies are already aware of your presence . Guess what? All stealth games do it.
TLoU- 9.5
Bioshock Infinite- 8
That's my opinion.
i can see all the trolls here that never played bioshock infinite... dudes plz stop trolling all some of u do is talk shit about the game u never play... i finished the game loved it confusing story yes but once u sit and think about it u will figure the story out...... and as i said before that any game thats made by naughty dog people will say its the best thing that came out and nothing is better plz shut the hell up it not that good... try the game on pc u will enjoy it better