The Last of Us cutscenes are as long as a full-length movie

On June 14th, PlayStation 3 owners will finally be able to experience Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. If you somehow enjoy watching the lengthy cutscenes in all of Naughty Dog games, primarily the Uncharted titles, you can expect the same exact quality as it’s beautiful and it will be as long as a full-length movie.

[US8F]

For a person who enjoys watching gameplay videos on Youtube, this is good news. Nothing beats watching a game with good story line and a pro player playing it. Some big budget movies surely need to take notes from video games.

[SOD_Delta]

I have to disagree. Most video game stories aren't up to par with movies or other mediums. I hope this is one this that improves with the up coming generation, along with improved A.I.

[Thatguy-310]

I have to disagree. Games have honestly grown through a period of time to be used to tell great stories. They are already providing better stories than most of the theatrical releases these days.

[Imalwaysright]

What games are you talking about? Very few games have great stories and most of them aren't from this gen.

[SOD_Delta]

@dboyc310 Video game stories have evolved, but I feel as if there's still work to be done. I love video game characters and their journeys, but most of them share the same plot line. I just want to see more diverse stories with the up coming generation.

[HammadTheBeast]

The Last of Us > 70% of Movie Stories.

That last 30% is really hyped up, but if you actually think about it, most movies have pretty bad stories.

Not to mention the FinalFantasy series.

[elhebbo16]

@SOD so Hangover 3 has a better plot than TLOU? its not black and white "movies has better story than games", thats a more subjective matter and it comes down to the product itself. personally I think when you combine interactivity (video games) with story-telling you get the best told stories ever.

[Revolver_X_]

"Very few games have great stories and most of them aren't from this gen"

Really?

MGS4
Heavy Rain
Uncharted series
Gow 3
Tomb Raider (2013)
Bioshock Infinite
Infamous 2
Also-MGS5, Beyond Two Souls, and The Last of Us look promising.

Whether they are rehashed plot points are irrelevant. They still exhibit great writing. Too many movies steal or reuse plots too often(Im looking at you White House Down). So, to condemn games for doing it is completely biased.

[ufo8mycat]

SOD

I don't know The Walking Dead game beats out A LOT of movies when it comes to character driven story and chemistry.

[SOD_Delta]

@elhebbo16 Who said anything about The Hangover 3 being better than TLOU? Of course there are games that have good stories (MGS, Mass Effect, Heavy Rain, TTG's The Walking Dead, Ect.. I didn't say every movie has a better story than every game.

[Imalwaysright]

@ Revolver_X_ Well since you want to play the list game here is mine:

Grim fandango
Kotor
Planescape Torment
Beyond Good and Evil
MGS3
Project Zero 2
Fallout 2
Sillent Hill 2
The Longest Journey
FF6
Starcraft
Shenmue
SoTC
Chrono Trigger

And these are just from the top of my head. Also just want to point out that Heavy Rain story is filled with plotholes and Uncharted stories are worthy of summer blockbusters. You'd have a better list if you replaced those games with Portal and RDR and still my list would be far superior to yours.

[Bimkoblerutso]

I actually agree with elhabbo16...which is why I'm a little sad to hear that it relies so much on cutscenes, actually, because I was under the impression that Naughty Dog set out to blur the line between gameplay and narrative.

I mean, I got no problem with cutscenes, but I also think they downplay the strengths of the medium.

[elhebbo16]

@SOD "Most video game stories aren't up to par with movies or other mediums." you did kinda generalized it.

[medman]

SOD_Delta, you're mistaken. Movies have to dilute their story to fit in a 2-3 hour window. Make a movie longer than 2 hours, you risk losing the attention span of the moviegoer. Games don't have the same restrictions. Games can be 6 hours long, or 100 hours long. Gamers pick up and put down the game at their discretion, and when they return, they pick right up where they left off. This allows for a more expansive storyline than any movie could even attempt, much less achieve. That's not to say that games are better at telling a story than movies, but the potential for a great story in a game is much greater. Much the same way a great book will always trump the movie adaptation of that book. There is only so much you can do when your time is limited.

[Xandet]

Considering the game takes around 15 hours to complete, that leaves 13+ hours of pure gameplay.

Sounds good to me.

[cannon8800]

It's actually a little bit longer than that for average I think, because the person who reviewed TLOU from IGN said that it took him about eighteen hours during his first playthrough; and he didn't search under every nook and cranny.

[ACX174]

Sounds good to me. I don't care if the cut scenes are long, as long as it is well done and enjoyable(also being able to pause during cutscenes is nice).

Been a fan of the MGS series since I played MGS1 on the Playstation and I've always loved watching the cut scenes so this is no problem for me.

[Peppino7]

I dont mind long cut scenes. I loved them in mgs5 and I'm sure I won't complain about these.

[GuyThatPlaysGames]

Just as long as the cutscenes are "MGS" length then it's ok.

[cannon8800]

Maybe you're a little confused because they are saying that all the cut scenes put together, equal a full movie. Maybe about two and a half hours to three hours total. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots(example) had cut scenes that were over forty five minutes long and in total they equaled about eight hours. There's a big difference between the two :D

[brodychet]

I think games have a larger impact on my emotions than a movie ever could. Why? Because you have a much deeper experience in the sense that you are dealing with the world of cause and effect.

You are in control.

You're going through the journey yourself, through (most likely) your favorite form of art.

[Eyeco]

"Uncharted stories are worthy of summer blockbusters. "

You see I almost agreed with you then until you said that, first of all good stories in video games have always existed, I can see with your inclusion of Chrono Trigger and FF6, however having the best story in the world doesn't mean sh!t if it isn't told in a cohesive way that ties well into the gameplay.

I am a huge MGS fan, I think the story is easily the best in gaming ,is it the best presented ? I would be a liar if I said so, I looked at your Inclusion of Fallout and I lol'd when Fallout suffers the same problem, great story but poorly told.

What is unique to this generation is that we've finally reached the point where great storytelling can also tie well with game and not give the disjointed feel that games like MGS suffer from again i'm a huge MGS fan but all I'm doing is echoing criticism of the series that does hold weight when you look into it.

.Yes Uncharted isn't the most original story ever but does it have to be ? As far as video games go it's easily the best presented, In terms of script writing, characterization, pacing and more importantly voice acting NONE of the games you listed comes even close. As of right now Uncharted 2 is easily the best example of a video game story told well.

[Riderz1337]

I don't even mind. From the looks of it the acting done by the actors portraying the characters in the game is amazing.

Also I feel this game is gonna be super tense at times and I wouldn't mind a long cut scene to sort of bring me down to earth and calm me down a bit.

[mike32UK]

Right with you Riderz! I honestly don't know how people can play through a game and not watch the cutscenes, how can you be invested in the gameplay if you have no connection with the characters to do so? I personally can't play games with people that skip scenes as it makes me too angry ha! The developers put all of their time and effort crafting wonderful stories just for someone to press skip because they just want to run around aimlessly head shotting everyone and rushing their way through a game (this is also fine every now and again i.e GTA). If I am paying approx £40 for a video game i want it to last me as long as possible to get my money's worth!

[rezzah]

Sounds great. Long cutscenes are not bad as long as they are not boring like the ones in Bayonetta.

[Wni0]

lol @ videogames being better than movies... the BEST videogames are like mediocre action flicks. Id like to see the day a game matches Fellini or Kubrick or PTA.

[OhMyGandhi]

By PTA, i'm guessing...paul thomas anderson?

[HammadTheBeast]

Final Fantasy Game stories/cutscenes are "mediocre action flicks"?

[Oh_Yeah]

I don't pay much attention to most games stories...they rarely grab me, Idk if I'm either the type who likes games mostly for gameplay or the stories arnt actually all that good. If you ask me what happened in a game after I beat it 9/10 I'll just say I had fun, killed a bunch of things then there was an epic boss battle, sprinkle in some story details maybe if it was good enough to remember.. There weren't many great stories, off the top I could name a few...but it's not like I haven't seen similar stories on the big screen with better acting, writing, visuals etc.

[cannon8800]

@Wni0

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the patriots. Buy it and play it if you haven't yet. It's less that ten bucks about now. This game might change the way you think.

[kneon]

I bought the PS3 MGS4 bundle when it came out and have never finished the game, it's just too boring, and the excessively long cut scenes certainly didn't help.

[ifritAlkhemyst]

Lengthy cutscenes... I knew it. I knew the moment it was being overpraised for its story that the cutscenes were going to try my patience. I'll keep my distance from this one.

[Omar91]

How will you skip this game just because of the cutscenes, which by the way are being portrayed by top notch acting and graphics?

[SOD_Delta]

Some people just don't enjoy long cutscenes (Not including me). I'm super excited to play The Last of Us. Looks to be one of the top games this gen.

[Omar91]

I understand that, I too have friends that can not watch a cutscene for more then 2 mins, but to skip this game completely is a bit ridiculous imo.

[Tr10wn]

I got a friend that skip MGS games because they are more movies than gameplay, he is exited to play The Last of Us, the irony....

[firelogic]

Yup. 1.5hrs of cutscenes in an 18hr game. You definitely need to stay away from this travesty of a movie pretending to be a game.

[GribbleGrunger]

Exactly what I was thinking. Do people honestly believe that those now complaining REALLY ever intended to buy it anyway? Some of those cutscenes will be those spot points where you interact with the scenery, such as when Elle looks through the records or the gaming cabinet. This has actually got me even more hyped for this game ... I love great acting and from what I've seen the level of acting in this game is unprecedented.

There's just the matter of E3 to get out of the way first though! TOMORROW guys/gals.

[Hicken]

Over-praised? So you've played it, then?

[DialgaMarine]

I guess a 96 on Metacritic is overrated these days. Surely you've played it through and through before us little people, so tell me more. I give a sh*t.

[cannon8800]

Did you even read the title? It says Cutscenes equal to a full length movie. It means all of them put together. It's not that much considering this game is going to be very long.

[Salooh]

I'm playing it right now. They are not long like MGS4 . I wish if they were :D

[jjb1981]

I actually requested the day off so I can play this one. I'm truly excited that naughty dog has done this. They have mastered the potential of the ps3 like no other. I am an old school gamer that used to play centipede at the local burger joint and I can honestly say that the technology used in cutscenes has come a long way. Anyone buying this game will get a true story worthy of their 60 bucks. Multiplayer is a bonus and I'm glad ND didn't lose focus of what a great campaign is all about.

[BLKxSEPTEMBER]

As long as the cut scenes don't get confusing *metal series* I won't be hitting the skip button. But I'm one of those people who prefer gameplay over story.

[CrossingEden]

um, you guys realize that 99.9 percent of triple A games have at least an gour and a half of cutscenes right? this isn't news and the last of us will probably have between 1 1/2 and two hours of actual cutscenes

[generic-user-name]

93 minutes? That's nothing, at least not to Metal Gear fans.

[Chucky2003]

While playing the game a cutscene is form 1 min to 2 min max,I've finished the game yesterday and I can say its the best game played this gen,yes I can nitpick on every little stupid thing like every hateful PS3 kid,but the experience of playing this game,seeing how the relation between Joel an Ellie evolve and experience the shit they are going through is amazing,and sometimes heart braking. I finished the game in 13 hours and 30 min on normal ,it has a new game plus mode after that for the upgrades of the weapons and health that you make trough the game

[ChipChipperson]

I'm so glad this is releasing right after my classes and tests.

[fsfsxii]

So i finished the last of Us today and well, i consider it one of the best games i've ever played, i thought it was overhyped and was going to disappoint everybody, and then i got it, and couldn't put the controller down until i finished it.

[Salooh]

Exactly, I'm so tired. I didn't sleep for more then a day and i'm still playing it. Just taking a break to see news lol ..

[ghostrider32]

Sounds like a plan.