The Last Of Us and the search for gaming’s ‘defining’ moment

Rely on Horror: Now, we’re at what many critics are claiming to be a pivotal moment in gaming history with Naughty Dog’s new title, The Last Of Us. There is no doubt that, by now, you have been seen the massive amount of high praise the game has been receiving from the gaming press. It’s been lauded as some sort of transcendent piece of interactive entertainment that pushes the invisible narrative quality barrier, and now we are all supposed to point towards it when someone says ”you can’t tell a good story in a videogame“.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Just finished the SP.Man, what a game.Easily the best i have played this entire gen.

Is there multiple endings? I feel as if i took the odd out choice based on how it ended.

Gonna run through it again soon on Survivor

[ZodTheRipper]

No multiple endings but I agree, it's a masterpiece.

[wastedcells]

So far I'm loving it. It's an experience like no other in gaming today. Must play for any gamer even if you don't play shooters, action adventure games or survival horror...... Or games at all lol. Everyone should put aside any fan boy non sense and play this or your missing out.

[Dunpeal]

such a fun ride and thrilling ride!!!! Like playing along in movie. This is definitely a defining moment in gaming

[wastedcells]

We don't need a reveal or E3 to know that naughty dog has two team and are working on the last of us 2 and uncharted 4. For those of you who have had the pleasure of playing the last of us you know it's one of the best games of all time, arguably so is uncharted 2. So PS4 will have uncharted 4 Xmas 2014 and the last of us 2 Xmas 2015. Can't wait. PS4 FTW!

[NameRemoved0017]

The Last of US 2 - first game to surpass real lifes graphics.

[shammgod]

I couldn't stop playing it today! I have not had a gaming marathon like that in a very long time! This game deserves all praise

[LackTrue4K]

same here!!! cant drop my controller!!!
ps: when i went to pick my game up, i per-order my ps4!!! :P

[fsfsxii]

I really haven't enjoyed a game like this ever since MGS4 came out and Uncharted 2

[Neo-Axl]

Some very disturbing scenes in the game that really push what is acceptable in games, the way the violence is done feels more gruesome than games like God of War, or Gears of War.

The whole down to earth realism aids this by far, some beautifully horrific scenes in this game, especially in the later part of the game. I loved every moment of the game, best £40 I've spent in years.

[Salooh]

The word you are searching for is reasonable. They try to make everything in the story makes sense. Therefor it made the story serious . Gaming can be much much better then movies. That's why i continue playing games. I'm bored of senseless games. I want them to evolve. TLOU is an example of what i want. Another examples ?.

Beyond two souls
MGSV

AI made the last of us special. So i want more of that in next generation games. I want challenging games. I hope they achieve that :P ..

[Dunpeal]

took the best parts of The Walking Dead and made it into a beautiful game

[ginsunuva]

The opening is one of the best EVER.

The game is really long and has the best presentation quality of all time. Ellie has the best dialogue for any teen in games ever, and it sounds almost like Juno (which I am certain ND was inspired by due to her independence and strength, and brings in the whole ellen page thing)

But the most unique part is the combat scenes. The infected scenes are extremely tense stealth sections that scare you more than any horror game.
And the human combat parts are long, open-ended battles in huge environments with so many options of what to do and where to go. For each battle I only use about 20% of the available options each time. The AI and mechanics allow for really personal and intense shootouts where one side tries to outwit the other. Oh and the enemy encounters ARE HARD AS HELL.

If you're reading this, it means you're not playing TLoU, so go.

[Salooh]

Low ammo + hard and skill aiming + fast and smart zombieeees(I don't remember their names xD) + creepy loud sounds= Can't move my legs lol .

That's what real horror means. It all makes sense to me. It's like naughty dog imagined infected in real life and put the experience in the game .

[Cuthbo]

Played the game for a few hours and didn't like it. I wanted to run and do my own thing yet the character AI got in the way and restricted my movement and movement speeds to set an atmosphere I guess. I felt for me it wasn't a defining moment in gaming history yet a "follow the path how we want you to". If I wanted to watch a movie I'd get a movie, if I wanted to play a path ridden story driven game, I'd get an indie game like telltales walking dead.

For me the atmosphere was there but as a gamer I like to take control and play the game how I want. Games like skyrim were defining for me, not only graphically impressive on a massive scale but also kept interesting throughout any path you took. I feel "follow the tiny restricted path" games last gen, open world environments are so more dynamic and immersive.

The controls felt sloppy to me also, relying on strange camera angles and awkward cover system. I felt the parts where they made you sneak were so thought out towards making you play how they want you too, that if you didn't you could literally run right through it. Which I did quite easily adding to the "play it how we want you to, not how you want to" syndrome this game has adopted.

Of course this just isn't my type of game and don't take this as an offence if you enjoyed it. I felt the game was graphically nice, the story was well written and voice acted and the atmosphere was there. I just enjoy games that allow more freedom and exploration, they make you want to explore and continue playing.

If I had to rate the game I'd give it an 8/10 Mainly based on the restrictive gameplay. The AI was also smart if you played the game at their pace, but felt every time I explored an area they'd continue to block me and get in the way. And I wish there were more developers willing to try something different like naughty dog are, even good ideas can come from bad games. I felt I should keep playing the game because others had hyped it up so much but after some additional play it just wasn't for me.

[Dunpeal]

I respectfully disagree with you. I see your point, but having this as a sandbox game would completely ruin the pace and not allow for that up and down roller coaster ride you experience going between fighting to survive and the down time allotted to the story telling.

[BabyTownFrolics]

Great game, awkwardly written article

[Bathyj]

you feel drained playing this game like you can't let your guard down cos you might die at any moment and you genuinely feel fear and uneasiness.
it's very dark, literally and figuratively.

it's a lot like having sex when camping.
it's fkn in tents.

[HarvesterOSarow]

I beat it this weekend in less than 48 hours since having the game. Total playtime was 17 hours. I haven't done that since I was 15 or so maybe. Thankfully, my wife knew I was really excited to play it and let me zone out since it was Fathers Day! haha

I started Survivor this morning before heading to work, and I can't wait to get home and play more. Oh, and also eat diner with the wife :P