Naughty Dog's The Last of Us

[Bleaker]

I got all the way past that last year's E3 demo. This game is great, and I love it, but it does NOT deserve over 50 god damn perfect scores so far. I would have given it a 9.5 at best. I hate when games that really push hiding and running away, suddenly make you kill everything, like when you fight your first bloater. Its damn ridiculous, and was one of people's common faults with Deus Ex:Human Revolution, but since this is Naughty Dog, they get a pass? Oh, not to mention the many glitches I ran into, like the second cutscene taking 5 minutes to load, the ground disappearing beneath me, and the voices not appearing in said cutscene that took 5 minutes to load. It also happened in a few other places too.

Combat is fun though. I also love how much of a dirty mouth Ellie has. Troy Baker is unrecognizable as Joel, except when he breaks his southern accent. Great game so far.

[PaleRobbie]

There have been some awesome highs and ludicrous lows playing Last of Us.  I love it when the game lets me decide how to approach a situation and makes me think.  Managed to get through one really hard area by taking my time for twenty minutes whittling down the enemies.  Started to feel like the game I wanted Manhunt to be.  But I totally agree with Bleaker; I can't stand the setpiece moments and how the game forces me into combat (especially when the combat mechanics are clunky, at best).  The bloater fights have all been universally awful, and I can't stand the sections where enemies just spawn and you have to fight them.  The listening mechanic is also completely broken at times, hiding enemies from me until they are supposed to jump out and say boo.

Still, I'm liking this game way more than Uncharted and I love their vision.  Just wish they had the confidence to avoid sections where Joel becomes a turret with unlimited ammo!

[Bleaker]

Yeah I just got done with the sniper section. I really did enjoy the suburbs up until that point, mainly because of the quiet moments, and even when I was running up to the sniper house, it was very fun. Then the sniping. I don't care who you are, sniping a bunch of dudes with no challenge isn't fun. The hotel has been my favorite place so far, mainly because of how open it is.
Even the bloater fight in the basement was fine, because I totally just ran passed him.

[Kevadu]

I got all the way past that last year's E3 demo. This game is great, and I love it, but it does NOT deserve over 50 god damn perfect scores so far. I would have given it a 9.5 at best. I hate when games that really push hiding and running away, suddenly make you kill everything, like when you fight your first bloater. Its damn ridiculous, and was one of people's common faults with Deus Ex:Human Revolution, but since this is Naughty Dog, they get a pass? Oh, not to mention the many glitches I ran into, like the second cutscene taking 5 minutes to load, the ground disappearing beneath me, and the voices not appearing in said cutscene that took 5 minutes to load. It also happened in a few other places too.

I didn't go into this expecting anything like a Deus Ex game.  Also, there is a pretty significant difference in how the respect games work.  My biggest beef with the boss fights in Deus Ex wasn't simply the lack of freedom, it's the fact that the game gives you all these different ways to build you character and then proceeds to essentially tell you that you did it wrong.  If you're doing a stealth/social/hacking character you probably don't have a lot of combat augmentations and might not be carrying a single heavy weapon.  Then all of the sudden the game sticks you in a small room with a big armored guy with a huge machine gun who already knows exactly where you are.  You're totally ill-equipped to deal with that.

The Last of Us has never put me in a situation like that.  Obviously there's less character customization to start with so it's less of an issue, but whenever a big fights happens they always make sure you have what you need to deal with it.  Maybe that's a bit videogamey, but it's better than the alternative.  Set pieces aren't inherently bad, either.  They can be fun when done right.  The Uncharted games had a lot of great set pieces.

As far as glitches go, it sucks to hear that but personally I still haven't experienced a single one.  And I've put like 10 hours into the game...am I just lucky?

[Taelus]

I haven't had a single glitch either, Kevadu. And I agree completely with you-- so far, I haven't had a problem with any sequence in the game-- either in terms of it working properly or of it feeling "stupid." Maybe some of them feel 'game-y,' but since I'm playing a game, I sort of... expected that. It's not a perfect game, no, but none of my favorites or the ones that have stuck with me most ever have been.

Except Chrono Cross, but we all know how CC discussions end up.

[Bleaker]

I've heard lots of people not having glitches and some having them. I haven't had a glitch since the beginning of the game, so there's that. I didn't have any problem handling the first Bloater, my main problem is that the game has been pushing me to not go in guns blazing, and then ask me to go in guns blazing. That is completely different from how I had been playing the game thus far, and it was really jaring. It was good that I had been playing stealthily up until that point or I wouldn't have had the materials to take that thing down.

[PaleRobbie]

That's how I feel.  The set-piece moments stand out because the rest of the game is telling you to keep your damn head down and stay stealthy.  They made combat clunky, nasty, and brutal to sell the fact that it's a final option.  I actually like how you can rarely come out of a huge combat scenario unscathed.  That said, some of these sections feel like the stupid turret sections from the original Dead Space.

I have to commend this game's crafting system.  I LOVE IT!!!  It really sells the survival aspect of the game and perfectly crafts the atmosphere.  That's why I get so pissed when they give you seven shotgun shells at once and then follow it up with a damn action scene.  I get they want to prevent you from getting into a situation where you literally can't win, but I would rather take these sections out completely.  Why do I have infinite bullets when I'm hanging upside-down? 

[Agent D.]

So far, the game plays like uncharted with a survival horror swing and dead island item creation. I enjoy it, but I don't see anything amazing gameplay wise. It's all solid, well built mechanics, but again....nothing I haven't done.

Story is selling this game all the way, and it does it so fucking well...I can't wait to go back home and play it more. Best part...I googled the ending story already and know what happened.

[Yoda]

So far, the game plays like uncharted with a survival horror swing and dead island item creation. I enjoy it, but I don't see anything amazing gameplay wise. It's all solid, well built mechanics, but again....nothing I haven't done.

Story is selling this game all the way, and it does it so fucking well...I can't wait to go back home and play it more. Best part...I googled the ending story already and know what happened.

Why would you do such a thing?

[Jotacon]

I knew someone would ask that. It makes me laugh so much. Who cares if he knows the ending. I'm one of those assholes who thinks you can't spoil a good story. I guess Agent D. likes the anticipation, but I guess he can speak for himself.
Seriously though, Agent why did you lay this trap?

[Yoda]

Admittedly, I realize it's a game and probably won't have an earth shattering conclusion. But why rush through life, take time to experience things as they are meant to be.

[Jotacon]

Speaking personally, I find that I enjoy things more if I know what is going to happen. It gives me a chance to read into the material more critically from the start, but does little to impede my ability to go along for the ride. It makes things faster. I don't have to play/watch/read it twice to gain insight I would like to have. You gain more appreciation(or less) of the craft, of setting up the plot and letting it all come together and if it is well made you will be emotionally invested enough and still "surprised". I've had arguments about whether it is the same feeling or not and it might not be, but it certainly feels the same to my brain - which is really all that matters.

Despite all of that I will usually only spoil things I'm really invested in and want to know how it will turn out. If it isn't that, I don't care if I'm spoiled, but I don't actively seek them out. Like in the case of Last of Us, I haven't heard anything for this game's plot other than the set-up.

[Bleaker]

I usually do end up spoiling things for myself like I did for Bioshock Infinite. This time I'm letting the game take me for the ride, so I can decide which approach I like better. Knowing the ending, or not.

[Yoda]

It's relevant so I'll just call Dice out again because she sent me a youtube of the ME3 ending right after I got the game.

[Agent D.]

Generally, I check endings on everything I play before I buy them unless I get them and start playing at launch, though it's mostly rpgs I do this for. I look at it as "if this game's ending is shitty sounding, I gotta see why" or "if it's cool, how'd it get there?". Generic endings are the problem...why play a game for story if it ends with an expected conclusion? A happy ending is okay, but to play a game where the ending is so generic...super mario games for example. I think the only mario game I ever played for story as much as gameplay is Super Mario RPG.

I'm not easily upset by spoilers, I like information in all forms, even if it blows up an entire story.