The Last of Us

[illdog]

The end of Fall in to the beginning of Winter was truly epic, best bit of the game no diggedy.

I diddnt enjoy pretty much the rest of winter though:

Once you got in to the enemy town in went a bit downhill imo. It was just impossible to wonder through the blizzardy snow without dying a few times and I was spotted in situations where there was just no fucking way they could have seen me. Yet sometimes they missed me when I was right under their noses. Wasn't too keen on the boss fight in the pub either, twice on the third and final knife strike I snuck directly behind that long faced paedo and twice he just turned round and machete'd my face off. The last time I snuck up on him and got him no problem. Which made previously failed attempts shitter.

It's funny, I didn't like the combat but I found it so addictive. I think it's because it was exciting, like I didn't always find it very fair when I died, especially the amount of times I would shoot enemies only for them to still be pretty much fine but I was always happy to give it another go, try things a bit different this time round and use my knowledge of the layout to my advantage. Plus victory always brought with it a sense of achievement.

And the story was pretty great. All done now, I will go at it again on harder but i've got so much other shit to crack on with it will have to wait a bit.

[Sly Reflex]

I put some time into this tonight. I packed up after the bus part, trying to be as vague as possible for people that have not played it.

Fuck Frank. Absolute cunt.

What should I spend my pills on? I've not upgraded any of Joels skills yet, not entirely sure what'll be the best pay off. I'm guessing shiving the Clickers would be a nice one to have?

Speaking of Clickers, this happened.

http://youtu.be/6vyWnYE6qM4

[illdog]

Wow, he really is.

[Sambob]

Listening distance is a good one depending on how you want to play the game but as Nag said health is the essential one. Shiving the clickers is alright but its ultimately pointless as checkpoints are generally close and it effectively is only ever used once you've fucked up and a clicker has got you one on one, so basically just avoid that. Its like using a shiv just to avoid having to get back to wherever you are from the checkpoint.

[HandsomeDead]

I think I popped pill points in to everything but health. I played it as once you're fucked you're fucked. Spent most of the game in the red but why have it any other way?

And that's crazy platinuming this game, Nag. I couldn't go back to the multiplayer as everyone else seemed to get real good when I had a brief hiatus. I'm pretty far through my 2nd 40 weeks (or whatever it is) but I'd hate to imagine the kinds of people still playing it on PS3 are like; probably poor people with lots of time on their hands. Doubt I'd stand a chance.

[Sly Reflex]

At the other end of the spectrum I just got my first trophy on this tonight. I thought it was a bit odd that I wasn't getting them after certain acts in game like they usually do with adventure type games.

I've packed it in on the puddle fight where Ellie shots the guy in the face.

The stealth in this game is fucked up. I strangled a guy almost right next to his mates and nobody even noticed. Another time I waited for a guy to be on a room on his own miles away from anyone, took the opportunity to silently off him, suddenly all guns blazing from the hunters around him. That's just shit. The AI is poor as fuck too, I strangled a guy (again this was miles away from everyone but caused alarm), the guys all ran in one by one and took cover on the same bit of wall, they could have a line of sight on me, but I just popped them in the head with the bow while they were swearing and carrying on.

To add to the randomness Ellie was stood behind them throwing bottles at the guys as they were stuck to the wall. I'm trying to think back to which game had AI fails that I played and it was the Vita CoD. Nothing will ever be that bad/hilarious, but I certainly don't expect stuff like that to be happening in a game of this supposed caliber.

[HandsomeDead]

The game has defined rules so as long as you're out of a line of sight you can strangle anyone. For the bit where you were rushed you were probably seen. I don't see this as bad stealth, but simple and clearly defined stealth.

And the AI just isn't that bad. There are times when in the more open sections where it's actually really good since they use the environment really well. It's good a lot more than it's bad.

You just sound like you're nit picking, Sly. Yes, it's not a perfect game, of course; that goes without saying. But don't sit there and try to tell people it has AI like the Vita CoD.

[Sly Reflex]

I've grabbed people from the front and back and on occasions even had them see me before grabbing and gotten away with it. Likewise I've grabbed people and choked them out out of sight and it's still raised the alarm. I'm just getting the impression that if the game wants to make you fight, you're going to have to fight.

I didn't say it has AI like Vita CoD. I'm saying the last time I witnessed stupid stuff was in that game and I'm also witnessing stupid stuff here. People getting on the wrong side of cover, people vaulting over the same bit of scenery over and over instead of taking cover behind it, people looking at you behind cover, knowing exactly where you are and then you move behind the same bit of cover that has a tall section and they suddenly forget where you are because you're breaking line of sight. I've watched guys get closer and closer to my position, then run away like headless chickens and then repeat the same pattern of moving up towards me. I'm seeing stuff like this far more often than the good stuff. In general I think it's pretty poor behaviour overall.

I can point out fuck ups in a game and have a discussion about it too, seeing as it's having an effect on how I'm playing and how it affects my enjoyment. It's not like I'm griping about silly little things that make no difference to gameplay.

[HandsomeDead]

I just can't get my head around it being mostly that. It's like you're playing a different game.

[Sambob]

Its certainly got its flaws. I have to say that for me a lot of the sneaking/fighting gameplay was a big hold up for me, massive barrier to everything else I was enjoying. By the end I was basically just running through bits or using smoke bombs to effectively 'reset' the enemies. I think the bit that got me most was the hotel. I snuck around that fucker like an absolute pro for ages and ages and then got to a bit where people just homed in on me to a point where a fight was unavoidable because of where you had to get to. At that point every enemy in the hotel came running to this small hallway I was holed up in and it made me realise that the whole 30 minutes or so of painstakingly slow creeping about was a waste of time because I ended up killing every single fucker there.

Actually this reminds me exactly of a game I used to lose my rag to when I was a nipper. It was on the gameboy and was the bugs bunny crazy castle games, where you had to get to the exit on a level and all the looney tunes villians were walking about and you had to pick your time and your path. At times it was great but more often than not the game would just cheat and all the enemies would converge on you and it would be impossible. The Last of Us uses the exact same AI as that game.

[Sly Reflex]

The hotel the part with the elevator bit? I'm pretty sure you have to fight through that. Does the game throw more enemies in if you're discovered? There was one part where I went up some stairs, made sure there were no people to discover me outside the 2 guys patrolling. Took down the first guy, then the second guy managed to call in about 8 guys from nowhere despite me strangling him silently with nobody else within my hearing vision.

A bit after that I was in a kitchen where 2 guys came in and killed a Clicker. I hid, but knocked against a bit of debris that made a noise, so one guy came to inspect. Grabbed him from the front and strangled him with no issue. I even had line of sight on the other dude in that case due to how the animation reacted when I pressed triangle to grab, but he was looking the other way so didn't react. In the area after (puddle room) I choked one guy out while the other guy was looking the other way miles out of the way and still got discovered, but he did the I'm going to stick against a random wall and let you shoot me in the head with an arrow shtick.

I no way am I saying this is a terrible game, far from it, it's a good game. However, it's certainly not the perfection I seem to be hearing from a lot of people. I don't get why it was touted as the game of the generation/GOTY. Maybe my opinion on it'll change when I finish it. So far it's doing nothing particularly special outside of the production of presentation.

[HandsomeDead]

I think the gameplay is great, and surprisingly weird for a AAA game. That fact that it doesn't centre around the usual shooting mechanics we see a lot but they're mearly a power up. The melee stuff is straight out of the kind of Japanese games that would get made on the PS2 except this has a billion dollars put into it. At times TLoU feels like something Treasure would make if they had the opportunity.

I don't want to take away what this game does with story and presentation but that is NOT this games only appeal. Naughty Dog have snuck in the kind of game I thought I'd never see in the AAA space again, and I'll be dammed if anyone writes this cool video game as just being about graphics and story.

*shakes first smiley*

[Sly Reflex]

Just gone through the sewer section. OK, bit of a weird thing I don't agree with story wise.

When you're split up and the Clickers go chasing the other pair, why didn't the pair you're with bang on the wall? They were perfectly safe behind that 3 inch of fucking steel. and there's a gate on the other side which could be shut. Just fucking stupidity.

Something else that's bothered me is Clickers, or more importantly how everyone else can hold them off for ages before getting killed. So far I've witnessed every single person I've had in my part hold off these monsters, yet for some reason if I so much as brush against them I get instakilled. On the bridge escape I even saw one of the hunters hold off getting bitten. Joel must be just shit or weak willed.

Quite an enjoyable session apart from that moment of idiocy. I also tripled my pendant count finding two more pendants. Those bloody things must be really well hidden because I comb the areas I'm in unless I'm being chased as part of the game wanting to rush me along, I've even been looking in place where they could be hidden in light fittings or trees. Obviously I'm not combing hard enough because obviously I must have missed loads in between the one they show you at the start of the game and where I am now.

[Sly Reflex]

No, I want what they have. Instadeath is shit, especially when it comes from a melee you can't really avoid.

The pendants I found were in Ish's boat and underwater where you had to move a platform so the black people didn't get wet above their knees. That part of the game reminded me of this a little bit.

[illdog]

The wink button on your keyboard must be fucked Nag.

[Sly Reflex]

I'm actually more or less at the same point as you, storywise.

I just did the lake side part where you're playing as Ellie after the horse gets killed. I left it there as the sun wouldn't let me see what the fuck I was doing and my contacts were giving me a bit of gip.

[Sly Reflex]

I've used more medkits in this part of the game than anywhere else.

The escape from the labs was really hard as well, not so much the flat parts of the shootout, but getting down the staircase was a real bastard. I pretty much ran out of throwable stuff trying to get around that last staircase.

Here's a question you might be able to answer, does the flame thrower give your position away to clickers?

There was one area that was full of infected with a door that had a vending machine propped against it. Right near the door was a bloater. I considered using the flamer but went against it because of how close you have to get to the bugger so I popped him in the head with the bow. Big mistake, I throw my mollies at him and the fucker still didn't go down. I ended up throwing a brick at him which luckily killed it. I got a firefly pendant from him. Also, raised blood pressure from trying to fight one of those fat cunts in the tiniest corridors possible.

I've got a lot to talk about this game (some of it a lot of you wont like) but I'm saving it up until I'm totally done with it. I'm not sure if I should play the DLC before or after, damn, I don't even know what it's called. I just know it's centred around Ellie. I think it's best I know nothing of it so it's all a surprise when I get around to it.

[Sly Reflex]

I tend to use it on humans more than anything. I'm actually using items a lot more in the winter part of the game, I think I only used 5 bombs the whole time I've played, but I've done more than that just in winter.

[Sly Reflex]

Well done, that's some dedication and skill.

[Hendo]

I started the main story when I got my machine just to see how it looked and it looks pretty damn good.

I'm not sure I'll go back and finish it again just yet but I have started Left Behind which I never got on the original.

I'm not far in as I've been taking my time investigating every nook and cranny. I've literally just done the petrol bit before finishing for the night.

So far, thumbs up.