The Last of Us

[Mike]

Yikes.
That is one amazing game.

It is the only TPS (best way to describe it) where I don’t want action after action.
I yearned for quiet and peace and calm.
The combat was brutal and often scary.
That and the way the game works you build up a real affinity with the characters and when something bad happens to them you get upset.
Or at least I did.

I could not play the game for extended periods as the emotional investment was too much.
I went from anxiety to fear to relief and joy throughout the course of the game.
It is very a much story more than a traditional game.
The aim is stay alive, not to die and to keep a hold on your humanity when those around you have lost theirs.
It is not about racking up a body count, in fact some sections can be sneaked through and no fighting is needed.

The undead, or infected are a nice idea.
The infection is based on an actual infection that occurs in insects; they just transposed it to people.
Bit freaky.

The world is very well detailed.
The voice acting is superb and the depth to the characters in terms of facial and body language is excellent.
The graphics are brilliant.
The characters are well thought out and believable.
The actors spent 2 years working on the game and they got into their roles and in some cases they changed the way the game went as they felt that they knew their characters best and did not agree with what the games writers had originally intended.

Combat is brutal, ammo scarce and enemies well thought out.

It is miles ahead of anything I have ever played.

I have done the game and am playing it again, but on easy, as I want to enjoy the little things and the story.
I cannot recommend this game enough.
If you don’t like games in general please consider trying this.

It is more of a film style story about people and humanity than a shooter for the sake of it.

[Mike]

Play Station exclusive and my wife and I were XBox 360 people.

So are the wife and I, but we decided we wanted a next gen console and we plumped for the PS4 because of Tom Clancy’s The Division, which looks bonkers good.
I actually bought the Xbox solely to play Gears of War.
I buy consoles because of the game…

DO NOT WATCH HER PLAY IT.

The story will be so much better if you experience it yourself without knowing what is coming.
It really is very very immersive and to watch it would be like watching someone play you in a film about your life, when you would be better off just being you and living your life.

Now, I realise I sound like some mad teenage girl with a crush on the latest boy band, but this game has utterly changed what gaming is about for me.

GTA does not appeal to me either…

[Mike]

Oh right.
Combat is kind of forced on you, but if you are patient you can sneak past a lot of it and use stealth to sneak up behind enemies and do them in.
It is not about firefights like say COD is.

The combat is well done, I did not want any.
I got so invested in the characters that the thought of them coming to harm was undesirable.
I kind of wished it would all stop and they could go and live on a nice farm somewhere and not have to worry about the poop they were in.

This time around I am taking in the views more and not worrying about completing it, as I have done that.

[TwoGunBob]

Indeed it is an exceptionally well thought out game and executed very well. It’s just at the end where you… Kidding! I won’t get into story development or high points versus low points as I’d hate to ruin the game for someone.

I’m looking at The Evil Within but my immediate reaction is that it will not stand a chance to measure up to The Last of Us. There’s a lot to The Last of Us that just doesn’t usually ride into other games. Course it’s a railroad game unlike say Mass Effect where there’s some illusions of choice (hint: Mass Effect is an illusion as no choice you make really matters in the end). But it’s an exceptionally compelling story that dethroned my favorite series, Silent Hill.

[Mike]

They reckon The Walking Dead is pretty much its equal in terms of emotional attachment.
Maybe just a teeny bit less.

My problem with it is that it looks like a comic book (which is the point) but that for me makes it harder to make an emotional attachment to the characters.

So…. talk to me about Silent Hill….

[TwoGunBob]

Back in that time they called the 90’s that don’t seem so long ago although they are… There was a roleplaying game called Kult. I loved this game, the world view , the horror, the cosmology of the Archons and their evils. I loved this game but was right rubbish at running it. I brought out the spirit of humor when trying to scare my gamer friends. It was just goofy and no one would try to run Kult either after the nightmare of hilarity that took place. I run a good game of Dungeon and Dragons but could never pull off horror. My Vampire the Masquerade games were more like John Woo action flicks only with a few fangs and werewolves thrown in.

So where is this going? Well, Silent Hill was Kult: The Video Game for me. It was the phantasm horror I was trying to evoke through roleplaying only with slightly crude (by today’s standards) graphics making up for imagination. The story didn’t always make sense and certainly only got muddier as it went on with installments but it was weird and horrifying. The first one really resonated as did the second. The third was slightly off. You know, I enjoyed the Wii released Shattered Memories and that game was exceptional in that it had no combat in it and also did incredibly crude but interesting psychoanalysis of the player.

It really boils down that Silent Hill was what I wanted from my attempts at horror roleplaying but was unable to achieve.

The Last of Us doesn’t have the weird horror but drew me in more. The characters were a cut above the usual cardboard I’d come to expect.  Let’s face it, character growth in a video game is usually measured in levels or perks after all.

[Mike]

I remember Kult.
I used to work in a games store, Kult, IIRC had a terrible cover..?

Not a fan of Horror games, they tend to give me bad dreams…

🙁

TLOU as it shall now be known, some great bits and some bits that had me shouting Nooooooooooo at the screen.

Very much hoping there is something out there that tells as compelling a story.
Of course it helps I have a young daughter too.

[TwoGunBob]

I got a lot more play time out of Fallout 3 and New Vegas as well as Skyrim than TLOU. But the story was just phenomenal in TLOU. I played through it twice so certainly got my money’s worth. I prefer open world games to scripted stories as well but don’t let that dissuade you from TLOU. Only thing you may think is that in the end it felt rather short. I didn’t notice this during the time I was playing, though. I think it’s more remorse that the game is over and there’s no more to it.

[Mike]

TwoGunBob wrote:

I think it’s more remorse that the game is over and there’s no more to it.

This.
I was so glad I made it to the ends and was part of the story.
So happy the struggle was over for better or worse…

It drained me so the end was welcome.
But then I started missing it.
I am working through it again but looking around more and enjoying the details more.

There is a bit of me that wishes I never played it, how will anything live up to it…?

[Ivan Sorensen]

I’ve been meaning to grab the PS4 remake. Maybe I’ll swing by a store today. I’ve been working through Wolfenstein the New Order lately.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Far Cry 4 is massive fun.

If any of you guys want to do some gaming, I’m rune_quester on PSN. I have Diablo 3, Destiny, Far Cry 4 (I think that has multiplayer?) and Dragon Age Inquisition that are MP games.

Actually I have Killzone too but I haven’t really gotten into it much.

 

edit: Even if you just wanna chat, go ahead and add me anyways. I should add that I’m pretty casual as far as gaming goes.

[Mike]

I know it’s just a game, but I don’t like playing scumbags.

Have faith and see what happens…

😉

[Mike]

Oh and don’t lose sight of what happened in his life to make him uncaring.

The outbreak/infection took away something dear and that pretty much messed him up for good, can he redeem himself and change for the better, can he make a difference, can you as a player steer him on the road to redemption?

[Author]

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