The Last Of Us Hype

[niko]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[nightprowler10]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[glidedrxlr22]

You'd like Tomb Raider. Go get it.

I concur. Get it now.

[BankShot]

I concur. Get it now.

Definitely.

I have a sentimental attachment to Tomb Raider because I've been playing them since the original on the Sega Saturn. Along with Resident Evil 1 and 2, the first Tomb Raider games were my earliest memories of really getting into the new generation of complexity in video games.

With that being said, even people I know that haven't every played a Tomb Raider game have had similar sentiments about how the new game is a beautiful and exciting game.

[Thorpesaurous]

Yeah Rhythmic, there's absolutely no chance you wouldn't like Tomb Raider. There are so many mechanical similarities. And if someone told me they preferred TR to TLoU, I'd think they were wrong, but I wouldn't hold it against them. It was that good.

So I just finished, and I gotta say, it just kept getting better and better and better. The winter section was such an incredible piece of aside story telling. It was sort of one of those bottle tv episodes that has a glancing relation to the main arc, but in the end adds an immense amount of depth to the story overall. It's like a side story that's almost there to kind of fill in the time you miss as the story jumps around, like "this is the sorta shit that's been happening when we've been jumping from state to state" kind of a wink.

The story is genuinely affecting, and emotional in all sorts of ways. The end, without giving anything away, was conflicting.

I got over my control issues over time, and frankly it seemed to control better as time went on. Maybe it was just my ability to recognize his capabilities.

Based on the suggestion in here, I spent some time with Bow, and it really is a fun weapon (not as good as in Tomb Raider, but very fun). I can't wait to go through again on Plus and finish upgrading.

I did pretty well on the collectables. Something like 120 or 141, which I'm pretty happy with for a first time through unassisted in any way whatsoever. I missed 3 comics, all of which were clustered together I noticed, because they're numbered (The allegory being told through the comics was really a crazy nice touch for those of us who read all that shit. The signage as well was cool if you stopped to look). And I fully know about a few spots that will require some more attention, and mostly at the beginning, where I was still adjusting, and supplies are limited enough that I wasn't clearing areas and searching the way I would want to, like The Metro station.
The pacing was incredibly well done, and I can't say enough how smart it was to not allow you to max out on one play through. The acting was top notch (Bill I picked up on his voice that he was Dan, Al Swearegan's bartender/muscle, from Deadwood). And I can't say enough about how well scored this was. Even the directing was award winning film level stuff. I'm not talking about it's cinematic camera either, which put some stunning stuff together, but the directorial choices, like the reveal to Ellie at the end after they get out of the car. Just impeccable story telling, as I said before, regardless of the medium.

And concerns over the playtime didn't effect me at all. I came in at just under 30 hours. Probably slower than most, but I also found an extremely high percentage of stuff. And I've been baited into at least a second playthrough. I can totally live with that. Especially since I'm not getting to 60 hours torturing myself over mage suit statistics.

In the end, this game is on the very short list for my best games ever. Certainly in the top three for this generation with Uncharted 2, and Red Dead Redemption. I'm putting in my original Zelda, Metroid, RE1 and 2, Vice City area as well. It's that good.


And I haven't played one iota of multiplayer yet. One of the big nods for me for UC2 is that it's the only game that's ever held my attention for any amount of time in Multiplayer.

[rhythmic]

Oh, I bought Tomb Raider guys but I haven't had a chance to play it yet.
I'm doing my internship plus taking night classes (plus studying for my level II CFA exam).

I'll definitely play it late August when I'm done with my internship.
As far as my favorite games go:

1) The Last Of Us
2) Uncharted 3
3) Uncharted 2
4) San Andreas
5) Red Dead Redemption
6) GoldenEye 007
7) Super Mario 3
8) Max Payne
9) Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
10) God of War

These are probably my most memorable games ever; the ones I played (or will play) the most. Pretty incredible how many of them are either Rockstar or Naughty Dog's.

The Last of Us now received 35 out of 77 perfect scores.
Only behind Uncharted 2 and GTA all-time. Needs 4 more to beat out Uncharted 2, and U2 had I believe 103 reviews (also has an incredible 91 as far as gamer reviews go with over 1,000 reviews).

[rhythmic]

It took me 16 hours and 31 minutes to complete it on Normal, I am now playing Plus about half-way finished. I am at 7 hours, so it will definitely take me less this time around. I collected about 60% of all things approximately.

I will play on Hard and then Survivor after I finish the "Plus" campaign.
Game is even better this time around then my initial play-through. The AI is also different, so you can't use the same strategy every time.

Just amazing...

[Thorpesaurous]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[rhythmic]

GameTrailers gave The Last Of Us 98.
Just to put things in perspective, I believe it is the highest score given to the current console game ever (on PS3).

Some notable titles that were reviewed by GameTrailers:

RDR - 95
Uncharted - 93
Arkham City - 93
Uncharted 3 - 95
Halo 3 - 98
BioShock - 95
BioShock Infinite - 94
The Orange Box - 93

Halo 3 & The Last of Us are the highest rated current gen games according to that site. Pretty impressive.

[Thorpesaurous]

I started chewing through the New Game Plus last night. I thought I'd start with a full arsenal of weapons. I'm a little disappointed that I have to pick them up as I go. I'm flying through it. My fear now is that I'm not gonna give it the thorough examination it warrants and still miss some items that is really what I'm going back for. I'm sort of pushing to get to the metro station because I know I missed stuff in there. I wish I could choose levels to play like in Uncharted so I could look stuff up my few missing items and chase them down.

Either way. I'm looking forward to ripping through it again. I'd guess if I pressed, and knowing where things are and whats coming and how to get past certain spots, I could probably finish it 12 hours.

[Heavincent]

Finished it the other day. Might be the best game I've ever played. Characters, atmosphere, and gameplay, everything was just amazing. Ending was pretty good too, although some people probably didn't like it. Definitely not a typical cliche ending.

The one and only gripe I had with this game is that I wish the enemies paths and behavior was randomized. If you die, the enemy AI still does the same exact thing when you respawn, so it basically becomes trial and error. Would have added more tension if they behaved differently every time.

It's still a 10/10 game for me though.

[Lebowsky]

That chapter called "the hunt" was intense as hell. My goodness, I was physically relieved when I finished it.

[Heavincent]

After thinking about it more, I honestly don't think it could have ended in a better way. It was a perfect ending...don't know how anyone could say it was bad. It fit the characters and the theme of the game perfectly.

The writer did an amazing job with this game. Damn near flawless...even competently written games will look like crap compared to this.

[EnoughSaid]

So is Naughty Dog officially the best developer in the business? I mean Ubisoft has some good titles coming out too.

Anyway who's down for some online? Not right now but we should get a team and try it out. Really fun mode actually.

[Heavincent]

So is Naughty Dog officially the best developer in the business? I mean Ubisoft has some good titles coming out too.

Anyway who's down for some online? Not right now but we should get a team and try it out. Really fun mode actually.

Crash, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and now The Last Of Us...so yeah, they're the best developer in the industry.

Best games of this generation:

1. The Last Of Us
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Gears of War (1 or 3)
4. Assassin's Creed 2
5. Original Mass Effect