The Last of Us Hands-on Preview
Naughty Dog's latest stars unlikely, but unforgettable, companions.
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Naughty Dog's latest stars unlikely, but unforgettable, companions.
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The Last of Us Hands-on Preview
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
Looks like Naughty Dog just can't seem to get past them rigid controls.
There's undoubtably going to be comparisons to Lee and Clementine, so I hope for Naughty Dog's sake they can present us with something equally gripping yet characteristically diverse.
And to what point do you protect Ellie? Can she actually die, or does she suffer from immortality like every other companion this generation?
There's undoubtably going to be comparisons to Lee and Clementine, so I hope for Naughty Dog's sake they can present us with something equally gripping yet characteristically diverse.
And to what point do you protect Ellie? Can she actually die, or does she suffer from immortality like every other companion this generation?
So she's an unbreakable health and ammo dispenser that sits right out in the open? Or is she an active combat AI that hides well and if you fuck up might actually end up in peril? Because either of those can be used to describe Elizabeth. Post E3 and E3 one, respectively, hey the game is about alternate universes, as far as I am concerned there is an alternate universe with a better Bioshock Infinite out thereSusan Arendt said:
EDIT: Answered in the comment below, thankfully she is neither Elizabeth nor Ashley.
About the game, I do hope we can go with minimal UI, I have a great big aversion for glowing stuff. I can judge when something is useful based on it being usable, if I have to search around a bit so be it, I'd rather not have giant glowing maps in my survival action.
No, she can die. When enemies grab her, a meter will pop up that indicates her increasing peril. Meter fills up, and you're restarting from the nearest checkpoint.Casual Shinji said:
Good.Susan Arendt said:
I know developers just want to make it easy on us with these unkillable companions, but it takes away from their presence when they can't die, or warp next to you when they've fallen behind.
You mentioned frustrating controls, could you elaborate on what made them so?
Is it to do with unrebindable buttons, or overall sluggishness of movement?
Is it to do with unrebindable buttons, or overall sluggishness of movement?
Trying times force people into early adulthood and casting is for professionals, and all that, but...
Does nobody else feel kind of creeped out by Ellie's sounding (...in voice and cadence and expression, all) at the very least a decade past her supposed 14 years?
Does nobody else feel kind of creeped out by Ellie's sounding (...in voice and cadence and expression, all) at the very least a decade past her supposed 14 years?
Actually, she does sound like 14 to me. I have met many girls who had deeper voices than her or who sounded a lot older than they were.Somebloke said:
I am very much looking forward to this game and hoping to get it at launch. Let's hope I won't suck too hard at stealthing.
This looks awesome. Been looking forward to it for a long time, loved all of the Uncharted games' control mechanics and storytelling so this was always gonna be a must-have for me. The design, the feel, the relationship between Ellie and Joel...if the gameplay holds up (which I think it will) and the story doesn't turn to stupid then this has huge potential.
Cannot wait for this to be released.
Cannot wait for this to be released.
I very much enjoy the uncharted games but they are clearly more spectacle than substance. I'm a little jaded with game journalism heaping praise onto games for doing something "good enough"but not particularly well. For example, the characterization un uncharted 3. Therefore, I am especially critical of the reception of this game, which seems to rely on story more than other undertakings from this studio.
Look - there have been a lot of games recently that have intrigued me, even excited me, in their pre-release marketing of late but that preview has amazed me. While I didn't read what you wrote with it (sorry! I'm worried I'll run into just a little too much information about this game) there are a couple of really cool, and some disappointing, things I noticed from the footage I hadn't really managed to appreciate in previous trailers and what-not:
* The sound design if superb. As the main character walked through the abandoned streets of whatever "quaint" little American town that was with only Ellie at your side I felt lonely. I knew Ellie was there, and it was comforting, but I knew that was it. Every step and action you took was felt almost deafening. The only noise was when the main character and Ellie made them. It's been awhile since the sound design has impressed me in a game.
* I already like Ellie. She's a teenager (I'm pretty sure there is an unwritten rule that teenagers in movies are suppose to be as dislikeable as possible at this stage) so it's practically a miracle. She reminds me a lot of a few of my friends at that age, actually. A little thing I liked was she swears - I've never met a teenager who didn't except in games and movies. It's an odd thing to appreciate but I did.
* The environment is actually quite pretty, in the depressing fall of humanity way. It was really nice to see - these dull, unpleasant design of almost every other post-apocalyptic game really, really bores the hell out of me.
* This game is going to draw a lot of comparisons to the Walking Dead, isn't it? Not unfairly I suppose - but I hope it doesn't work against the product if it's even half the game I'm expecting it to be.
* Like Uncharted, I don't think I'm going to like The Last of Us as a game that much. It looks like it'll play a lot like Uncharted - those less over the top - where the players only contribution to the events of the game is to progress from point to point. It's a shame, but I'll enjoy the scenery and the characters enough to make it worth while. I'll just be disappointed that I have no real agency and question why it's a game and not a non-interactive medium like film.
EDIT:
* The sound design if superb. As the main character walked through the abandoned streets of whatever "quaint" little American town that was with only Ellie at your side I felt lonely. I knew Ellie was there, and it was comforting, but I knew that was it. Every step and action you took was felt almost deafening. The only noise was when the main character and Ellie made them. It's been awhile since the sound design has impressed me in a game.
* I already like Ellie. She's a teenager (I'm pretty sure there is an unwritten rule that teenagers in movies are suppose to be as dislikeable as possible at this stage) so it's practically a miracle. She reminds me a lot of a few of my friends at that age, actually. A little thing I liked was she swears - I've never met a teenager who didn't except in games and movies. It's an odd thing to appreciate but I did.
* The environment is actually quite pretty, in the depressing fall of humanity way. It was really nice to see - these dull, unpleasant design of almost every other post-apocalyptic game really, really bores the hell out of me.
* This game is going to draw a lot of comparisons to the Walking Dead, isn't it? Not unfairly I suppose - but I hope it doesn't work against the product if it's even half the game I'm expecting it to be.
* Like Uncharted, I don't think I'm going to like The Last of Us as a game that much. It looks like it'll play a lot like Uncharted - those less over the top - where the players only contribution to the events of the game is to progress from point to point. It's a shame, but I'll enjoy the scenery and the characters enough to make it worth while. I'll just be disappointed that I have no real agency and question why it's a game and not a non-interactive medium like film.
Nah, she sounds a little older to me, but not by much. If I hadn't been told she was 14 I'd have guess 16. I mentioned above that she reminds me of a few of my friends at that age; her voice sounds similar as well. That a little creepy, I suppose.Somebloke said:
EDIT:
This is a more succinct way of putting what I was trying to address before. I've got no real discussion to add to your comment, I just wanted to clarify what I said because I understand I can get rather... incoherent at times. Thanks!90sgamer said:
So PS3 only?
Journey, Tokyo Jungle and now this?
Have I said that I HATE console exclusives?
If not, here it goes.
I really HAAAAAAAAATE platform console exclusive games.
I have nothing accept timed exclusives (6 months after PS3 launch it gets ported to PC and X360, for example)
But it pisses me off when platform is limited just because.
Journey, Tokyo Jungle and now this?
Have I said that I HATE console exclusives?
If not, here it goes.
I really HAAAAAAAAATE platform console exclusive games.
I have nothing accept timed exclusives (6 months after PS3 launch it gets ported to PC and X360, for example)
But it pisses me off when platform is limited just because.
I would guess that Ellie's voice might sound older and mature because she's living through the apocalypse. That sort of thing forces someone to grow up quickly, and she's unlikely to use the lighter tones most kids her age (in our world, at least).
That said, it's cool to see this coupling of companions. Ellie isn't a useless lump, but she's vulnerable. They work together to survive. Why? I'm not entirely sure, but I'd play the game to find out.
That said, it's cool to see this coupling of companions. Ellie isn't a useless lump, but she's vulnerable. They work together to survive. Why? I'm not entirely sure, but I'd play the game to find out.
Journey and Tokyo Jungle are fair enough (although at that level of game it's possible that the console manufacturer is paying enough that a game is being made where no game would be made before. And porting is non-trivial effort for indie's)blackrave said:
But Naughty Dog are a Sony studio and have been a Sony studio for years and years and years. In an ideal world we could all play all games but Mario isn't going to be leaving Nintendo anytime soon and Sony have invested and managed this studio to get to where it is.
What I mean is, Naughty Dog isn't a 'just because' in that it's not like Sony are paying for exclusivity or ND are ignoring other platforms for inadequately explained reasons (Epic Games). They're actually owned by Sony and owe a lot of their position to Sony