The last of us: Great story with generic gameplay?

[Windcaler]

I began playing the last of us again today for a second look at the world and to see if there were any story and character nuances that I didn't pick up on the first time through. I got about to the part where you meet Bill and then I realized something that I missed the first time through, the gameplay is remarkably similar to a lot of other games that have come before it.

For example the stealth and cover mechanics are nearly identical to alpha protocol (a great spy game with real choice in it). The wandering around and shooting/melee combat made me think of warframe and then theres that crafting and upgrading system. The upgrading reminds me of ghostbusters and while I cant pin down a specific game for the crafting system I swear Ive seen that before as well.

That said, Im finding this second playthrough a lot more uninspiring now that Im not experiencing a new and interesting world. The drama and interesting setting are still there but when the game gets out of cutscenes and get into the fighting Im just having a hard time getting into it. There doesn't seem to be anything new and interesting, in fact it seems like this is just a reskinned game with a new story

Now Ive always been on to say that a great story can make a game with bad gameplay good but seems a little different. Its not so much bad gameplay as gameplay that Ive seen before time and time again. So Im curious what others think on this? Is this generic gameplay with a great story and characterization or am I missing something this time around?

 

[Zhukov]

While it's far from revolutionary, the genuine shortage of ammo, implementation and usefulness of stealth and a melee system that rewards a bit of planning were enough to pull it comfortably out of generic territory in my view.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's not generic. It's not revolutionary, but it's gameplay with the purpose of putting you in the mindset of of the character and the world. And in that it succeeds in spades.

Yes there's cover, yes there's shooting, and yes there's melee. But it's that sense of desperation and "kill or be killed" guerrilla action that makes it engaging, and is something I've never experienced to such a degree in any other game. The action focusses heavily on the brutallity of killing someone in combat, but in a very grounded way. I mean, it has the same form of action as Uncharted and Tomb Raider, but it's the way it's executed that completely sets it apart and gives it a much harder and realistic edge.

When Joel beats a guy to death, that's really what it feels like. He brutalizes a guy into submission with either his fits or a steel pipe till he finds an opening to bash his head open. And all this while others are looking for you or coming your way. It has a very shocking yet satisfying animalistic nature.

That is ofcourse if you don't play the game with the cheat listen button, or on NewGame+. I played it on NG+ right after I finished it the first time, and the added benefits of being stronger, faster, and with upgraded weapons from the start seriously dissconnected me from the world and the story. And that's exactly because the gameplay emphasizes the brutality and struggle of this world and its inhabitants. Once it becomes too easy, you lose that.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I guess their systems are generic, however they meshed them all together into a meaty polished package, everything is used to just the right extent to even fit the setting and story (even if it is done on a more basic non demanding level).

Now that might not excite the novelty seekers but polished games like this are a very welcome change of pace in my book, hell I'd give anything to have Bioshock Infinite this concise instead of a complete disconnect in story and gameplay.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

While it's far from revolutionary, the genuine shortage of ammo, implementation and usefulness of stealth and a melee system that rewards a bit of planning were enough to pull it comfortably out of generic territory in my view.

This.

You never have enough ammo to feel comfortable starting a firefight, there appears to be no autoaim function, so pulling off headshots is actually quite difficult with the controller.

It might not be revolutionary, but it doesn't need to be.

I loved every second of it.

 

[Legion]

The word "generic" means "indistinguishable" in essence. If while playing The Last of Us you felt like it was like playing another game, then yes, you could call it generic. Being similar is not enough for something to be called generic though.

I can honestly say that it didn't feel like any other game I had played. It wasn't a typical cover based shooter where I could hide and wait for my arm to regrow. You couldn't just rely on perfect headshots to carry the day as enemies would flank you, or there'd be multiple types to deal with. Ammo wasn't that common, and the melee actually worked.

Personally I thought it was fantastic, especially how the game allowed you to try so many different things. For example if you throw a brick or bottle to stun an enemy you can one hit kill them with a melee weapon. Which is perfect if you have many enemies but not much ammo and need to get them quickly.

The only downside I felt was that stealth was occasionally a little off. Certain sections I restarted so many times just because they detected me but I couldn't understand how. Although once I got good at it, I found some nifty tactics.

For example try getting up and running relatively clickers at a choke point. Throw a molotov at the entrance to it. Sit there and watch.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Yeah, the gameplay wasn't great. I also found it strange that you spend about 70% of the game killing wave after wave of human enemies despite being billed as a zombie game, but that's never a complaint that I see brought against LoU, but people are ravenous whenever it occurs in other games.

Never really understood the lack of ammo comments, either. I never even came remotely close to running out of ammo/grenades while basically killing every enemy with firearms. Constantly ran around with a full set of crafting materials as well because you never really needed to heal or use grenades all that much.

It was like Spec Ops: The Line of gameplay. Except the gameplay wasn't intentionally dull to make a point.

 

[sethisjimmy]

I'd argue the opposite. It's got slightly above average combat and decent stealth. But the story is what is generic about the game. Same old same old zombie apocalypse style story. It's not bad, but it's certainly not great either.

 

[Windcaler]

I'd argue the opposite. It's got slightly above average combat and decent stealth. But the story is what is generic about the game. Same old same old zombie apocalypse style story. It's not bad, but it's certainly not great either.

Actually I mentioned in the ending/plot thread that I thought the endings theme and the zombie apocalypse and finding a cure motivations were getting overdone. Its still a well told story, if a bit cliché at this point. However I think what really makes it good is the great characterization. They chose the various character traits for each character and they stuck with it the whole way through. Joel's selfishness, Ellie's drive to survive, Bill's need to control everything, Henry's overprotective nature, and Sam's childishness are all constants

That said, when I play the last of us and Im not looking at the setting with a figurative magnifying glass I cant help but think it feels a lot like a differently themed alpha protocol. Its not indistinguishable but it certainly feels rather similar from most of the other 3rd person action games Ive played

 

[Savagezion]

Yeah, the gameplay wasn't great. I also found it strange that you spend about 70% of the game killing wave after wave of human enemies despite being billed as a zombie game, but that's never a complaint that I see brought against LoU, but people are ravenous whenever it occurs in other games.

TLoU wasn't billed as a zombie game. The community did that. I remember Naughty Dog saying "this isn't a zombie game" and people going "pssh, yeah it is, they are just plant zombies"

Never really understood the lack of ammo comments, either. I never even came remotely close to running out of ammo/grenades while basically killing every enemy with firearms. Constantly ran around with a full set of crafting materials as well because you never really needed to heal or use grenades all that much.

What difficulty did you play on? I played on hard and I had a hard time keeping health kits on me for longer than 10 mins. Pretty sure the game gave me some freebies which I engirged in with glee sometimes. Got excited to find a few rounds off a corpse despite getting good at head shots. Relief heavily on the bow for stealth killing to try and conserve ammo as well. I really don't see anyone playing on hard having an abundance of ammo even if you 1 shot kill alot. Hard doesn't provide more health though really as I headshot and stealth kill a lot.

OT: the gameplay is heavily drafted from Uncharted but just stopped holding your hand (auto aim) and quit dropping ammo as much. I love the gameplay in Uncharted though. In a linear story driven game, I think it works best if the controls are familiar/intuitive so that the story isn't bogged down by complex features. This is a cutscene heavy narrative that interweaves gameplay into the dialogue through checkpoint markers. The narrative benefits in pacing if the player automatically knows what they can/can't do by a mere press of the button. It features QTE-esque events that have intuitive buttons assigned based on previous actions in the game. Someone holding their hand out towards you means push triangle. Applying force is always push square 100x per second and grit your teeth. I would have liked a better sprinting system but that also could have made it too easy and possibly broken the good stealth system due to AI pathing making it to easy to rehide once spotted.

The weapons could have used some work but I wouldn't say the combat was boring by any means. I think it funny that Naughty Dog just showed Crystal Dynamics a better way to incorporate a bow simplistically with a trajectory. Naughty Dog needs to just buy the rights to Tomb Raider IMO. But back on topic, melee kills are ok - although I would like to know how I am breaking all these pipes, axes, and machetes so easily. Especially, the axes. Logically, many things don't make sense like all the guys with guns but no ammo when you stealth kill them, the fact that they don't fire a round despite you doing nothing to stop them from alerting others nearby while suffocating. (I always just pretend he snaps there neck in under a second and is just catching the falling body and checking their empty "psych out" gun for ammo instead) I know it is for the sake of balancing but it is a minor gripe.

Overall I like the pacing the gameplay offers to the game. The game is story centric and the gameplay reflects that on the user's end. Now the AI, its a bit on the dipshits and giggles side.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Personally I thought it was fantastic, especially how the game allowed you to try so many different things. For example if you throw a brick or bottle to stun an enemy you can one hit kill them with a melee weapon. Which is perfect if you have many enemies but not much ammo and need to get them quickly.

In Survivor difficulty this'll become your primary means of attack, since the game gives you practically nothing to work with interms of ammo or crafting material. I think you get the same effect from shooting a dude, bringing him off balance. It's probably the only good use for that 9mm.

The only downside I felt was that stealth was occasionally a little off. Certain sections I restarted so many times just because they detected me but I couldn't understand how. Although once I got good at it, I found some nifty tactics.

There are a few areas where the game won't allow stealth eventhough enemies haven't noticed you yet. That first section with the armoured humvee, and the section in the sewer where you're together with Sam for example.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Well, I wouldn't call it generic, because it's the first and only game that managed to truly convey survival element to me. I've used every single trick and every available instrument in a book to survive. No weapon was useless and no instrument unused, and that was really something new to me.

 

[Foolery]

Haven't played it yet, so I can't say. Probably be a long while before I do. Right now I think it's getting hyped up a bit. But that's really no different than any other game shortly after launch.

 

[captnb2thep]

I loved the game. Both story-wise AND gameplay wise. The actual game mechanics aren't anything new and exciting, but the mere tension of the encounters based off of overwhelming/intimidating odds made the gameplay so much more "deliberate" (thats the best word I can use for the thought I was trying to convey). My first playthrough, my hands were literally sweating at some points, which had never happened to me in a game before, and it caused me to think and try and plan out my method of attack, often when certain enemies had unpredictable roaming patterns so I would be planning my next move and an infected or a human would nonchalantly start to walk around my cover (even at the beginning/entrance of the encounter where the game puts you, so you subconsciously think you are "safe" to plan there) so I would have to go OH CRAP and quickly sneak to another hiding place, quickly try and grab him to take him out quietly or just say FUCK IT and start the shit show.

 

[jetriot]

I liked the story. Of course, it was a console exclusive so I watched a Lets Play of it instead of buying it. I feel dirty.

 

[Zhukov]

I also found it strange that you spend about 70% of the game killing wave after wave of human enemies despite being billed as a zombie game, but that's never a complaint that I see brought against LoU, but people are ravenous whenever it occurs in other games.

Firstly, I don't think ravenous quite means what you think it means.

Secondly, I liked the combat against humans more and I'm glad it was more common. Did we really want yet another fucking zombie horde killing game?

Hell, I would have preferred the zombies to be entirely absent and have a different disaster to kick things off. Zombies are up there with modern-conflict-where-you-shoot-brown-people/Russians and RPG-where-you-save-not-Middle-Earth.

 

[mmmikey]

I'm divided on the gameplay. The best moments in the game for me were the oddities. The prologue, hunting the deer, sniping from the perch, just riding horseback through the reclaimed wilderness, and the hanging upside down part. Clicker sections felt like a grind, even when they're catatonic it means you have to move at a crawl or waste your resources to scavenge with impunity. If there were more methods of defense I wouldn't hate it as much.

I think that they would have benefited from pulling back from the amount of fights they throw at you. Especially at the hydroelectric plant.

I think Naughty Dog sucks at platforming and puzzles. The whole plank/ladder/palette "puzzles" were a joke and felt like a complete afterthought to the look of the game. I really think at the one point in Bill's town where you go across the rooftop that they could've made paths to choose with different enemies on each side and using the superhearing ability as way to guide you thru it.
I don't care for all the triangle QTEs they seem to love. And Melee feels empty, just press square and watch. And pipes just become useless after 6 hits? The amount of hits it took to take guys down felt ridiculous.

And one feature I wish they expanded was looking at photos in the game. I couldn't pick up and examine anything until I found a random picture in an RV on the highway in Utah.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

It knew what it needed to be and pulled it off almost perfectly. There are some hiccups... in my opinion the combat seemed to be too frequent and the peaceful segments weren't fleshed out enough. But what we got was damn perfectly executed. Everything melds well with the core themes and, more importantly, the narrative.

Unlike Uncharted which seemed kind of schizophrenic, jumping from tongue in cheek comedy adventure into a 80's macho action piece, The Last of US never let the gameplay dominate the narrative or lag behind it. It fit perfectly, though it could have been a little more varied and refined.

Despite that, it's the best game of the last few years for me.