The Last of Us: When Does it Get Better?

[Poppy JR.]

If you're just playing this game for the gameplay, you're not going to enjoy it very much. I loved though. The narrative was absolutely outstanding, the story was great, and the characters were really well developed. The story gets a huge boost in awesome at the end. The winter chapter will blow your mind.

 

[Johnny Impact]

The only thing broken about the stealth is Listen Mode, since it gives you an unnecessary advantage and turns stealth into a waiting game. The tension in the stealth combat lies in not exactly knowing where the enemy is, and dealing with the shitstorm once someone spots or sneaks up on you. And Listen Mode takes all of that away, so my advice is to turn it off. And go ahead play it on Hard Mode while you're at it.

Listen Mode doesn't work anyway. I frequently spend ten minutes scouting a room, learning floorplans, counting enemies, etc. I figure a game with instadeath and stealth is a game that wants you to use stealth. It should reward planning and tactics, yes? Then as soon as I engage the first enemy I instantly get grokked by a clicker who appears behind me as if by magic. This has happened again and again. It's not a fluke. It's either broken or a sadistic joke.

Honestly I'm glad Naughty Dog put in a couple of insta-kill enemies. If there's one thing every game with zombie enemies does it is allow just you to get bitten and treat it as if it were a mere healable wound. Eventhough the whole point of zombies is that they infect you by biting you. TLoU actually gives you some enemies that you will need to run from if the get too close, because they're too gnarly for you to physically fend off. And the Clickers design and sound are instantly recognizable, so you never get caught unaware.

Except I do get caught unaware, all the time. See above.

1. It's hyper linear. I thought maybe it was a bit of an open world scrounger, but it's an action set piece corridor runner, much like Tomb Raider.
Games that appear to offer choice do so through illusion. Sometimes that illusion is cleverly performed, sometimes less so. It remains an illusion. If you want a zombie scrounger, try State of Decay. It's buggy but it's very open.

3. I shoot a guy wearing a baseball cap in the face with a 9mm, he doesn't flinch. Damage modeling seems pretty kooky. I also remember someone saying The Last of Us was a game that "properly modeled the consequences of taking a wound" post Tomb Raider. Well, I'm getting shot to fuck and I'm slapping bandages on it and that's that I guess. So far it's pretty gamey.
I haven't had problems with headshots. I have problems with MISSING, oh god do I miss, but enemies react when I hit them. As far as healing your own wounds, any game that did not operate this way would be essentially impossible. You could not get hit even once.

4. Stealth is pretty garbage. It seems like there's an engine there with the whole listening system that SHOULD support a fun stealth game, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to how or why you get spotted. I was getting spotted and shot through walls during one sequence.
Me too. Part of the frustration is feeling like there's a game there, only I can't find it.

6. Clickers and insta-death for failure. Awesome game mechanic. Makes me want to punch the developer in the dick.
I have never been a fan of instadeath and I object to it being used here. If the clicker brushes me with his pinky finger, he latches on and I die. No fighting, no kicking him away, I just die. What, do they all have Superman's strength?? Come on, there must be something I can do.

7. Throwing distractions seems to work maybe 30% of the time. Half the time there's no noise in-game, and the enemies show no reaction. Bug?
Yeah, the game is very arbitrary about this. I've noticed it too. I don't bother throwing items because it doesn't work.

So far the game has been a crushing disappointment. 75% aggravation, 25% enjoyment. I've said "Fuck this, I'm done" a few times now, and one of these times I'm going to end up meaning it.
I'm right there with you. I'll give it another try at some point, but so far it's felt less like a game, and more like being an ant dodging God's magnifying glass.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Up to about 75% of the way through the game. My impressions of it remain pretty much unchanged. It veers from great (some story elements) to good (the occasional good action set piece or area to explore) to execrable (the sniper sequence leaps to mind most recently). Things I have discovered/encountered...

1. The game most DEFINITELY spawns enemies out of thin air. I've seen an entire floor repopulate itself instantly. I've had guys magic themselves into existence in dead end hallways to shoot me in the back when engaged. I don't know if we're at Dragon Age 2 "men raining from the skies" levels of tomfoolery but it's not far off.

2. (Some) Enemies can DEFINITELY see through walls. I used listen mode to watch the HumVee shooting the shit out of the wall I was hiding behind. I was on the other side of a building. Sneaking.

3. Headshots are still not really registering. Is there damage drop off at range? I've plugged guys in the head 3-4 times with the Hunting Rifle and they just pick themselves up and dust themselves off.

4. Is the improved melee weapon not supposed to be a one-shot kill? I had a two bar crowbar. I hit a guy wearing a hoodie, lost one bar. He got up. Hit him again, lost the second bar. Thought "Weird, but at least he's dead". Then he GOT UP AGAIN.

5. Had some amusing incidents with railings. Sometimes I shoot and the air between the railings stops my bullets. Other times I get easily shot between railings. Good times!

6. Started to get used to "rising music sting" means you're getting spotted in stealth. Had a zombie just walk up and start eating my head mid-stealth. No music sting. Good times!

7. Same area, I love how I can shoot a bow, miss, and EVERY ZOMBIE ON THE ENTIRE LEVEL knows exactly where I am, crouched in the shadows, and comes barreling towards me.

8. Speaking of crouched in the shadows, the dam scene was a good time. 3-4 NPCs standing out in the open waving shotguns around, and every enemy is trying to tag me, crouched behind a box, way at the back. Immersive!

9. Sniper level. In addition to the spawning enemies and can-see-through-walls sniper, I quite enjoy how the "sniper" is just a disembodied gun floating in the air.

10. Saved the best for last. I got killed by a headless Clicker. Blew its head off with the shotgun, but it continued walking towards me and executed its insta-kill move (with no triangle for shiv) despite having no head. It appeared to claw gently at my breast, and I just grimaced and keeled over. I wasn't even mad, the auto save put me like 30 seconds back, and it was hilarious.

Anyway the game is alright, but part of me really fucking hates it. How games like The Walking Dead or Bioshock Infinite can get pilloried for substandard game play elements and this thing gets a free pass is beyond me.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Listen Mode doesn't work anyway. I frequently spend ten minutes scouting a room, learning floorplans, counting enemies, etc. I figure a game with instadeath and stealth is a game that wants you to use stealth. It should reward planning and tactics, yes? Then as soon as I engage the first enemy I instantly get grokked by a clicker who appears behind me as if by magic. This has happened again and again. It's not a fluke. It's either broken or a sadistic joke.

Honestly I'm glad Naughty Dog put in a couple of insta-kill enemies. If there's one thing every game with zombie enemies does it is allow just you to get bitten and treat it as if it were a mere healable wound. Eventhough the whole point of zombies is that they infect you by biting you. TLoU actually gives you some enemies that you will need to run from if the get too close, because they're too gnarly for you to physically fend off. And the Clickers design and sound are instantly recognizable, so you never get caught unaware.

Except I do get caught unaware, all the time. See above.

I can't say that ever happened to me. In the heat of combat a Clicker can easily sneak up behind you as you're whacking another infected to death. Or when you get too close to one during stealth they'll spot you too. But I never had one just spawn on me as it were. That's either you not noticing one or a glitch.

The thing you need to remember about the stealth in this game is that enemies start out with set patterns, but as soon as they hear a noise or spot you their paths become random, even when they go back in caution mode. I've had a situation where there were two floors with bandits, and I went to the top floor and stealth killed a guy. The body gets spotted by someone on the same floor, and within 30 seconds there's a guy coming up from the stairs right next to me, when that usually doesn't happen.

And when enemies spot you you can shake them off your trail by running and hiding. This is generally the proper tactic when you get swamped. Even Clickers will lose you if you run away and stay quiet. The best way to deal with Clickers is throwing a brick/bottle to stun it and then go for a one-hit kill with a melee weapon. Actually that's the best way to deal with every enemy that isn't a Bloater. And remember, running at armed thugs turns you into a giant bull's eye.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I can't say that ever happened to me. In the heat of combat a Clicker can easily sneak up behind you as you're whacking another infected to death. Or when you get too close to one during stealth they'll spot you too. But I never had one just spawn on me as it were. That's either you not noticing one or a glitch.

The game does appear to winkle enemies into existence at set intervals. There seems to be trigger points. Like "step through this window, and a guy will be magicked into existence and come running into the room". Some of these trigger points are likely intended to create flanking ambushes. The end result is you get corn-holed by a guy you had every reason to believe couldn't possibly have been where he ended up being.

 

[Zhukov]

I can't say that ever happened to me. In the heat of combat a Clicker can easily sneak up behind you as you're whacking another infected to death. Or when you get too close to one during stealth they'll spot you too. But I never had one just spawn on me as it were. That's either you not noticing one or a glitch.

The game does appear to winkle enemies into existence at set intervals. There seems to be trigger points. Like "step through this window, and a guy will be magicked into existence and come running into the room". Some of these trigger points are likely intended to create flanking ambushes. The end result is you get corn-holed by a guy you had every reason to believe couldn't possibly have been where he ended up being.

That's, uhh... that's called "spawning in enemies".

It's a pretty common thing in games.

Seriously though, when and where specifically has that happened? Yeah, there are times when you get attacked by scripted spawning enemies, but they're always announced by lots of noise and usually someone yelling, "look out!" Sometimes they'll even prompt you to press a button and have the incoming enemies highlighted for you.

I've never seen enemies spawn in mid-fight. Especially not clickers. They're either there walking around to begin with when you enter the area, or they spawn in (with lots of noise) to begin the fight. The only possible exception I can think of is during the first big fight of the 'Winter' chapter, and even then they spawn at very specific places with ample warning.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I can't say that ever happened to me. In the heat of combat a Clicker can easily sneak up behind you as you're whacking another infected to death. Or when you get too close to one during stealth they'll spot you too. But I never had one just spawn on me as it were. That's either you not noticing one or a glitch.

The game does appear to winkle enemies into existence at set intervals. There seems to be trigger points. Like "step through this window, and a guy will be magicked into existence and come running into the room". Some of these trigger points are likely intended to create flanking ambushes. The end result is you get corn-holed by a guy you had every reason to believe couldn't possibly have been where he ended up being.

There are a few situations where the game cheats you. Like moments where if you try to stealth kill, the game will just send in another enemy, because it wants you to get caught. There's thankfully only two moments were this happens that I've noticed and it only happens with bandits and not Clickers. And it is kinda bullshit.

And there's also that one moment at the school parking lot where you could sneak past a bunch of infected only to have the game open a can of angry zombies once you pass a certain point. Meaning if you left the previous sneakable infected alive, you get totally sandwiched. Thankfully this never happened to me, since even on my first playthrough I just killed all of them.

On the flip side there are moments where the game braces you for an attack. Like when you're trying to force open a door and the camera gives you a view of the hallway you're in, as if to say 'Enemies are about to come swarming at you.' But if you've already killed them you still get that shot, but with an empty hallway.

The game structure can feel like a fussy mother sometimes.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

That's, uhh... that's called "spawning in enemies".

It's a pretty common thing in games.

It is, yep. It's an annoyance. I'm not cherry picking TLOU for abuse either, I've always hated it.

TLOU just underscores the issue more than a lot of its contemporaries. As you're given very limited ammunition and tools, and as stealth or carefully/systematically breaking down an area is thus prioritized over rushing in like a dolt and just pew pewing everything in sight, it becomes even more galling when an area you have every reason to believe is clear (using logic/the game's rules/the tools it supplies) is suddenly awash with enemies.

This has been a lot of TLOU's action sequences in a nutshell...

 

[BloatedGuppy]

So in the end, the answer was "Somewhere around the Winter chapter". Incidences of "This game is such concentrated bullshit" dropped significantly, and the story improved.

I'm finished now. I still feel it was a deeply flawed game, but it certainly has its merits. You know what I would've loved? Tomb Raider's game play and this game's story and collection of characters. That would've been GOTY material.