Casual Shinji said:
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.