Life has conspired to give me a free PS3, and the GF has borrowed a stack of games. I asked her to be sure to get The Last of Us, as all I've heard about it was "GOTY contender!!!!!!", so I wanted to try that shit out. Normally these quality console exclusives are lost to me forever.
So I'm around the part...the booby trapped town part? Does that make sense? Just went through the whole "hanging upside down/booby trap/shooting sequence". I assume there's just one. Although knowing this fucking game there's probably 50 of them.
Some caveats...I hate shooting with a controller. I'm sure some of you are pro at it, it feels like trying to swim with winter boots on for me. Sluggishly prodding the cursor around the screen attempting to aim makes me crazy. I also think the inventory system is appalling, it's some arcane sequence of buttons and d-pad presses and hold downs just to switch a fucking gun. I have no idea how anyone tolerates that. But this is all UI unfamiliarity/system crossover, so I'll minimize the bitching.
The game ITSELF is pissing me off.
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.
2. Also much like Tomb Raider, it's a goddam QTE apocalypse. MASH THE BUTTON TO DO THE THING. Whee!
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.
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.
5. Gunplay is pretty garbage, largely due to A) I hate the controls and B) damage modeling seems off. Yes I realize the first one is my fault. The AI also seems to alternate between being dead eye accurate and brain numbingly stupid, which reminds me of Crysis AI, which was balls.
6. Clickers and insta-death for failure. Awesome game mechanic. Makes me want to punch the developer in the dick.
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?
On the plus side of things, the game is very pretty, the voice acting is good, the environmental art design is strong (if again, sadly linear). I'm interested in seeing where the story goes, when a bit of story gets crammed in between OMG EXCITING linear sequences that I get to repeat 10 times because HURRAH CHECKPOINTS.
So...does it get better? When does it get better?
1. Yes I realize part of the issue is I'm a bit shit aiming with controllers.
2. Please avoid spoilers.
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.
So I'm around the part...the booby trapped town part? Does that make sense? Just went through the whole "hanging upside down/booby trap/shooting sequence". I assume there's just one. Although knowing this fucking game there's probably 50 of them.
Some caveats...I hate shooting with a controller. I'm sure some of you are pro at it, it feels like trying to swim with winter boots on for me. Sluggishly prodding the cursor around the screen attempting to aim makes me crazy. I also think the inventory system is appalling, it's some arcane sequence of buttons and d-pad presses and hold downs just to switch a fucking gun. I have no idea how anyone tolerates that. But this is all UI unfamiliarity/system crossover, so I'll minimize the bitching.
The game ITSELF is pissing me off.
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.
2. Also much like Tomb Raider, it's a goddam QTE apocalypse. MASH THE BUTTON TO DO THE THING. Whee!
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.
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.
5. Gunplay is pretty garbage, largely due to A) I hate the controls and B) damage modeling seems off. Yes I realize the first one is my fault. The AI also seems to alternate between being dead eye accurate and brain numbingly stupid, which reminds me of Crysis AI, which was balls.
6. Clickers and insta-death for failure. Awesome game mechanic. Makes me want to punch the developer in the dick.
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?
On the plus side of things, the game is very pretty, the voice acting is good, the environmental art design is strong (if again, sadly linear). I'm interested in seeing where the story goes, when a bit of story gets crammed in between OMG EXCITING linear sequences that I get to repeat 10 times because HURRAH CHECKPOINTS.
So...does it get better? When does it get better?
1. Yes I realize part of the issue is I'm a bit shit aiming with controllers.
2. Please avoid spoilers.
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.