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This thread has been linked to the game 'The Last Of Us'.
It's the end of the world as we know it.. again. Yes, the apocalypse seems to be a popular theme for games these days, and this time around, the end of the world is down to a rogue fungus. Which may sound unlikely, but it turns out the fungus in question is actually real. Granted, it doesn't really infect humans, but one strain does turn ants into zombies, forcing them to climb onto a leaf, clamp their jaws on and stay there till the fungus erupts from their bodies. Nasty stuff.
You don't really get to see this happening in The Last Of Us, however, since most of the action in this PS3 exclusive game takes place well after the apocalypse has happened, mankind having mostly been herded - or having fled - into isolated city areas. Unfortunately for you, or Joel, the character you play, you've been tasked with transporting a young girl, Ellie, over to a meeting point well outside the city, meaning you have to enter the infected areas and ensure neither of you fall prey to the mushrooms-from-hell.
What this basically entails is wandering around a range of breathtakingly eerie locations, often at night, either combatting or avoiding the bad guys. There are a few different enemy types, some of which hunt by sound, while others hunt you by sight. You really have no chance of defeating them in groups of more than two, even with your bullets which are pretty sparse, so stealth is the order of the day. Dispatch them and move on, then repeat this pattern, with the odd human on human fight thrown in.
That accounts for about half of the game's sections. The other sections, mostly the daylight sections, have you wandering around small areas trying to find your way across obstacles and so forth. Granted, this game may be from the makers of the Uncharted series, but Joel is nowhere as agile as Nathan Drake. Instead of leaping across gaps, he has to rely on using conveniently placed planks or being pulled up by Ellie.
Neither of these sections really set the world on fire, and if it wasn't for the game's storyline, The Last Of Us would be pretty unremarkable. However, what really makes this game worth playing is seeing the relationship between Ellie and Joel unfold. Granted, the game's opening sequence does kind of telegraph the bond that forms between them, but it's still fun to see the normally gruff Joel warm to her. And thankfully, she doesn't make the kind of stupid decisions a lot of other escort characters do. My only gripe with the characterisation is that you don't get to choose her ultimate fate, which would have doubled the emotional impact it has.
That said, however, The Last Of Us does have its negative points. Firstly, as is the case with many games of this ilk, there's not a lot of reason to replay it. There are no side missions and it's not an open world game so once you've played it once, there's not a lot of reason to play it again. Secondly, the game seems occasionally inconsistent with its use of ladders/boxes etc. You can encounter a gap and boost Ellie up, whereupon she pulls you up as well. Then you can run into a gap that's the same size, only to find you need to bring a box over from somewhere else. Odd.
The Last Of Us has been hyped to high heaven, and there's no denying that it looks and sounds great. The graphics are superb, as is the quality of the voice acting. However, it's not particularly revolutionary, but it does what it does pretty well. I'd definitely recommend renting this, and it will keep you hooked for a good week or so. It's not replayable enough to warrant purchasing, at least not at full price. Either way, it's still fun to play and one of the more emotionally engaging titles I've played in a while.
Pros:
Good graphics.
The voice acting's great.
It's got an excellent storyline.
Cons:
The box/ladder mechanic is inconsistent.
There's no real reason to replay it.
You don't really get to see this happening in The Last Of Us, however, since most of the action in this PS3 exclusive game takes place well after the apocalypse has happened, mankind having mostly been herded - or having fled - into isolated city areas. Unfortunately for you, or Joel, the character you play, you've been tasked with transporting a young girl, Ellie, over to a meeting point well outside the city, meaning you have to enter the infected areas and ensure neither of you fall prey to the mushrooms-from-hell.
What this basically entails is wandering around a range of breathtakingly eerie locations, often at night, either combatting or avoiding the bad guys. There are a few different enemy types, some of which hunt by sound, while others hunt you by sight. You really have no chance of defeating them in groups of more than two, even with your bullets which are pretty sparse, so stealth is the order of the day. Dispatch them and move on, then repeat this pattern, with the odd human on human fight thrown in.
That accounts for about half of the game's sections. The other sections, mostly the daylight sections, have you wandering around small areas trying to find your way across obstacles and so forth. Granted, this game may be from the makers of the Uncharted series, but Joel is nowhere as agile as Nathan Drake. Instead of leaping across gaps, he has to rely on using conveniently placed planks or being pulled up by Ellie.
Neither of these sections really set the world on fire, and if it wasn't for the game's storyline, The Last Of Us would be pretty unremarkable. However, what really makes this game worth playing is seeing the relationship between Ellie and Joel unfold. Granted, the game's opening sequence does kind of telegraph the bond that forms between them, but it's still fun to see the normally gruff Joel warm to her. And thankfully, she doesn't make the kind of stupid decisions a lot of other escort characters do. My only gripe with the characterisation is that you don't get to choose her ultimate fate, which would have doubled the emotional impact it has.
That said, however, The Last Of Us does have its negative points. Firstly, as is the case with many games of this ilk, there's not a lot of reason to replay it. There are no side missions and it's not an open world game so once you've played it once, there's not a lot of reason to play it again. Secondly, the game seems occasionally inconsistent with its use of ladders/boxes etc. You can encounter a gap and boost Ellie up, whereupon she pulls you up as well. Then you can run into a gap that's the same size, only to find you need to bring a box over from somewhere else. Odd.
The Last Of Us has been hyped to high heaven, and there's no denying that it looks and sounds great. The graphics are superb, as is the quality of the voice acting. However, it's not particularly revolutionary, but it does what it does pretty well. I'd definitely recommend renting this, and it will keep you hooked for a good week or so. It's not replayable enough to warrant purchasing, at least not at full price. Either way, it's still fun to play and one of the more emotionally engaging titles I've played in a while.
Pros:
Good graphics.
The voice acting's great.
It's got an excellent storyline.
Cons:
The box/ladder mechanic is inconsistent.
There's no real reason to replay it.
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It's the end of the world as we know it.. again. Yes, the apocalypse seems to be a popular theme for games these days, and this time around, the end of the world is down to a rogue fungus. Which may sound unlikely, but it turns out the fungus in question is actually real. Granted, it doesn't really infect humans, but one strain does turn ants into zombies, forcing them to climb onto a leaf, clamp their jaws on and stay there till the fungus erupts from their bodies. Nasty stuff.
You don't really get to see this happening in The Last Of Us, however, since most of the action in this PS3 exclusive game takes place well after the apocalypse has happened, mankind having mostly been herded - or having fled - into isolated city areas. Unfortunately for you, or Joel, the character you play, you've been tasked with transporting a young girl, Ellie, over to a meeting point well outside the city, meaning you have to enter the infected areas and ensure neither of you fall prey to the mushrooms-from-hell.
What this basically entails is wandering around a range of breathtakingly eerie locations, often at night, either combatting or avoiding the bad guys. There are a few different enemy types, some of which hunt by sound, while others hunt you by sight. You really have no chance of defeating them in groups of more than two, even with your bullets which are pretty sparse, so stealth is the order of the day. Dispatch them and move on, then repeat this pattern, with the odd human on human fight thrown in.
That accounts for about half of the game's sections. The other sections, mostly the daylight sections, have you wandering around small areas trying to find your way across obstacles and so forth. Granted, this game may be from the makers of the Uncharted series, but Joel is nowhere as agile as Nathan Drake. Instead of leaping across gaps, he has to rely on using conveniently placed planks or being pulled up by Ellie.
Neither of these sections really set the world on fire, and if it wasn't for the game's storyline, The Last Of Us would be pretty unremarkable. However, what really makes this game worth playing is seeing the relationship between Ellie and Joel unfold. Granted, the game's opening sequence does kind of telegraph the bond that forms between them, but it's still fun to see the normally gruff Joel warm to her. And thankfully, she doesn't make the kind of stupid decisions a lot of other escort characters do. My only gripe with the characterisation is that you don't get to choose her ultimate fate, which would have doubled the emotional impact it has.
That said, however, The Last Of Us does have its negative points. Firstly, as is the case with many games of this ilk, there's not a lot of reason to replay it. There are no side missions and it's not an open world game so once you've played it once, there's not a lot of reason to play it again. Secondly, the game seems occasionally inconsistent with its use of ladders/boxes etc. You can encounter a gap and boost Ellie up, whereupon she pulls you up as well. Then you can run into a gap that's the same size, only to find you need to bring a box over from somewhere else. Odd.
The Last Of Us has been hyped to high heaven, and there's no denying that it looks and sounds great. The graphics are superb, as is the quality of the voice acting. However, it's not particularly revolutionary, but it does what it does pretty well. I'd definitely recommend renting this, and it will keep you hooked for a good week or so. It's not replayable enough to warrant purchasing, at least not at full price. Either way, it's still fun to play and one of the more emotionally engaging titles I've played in a while.
Pros:
Good graphics.
The voice acting's great.
It's got an excellent storyline.
Cons:
The box/ladder mechanic is inconsistent.
There's no real reason to replay it.
You don't really get to see this happening in The Last Of Us, however, since most of the action in this PS3 exclusive game takes place well after the apocalypse has happened, mankind having mostly been herded - or having fled - into isolated city areas. Unfortunately for you, or Joel, the character you play, you've been tasked with transporting a young girl, Ellie, over to a meeting point well outside the city, meaning you have to enter the infected areas and ensure neither of you fall prey to the mushrooms-from-hell.
What this basically entails is wandering around a range of breathtakingly eerie locations, often at night, either combatting or avoiding the bad guys. There are a few different enemy types, some of which hunt by sound, while others hunt you by sight. You really have no chance of defeating them in groups of more than two, even with your bullets which are pretty sparse, so stealth is the order of the day. Dispatch them and move on, then repeat this pattern, with the odd human on human fight thrown in.
That accounts for about half of the game's sections. The other sections, mostly the daylight sections, have you wandering around small areas trying to find your way across obstacles and so forth. Granted, this game may be from the makers of the Uncharted series, but Joel is nowhere as agile as Nathan Drake. Instead of leaping across gaps, he has to rely on using conveniently placed planks or being pulled up by Ellie.
Neither of these sections really set the world on fire, and if it wasn't for the game's storyline, The Last Of Us would be pretty unremarkable. However, what really makes this game worth playing is seeing the relationship between Ellie and Joel unfold. Granted, the game's opening sequence does kind of telegraph the bond that forms between them, but it's still fun to see the normally gruff Joel warm to her. And thankfully, she doesn't make the kind of stupid decisions a lot of other escort characters do. My only gripe with the characterisation is that you don't get to choose her ultimate fate, which would have doubled the emotional impact it has.
That said, however, The Last Of Us does have its negative points. Firstly, as is the case with many games of this ilk, there's not a lot of reason to replay it. There are no side missions and it's not an open world game so once you've played it once, there's not a lot of reason to play it again. Secondly, the game seems occasionally inconsistent with its use of ladders/boxes etc. You can encounter a gap and boost Ellie up, whereupon she pulls you up as well. Then you can run into a gap that's the same size, only to find you need to bring a box over from somewhere else. Odd.
The Last Of Us has been hyped to high heaven, and there's no denying that it looks and sounds great. The graphics are superb, as is the quality of the voice acting. However, it's not particularly revolutionary, but it does what it does pretty well. I'd definitely recommend renting this, and it will keep you hooked for a good week or so. It's not replayable enough to warrant purchasing, at least not at full price. Either way, it's still fun to play and one of the more emotionally engaging titles I've played in a while.
Pros:
Good graphics.
The voice acting's great.
It's got an excellent storyline.
Cons:
The box/ladder mechanic is inconsistent.
There's no real reason to replay it.