The Last of Us

[Vandread]

I had not really heard this game until the press NDA was lifted and the internet was scoured with reviews. The instant flood of 10/10 everywhere impressed me, but I was still skeptical. Either way, its a Naughty Dog game and they make good games, so I figured I had to try it.

I didn't know much about the game going into it, I knew you had a little girl that followed you around and there was something about zombies. What I expected was Uncharted with Zombies, what I got was an experience akin to a zombie story better than The Walking Dead, stealth game play that puts splinter cell to shame, and sheer panic and shock at times on par with Amnesia.

This is the first game in over 10 years I've played for more than 6 hours straight (and even those games are rare as I don't normally play a game for more than 1-2 anymore). I played The Last of Us for 12 hours on Father's day (using my parentage to my advantage for that one!) and another 7 hours monday night (went to bed very early tuesday morning) and both times I had to force myself to stop playing. Playing this game is like reading the best book ever written, you don't want to put it down, but you eventually get to the point where you know you have to because you have to work tomorrow.

The game plays like you're playing a movie, and while there are quicktime events, they are infrequent and make sense for the time, you're in an upside down truck and need to kick out the windshield, hit square. Sometimes you need to mash the square button to push away a zombie, other times you need to hold triangle to open a warehouse garage door. But the seamless way it is woven into the game play doesn't make it feel gimmicky at all and just works.

The story is broken into episodic chunks separated by seasons, starting with "summer" which is the longest season since it has the intro stuff in it and ending with "spring."

The characters are so well done you feel for them, when something bad happens you're left in a moment of shock but the game balances it well, after something devastating happens you'll have a period of relaxing to let your emotions level out before it throws you back into the muck.

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 9.5/10 (very nice, easily better looking than anything else I've seen on the PS3, but loses half a point because not having any AA is noticeable. Granted not the game's fault the PS3 just isn't powerful enough to do everything this game makes it do AND have AA)
Storyline: 10/10 - this really drives the game forward, you care about the characters, you laugh at the little voice-over quips Ellie makes as you travel around and oddly even feel happy when she successfully whistles the first time...
Replayability: 4/10 - There is a new game plus mode and different difficulties, but the story is the driving force of the game, and once you know what happens next it doesn't compel you to keep playing it more.

Overall: 9.5/10 - (scores not averaged) It loses half a point because there is no way to do a pacifist or pure stealth run. There are times where the game forces you into a firefight or forces you to kill the enemies to get past.

All in all, my only regret is I don't have a MIB flashy thingy to erase the game from my mind so I can experience it all over again. This is a must buy for any PS3 owner.

[Tahiri]

Sounds like pretty much everything I've heard thus far. I intend to get it, but I was thinking of waiting until some sort of sale - or until the price of used copies goes down.
Tahiri/Razeal

[Siberus]

Hmm. Something that receives that much lip service from Vandread certainly warrants a looking into, as he tends to be more reserved with his praise than the average bear. I'll have to see about borrowing a PS3 and experience this game, myself. Thanks for the heads up. :)