The Last of Us

[scott155]

This is for any discussion of the new game from Naughty Dog, The Last of Us.

 

First things first, please use spoiler tags for any potential spoilers.

 

This is a game best experienced without any plot spoilers. The story is excellent and well told and I don't want anyone's experiences ruined.

 

I really love this game, so I thought it needed a thread. It's the first game I've ever pre-ordered and I was not disappointed.

 

So, discuss away!

[Bugthing]

Other than the fact it's pretty linear at times, it may be the best rpg/stealth/shooter hybrid I've come across in a long time. Great story, great graphics, great artwork, great gameplay. Wish the follower AI was a little smarter though. It's a good thing the enviroment AI doesn't notice the follower AI, or the game would become nearly impossible to play.

[scott155]

Other than the fact it's pretty linear at times, it may be the best rpg/stealth/shooter hybrid I've come across in a long time. Great story, great graphics, great artwork, great gameplay. Wish the follower AI was a little smarter though. It's a good thing the enviroment AI doesn't notice the follower AI, or the game would become nearly impossible to play.

True. The friendly AI running right in front of enemies without them noticing is a bit immersion breaking, but it beats the friendly AI fucking up your stealth left and right. I don't think the AI is quite as good as it was being hyped to be, but it's still excellent compared to most other games.

 

Also, I love the voice acting. It seems spot on, even for the basic enemies.

 

Minor Spoilers

 

I love the part where you play as Ellie. It's different; she's not as good at hand to hand, but her small size is good for stealth and her knife means she basically has infinity shivs. It makes me feel as though singleplayer co-op would've been interesting. Also love when the bad guys are all like "Where is that little girl?" and I'm all like "BEHIND YOU WITH A KNIFE!" *stab* *stab* *stab*

 

[Bugthing]

Yeah, I loved that part too. Especially how it started out considering the events of the chapter before it.

 

My only wish is that there will some day be an equivalent of this for the PC. It doesn't look like a port will ever happen though, what with Sony being both the publisher and the hardware manufacturer. But maybe other game devs will be inspired at least. I have good hopes for DayZ Standalone.

[scott155]

Finished the story mode. My god, this game is incredible. I didn't like the online, but not because it's bad. The online mode is quite good, but I kind of suck at it so far.

 

Do not read before finishing the game!

 

I really cared about Ellie by the end of it, but Joel is an asshole. When you have to save Ellie, you have to kill that surgeon, and that sucks. The game seemed like it wanted me to shoot him, but he didn't do anything wrong, so I thought "Nah, I'll just punch him." And then the punch button makes Joel stab the surgeon in the neck!!! Poor dude. In fact, the whole hospital level I couldn't help feeling that I was the bad guy. Although the simple fact that a game made me feel that much emotion and actually feel bad about killing some AI is a testament to how good it is.

 

[Bugthing]

Serious, serious spoiler warnings all over this next bit. Don't say I didn't warn you.

 

 

I actually quite liked the hospital level. Having quite a bit of experience in stealth games, I played throughout the game trying to avoid unnecessary killing (as Garreth from the Thief series would put it, 'killing is the mark of an amature'). It made sense to me, as Joel clearly disproves of Tess' bloodlust in the first chapter. It made it easier for me to connect to Joel's humanity in all of this.

 

But anyway, throughout the game, the worst atrocities seen were never caused by the infected. They're rather docile and rather easily controlled as long as you take the right precautions. No, it was always other humans doing really sick things. Way before the ending, it had already become a matter to me of whether or not humanity was still worth this supposed cure. Joel even openly asks if they should go through with it, just before they hit Salt Lake City. When it becomes clear that the Fireflies just want to off her to get to the cure, I made up my mind. The Fireflies were no different. Humanity itself and the Fireflies in particular weren't worth that kind of sacrifice anymore. Not by a long shot if you consider other colonies like Tommy's have no problems thriving regardless of the infected.

 

~

 

But then, there's also the matter of Joel's lie in the car and later again just before the game ends. At first I didn't get why he lied in the car, but I understood it a little better during the second time he lied. Yes, he kind of sees her as his daughter, and no that's not the only thing playing here. It's because of the time they had spend together that he had begun to understand her quite a bit. She leaps into danger and very nearly gets herself killed numerous times. Because she is brave? I don't think so. She explains herself right before the end.

 

After she and her friend first got infected and she had to watch her friend die.. she was just waiting for her turn to die as well. Classic survivor's guilt, she had already accepted, even embraced death, deep inside. Joel had already started to realize this on some level, probably long before they even made it to Salt Lake City. He tried to spur her on when he she got depressed and gave her reasons to continue, those promised guitar and swimming lessons. So by the time she wakes up in the car an they're driving back to Tommy's colony, his choice not to tell her the truth about the nature of the cure.. well I think you understand. She would probably would have happily accepted death as an option. There would be no way to know for sure what she or others would ever do with that kind of information. He simply had to lie.

 

But then, it's kind of like she knows what really happened anyway. When she asks him to swear that he's telling the truth, it doesn't sound like she's asking him a question. It sounds more like she's 'ordering' him to believe that IT IS the truth, reinforcing his own and by extension each others beliefs.

 

 

But yeah, it's open to interpretation. A LOT of interpretation. I was kind of zoned out for a full day after finishing the game.

[ThePest179]

I don't know if this is a spoiler (probably not) so I'll just go out and say it.

 

I constantly need to be informed of things that happen, so I discovered more about the zombie "virus" that plagued the US (and apparently, the world) and found out that it was a strain of the parasitic fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, that grows inside the host and directs them to spread the infection by any means (even if it means completely suicidal attempts). The fungus initially infects people through airborne spores, which grow inside the lungs of the host. The host is then (after a two day incubation period) driven by pure instinct and impulses from the fungus. Even if the host dies, the fungus continues to grow, but needs compact spaces (such as a basement) to effectively release their spores.

 

Hope this doesn't ruin anyone's playing experience.

[scott155]

I don't know if this is a spoiler (probably not) so I'll just go out and say it.

 

I constantly need to be informed of things that happen, so I discovered more about the zombie "virus" that plagued the US (and apparently, the world) and found out that it was a strain of the parasitic fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, that grows inside the host and directs them to spread the infection by any means (even if it means completely suicidal attempts). The fungus initially infects people through airborne spores, which grow inside the lungs of the host. The host is then (after a two day incubation period) driven by pure instinct and impulses from the fungus. Even if the host dies, the fungus continues to grow, but needs compact spaces (such as a basement) to effectively release their spores.

 

Hope this doesn't ruin anyone's playing experience.

That's mostly background info, no spoilerish stuff there. The Last of Us really is more about the characters dealing with the apocalypse than the apocalypse itself.

[Bugthing]

When in doubt, use spoiler tags. But this is alright, yeah.

[scott155]

Been playing it some more. The "Survival" Multiplayer mode is actually quite fun. And the "Survivor" single-player difficulty is... well, brutal. Hardly any supplies, harder enemies, and no listen mode. Some people don't use listen mode anyway (which is understandable), but I used it quite a bit my first playthrough. It also seems combat is no longer even a valid option. Stealth, running and dying seem to be your only options.

[Bugthing]

I'm in the middle of a big move right now and I just don't have the time to test the multiplayer. What I've seen looks good, but IMO it seems to be helping the player a bit too much. I didn't check if it was possible to play online on 'survivor' difficutly, but it would be rather nice if that was possible. I love survivor difficulty by the way, seems a lot more realistic. Wish I could have played it like that the first time around.

[scott155]

I may need some tips for survivor, as I seem to have gotten stuck really early on

[ThePest179]

That's mostly background info, no spoilerish stuff there. The Last of Us really is more about the characters dealing with the apocalypse than the apocalypse itself.

 

I love the apocalypse itself though. That's why my favorite parts in a video game where an apocalypse is unfolding is when there's news bulletins reporting on it (or when finding backstory information). Back to the game though, what caused that fungus to infect people? It normally infects INSECTS. That's a pretty big leap from insects to people, right? Is it a bioweapon? If yes, then who made it? Was its release intentional? This is what going on in my mind each time I watch a YouTube video on it or when I play the game.

[Bugthing]

I may need some tips for survivor, as I seem to have gotten stuck really early on

Well, obviously stealth is important. But it may be even more important to avoid killing altogether. Save your ammo for compulsory combat sections and save your shivs for opening doors. Never waste a shiv in a stealth takeout as they're extrordinarily hard to come by.

 

I love the apocalypse itself though. That's why my favorite parts in a video game where an apocalypse is unfolding is when there's news bulletins reporting on it (or when finding backstory information).

Yeah, that's my favourite part too. Too few games take place entirely during an apocalypse, most just skip forward to a few years or centuries after.

 

Back to the game though, what caused that fungus to infect people? It normally infects INSECTS. That's a pretty big leap from insects to people, right? Is it a bioweapon? If yes, then who made it? Was its release intentional? This is what going on in my mind each time I watch a YouTube video on it or when I play the game.

I hope these questions will never be answered. It's like a good book leaving a lot of stuff to the power of the imagination. But I happen to have a pretty creative one, so..

 

 

- "It normally infects INSECTS. That's a pretty big leap from insects to people, right?"

It is odd. Fungi are more easily treatable than bacteria, let alone viruses. But it's not entirely impossible for a species to quickly evolve, given favourable circumstances. There are some fish in a lake in Africa (tried to google the name, failed) that only need three or four generations to develop completely new biological features. There's a good book on someone who tried to document the species getting dangerously close extinction due to the British releasing bigger fish in the same lake to help the struggling fishing industry in the area. The African fish ended up being almost wiped out by the larger British fish. Just before it went extinct, the African fish evolved to become larger than the British fish, so it could devour them instead. So to make a long story short, life can evolve pretty quickly if it has to. But that still doesn't mean it did in this case, it's just food for thought really.

 

- " Is it a bioweapon? If yes, then who made it? Was its release intentional?"

Well if nature wasn't involved and it was released with an intention, you would think someone would have been able to profit out of that situation somehow. That doesn't really seem to be the case however. It's difficulty to control only underlines that nobody was either ready for it, or the substance itself wasn't ready for 'normal' use yet.

 

There may be scraps of paper providing clues that I haven't found. I do recall reading something about ]infected crops in the beginning of the game, but who knows if that had anything to do with it.

 

[ThePest179]

I may need some tips for survivor, as I seem to have gotten stuck really early on

Well, obviously stealth is important. But it may be even more important to avoid killing altogether. Save your ammo for compulsory combat sections and save your shivs for opening doors. Never waste a shiv in a stealth takeout as they're extrordinarily hard to come by.

 

I love the apocalypse itself though. That's why my favorite parts in a video game where an apocalypse is unfolding is when there's news bulletins reporting on it (or when finding backstory information).

Yeah, that's my favourite part too. Too few games take place entirely during an apocalypse, most just skip forward to a few years or centuries after.

 

 

 

- " Is it a bioweapon? If yes, then who made it? Was its release intentional?"

Well if nature wasn't involved and it was released with an intention, you would think someone would have been able to profit out of that situation somehow. That doesn't really seem to be the case however. It's difficulty to control only underlines that nobody was either ready for it, or the substance itself wasn't ready for 'normal' use yet.

 

There may be scraps of paper providing clues that I haven't found. I do recall reading something about ]infected crops in the beginning of the game, but who knows if that had anything to do with it.

 

Ah, someone who agrees the story should take place during the apocalypse instead of after it. Going on the bioweapon assumption (as I usually do) the theory I imagine was that a terrorist organization got hold of it, and released it in the US to damage it, and it then spiraled out of control. A supporting detail for this is that the fungus is normally found in Africa, and I doubt that infected immigrants could come to the US from Africa without being noticed at all by security for whatever mode of transportation they used/were using.

[Bugthing]

Hm, not sure about that. Is it at any time specifically stated that the pandemic originated in the US? I mean, people get terrorist news all the time in the USA, so I understand why it's easy to jump to an aimed attack. If it was a terrorist attack, it doesn't help that there doesn't really seem to be a victor. The only group visibly taking a position of power afterward is the army, so unless it was a coup d'etat.. doubt they are the culprit either.

[scott155]

About the infection

I assume it's just natural progression, like how diseases jump from animals to people. This also tend to occur in crowded areas; The beginning of the game says it only affects people is cities (to begin with).

 

 

About Survivor help

I'm stuck in the tilted building near the beginning where you need to get past about three or four runners and a clicker. I take out the one runner that always has his back turned, but I always seem to get spotted not matter where I go or how quietly after that. And I can't just bolt after they see me because I have to move that cart blocking the door.

 

[Bugthing]

Packed my PS3 today because I'll be moving out soon. Damn shame, it's such a fantasticly good game. Even for a die-hard Thief player.

 

About the infection

I assume it's just natural progression, like how diseases jump from animals to people. This also tend to occur in crowded areas; The beginning of the game says it only affects people is cities (to begin with).

That's true. Didn't think about that.

 

About Survivor help

I'm stuck in the tilted building near the beginning where you need to get past about three or four runners and a clicker. I take out the one runner that always has his back turned, but I always seem to get spotted not matter where I go or how quietly after that. And I can't just bolt after they see me because I have to move that cart blocking the door.

 

I think I really took my time for that one. Helped me with later encounters too. There's the one you can safely kill in the beginning, the one that walks into the little room in the back. Luring others into that room is useful on easier modes, the problem in survivor mode is that you lure too many in at once (it's too close to the main group). Try throwing a bottle near the edge of the room, where you first jump down. You have to time it really well, so only one of them is close enough to react. If you attract more then one of them, try to only stealth kill the one that walks back last. I got nearly a heart attack when I saw the clicker in my line of sight, but since he has no line of sight.. it went fine. I think after that there's only two runners left around the clicker. I wouldn't suggest resorting to bullets yet.. just use the same distraction trick. And no fast stealth takeouts with a shiv, you're going to need all the shivs you can make to open doors. Sorely.

 

[scott155]

Packed my PS3 today because I'll be moving out soon. Damn shame, it's such a fantasticly good game. Even for a die-hard Thief player.

 

About the infection

I assume it's just natural progression, like how diseases jump from animals to people. This also tend to occur in crowded areas; The beginning of the game says it only affects people is cities (to begin with).

That's true. Didn't think about that.

 

About Survivor help

I'm stuck in the tilted building near the beginning where you need to get past about three or four runners and a clicker. I take out the one runner that always has his back turned, but I always seem to get spotted not matter where I go or how quietly after that. And I can't just bolt after they see me because I have to move that cart blocking the door.

 

I think I really took my time for that one. Helped me with later encounters too. There's the one you can safely kill in the beginning, the one that walks into the little room in the back. Luring others into that room is useful on easier modes, the problem in survivor mode is that you lure too many in at once (it's too close to the main group). Try throwing a bottle near the edge of the room, where you first jump down. You have to time it really well, so only one of them is close enough to react. If you attract more then one of them, try to only stealth kill the one that walks back last. I got nearly a heart attack when I saw the clicker in my line of sight, but since he has no line of sight.. it went fine. I think after that there's only two runners left around the clicker. I wouldn't suggest resorting to bullets yet.. just use the same distraction trick. And no fast stealth takeouts with a shiv, you're going to need all the shivs you can make to open doors. Sorely.

I'll try that, thanks. I'm don't do lots of stealth games, so I suppose I'm not yet used to games making me be really patient

[Bugthing]

I'll try that, thanks. I'm don't do lots of stealth games, so I suppose I'm not yet used to games making me be really patient

No problem. As for that little area and that last clicker, you can't strangle clickers and to save a shiv you can safely use a gun there. You can still be stealth about it and close in for a headshot. In any other area, simply try to avoid them entirely.

 

If you do have get through areas where combat is unavoidable, always go for headshots to save ammo. Another important tip I left out. If it doesn't wear a helm, you can usually take it out in a single headshots.