I want to take this moment to talk a little more in-depth about the gameplay in the Last of Us.
The story was so good in the Last of Us that the gameplay doesnt even get the full credit it deserves.
The gameplay in Last of Us was friggen amazing too, and deserves even more praise then its already been getting.
In fact, the gameplay in Last of Us WAS revolutionary, just due to the simple fact that I had never played combat that tense, brutal, dynamic, engaging, and well thought out before.
All the mechanics were so well done and came together so organicaly to create a gameplay style in Last of Us that was original and exhilarating.
(and the gameplay also suited the settings/themes/story perfectly to boot. That is a discussion for another post)
-There was a brilliant mix of solid stealth mechanics, the best gun play out there, brutal meele, and stellar level design.
Which in turn lead to:
-Multiple paths you could take to enemies.
Do you try to flank? Do you throw distractions and try to out-manuever in stealth. You could even set bomb traps in smart places and lure enemies around corners right into it lol.
-An always different approach you could take to the combat - stealth, play cat and mouse with enemies, shoot, brawl it out in brutal fashion, use items to hit with, throw item to brutal running meele combos. Brick throw to running pipe smash is one of the greatest things ever!
-You could always run away in the thick of things too, lose enemies naturally, and re-evaluate.
On a mechanics level, that put Last of Us as a stealth game far above most other stealth games...because in other stealth games as soon as an enemy would see you, everyone would become aware of where you were and would never lose sight of you.
Last of Us has organic adaptive stealth mechanics that require actual improvisation like stealth in real life would (but more importantly its done in a way that its fun to play too. Naughty Gods are also the best when it comes to gameplay design)
As mentioned, the Last of Us does have superb individual gameplay mechanics. The way it comes together to create such a unique style of play, holy shit though!
-You could also run and brawl or try to desperately get a shoot off as you were on the run. Exhilarating!
-Or you could do Mixtures of all the above etc etc etc
There was so much you could do. There was a lot of depth to the combat in Last of Us. The Last of Us is a game for the thinking man. Its not your typical AAA braindead shallow Gears of War/Halo shooter
(not to mention, there is a real time crafting system that added further depth to the combat, which I will get into in a little bit)
Combat was flexible, and beautifully designed by Naughty Dog- from the mecahnics to level design/level lay outs/enemy placements....and you had the tools at your disposal to tackle the encounters how ever which way you wanted to. Combat in Last of Us was very dynamic and sand box like.
A.I deserves credit too
-The enemy A.I was also incredible and very crafty. Always kept you on your toes.
Hell, encounters vs Humans played OUT much differently compared to encounters vs the infected. Each played like a different game almost. Was such awesome legit enemey variety in combat that was natural and not forced.
Now on to the real time crafting system.
(We are starting to wrap this up in detailing how all the mechanics just came together so organically and flawlessley)
You scavenged environments in search of items during down time exploration (like any real survivors would -again one of many more examples of how gameplay and story were as one and how everything just fit) and what ever items you found or crafted actually mattered - tied right into the superb combat
Depending on your choices you could craft offensive items for a more offensive approach to combat or craft for defensive purposes.
Also, do you craft a shiv for stealth kills or do you use the same ingredients to craft a lock pic instead to open up locked doors with the hopes of finding more supplies? There were so many tough choices in gampeplay that you had to make that mattered!
The crafting is even done in real time so that meant that you had to choose when to craft. There is all the more strategy involved with the combat
Here is one of many scenarios that can happen when playing Last of Us
You are low on resources (health) and now you are frantically running away to find a safe spot to craft a medkit while enemies give chase to you. Moments like these happen on the fly. So tense!
There are just so many dynamic, tense, on the fly moments that can occur when playing Last of Us depending on how you played, choices you made, and how enemies reacted.
The over all bottom line is,
Whether you were playing cat and mouse with the enemies - or picking em off one by one in exhilirating fashion as you manuvered around, even using bricks or bottles as distractions etc...
Or whether you had to improvise when your cover was blown in stealth and shit hit the fan, and you were able to come up with a different gameplan on the run - or on the go, and succeed - getting into a brutal brawl in a last bid to survive or popping off your gun with a defeaning boom etc....
Or whether you were able to frantically lose the enemies when caught durring stealth, "disappear," re-think your gameplan- give the stealth another go and finally have the success you wanted....
Or whether you just barely managed to get by an encounter through the skin of your teeth while on low health and low resources....
Etc etc etc no matter how the cards turned, no matter how you chose to play, no matter what strategies you used, playing the Last of Us was pure gaming bliss ....some of the BEST pure gaming ive ever played or experienced. Last of Us has THE BEST gameplay of any game I have ever played BAR FRIGGEN NONE.
There IS NO other third person combat game that even comes close to matching Last of Us in gameplay... (or even comes close to having as original of a gameplay style as orginal as the gameplay style in the Last of Us is)
To recap, Last of Us has dynamic, intense, brutal, well thought out, sandbox-like combat, that perfectly blends survival horror with action, that is still challenging, and is backed by item resource managment mechanics to boot. What else out there is like it? There is nothing else out there like the Last of Us.
Oh and I almost forgot one thing! We still arent done! The Last of Us has such amazing gameplay, that I forgot to talk more about the industry standard Naughty Dog just set in GUNPLAY with the Last of Us too.
Just like your bullets had an impact on enemies, bullets would blow you away and stop you in your tracks. Thus you were forced to continue to play smart and approach with caution at all times etc....but in still a fun way....
Now comprae that to a character in Gears of War who eats bullets with no effect like a walking tank. God, Gears of War has the shittiest gunplay ever.
The more you breakdown the Last of Us the more you realise just how amazing and revolutionary the gameplay truly was in the Last of Us.
Anyway, trolls on neogaf, or on here, or on any other site, who try to tell you that the gameplay in Last of Us "wasnt any good or wasnt doing anything special," is full of shit.....plain and simple...they are full of cow shit stacked miles high.
Here is how you expose them.
Just ask them, "If its not doing anything special then what games play like Last of Us?" It always shuts 'em up with a quickness lol.
Or tell them to explain why the gameplay is bad. They can NEVER give any logical reasons that are based in any seamblence of reality why. And you know why, because the gameplay in Last of Us is objectively GREAT.
Anyone trying to tell you other wise is straight up full of shit, or doesnt know shit about video games
Last of Us plays like a unique blend of a next gen ManHunt, MGS3, and RE4 all wrapped up into one....and thats the closest you can ever get to naming a game that "plays like" Last of Us lol
Plus the way the gameplay and story merged together so perfectly in Last of Us etc
Last of Us is just a god tier game.
Easily one of the best games of all time, and my personal best game of all time. Naughty Gods indeed
To give you context. Ive been gaming since the NES. Ive played nearly every big or hyped game you can think of over the years, and still... the Last of Us stands TALL above the rest....
Last of Us is the greatest game i have ever played, experienced, what ever you want to call it...
There is NOTHING past or present that tops the Last of Us for me.
Last of Us IS the closest to perfection a game has ever come. Naughty Dog is seriously one of the greatest developers gaming has ever seen period, Naughty Dog is certainly the greatest developer of our time/of current times.
Thank you Naughty Dog, and thank you to Sony for always letting Naughty Dog do their thing and supporting them.
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