It's one thing to control Snake and take out entire squadrons of guards who favor the comically bumbling side at times ("huh? what was that? huh? what was that? cardboard box? huh?), but in TLOU, you feel a powerful sense of responsibility in wanting to protect Ellie (and especially Sam in that other terrifying chapter), and the human enemies feel less like light, virtually-cloned obstacles, and closer to actual "human" characters trying their best to kill you as quickly as possible (and to survive just like you). MGS enemies, despite being armed with the best weapons and protective gear, feel like programmed, hunching bots who raise their alert level, and then cool right back down to zero, resetting themselves and resuming their prescribed paths, forgetting about you. At least in TLOU, you feel that Joel is truly overwhelmed when 3-4 enemies give off way more palpable agitation - coordinating, cursing, sneaking and closing in to maul you to death and gouge your eyes out (yes, even the sound effects and voice acting is top-notch and adds to these moments). Moments like these cause you to eye your depleted ammo and lone pistol with more nauseous dread than in other games. In MGS, I feel like I could "play around" with the enemies, absorb bullets and dance around the map sometimes. In TLOU, I never wanted to alert any enemies because the price (and wince-inducing damage they could deal) was intensely high.
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