The Last of Us

[Freakorama]

I'mma draw David rape later.

[JOSEPH X]

Do people with the season pass get DLC for free

You have to pay for the season pass, so no

 

It works out as a discount of 30% (?). I think I read there'd be one single player DLC and two multiplayer DLCs.

 

Played through on hard the first time, and I'm currently on a second run but this time on easy to cut down on the amount of deaths and enjoy the story more.

 

Winter for me is the best sequence of levels I've ever experienced in a game. The way you're switching between Ellie and Joel - who are both frantically looking for each other - I found so dramatic. The game really reaches a high point there. And I'm so glad I avoided spoilers, because the way winter started was just...wow!

 

 

[Freakorama]

I thought that winter would be the least favourite section of the game.

But being that you play as Ellie.

It's my f*cking favourite part of the game.

[Dnero]

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

 

Anyways, gonna do my Survivor playthrough tomorrow and maybe Survivor Plus as well if I have the time, might also get all the artifacts/comics or whatever. Been a while since the last time I hunt some trophies.

 

Also, speaking of favorite part of the game, mine has got to be every encounter with clickers/infected. I just love killing/sneaking past most of them (even if I die countless of times)

[Corndawg93]

Winter has it all, great plot twist, Nolan North, a great boss battle

[Freakorama]

 

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

Later in the year, I pwomise.

 

Also Nolan North was the icing on the winter cake.

So much good about that section.

 

I was really hoping they'd have something in the game about someone hitting on Ellie and getting their just desserts.

Naughty Dog gave me everything I wanted and more.

 

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Futurama_Freak1

[Corndawg93]

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

You know what's funny about that scene, I was thinking the exact same thing when he didn't do that

[JOSEPH X]

[Futo]

Alright, having finished the game I now feel ready to give you guys my honest opinion of it, obviously this post is going to contain ending spoilers, so if you haven't completed The Last of Us, turn back now.

 

The first thing you notice about the game is just how damn well it is presented, from the voice acting, to the graphics, to the soundtrack everything in this game is done to near perfection and that is what makes this one of the, if not the most immersive gameworld I have ever had the joy of playing in. The graphics give off the illusion that this is a CGI film and not a videogame at numerous points during the game, I had times where I had to pause the game and take a breather, not because I was busy or I have some sort of health condition that makes me follow those guidelines, but rather because the game was so damn intense and immersive I felt myself shaking at the end of each play session.

 

The enemies in the game are nice and varied and each encounter requires a different strategy for you to be able to overcome it; for example there was one moment in the game where you are tasked with finding your way out of a very dark series of rooms surrounded with clickers. These are nasty, horrible and to an extent frightening creatures that will kill you the very moment they snuff you out, but what makes them interesting is that you can walk right in front of them and they won't notice you, you see the game has a fantastically diverse enemy system so depending on whether you're fighting infected or other humans your plans will change drastically, and that's without even mentioning when you're tasked with dealing with both of them simultaneously. Anyway I digress, these clickers are a fairly advanced form of infected that can't actually see you, instead they rely on sound to find you, their clicks help these infected map an area based on acoustic echoes, essentially using echolocation like a bat.

 

This is then is a situation where stealth, subtly and speed is required. Luckily for our protagonists Joel and Ellie, Joel has this in abundance; he may not be as spry as Naughty Dog's other leading men Drake and Jak (one who can quite literally jump and then jump again while still in the air) but that certainly doesn't make him any less apt to survive in The Last of Us' twisted, dark and insanely complex world. You see to capitalise on the situation at hand Joel too can use sound to his advantage, a quick press of the R2 button allows the player to focus Joel's hearing allowing him to see around the environment detecting and avoiding enemies as the situation requires. So, needless to say in this encounter there was going to have to be an obstacle to overcome, a way to escape this dark and deadly series of rooms. This obstacle quickly reveals itself to be a clicker located very close to where a conveniently placed ladder lies, the only issue is that the noise involved with bringing down the ladder would surely attract not only the attention of just one clicker, but also the attention of all other infected in the room with you at that time.

 

This might seem a tad restrictive, having to follow a set path and end up in this room with no other choice but to kill off the clicker silently and be done with it. Well it would be if we weren't talking about The Last of Us, you see this situation demonstrates perfectly one of The Last of Us' finest features. Freedom. Not necessarily the freedom to go anywhere and do anything like a Grand Theft Auto-esque game, but rather the freedom to tackle any situation in the game the way you want to; that clicker that we were talking about earlier is actually a pest to deal with. You see you can't just go straight in and beat it to death with your bare hands as clickers are one of the few enemy types in the game that will instantly kill you unless you have the right tools to take them down with. With that in mind let's say you want to take out this clicker without making a sound, that's good and that's fine but have you been a good scavenger and explored a lot of the map? If so you might just find that you have just the right amount of materials to craft yourself a shiv.

 

"What use is a shiv in this situation?!" I hear you cry, well early on in the game you're shown that shivs (just like any item in The Last of Us) have multiple usages; for example they're the only tool that'll allow Joel to stealth kill a clicker without getting his jugular torn out of his neck, but they also allow the player to breakthrough locked doors that might contain valuable loot and materials that can be used at a later date to help you further progress. The only problem here is that Joel can only use the shiv once (at least in the early game) before it breaks so the usages of your crafted items become quickly cobbled together strategies that sometimes play out brilliantly and other times leave the player running for their lives using every bit of their carefully assembled and scarcely available resources to escape almost certain death. So here it'd make more sense to lure the clicker away from the ladder, right? Well partly, the only problem being that clickers, much like bats are blind and see with sound so if you were to throw a glass bottle in one direction and make it shatter that won't just attract the one clicker you want it to, it will attract all of the infected, clickers or not to the location that you threw that bottle, you'd best plan your throw out before you do it, otherwise you too may well be forced to scramble for survival.

 

It's at this point then that the you start to wonder "Wait a minute, what if Ellie or another one of my companions gets caught or spotted by one of the Infected?" Have no fear, Naughty Dog have come up with a rather ingenious solution to this problem by having friendly AI remain all but undetectable as long as you too remain hidden to the enemy AI. What do I mean by this? Well if we continue using the room filled with clickers scenario then it means that as long as you don't get spotted by the clickers they won't either. This solution isn't perfect however, as it can occasionally break the player's immersion to see Ellie, Tess or any other companion run out in front of a bandit group and not even see the bandits flinch as a result. Other than that though, there seems to be no real downside to the AI as itself is another one of the game's technical marvels, they will hunt for you and react dynamically to the way that you decide to play the game. Hell the detail of these responses is what causes the game to be so damn immersive, the fact is that if the player chose to shoot a bandit in the leg then his leg would actually be wounded, he'd react to it and it'd actually be a hindrance to that particular enemy and a beneficial thing for the player to do. They also dynamically respond to the player, trying all sorts of tactical strategies making sure that the game never loses its fast-paced, ruthless and deadly combat, they will try to flank you, flush you out of hiding places and even engage your friendly AI so you'll be forced at times to go out and help them in combat.

 

In short the AI in the game is incredibly intelligent and apart from that tiny issue with the enemy AI being unable to detect the friendly AI it really shines and stands out as one of the game's finest features and greatest achievements.

 

Now, time to focus a little on the story, which is arguably the best part of the game. The characters feel alive, you actually care for Joel and Ellie, wanting to keep both of them safe as you guide them through the post-apocalyptic wasteland known as North America. You see they develop much like normal people, there isn't one big action that draws the player closer to the relationship between these two characters and the world around them, no it's a combination of small, little, tiny things that the player might not even notice when they're on their first playthrough of the game. These small touches can be anything from Ellie being dazzled at the sight of seeing real fireflies and losing her self for a moment or two to her trying to learn how to whistle. Though these little instances may be small, there's a plethora of them that help to further immerse the player in The Last of Us' world and it's moments like these that the player actually starts to cherish.

 

This game actually makes you feel relieved when you're not in constant danger and you actually start to appreciate the little things in life; for example he time Ellie picks up a toy for another young survivor when they're told not to take it is really rather touching and the game does it in such a wonderful way, in which she'll only pick up the toy when the camera moves away from her allowing her the quick moment she needs to carefully slip the toy into her backpack. This actually allows the player some personal time with Ellie, learning her quirks and mannerisms, she's a pleasant character to be around at first but later on in the game she starts to symbolise so much more. She's the perfect symbol of innocence and hope in The Last of Us' dark and hopeless world, her very presence makes the game's world more bearable and the way that she connects and reacts to the world also allows you to react accordingly, this is the first time either of you have ever had to embark on such an endeavor but you as Joel start to feel the need to protect her ergo, you might sometimes try to hide her or protect her from the dark things in this world.

 

 

 

One of those, "special moments".

 

Now, we get to the slightly more spoiler filled section, so I gave you and am now giving yet another ample warning to stop reading this if you do not wish to have the game spoilt for you early on. Since this section mainly contains my person views on some of the factions in the game and the game's ending overall. You have been warned.

 

There are certain facts that need to be established before I go on.

• Joel was unconscious at most for a few hours before waking at the Fireflies hospital in Salt Lake City. It would be ridiculous to think that a thump on the head would keep him out for much longer than that and the fact that they arrive at the hospital in what appears to be early afternoon and depart at what appears to be evening supports this.

• Marlene's journal states that her men asking for her permission to proceed with the surgery was purely a formality, and she didn't really have a choice but to agree to it as the potential for a vaccine was too important.

• Ellie wakes in Joel's car after being taken from the hospital and asks what it is she's wearing, having been dressed in a surgical gown by the Fireflies, seemingly without any memory of what had transpired prior to being dragged unconscious from the water by Joel.

What does this all add up to? Any experimentation that the Fireflies performed on Ellie must have been cursory to the extreme prior to deciding that they needed to remove Ellie's brain and they never asked Ellie's permission to proceed with the operation or even informed her of the consequences. Ellie likely remained unconscious the entire time from the moment she and Joel arrived.

 

After performing what could've only been the most basic of tests, the Fireflies had already committed to killing the Golden Goose in their desperation to find a vaccine. This makes me feel like the Fireflies didn't truly appreciate her as anything more than a scientific curiosity--a means to an end--instead of as a little girl. Even if Marlene felt conflicted about it, she was still complicit in the murder of the girl she had practically raised on nothing more than the flimsiest of rationalisations and the hasty assumption that it was the only way.

 

To make matters worse, they were fully prepared to sacrifice an innocent little girl who had been through hell to reach them without even so much as the respect of giving her time to prepare or say her goodbyes. And while Marlene and the Fireflies would've had no way of knowing how closely Joel and Ellie had bonded in their time together, it's not incorrect to say that Joel had taken on the responsibility of her guardianship in the ~9 months since they had left Boston. What the Fireflies were doing was effectively no different than abducting a child from her guardian and performing fatal experiments on her without parental consent. Any way you look at it, that's monstrous.

 

It's ironic that one of the surgeons calls you an animal, while they were about to rip her brain out after a few hours of studying her, and without her consent. An even crueler irony is who they were willing to sacrifice. Ellie is the closest things this messed up world has to a paragon of virtue. Aside from frequent swearing and stealing some magazines and old tapes, she is all but perfect. She more or less represents the best of humanity. They fireflies were willing to sacrifice what makes us different from animals to save mankind. We are only worth saving because we are so much more then that. She is proof that humanity, and basic human goodness are not completely gone. Even though she doesn't get to save mankind, her life proves that there is a chance that not everyone is a sh*tty person.

 

I don't want to make Joel appear to be a saint, but he is far from evil. What half decent father would abandon his daughter? Joel acted on a paternal instinct in him. It could have gotten him killed, but his survival wasn't his first priority anymore. Ellie was. He is a human being. Filled with flaws, but not without goodness in him. He hasn't lost the capacity to care for Ellie.

 

But the real irony in the ending of The Last of Us is that the Fireflies brought their ultimate downfall on themselves. Everything that happened could've been avoided if they hadn't been so goddamn hasty. If they had simply waited a few hours for Ellie and Joel to wake, explained what needed to happen to both of them, gotten permission from Ellie (as Marlene even said, it's almost certainly what Ellie would've wanted if she had been given the choice) and let her and Joel say their goodbyes, they would've had their vaccine; or at least known one way or the other whether a vaccine was possible. Instead, they practically forced Joel's hand by not giving either of them a choice. Joel wasn't going to let them murder Ellie, and the only way for Ellie to give her consent was to stop the operation, which the Fireflies weren't going to let him do; going so far as to threaten to shoot him if he didn't walk out the door right then and there. Maybe it was malice, maybe it was greed or maybe it was simply desperation, but the simple fact is that the operation was unbelievably rushed. What would giving them one more day before deciding to end Ellie's life have cost them?

 

While it's almost certain that Ellie would've chosen to sacrifice herself for a possible vaccine, Joel was correct when he told Marlene that it wasn't their choice to make. It was Ellie's choice, and they never gave her the opportunity to make it. Ultimately, that's why my Joel walked out of that hospital without a single Firefly still drawing breath. Being able to talk about a videogame in that manner is something that I've not been able to do for a long, long time and as a direct result of that The Last of Us to me at least has become one of the, if not the most impressive game this generation. Oh and if you've taken the time to read this little tangent of mine thank you, I appreciate it.

Very good review that mate and they were exactly my thoughts on the ending too. After just recently finishing my 2nd playthru, i still feel the same.

 

Joel ain't the total monster some (like ign) are making him out to be.

[holder]

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

Later in the year, I pwomise.

 

Also Nolan North was the icing on the winter cake.

So much good about that section.

 

I was really hoping they'd have something in the game about someone hitting on Ellie and getting their just desserts.

Naughty Dog gave me everything I wanted and more.

 

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

Can I ask what is wrong with you? Assuming your profile is correct then you're 22? Why do you have such a sexual obsession with a character who is 14 years old? It may be a fictional character, but it's a character that's only 14. Based on this, it seems likely that your attraction to girls of a young age extends beyond The Last of Us. I find it unsettling to say the least.

[Freakorama]

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

Later in the year, I pwomise.

 

Also Nolan North was the icing on the winter cake.

So much good about that section.

 

I was really hoping they'd have something in the game about someone hitting on Ellie and getting their just desserts.

Naughty Dog gave me everything I wanted and more.

 

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

Can I ask what is wrong with you? Assuming your profile is correct then you're 22? Why do you have such a sexual obsession with a character who is 14 years old? It may be a fictional character, but it's a character that's only 14. Based on this, it seems likely that your attraction to girls of a young age extends beyond The Last of Us. I find it unsettling to say the least.

 

Come into my van and I'll explain everything.

[Corndawg93]

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

Later in the year, I pwomise.

 

Also Nolan North was the icing on the winter cake.

So much good about that section.

 

I was really hoping they'd have something in the game about someone hitting on Ellie and getting their just desserts.

Naughty Dog gave me everything I wanted and more.

 

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

Can I ask what is wrong with you? Assuming your profile is correct then you're 22? Why do you have such a sexual obsession with a character who is 14 years old? It may be a fictional character, but it's a character that's only 14. Based on this, it seems likely that your attraction to girls of a young age extends beyond The Last of Us. I find it unsettling to say the least.

 

Come into my van and I'll explain everything.

I going to start calling you Unkle Tommy from now on

[Bad.boy!]

Finished the game today, loved every second of it. I really liked how Joel saved Ellie at the end. Finally someone who doesn't save the world. Anyway I think they should have put less human enemies and more infected enemies in the game. I also think that they should have mixed clickers and runners more, to make it more difficult to sneak past. But I've only played on normal (because uncharted 3 was to hard on the most difficult level imo), so it might be more difficult on hard. However the story was definitely worth it.

[holder]

 

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

Later in the year, I pwomise.

 

Also Nolan North was the icing on the winter cake.

So much good about that section.

 

I was really hoping they'd have something in the game about someone hitting on Ellie and getting their just desserts.

Naughty Dog gave me everything I wanted and more.

 

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

Can I ask what is wrong with you? Assuming your profile is correct then you're 22? Why do you have such a sexual obsession with a character who is 14 years old? It may be a fictional character, but it's a character that's only 14. Based on this, it seems likely that your attraction to girls of a young age extends beyond The Last of Us. I find it unsettling to say the least.

[/img]http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/185/2/8/bring_candy_by_freakorama1-d55xf7h.png[/img]

 

Come into my van and I'll explain everything.

Funny...

 

Seriously though, if you could stop linking to your collection of pedophilic and hebephilic drawings that'd be great. This thread is for discussion on The Last of Us.

[Freakorama]

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

Later in the year, I pwomise.

 

Also Nolan North was the icing on the winter cake.

So much good about that section.

 

I was really hoping they'd have something in the game about someone hitting on Ellie and getting their just desserts.

Naughty Dog gave me everything I wanted and more.

 

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

Can I ask what is wrong with you? Assuming your profile is correct then you're 22? Why do you have such a sexual obsession with a character who is 14 years old? It may be a fictional character, but it's a character that's only 14. Based on this, it seems likely that your attraction to girls of a young age extends beyond The Last of Us. I find it unsettling to say the least.

 

Come into my van and I'll explain everything.

Funny...

 

Seriously though, if you could stop linking to your collection of pedophilic and hebephilic drawings that'd would be great. This thread is for discussion on The Last of Us.

I'm contributing with The Last of Us fan art.

 

[Dnero]

Seriously though, if you could stop linking to your collection of pedophilic and hebephilic drawings that'd be great. This thread is for discussion on The Last of Us.

Well... his 'collection' does relate to The Last of Us so why not?

[holder]

Ellie Unchained #2 pls

Later in the year, I pwomise.

 

Also Nolan North was the icing on the winter cake.

So much good about that section.

 

I was really hoping they'd have something in the game about someone hitting on Ellie and getting their just desserts.

Naughty Dog gave me everything I wanted and more.

 

Except... They purposefully didn't make Joel give Ellie mouth to mouth after the tunnel section just to piss me off.

Can I ask what is wrong with you? Assuming your profile is correct then you're 22? Why do you have such a sexual obsession with a character who is 14 years old? It may be a fictional character, but it's a character that's only 14. Based on this, it seems likely that your attraction to girls of a young age extends beyond The Last of Us. I find it unsettling to say the least.

 

Come into my van and I'll explain everything.

Funny...

 

Seriously though, if you could stop linking to your collection of pedophilic and hebephilic drawings that'd would be great. This thread is for discussion on The Last of Us.

I'm contributing with The Last of Us fan art.

 

You're pathetic. I really hope your attraction to children is specific only to drawings.

[Freakorama]

I'm getting sh*tloads of requests to draw Sarah and Joel.

 

Should I? Hmmn.

[holder]

I'm getting sh*tloads of requests to draw Sarah and Joel.

 

Should I? Hmmn.

I guess I can't stop you. You and your sexually disturbed kin have to get your kicks somehow.

[JOSEPH X]

I'm getting sh*tloads of requests to draw Sarah and Joel.

 

Should I? Hmmn.

If I could make a request. I found the full song from one of the trailers - "Salt of the Earth" by Lovedrug. Could you put your video editing talents to good use and make a long cinematic + gameplay video to go with the song please.

 

 

[Freakorama]

I'd love to but I've already got a long-ass list of songs I want to make The Last of Us videos about.

[burner12]

I thought that winter would be the least favourite section of the game.

But being that you play as Ellie.

It's my f*cking favourite part of the game.

Completely agree, that was a nice surprise. I do think more infected should have been put in, it might just be the level. I'm playing on normal. But it seems 65% humans 35% infected

[Algonquin Assassin]

One thing l liked about this was the balance between battling infected vs hunters/other gangs. If a chapter was focussed on the infected the next would be reversed and vice versa.

 

I feel the infected were secondary enemies though and it was the gangs that were the real concern.

[Corndawg93]

It would be nice if there were a part in the game your crossing though an area and hunters and infected were fighting each other and Joel says "Never in my life am I glad to see an infected" and Ellie goes "Yeah let's get the hell out of here before they both notice us"

 

[Algonquin Assassin]

It would be nice if there were a part in the game your crossing though an area and hunters and infected were fighting each other and Joel says "Never in my life am I glad to see an infected" and Ellie goes "Yeah let's get the hell out of here before they both notice us"

Not just that, but there should've been sequences where other survivors should've been attacked by infected. I get it tried to create an isolated feeling, but it woulld've been good to happen every now and then.

[Menaced]

This game is brilliant - without a doubt the best game I've bought in years. I've been playing it quite slow, dedicating about 2 hours a day to it. I really don't want it to end.

 

I haven't finished the game yet so I don't know what happens to Joel and Ellie, but I'm hoping they both survive so that there's potential for a sequel.

[Freakorama]

This game is brilliant - without a doubt the best game I've bought in years. I've been playing it quite slow, dedicating about 2 hours a day to it. I really don't want it to end.

 

I haven't finished the game yet so I don't know what happens to Joel and Ellie, but I'm hoping they both survive so that there's potential for a sequel.

It turns out Ellie is a robot and Joel is a ghost.

[josephene123]

Yeah, definitely creeped out after reading these last couple of pages. Why is that stuff seemingly deemed acceptable by most users?

 

Anyway, I was watching the road because a lot of people were saying it shares many similarities with The Last of Us. Holy sh*t what a depressing film, was expecting it, but still. The Last of Us is obviously still a lot lighter but the way things just get worse and worse in both of them is very similar

[jamieleng]

Yeah, definitely creeped out after reading these last couple of pages. Why is that stuff seemingly deemed acceptable by most users?

 

Anyway, I was watching the road because a lot of people were saying it shares many similarities with The Last of Us. Holy sh*t what a depressing film, was expecting it, but still. The Last of Us is obviously still a lot lighter but the way things just get worse and worse in both of them is very similar

The Book of Eli shares some similarities to TLOU as well. Well, I haven't played the game yet but it seems familiar. A bit like Max Payne 3 & Man on Fire.

 

I need to get out out of here before I accidentally read a spoiler. Playing with fire.

[Rebel]

The road is a fantastic film. However the kid in it is a whiny little bitch where Ellie kicks ass. I just got to the power plant where you meet the brother can't believe how long summer was. Really loving the game. Told myself last night at 11pm ill just finish this last little area, next time I notice its 1AM and I could of continued to play.