The Last of Us Part II

[Revelator]

It seems that they're making the humans out to be primary enemies in this one. I wonder if/how that might effect the action sequences?

Humans make up a pretty good portion of the enemies in the first one too. I really hope there are multiple gameplay scenarios with humans AND clickers. The Left Behind DLC had a small dose of these moments and it was a nice change of pace.

There's evidence of those scenarios during the state of play broadcast so I believe we will see those abound in Part II.

Not surprised about humans playing the primary antagonist role (though one could argue Part I was also humans), but I still hope there's copious amounts of clicker/stalker/bloater gameplay. Fighting the infected transform this game from action/3rd person shooter, to straight up horror at time (and the tension and suspense are executed to perfection).

[tragabigzanda]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
2. Mario Kart (Wii)
3. Half-Life 2 (PC)
4. Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)
5. NHL 95 (Sega Genesis)
6. The Oregon Trail (graphical version, 1985, Apple II)
7. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
8. Missile Command (Arcade)
9. Rocket League (PS4)
10. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (PC)

[Revelator]

I also retract my previous statements about being disappointed by the leaks that I was stupid enough to read about. Evening knowing what I know, I'm ridiculously pumped to fire this up next Friday.

[Monkey_Driven]

The humans at the beginning are all of the “sneak quietly” variety. The water station is action heavy, but I’m not remembering any action relative to what tree said. Not suggesting that he’s wrong, just that I can’t remember it.

You can approach any of the following situations with human enemies stealthily or by going guns a blazing.

- Everything in the quarantine zone and right outside at the beginning
- The Boston town hall section
- Most of the Pittsburgh section of the game
- The final half of the University section
- The entire Resort sequence (the Joel parts)
- The hospital

[tragabigzanda]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
2. Mario Kart (Wii)
3. Half-Life 2 (PC)
4. Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)
5. NHL 95 (Sega Genesis)
6. The Oregon Trail (graphical version, 1985, Apple II)
7. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
8. Missile Command (Arcade)
9. Rocket League (PS4)
10. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (PC)

[Monkey_Driven]

My only concern with this game is the length. 25-30 hours seems like a slog if the it is as heavy as it appears.

Uncharted 4 was too long.

[tree_]

I don't have an issue with the length. If it is done well, the longer the better! It seems like it was done well.

[Revelator]

Yeah I'm also good with the narrative length if the game is as engrossing as the first. Also RDR2 was super long and I loved every minute of it. But agree this is probably going to be a pretty grim/depressing game so will likely be a drain to the finish line. Easy for me to say having read a majority of the leaks, I think I can understand why the narrative would take so long to get through.

Also 100% agree on the UC4 length. The third act in particular was a total slog. Great/fun game as usual from Naughty Dog, but probably the weakest from a narrative standpoint.

[tree_]

All of the Uncharted games were pretty narratively uninteresting to me. I can enjoy a game simply based on the fun-to-play factor, as I assumed was the case for most people. Which is why when all these spoilers were leaked and people claimed they were no longer going to buy it because of story choices, I couldn't help but be shocked and confused. Such are the times with all these herd-mentality culture war folks, I suppose.

[tragabigzanda]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
2. Mario Kart (Wii)
3. Half-Life 2 (PC)
4. Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)
5. NHL 95 (Sega Genesis)
6. The Oregon Trail (graphical version, 1985, Apple II)
7. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
8. Missile Command (Arcade)
9. Rocket League (PS4)
10. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (PC)

[Revelator]

the Uncharted narratives aren't great, but the cutscenes and voice acting were enough to hold my interest. Unlike, say, the Tomb Raider cutscenes, which I have zero qualms about skipping.

100%, voice acting alone was worth the price of admission for UC. Tomb Raider's are often cringe-worthy

[Tim]

Uncharted is about the characters more so than the story. To echo the above, it helps that the voice acting is top notch.

So it looks like this game is getting stellar reviews.

[Revelator]

Unsurprisingly at 96% on Meta. I'm just sticking to the headlines mostly, trying to go into this somewhat fresh even though I was stupid enough to read (once) through the leaks.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/playsta ... us-part-ii

[Revelator]

Interesting, arguably (mostly) negative review from Kotaku. Seems like the violence in this one is a bit too much for some to bear, that it more or less overshadows a technically top-notch game.

https://kotaku.com/the-last-of-us-part- ... 1844006193

[tree_]

Yeah I'm super pumped UP for this game.. I knew it'd be great. Bring on the heart-wrenching brutality. Looks like Raz will vomit in her mouth.

[Monkey_Driven]

Interesting, arguably (mostly) negative review from Kotaku. Seems like the violence in this one is a bit too much for some to bear, that it more or less overshadows a technically top-notch game.

https://kotaku.com/the-last-of-us-part- ... 1844006193

Same with Polygon. I wonder how much this will bother me playing it in 1-2 hour chunks every night for the next month. Sometimes I wonder if the rushed nature of reviews can influence their perspectives. I feel like RDR2's reviews suffered from that.

[tree_]

Interesting, arguably (mostly) negative review from Kotaku. Seems like the violence in this one is a bit too much for some to bear, that it more or less overshadows a technically top-notch game.

https://kotaku.com/the-last-of-us-part- ... 1844006193

Same with Polygon. I wonder how much this will bother me playing it in 1-2 hour chunks every night for the next month. Sometimes I wonder if the rushed nature of reviews can influence their perspectives. I feel like RDR2's reviews suffered from that.

Interesting to think about. Imagine playing games CONSTANTLY and then reviewing something as HEAVY as this. I hope these guys are OK.

[Monkey_Driven]

I haven't played the game (obviously) and I may share many of the same critiques, but I wonder how much of the "crunch culture"/workplace environment of Naught Dog influences reviewers as well.

[scrub12]

That 20 minute demo was pretty gruesome at times so I can see it over an entire game.

Not surprised on the high scores. Naughty Dog is basically a lock for a great game but not sure I’ll be snagging this one.

[tragabigzanda]

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
2. Mario Kart (Wii)
3. Half-Life 2 (PC)
4. Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)
5. NHL 95 (Sega Genesis)
6. The Oregon Trail (graphical version, 1985, Apple II)
7. Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
8. Missile Command (Arcade)
9. Rocket League (PS4)
10. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (PC)