The Last of Us (PS3 & PS4)

[JezMM]

So I just beat it today... yes I'm on vacation yet I brought my PS3 just so I could finish the game =p

 

Yes... I brought a PS3 on holiday despite the accomodation having a PS3 here just so I could play it... don't believe me? I'll post a photo later... =p

 

I'm gonna be honest, despite my hype with this... there were things I wasn't looking forward too, I didn't like the idea of crafting weapons/items. I hate it in RPGs so wasn't looking forward to it here... but this ended up being easy to understand and added a huge level of tactics/risk to encounters.

 

Also when the critics start handing out 10's... alarm bells start ringing.

 

However...

 

It is the best game I've played so far this year, certainly one of the best on the PS3... in fact it's the best survival horror game for the best part of a decade. No really, those looking for that 'resident evil sequel' which is scary... yeah, just buy the last of us and be done with your search.

 

Now for the spoilers...

 

I didn't like the fact that David turned out to be 'evil.'

 

Mainly because I liked the idea that much like Ellie and Joel there were groups of people who were good, but also knew that people couldn't be trusted on first sight. Even when they find 'Tommy,' his group is armed and will kill them unless they state their business and are not seen as a threat.

 

The problem was, with the exception of Tommy's group, every other group of people were considered evil.

 

The closest thing to a group who genually is trying to do the right thing, who are not killing or robbing people, who are trying to help, are the fireflies.

 

With the whole 'we have to kill ellie to make the vaccine thing' this is the moral dillema, it's not something they want to do, theres a recording in the last level which shows that they don't want to do this, but it's the only way to save them all and have any chance of rebuilding.

 

Now whilst we don't know for sure and Ellie gives us a hint that she would have been willing to go along with the fireflies plan when she talks about all the people she's lost, Joel is the one who decides her fate and ultimately... the worlds.

 

Heres my problem with this...

 

JOEL IS AN ARSE! Who is so selfish and bitter he is not in ANY mindset to make such a decision on his own!

 

I've read theories about how 'humanity isn't worth saving' or how anyone else would have made the same choice.

 

Now let me say right now... I do not, nor did I ever want Ellie to die. in fact, the story would have been worse had she died and the vaccine been made.

 

Heres where the problem comes into it.

 

Joel from the start is a smuggler who was at one point on the side of the hunters... He has always looked after himself. Just look at how many ration coupons he has with Tess as they bribe their way out of the security zone.

 

He goes on the quest for guns! Tess tells him it's lots of guns.

 

Now why does he continue the quest? Because Tess tells him to, after she gets infected she tells him "I won't become one of them!" and "That girl is too important!" She knows she's doomed, but she won't and doesn't want to become one of the infected. She realises that Ellie can save them all.

 

Yet Joel goes against her wish too, which is the only reason why he continued to take Ellie to the Fireflies.

 

Now on this quest we see how a lot of people have become desperate and will attack and kill people for food and clothing.

 

However... we also see signs that humanity IS worth saving. Several times in fact.

 

We meet Sam and his brother, they tell them that they were part of a larger group who were ambushed by hunters, we don't know their fate (though we can guess it), they say they're not fireflies, but want to join them, they cannot be the only ones who are like this. They can't be the only ones who don't want to kill or rob other people?

 

And they're not!

 

We find Tommy and his family, as well as a HUGE town that are living in harmony, they're not robbing people, they're not hunting people, they're defending themselves yes! But they also have horses, crops and have even managed to restore some form of services and have a government which is working as well as working routine for their population.

 

Even at the start of the game, the people living inside the quanteen zoone (not the military) seem to just be ordinary people trying to survive without killing each other or robbing people.

 

Whilst the military take no nonsense to 'outsiders' not once is there any indication they behave like the hunters do. 

 

And to some extent, even David, as creepy as he is, tells his friend to bring Ellie medicine despite knowing who she is and what she's done, he even offers her protection and it's only when Ellie breaks his arm does he show his true colours... though I still wouldn't have trusted his moral compass by a long way.

 

Even at the end, the woman who joel kills asks him to spare her... why? Maybe she wanted to continue looking for a cure? Joel jumps to assume that she'd try to find Ellie again, but he doesn't know that.

 

The problem with Joel is that he starts off the game as an arse, even when we meet Tommy, he still doesn't particually want to be around Ellie. it's only in the next chapter that we see his character change for the better... however... in the last chapter... he becomes the arse again, and it seems that Ellie sees through it.

 

Now theres really no other way the game could have ended. But the problem is that Joel starts as an arse and ends as an arse.

 

Even if you bring in 'he views humanity is not worth saving' then thats his failing for being so blinded by the death of his daughter. He meets several examples in the game that people are still good and worth protecting. But because he's so bitter and angry, he dooms everyone who was worth saving... and it's much higher than those who were just out to get him.

 

Okay I browsed back a bit to find that release day post you mentioned but saw this along the way and I feel you've missed the entire point of Joel's decision.

 

It has nothing to do with Tess or whether or not humanity is worth saving.  It's about the fact that Joel has come to love Ellie as his surrogate daughter, and Ellie has come to love Joel as her surrogate father.  Apparently in playtesting, (read an interview earlier), most playtesters were 50/50 over whether Joel made the right choice.  However -every- person they've spoken to who is a parent, unanimously said they agreed with Joel's choice.

 

Joel was both simultaneously selfish and selfless.  Selfish that he chose Ellie over humanity.  Selfless in that he even put his relationship with her on the line by lying - just to give her life.

And there's two components to the ending.  It's not just Joel's choice but Ellie's.  Ellie doesn't believe him.  You see it in her eyes.  The entire ending is from her perspective so you get to view Joel from a distance and see that he is trying to hide something.

 

But even though she clearly doesn't believe him, she makes the final choice - to choose to accept that even if he is lying, he is doing so because he feels it is the right thing to do, and she has come to trust him on everything.

 

 

God it was such a great ending IMO.  Agonising but so much better than if either Joel OR Ellie chose to go ahead with the operation and save the world.

[Badnik Mechanic]

DLC news coming this month.

 

Also, at the pannel at PAX Prime, they're going to share details on some of the alternative endings they came up with.

[Vectorman]

I want to try to get this on my birthday and GTA V. Probably the last 2 NEW ps3 games i will get.

[Lamor]

The Last American Dreams issue is out!

https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/3481.last-of-us-american-dreams-4/

 

Pretty good conclusion if you ask me. I enjoyed this series and honestly I'd like to see more.

[Badnik Mechanic]

An image from the alternative ending has been released... bewarned... it's not what you expect.

 

 

More to be shown at Pax Prime.

 

[Lamor]

An image from the alternative ending has been released... bewarned... it's not what you expect.

 

 

 

 

 

Is that Tess or Marlene? I honestly can't say...

[Nintendoga]

Is that Tess or Marlene? I honestly can't say...

It's Tess, she has her handband

And thank god that's not the official ending. I'm not even sure how the hell that would even work.

[Lamor]

And thank god that's not the official ending. I'm not even sure how the hell that would even work.

 

I bet that in the alternate version of the story

Tess wouldn't die. There's no way that they would just bring her back to life at the end of the game.

 

EDIT: And I was right!

 

The Last of Us' Alternate Storyline

http://www.latestnewsexplorer.com/the-last-of-us-original-story-alternate-villain-revealed/

 

 

“Tess was betrayed by Joel and took on a mission to pursue him across the country. That storyline never worked out. The storyline shifted and Tess took on this role where she became more of a believer and she helped motivate Joel.”

 

The team changed the story after they couldn’t find a reason behind Joel’s journey and Tess going across the US on a quest for vengeance.

 

Druckmann adds, “We had a tough time understanding why Joel would take this journey – we weren’t buying it. We also had a hard time buying that Tess would go on a vendetta. We could understand her pursuing Joel a little bit, but why would she go for a year around the country?

 

Those things were solved by saying that Tess is going to die when she gets bitten, but her dying wish to Joel is to do this one good thing – help me do this one good thing so my soul can rest because I’ve done all these horrible things.”

 

Druckmann revealed that Ellie original was a softer character, but it was scrapped. “Ellie’s arc originally was that she didn’t kill any non-infected people until the end, when she was going to kill Tess when Tess was torturing Joel.

 

What we realized is that we had to get Ellie engaged more in the combat because when she was disengaged from the action for that long you didn’t care so much. So that changed pretty early on.

 

We decided it wasn’t going to be about the first time she killed someone, it was more about this coming of age story of the impact that the horrors of violence has on her over the course of the game.

 

That culminates with her conflict with David. That happened pretty quickly, just based on some things we realized about the story and how we had to integrate it into the gameplay.”

 

As for the ending, Naughty Dog team initially had planned for Joel and Ellie’s “live happily ever after” in San Francisco.

“The original ending when we pitched the game was a much more hopeful ending, where Joel and Ellie make it to San Francisco and that is a town run by people who are trying to restore society. Joel has killed all these doctors and lied to Ellie, and Ellie just fully buys into the lie.

 

So, you’re left with the idea that they are going to live the rest of their lives in this town. The camera pulls back and maybe everything is going to be alright for these two. I was working on writing, and it didn’t feel honest anymore.

 

After everything they’ve done and everything they’ve been through, that was letting them off a little too easy – especially for Joel.”

 

EDIT: NEW FREE MULTIPLAYER MODE! INTERROGATION!

http://kotaku.com/the-last-of-us-getting-free-update-sharp-new-multiplay-1210675194

 

 

GIMMIE!

Edited August 28, 2013 by Lamor

[Badnik Mechanic]

Uh yeah I just came here to post the new multiplayer news and found you'd just done a post edit. lol

 

Interrogation looks really cool, buuuuuut... it's not going to get me to go back to the game. I like the idea of it, just wish it had been included on day 1.

 

Not sure if I like the sound of those new item box locations, the one in the school for instance was a great one since if both teams knew what they were doing that segment had some really intense fights with some great flanking moments.

[Lamor]

The Last of Us Development Series #6

 

Filled with concept art and epic music.

[Badnik Mechanic]

 

Thats from the director of the game.

[Swiss]

Finally, I've been waiting for this news for ages!

[Lamor]

The Last of Us' Alternate Musical Ending + DLC news coming tomorrow!

 

 

Troy Baker is so freaking AWEEEESOOOOME.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Okay I just watched that.

 

Erm... lol? I really wasn't expecting that.

[Lamor]

New MP maps coming October 15, SP DLC to be released around December/January.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/09/27/the-last-of-us-future-dlc-plans/

 

 

We’ve been hard at work making the DLC content for The Last of Us – and I know that all our Season Pass holders are eagerly waiting for any updates or news. Today, we’re revealing the first of three Season Pass DLC drops: the Abandoned Territories Map Pack.

 

 

Weather the opposing Faction and the random, dynamic dust storm on the Suburbs map. Explore a layered map of an overgrown urban environment with wild giraffes in the background in the Bus Depot map. Stalk around in a dark, eerie, moonlit, environment – the perfect setting for some serious stealth – in the Hometown map. Bookstore features a stacked, bi-level layout adding a highly unique dose of vertical gameplay. Excited yet? These maps will be available October 15.

 

   

 

When we initially talked about the Season Pass we mentioned making our first ever story-driven single player DLC. This is an ambitious story with strong ties into the narrative of The Last of Us. We just wrapped up a long casting process for a new character, and we’re starting our performance capture shoot next week. The single-player DLC is currently planned for release around the December-January timeframe.

 

Artwork for SP DLC

 

Looks awesome! Definitely picking up SP DLC. I'm not sure about multiplayer stuff though.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Lamor

[JezMM]

Bleh I thought this week's news was gonna be an announcement of Single Player DLC coming like, soon-soon.  Oh well, at least it's good to know they're putting as much effort in to it as the full game.  Sure it'll be worth the wait.

[Badnik Mechanic]

So remember this...

 

 

Well....

 

 

Posted today.

 

It's happening?

[Lamor]

The Last of Us: Left Behind Trailer

 

http://youtu.be/lkNxhClt-xo#aid=P8KMW999X0w

 

So that's kinda weird because ND said that we're going to play as a completely different character and Riley already appeared in the comics... Still this DLC has a lot of potential. Gonna be good.

 

[buba]

I was expecting the DLC to be about Ish.

I'm pretty sure Left Behind will still be amazing, though.

[JezMM]

Sweet, sounds perfect for DLC if you ask me.  As much as I was looking forward to it a small part of me really wanted more time with Joel or Ellie so the fact that we're getting a little Ellie prequelness is fine by me.

[Gabz Girl]

I wish it could have been about Joel straight after Sarah's death but deep down I knew it would probably follow the graphic novels and be about Ellie and her friend Riley. Still, I'm looking forward to this!

[JezMM]

I wish it could have been about Joel straight after Sarah's death

 

Oh geez that'd be awful IMO.  I get the impression he was a complete wreck and was entirely taken care of by his brother during the first few months/years.  I don't think my heart could bare seeing Joel at his most hopeless point in life, even if we played as Tommy.  I can't see that time period lending itself to gameplay either since the way Joel talks to Ellie about the "first days" makes it sound like for a while he completely went along with the flock and did what the government said.

[jords]

Oh wow Single player  DLC? count me in! The etory was soo fun and thrilling. Sad joel wan't be in it.

 

Multiplayer was good buut it got old fast.

 

Lets see how this turns out.

 

EDIT: Wait a mintue. 

 

I remember Ellie telling Joel she had a best friend, i think they ran away from their area. 

 

She mentioned that both off them got attacked and bit by the zombies. and they sat there waiting to get turned into one but her friend ended up getting turned and Ellie wondering why she isn't getting turned.

 

I'm wondering if this is the same friend.

Edited November 15, 2013 by jordine

[Lamor]

Oh wow Single player  DLC? count me in! The etory was soo fun and thrilling. Sad joel wan't be in it.

 

Multiplayer was good buut it got old fast.

 

Lets see how this turns out.

 

EDIT: Wait a mintue. 

 

I remember Ellie telling Joel she had a best friend, i think they ran away from their area. 

 

She mentioned that both off them got attacked and bit by the zombies. and they sat there waiting to get turned into one but her friend ended up getting turned and Ellie wondering why she isn't getting turned.

 

I'm wondering if this is the same friend.

 

It is the same friend. Her name is Riley.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Lamor

[Badnik Mechanic]

Spoiler.

 

If I'm thinking right. Won't this mean that Ellie isn't infected yet? So the climax is going to be Ellie and Riley get bitted.  

 

Does this mean we might get some possible changes to gameplay since Ellie will have to act differently since she doesn't yet know she's immune?