The Last of Us (PS3) - 17 million copies sold

The combat is great and very varied.

I can see why people have issues, sometimes it feels like the game wants you to play in a certain way but it's difficult to know how to go about that. Very interested to see what kind of style the new difficulty will promote.

New difficulty?

http://www.polygon.com/2014/2/28/545758 ... ocumentary

Oh my...can't wait.

Here's hoping for a GotY edition... on PS4.

I'd definitely double dip on that!

Just finished, finally. Bloody hell.

Magic stuff.

Went back and finished this today. Yeah it's pretty epic. The ending was brilliant.

Nabbed the DLC, I'll start it tomorrow. Gonna see the winter soldier tonight.

Keep us updated mate. Hope you enjoy the film.

I am currently about four hours into this, yet whilst discussing it with a friend, he urged me to restart and play on Hard Mode, as it is so much better than Normal.

What is the general opinion on this? Should I restart or continue on with Normal?

Continue on Normal.

Each difficulty offers something different but I couldn't say one was better than the other. Besides you can just notch the difficulty up in the settings there's no point in restarting.

I did it on Normal first play through and am glad I did because there are some pretty tough sections that would have been rather annoying to encounter first time on a harder difficulty.

Herbi wrote:Continue on Normal.

Each difficulty offers something different but I couldn't say one was better than the other. Besides you can just notch the difficulty up in the settings there's no point in restarting.

I did it on Normal first play through and am glad I did because there are some pretty tough sections that would have been rather annoying to encounter first time on a harder difficulty.

For me, the hardest encounter so far was:

I'm going for a stealthy playthrough so far. The only problem is, I've been playing the game for about a month and a half, so it's been very stop-start. Not really the game's fault, it's just I don't get too much time to play. As a result, I haven't really gotten in to it all yet. So I thought starting again might give me a more seamless playthrough, though it isn't like I have forgotten what has happened so far (though I did forget how to reload).

I'm just about to head to the school with that guy.

Parksey wrote:I'm just about to head to the school with that guy.

One thing I have learned playing through 4 times is that you shouldn't be afraid to creep past human opponents as soon as you see a gap. The bit after Tess dies on my most recent Survivor play through I just crept through the entire building in about 2 minutes utilizing gaps as soon as I saw them :lol:

Previous occasions even on normal I've tried the stealthy take down route and usually it doesn't go so well.

Also don't be afraid to use crafted items like bombs and molotovs, don't go with the opinion that you might need them later as the game will keep you stocked up enough for encounters even on the hardest difficulty. Get practicing with that molotov throwing arm.

I am trying to get into this, but I just find it so jarring. Every play session is so stop-start, and I spend the majority of my time reloading the encounter to try again - the result being that the game doesn't flow at all.

The main problem is that playing it through using stealth is by far the most profitable way to progress. You lose no health or supplies and get through with minimal fuss. The downside is that you attempt a dozen retries trying to get perfect run. The game often makes this quite tricky, throwing new enemies into an area once you're done with the ones already there or, as with the area outside the school making it actually impossible to do purely by stealth, as there's a scripted bit where enemies attack you, but not making this clear. So, of course, I kept restarting thinking that I was doing it wrong (the area is set up to make you think you can go for a pure-stealth approach).

I am currently just at the start of the Pittsburgh bit and, again, after you deal with the initial enemies reinforcements start to show up, so you generally get strawberry floated over on your first successful run through.

As I said, the game does give you options to approach things in different ways - but the probably is the stealth path is just way better than the others. As soon as I get into a melee or a gunfight I don't need to be in, I reload. Trying to see a failed attempt through, by shooting or fighting just leads to a loss of health or ammo. The only way I generally get out of a mess is by running away.

So the game often boils to about half an hour of progress followed by about an hour getting frustrated at the arenas where you're meant to take people down. A few of these you can sneak past, but often you are restricted from progressing until you take down enemies.

I can see where you're coming from, the game kind of leads you towards taking the stealthy approach from a story perspective but from a gameplay point of view it really doesn't want you to go all out stealth and you really should try to be a bit more bold about how you do things.

Pure stealth is only really suitable for humans and very small numbers of infected (like 1 or 2), definitely try setting traps or being aggressive in short bursts. Of course there's no way to know any of this without prior knowledge of the game which kind of leads to what I've found the most enduring problem with the solo campaign. And that is that for a game based around survival the punishment for death is just non-existent, this encourages people to try tactics that aren't suitable to the surroundings and then die and die over and over again trying to get through an encounter in a 'perfect' run which leads to the kind of frustration you describe.

Like I said in the above post, do not be afraid to use ammo and items, the game will replace anything you use and it will be generous on normal.

Yeah, I agree with a lot of what you say - my stalling progress throughout the game is half my fault, and half the game's.

On my side of things, I am very particularly about how I want to progress, and I hate continuing past an encounter knowing I could have evaded all the enemies, killed them silently and not wasted ammo and health. I don't adapt to a situation which escalates into combat, I just restart.

I realise that, as I am playing on normal, I will likely not get into a situation where I can't continue due to lack of health or ammo.

However, as you say, the game does promote the survival horror aspect, so I have the mindset whereby if I waste loads ofback health and ammo I feel I need to restart. The game constantly has you just on the edge of running out of ammo as it is and, without knowing what is coming next, it is best to err on the side of caution. Plus, it costs nothing to restart the game and checkpoints are numerous.

This would be solved on a second play through, as I would now what was ahead and could plan according. I used to have the same problem with the old-school Resident Evils, where I would attempt perfect run through from one save point to the next. I feel that was less frustrating though as there was a higher punishment for death and save points were further apart, so you made do with less-than-perfect runs. Here, I just restart.

It's worth noting Parksey, when you start to get low with ammo, the game helps you out by having the enemies drop some when they die. When you have plenty of ammo they don't. So you can be more aggressive with your gun, the game will keep you sorted for just enough ammo to get by.

I felt quite the opposite, for me this game doesn't feel like you are playing it wrong when the stealth falls apart. I always saw it as a do the best you can in this situation. Quite the opposite to something like metal gear where it does feel like your playing it wrong when not being stealthy.

I don't feel like the game is set up to be only stealth - you actually have quite a lot of options at your disposal, and can run away and hide, you can shoot your way out, you can use your explosives to trap them or use melee.

Just that everyone of those options is less satisfying that stealthy getting through with no ammo or health lost. When it all goes tits up, the other options are just a bit too messy for me. Especially when a restart takes you back a few minutes at most.

Saying that, I have noticed that you generally stumbling upon supplies after a big battle or choke point, so I may start loosening up a little and letting my progress be more seamless.

I have half a mind to restart and just play through the opening third again with a "anything goes" style, but might save that for later.

As part of my continued slog through Let's Plays of games I'm not going to get to play any time soon I just finished watching the entirety of LoU and Left Behind.

strawberry floating wow. Even just watching the thing was a thrilling experience, the story was pitch perfect and the combat looks visceral as strawberry float. Soon as I get the chance I'm getting me a PS4. By that point the Game of the Year edition'll no doubt be out as well as the new DLC. Cannae wait,

The Last of Us (PS3) - 17 million copies sold

Who is online

Affiliates