Naughty Dog Vs. The Last Of Us

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As a console ventures deeper into its lifecycle, more high quality titles are to be expected. It goes without saying that the PS3 has accumulated a solid number of respectable exclusives, namely from the likes of Naughty Dog, who are responsible for the Uncharted series. Given the massive success of the Uncharted games, it almost came as a guarantee that their new, upcoming IP would turn out to be a huge success as well. Yet, this time around, Naughty Dog took a completely different approach with The Last of Us. Instead of an over-the-top, all-out fun action/adventure game comparable to Uncharted, The Last of Us is an incredibly gritty, emotional, and narrative-driven survival/action game. The Last of Us comfortably lives up to Naughty Dog’s …show more content…

Of course, as the game progresses, better weaponry is acquired, thus expanding Joel’s arsenal. However, every weapon accumulated can’t just be summoned with the press of a button. There are limited weapon slots, one for a small weapon and another for a large weapon. In order to access other small or large weapons, they must be swapped while pulling out Joel’s backpack in the “hotkey” positions, all in real time. Situations must be planned accordingly, as it’s highly nerve-racking having to sit there and exchange weapons while surrounded by enemies. Focusing back to scavenging, ammo isn’t the only essential supply. Various, common-day items may be scrounged to craft useful items such as health packs, molotovs, crudely-constructed bombs, and even to modify melee weapons such as crowbars to inflict one-hit kills on foes in close combat. Weapon parts are scattered about to make weapons more easy to use, or even to expand the amount of weapons Joel has quick access to. Supplements enhance Joel’s abilities, like extending his overall health, which can only be replenished with snacks and health packs. Lastly, the HUD is quite limited, allowing for an exceptionally immersive and intense experience. All of these gameplay touches make for a fairly lifelike and surprisingly enriching adventure, with just one minor oddity, and that being listening mode. Listening mode allows you to temporary “hear” …show more content…

The visuals are stunning and drive the PS3 to its limits. Cut-scenes are especially breathtaking, transitioning well from gameplay moments, aren’t overdone, and highly enhance the cinematic aspects of the game. Performance as a whole is steady, though there are some frame rate dips, although gameplay is practically never interrupted by performance issues. Perhaps one of the more notable elements of the game is the fact that there are essentially no loading screens. Also, the few instances there are of loading times are extremely brief, minus the lengthy loading screen upon starting up the game. This truly keeps the game flowing from start to finish. Lastly, voice acting is superb, and this isn’t just limited to human characters, but the sounds of the infected are terrifyingly well done too. As a whole, the audio excels in complementing the rest of the game and fitting the current

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