The Last Of Us Part 2 - Review

It's already July, how did that happen? So what I have achieved this year? Umm...played a lot of games, watched TV and gained some weight, that's good, right?  Last night I finished playing The Last of Us Part 2. Playing it was very interesting and was certainly very different from the first installment, but was that a bad thing?


The other evening I wanted takeout, I ask my better half Starfish Nolls what she wanted, now in my head, I was waiting for her to say what did I want and in my head, I was thinking pizza. She then suggested Spitjack's, it gave me pause, I checked the menu and went for a chicken and ribs combo with vegetables, mash, and an extra bit of garlic mash. It was so tasty it was crazy and am still thinking about it now (damn I'm hungry). I guess what I am saying is I went in one with an idea and when I allowed myself to be more open I was both surprised and happy. Playing The Last of Us Part 2 I found myself asking was I happy and surprised or should I have just ordered a pizza?

Story


The Last of Us Part 2 picks up a few years after the first game. We see both Ellie and Joel a little older and living in Jackson, a secure safe place with everything they could possibly want, life is good. As is often the way it is when life is good and we let our guard is down that we can get sucker-punched. Early on Ellie witnesses a brutal murder and so starts rising in her darkness that can only be quenched by revenge.


The story sees Ellie leaving the safety of Jackson to exact revenge, half the game is spent from her perspective and the second half you play as Abby the person she wishes to punish. Naughty Dog does a great job of making you feel conflicted about the two characters. It is hard to describe either character as being completely good or bad. By the end of the game, I was left struggling who's side to be on. The game has a lot of complexities to it. Revenge is damaging not only to those it is exacting it on but those are exacting it. There are many people I felt compassion and sorrow for and nothing was ever black and white but constant shades of grey.


Reading reviews and how people generally felt there a bit of backlash regarding Ellie being gay (which had already been established in the first game). Never did I feel it was dealt with ham-fistedly or hammered home, it was what it was. When it came to the transgender character I did feel it was slightly shoehorned in. There should have either be no mention of it or perhaps create a bit more discussion about it. That being said this element did not stop me in any way enjoying the story. The only real gripe I had was the endings, it felt a bit like Lord of The Rings Return of the King (not the extended edition) and was never sure if the ending I was seeing was the last one.


Overall Naughty Dog a great job of the story, it was thought-provoking, never black and white, and often toyed with my emotions. Any good sequel should be better in every way to its predecessor and Naughty Dog managed to do this perfectly in relation to the story.

Visuals


The visuals are...wow. The game looks sharp, organic and the world is really interesting to explore. There are lush forests, remnants of the old world in the form of a torn-up city, crude camps, and more sophisticated from along with dark dank areas which you want nothing more than to escape as quickly as possible. With some games it feels like you are just moving from one set piece to another, playing The Last of Us Part 2 never felt that way to me.



Overall the visuals are out of this world if you take that the studio that brought us Crash Bandicoot also brought us Uncharted and The Last of Us it is almost unbelievable. The team they have working on the visuals but in so much time to make the game look perfect. I am salivating at the idea of Naughty Dog making a follow up if for no other reason than the visuals.



Music


There are two distinct music styles used in the game, the first is hard plucked acoustic guitar to convey somber tones and gives the player pause, the other is an array of musical instruments to create a feeling of danger, threat, and sometimes intense action. The music is skillfully used in the game helping to heighten situations and but is never a constant but instead used subtly. The score is created by Argentinian composer Gustavo Santaolalla who has been part of a number of TV Series and Films including; 21 Grams, Brokeback Mountain, and the series Making A Murder, and the band's Iris, Soluna, and Wet Picnic. The additional music is supplied by Mac Quayle who worked on Mr. Robot, American Horror Story, The Best Friend, and Bad Samaritans to know just a few.


The soundtrack runs just shy of two hours and in my opinion, is the best video game soundtrack of the year. While to me they are all great tracks there are a few that stood out for me; 'Eye for an eye',
'They're still out there', 'The WLF', and 'The Island'.


Overall an amazing soundtrack that enhanced an already great experience.

Gameplay


Onto the breast and ribs (wow without the food analogy at the beginning that would sound creepy). The game has you take on the role of both Ellie and Abby in the third-person just like the first installment. The game at its core is a survival game that feels a lot more action-packed than before. The game can be played fairly stealthily but sometimes things get loud and you got to do what you got to do.


With Ellie, her close combat weapon is a flick knife, the strongest I have ever seen and I slit a lot of throats and it never broke once. Abby has the ability to make shivs but these are only really helpful against the infected enemies known as clickers, for the most part, she uses her powerful arms to break necks. They both have similar weapons, hands guns, rifles, and bombs but I did prefer Abby's. With Abby, she has a crossbow which is powerful and you can retrieve the bolts, unlike Ellie's bow where once the arrows are fired they are gone. Ellie has the more subtle rifle whereas Abby has the semi-automatic rifle which one you get the scope equipped it was one of my number one weapons next to the hunting pistol. Standing back looking at the two characters' weapons Ellie favors a bit more subtly verses Abby's which are noisier and more powerful, which speaks to my play style.


Manuals are back, these can be found in the world and unlock skill trees to improve the character, take enough pills and you can unlock everything you need. Ellie's had some great ones for increasing health, and Abby has the ability to craft certain ammo which is really handy later on.


The combat and cover system works.....mostly. Similar to the first game the cover works most of the time but sometimes the character won't stick to cover or points the wrong way. Occasionally you would perform an action behind cover and then stand up and get spotted. NPC's traveling with you can almost walk straight in front of an enemy and can't be seen, which is jarring if when you are being stealthy. The close-quarters combat works and can be a lot of fun but sometimes an action won't be recognized and messes everything up. Gunplay works okay as well but even with certain upgrades shooting can feel slightly inaccurate.


Overall the gameplay is a lot of fun and while some annoyances from part one still linger in part two there are improvements and for the most part, did not stop me enjoying the game.





Final Thoughts


So, after thirty hours how did I feel? Happy, sad, and many other emotions. The story was a brilliant experience and while occasionally it felt a little longer in places than it needed it was still enjoyable. The visuals were incredible and the world felt so organic which made everything I did seem more important. The music was somber, dark, and intense and made for a really good soundtrack. The gameplay was pretty strong but there were certain areas that could use improvement, hopefully, if there is a part three these will get ironed out. Is the game perfect? No, but it is pretty damn close, this one gets a 4 out of 5

The Last Of Us Remastered - Review

Back in 2014, a new game was being released by Naughty Dog, it was getting an amazing amount of attention & positive feedback.  Now, whenever anything gets this much attention I find myself sceptical & feel it can't possibly live up to all the hype.  So when it was released I gave it some time before picking up a copy & playing it.   I have to admit it the game blew me away, in the same way, Bryan Cranston's performance did in Breaking Bad.  This is the studio that made Crash Bandicoot, this isn't a slight against the studio or the game but to go from that to The Last of Us was simply inspiring.  Naturally, I was pretty excited to play the remastered version of the game & lucky enough my favourite technician, work colleague & friend Siniša loaned it to me.


Have you ever tried a battered potato pie? What is it you ask? Well simply put it is a lump of potato that has been deep-fried - something like a giant chip.  It is something that is really popular down here in Cork, when I heard about how good it was I found myself shrugging my shoulders & thought 'meh, how good could it be?'.  When I did finally try it I could not believe how nice it was, soft potato battered to perfection it was so different from what I thought it would be.  I guess as I have already revealed I enjoyed the game I can't use my 'when I was playing The Last of Us I had to ask myself....' spiel, I will just let the review do my talking for me.

The game starts off in the grips of a deadly virus outbreak, we are introduced to Joel & his family who are trying to escape the madness.  After a heartbreaking & tragic beginning, we fast forward to 20 years in the future & we see Joel is now a smuggler in what is left of humanity.  This time he & his partner have to smuggle something very different, a girl named Ellie to a resistance group called the Fireflies.


The two central characters in the game are Joel & Ellie.  Joel is a man who has become hardened due to a troubled past & hasn't got much time for other people.  Ellie is an obnoxious teen with a mouth on her that & no problem standing up to people.  Naturally, the two don't get on together at first but as time goes by they become reliant on each other & form a partnership.


While there are differences with the remastered edition versus the original one of the biggest is that it comes packaged with the DLC Left Behind.  Which adds another 3 hours of content & not only helps to fill in some blanks from the main story but also allows us to see a little of Ellie's past.  The flashback storytelling method worked well & helped at times to make for some tense storytelling. We get to see Ellie & her friend Riley hanging out together & having fun rather than just fighting to stay alive.


One of the biggest & in some ways the best part of this game is the story, it is an emotional roller coaster. I like that it makes no qualms that things are not always black & white.  The ending of the game made me have some mixed feelings, the DLC helped give me a bit more perspective & made me more settled on some of earlier thinking.

The visuals in The Last of Us always looked great but the overhaul on them for the remastered edition changed them to stunning.  There is so much more detail & definition in everything.  The characters look more defined & make them look more real.  The world itself looks more post-apocalyptic, the way wooden floors looks more beaten up & rotten, the paint on the walls is peeling & chipped off & all help to show that humanity is at its end.  The wilderness is lush & green but always manages to carry a slight undertone of darkness.  There are horses in the game that look great, it reminded me of my lovely horse, with its fetlocks blowing in the wind (I have to watch Father Ted again).


I really liked the music in the game, it uses a lot of moody guitar solos which helps to create a downbeat sound which suits the atmosphere of the world you are in.  While the sound is more simplistic than other games it makes everything feel more poignant & that much more important.


This sound is created by Gustavo Santaolalla, who is from Argentina & has a very rich musical background.  He has been part of a number of bands including; Acro Iris, Soluna & Wet Picnic. Outside of this, he has worked on a number of films & TV series including; 21 Grams, Brokeback Mountain & the series Making A Murder.


Also accompanying Santaolalla is session violinist from Nashville Alan Umstead.  He has worked with many musicians including; Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks & Elton John, along with many others.  He has also worked with composers such as; Austin Wintory, Jason Graves, Bear McGeary & Jesse Harlin.  If this wasn't enough his contribution to the video games industry has been massive & has worked with all the big video game companies.  Some of his works include games such as; Ratchet & Clank, Unfinished Swan, Dragon Age Inquisition & Mafia III.


The score is just under an hour long but that doesn't mean it isn't good, in fact, it is very much the opposite & would have to be one of my favourite soundtrack that I have listened to this year. My favourite pieces included; 'Quarantine Zone', 'The Hunters', 'The Choice', 'Last of Us (Never Again)', 'Infected', 'Last of Us (New Dawn)' &' All Gone (No Escape)'.

Onto the meat or lack thereof as it's a post-apocalyptic world...anyway onto the gameplay.   Something that has always struck me with The Last of Us even when I played it on the Playstation 3 is that the game gives you time to enjoy your surroundings rather than feeling like you are being rushed through it.  That may seem like an odd observation to make but I feel when so much time & effort has gone into something I want to take the time to take it all in.


The combat has plenty of high points, the gun-play & cover system for the most part work well. Upgrading your weapons feels worthwhile, especially the flamethrower.  Shotguns are loud & proud, Shivs are sharp & stabby - you can't ask for more than that.  On occasion when Joel is being overpowered by an enemy Ellie helps you during combat by jumping on their back & stabbing them -which is handy.


The enemies can vary in difficulty. Clickers are still a pain in the ass if they get too close to you & the cut scenes are a harsh reminder for you to be more cautious next time.  Occasionally the human enemy AI can be a little dumb, they will stand facing a wall not moving just asking to be killed. There is a strange 'glitch' where enemies can see you but they can't see the people you are with, it is something I hoped they would iron out from the original as it throws off combat/stealth sections.


The sections where you get to play as Ellie are really good & help flesh out her character.  It helps her & Joel feel more like a real partnership, rather than her just being his sidekick as some other games tend to do.


The gameplay itself didn't feel largely different from the original but that's not necessarily a bad thing although it would have been great if they knocked out a few the kinks that the original had.  Overall though solid gameplay & the additional content really made it feel like a more rounded game.


Warning - There are spoilers in the trailer below!



So after nearly 20 hours how did I feel?  Pretty damn good, I probably enjoyed the game more this time not only because of the overhaul on visuals but also because of the additional story content.  A really solid game & still one of the best titles released on the Playstation 3, I am looking forward to The Last of Us 2 next year.  This one was easy to score 4 out of 5