The Last of Us

This PS3 exclusive is due on Jun 14 and I can hardly wait. It's a post apocalyptic world where the cordyceps fungus has adapted to effect humans and it basically results in the collapse of society. Uninfected humans set up these safe zones across what's left of the United States without any passage between them. Your character is Joel, a grizzled middle aged man who is contracted to move a young girl named Ellie from one safe zone to another.

I guess the Embargo was lifted because 67 reviews have hit the web over the last week... 30 of them are 10 out of 10 or it's equivelent. Right now, this game is the highest reviewed game of 2013 so far, the second highest being Bioshock Infinite.

If you happen to have a copy of God of War Ascension laying around, you can download a 10-15 minute demo... I've played it about 8 times already.

Here's IGN.com's review:

You guessed it. 10 out of 10.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/the-last-of-us-review

do want. But at my usual rate it will probably be close to Christmas before I can make resources and falling price of used copies come together.

Hey! They stole my plot from an RPG session I GM'ed ten years ago!!

It was a beauty, too. Not an apocalyptic wasteland, but a Renaissance cityscape where people would suddenly start climbing buildings in order to get to the roof, then hold on tight and go rigid. I loved the pure look of the thing.

This looks worth checking out.

I made a mistake. I dropped my son off at the midnight showing of Man of Steel last night. I figured that I might as well stop by GameStop and pick up my Survival Edition of The Last Of Us since they were having a midnight sale. I intended to go to bed so I could go to work in the morning, come home and get started on the campaign when I got home from work.... Well... I decided to at least install the DLC and online pass before bed and... The next thing I knew, I was in the Capital Building with Joel, Ellie and Tess when my alarm clock went off. I'd pulled an inadvertent all nighter with The Last of Us.

It is by far the most immersive game I've ever played in my entire life. The sights and sounds suck you in to this world so fast and so deeply. Definite GOTY contender.

I'm going to go get some sleep now.

^^ That sounds a lot as if you forgot to pick up your son after the movie. Which really helps to drive home your point.

Sounds like fallout 3.

Meh. Checked out the demo footage and it looks a bit samey, despite the rave reviews.

I haven't played it yet, but I've never been disappointed by a Naughty Dog game. Have you ever played any of the Uncharted games? If not, they are very much like a modern day Indiana Jones game in both story and and action. Also Drake (the hero) makes a lot of quips like Jones.

That's too bad. I really feel that this game is something special.

Well, I finished my first playthrough. 19 hours in all.

Well, it's only a first impression. What stood out for you?

Well, I've only been gaming since 2009, but I play a lot of games. OTher than Skyrim and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I've not delved into the Stealth genre too much so I only have a few things to compare it too, but TLOU has a superior "fun factor" to those games. I found myself saying "What's my name, BITCH?" when I sneaked up behind a foe and choked them out.

... But the stand out to me is the story, voice acting and animation in addition to the graphics. Try Baker and Ashley Johnson, the voice actors on this game did a phenomenal job.... as did the director. Although this is a fantasy about the collapse of society, I found the responses and reactions of the characters to be genuine. The first 15 minutes of the game is worth the price of admission, IMHO. The last 12-19 hours was a bonus. Like I said, it's Game of the Year material. 10/10, IMHO.

the very fact that you played it for 19 hours in the first 48 of owning it says a lot.

Have you played any of the fallout games or Mass effect games, Nova?

Mass Effect is on my wish list (which is too long)
Fallout is first-person, no? I suck at FP and if I make an exception to that it would be for Bioshock

Fallout is mix between fps and rpg and has vat combat is a bit turn based.

Just finished it myself. It's an unbelievable game. My hats off to the folks at Naughty Dog, the voice actors, everyone. It is without a doubt the best game I've ever played. Alpha Man is right about the first 15 mins. but I'm more interested in what everyone thinks of the last 15 mins.. My brother just started playing it today, I can't wait to hear his take on it. My suggestion, go pick this up. Now.

All of which is also true for Mass Effect, btw. I don't like the interface especially, but it didn't bother me in either, as the RPG and storytelling elements were by far dominant.

We need a mass effect mmo.

I'm wondering, maybe we don't have the same definition of "RPG" here? I've never seen a discussion of Mass Effect that mentioned and RPG element.

I'm playing Survivor mode now.... After 2 playthroughs, I don't have a lot of trophies for this game. So I hope to remedy that with this playthrough. This is a real bitch. There is no "Listening Mode" and I've missed about 5 shiv doors because I didn't have a shiv to open it.

This is tough. No matter how much I play this game, I never get tired of the story/game mechanics.

You get to import all your plot decisions from one game to the next.

Interesting. To me, there are two quite different things that can be referred to as RPG: Playing a role, making decisions and showcasing a certain character's stance and attitude; and levelling up a PC, gaining abilities and strengths int he course of a game, and making choices about which strengths to improve in the process. Mass Effect has both those things.

How would you define an RPG?

The nice thing about dragon age and mass effect is that you can import your plot decisions.

Those turn-based things where in a battle you do X and it has Y effect, then the opponent does A and it has B effect and so forth.

I think my son's Persona games are that sort.

Ah. I'd call that a turn-based RPG. And Mass Effect is sort of semi-turned-based (no distinct turns, but you can pause and think whenever you like)... and I think that's also the case with Fallout 3, but I'm not completely sure.

Packard, Mass effect games planet descriptions aren't two goofy.

Both mass effect and fallout 3 are what I call action RPGs where you can pause the action to make critical decisions, level up particular skill trees so on and so forth. Skyrim too.

Just finished The Last Of Us last night and agree with the raves, loved it. Reminds me of Half Life 2 in a lot of ways.

Around winter I felt that the game slowed down a bit and started to get a bit cliche, but then it picked up again. There isn't much the game does that is hugely innovative, but it's incredibly polished and all just works, and I like that.

Bailey, I have a feeling star citizen going to be a innovative game. Being designed by the guy who created the wing commander game. You can explore capital ships and stations. Watch battle on the inside or salute someone from the inside of a ship at the bridge. It will have external zero g fps combat.