*I'm warning about story spoilers once again!* Well here we are engulfed in a sea of hype about how great this game is. From the beginning it was clear the game is loved by reviewers and they love the characters. So be it. Read this if you care.
Before I go any further, I'm just going to say that I don't even feel like tackling the deep corners of this game to mention and nitpick what is wrong with it. There is a lot. I'll only say that I'm a lifelong gamer with 40 years of gaming under my belt. I know what I enjoy and what also takes away from my experience so here goes...
First, the story starts out great. Wonderfully done opening "movie" and info about Joel and his daughter. It is a real tear-jerker of an entrance. Then the game begins... Let me just say if you think the story is fulfilling and wonderfully done throughout then wait until you are all the way done with it. Ask yourself if you really have an understanding of Ellie and her background. Ask yourself if you think Joel is a good guy and had a reason to kill INNOCENT people like doctors trying to help save the world. Ask yourself if the events with his daughter decades before makes any sense to his acting the way he does with Ellie. What do you think of the canned pipeline story with no way possible to make ALTERNATE DECISIONS? Anything earth changing, unique, or even legitimately surprising with the story other than how much of a true scumbag Joel is in his desire to protect her? I even believe Ellie would (if she knew) probably escape him and try to do the right thing. I find the whole middle and end of the story missing or silly as hell.
Now let's look at what kind of game we are in here. Survival in a zombie apocalypse. No don't tell me it wasn't zombies either. The fact that it wasn't spread by being bitten and instead was from airborne fungus (which should make it even more contagious) was a ridiculous stretch that ruins the game even more. A completely stupid premise in what can only be an attempt to be different.
Combat is a system where you are supposed to worry about resources more and expect to "craft" items to help you. All items instead had silly limits on usage and capacity that made this overly stupid and completely ruined the game. You hit someone with a crowbar and only get a very limited number of strikes before the crowbar breaks? Really? A crowbar? The same usage amount for each crowbar too? They're this brittle and weak but bottles and bricks can still be effective? Let's turn to something like a handgun. Wait, I know you have a backpack Joel and probably would want to fill every crack of your ass with ammo if you had any kind of choice but we are going to make you have full ammo at 20 rounds! Ridiculous! Hell, I'd certainly find a way to carry more bullets if in such circumstance.
Gameplay again hit me as something wholly unique...in its problems. No jump button, no lying down under stuff, and climbing to any place was only where the game intended you climb to continue your path. The controls were "clunky" and I can not believe the outrageous look of Joel's knees out in front of you whenever you were crouched and crouch walking! Truly look at it sometime in video or game play. At first I laughed but then it became a huge silly on screen indication of the unrealistic feel and numerous issues that constantly remove you from the fantasy they are trying to build in any game.
The Artificial Intelligence of the enemies and even Ellie were the worst I've every seen in any game. I can't tell you how many times an enemy stood in front of me, looking at me, with Ellie standing highly visible (sometimes glitched inside them and even me) only for them to not see me, not see her, not react anywhere near a fun or realistic way. How can they make a game where Ellie can't be responsible for coordinating an attack with you, carrying that extra ammo (for you to ask for anytime), or at least be asked or expected to stop and wait safely? Instead she nearly always will walk headlong into enemies only to stand in the wide open while glitching inside of objects.
The opening movie was good. The game play and follow through with everything else was terrible. This game is an average game at best, believe it.
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