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The Last of Us - E3 extended gameplay demo

Just finished watching. I am speechless.
There were so many parts where I just cant believe what I am seeing/hearing.

-When Joel shoots the dude behind the bed - the spray of blood isn't an instant splat against the wall. Instead there is a small splat and it seems to grow with spurting blood.

-The dialogue is almost too hard to believe. The bad guys after Joel shoots the one dude yell "How many of them?"
"I dont know, I just saw the one!"
"There he is! He's right by the door!"

How on earth... seriously. They adjust their speech based on your location? If they saw Elly too would he say he saw 2 of us? Unreal.
And when you lose sight of the guy running away and then spot him Joel says "There you are..."

This just...i dont even know.

-When you run out of ammo a guy sneaks up on you and grabs your gun and slams your head down and puts you in a choke hold.

This interaction between characters, and their dialogue is so beyond anything I have ever seen. Like how is this not 100% scripted?
Truly one of the most impressive things I have ever seen in a video game.
Naughty Dog are being incredibly smart with their AI design and it kind of makes you realise how bad AI has been (if they pull it off). It's kind of like when Halo came out, we were all blown away by the AI back in the day, not because they could flank or jump away from grenades, but instead because of how the AI responded. They would scream "he's behind us", or yell out to dodge grenades, rather than just turning and shooting. It was simple stuff, but it humanises the AI and made it very impressive.

This seems to be that concept to AI really taken to an all new level. What impresses me is that the AI seems to respond to everything happening and make realistic actions based on it. Every sound and movement you make is analyzed in the context of the environment and given an appropriate response, not just in gameplay terms but in visual and aural terms too.

I don't know how difficult it would be, as im not a programmer, but it would seem to me that adding some voices that say "he's over there" or whatever is needed based on the context wold be a rather simple thing to execute
 
Naughty Dog are being incredibly smart with their AI design and it kind of makes you realise how bad AI has been (if they pull it off). It's kind of like when Halo came out, we were all blown away by the AI back in the day, not because they could flank or jump away from grenades, but instead because of how the AI responded. They would scream "he's behind us", or yell out to dodge grenades, rather than just turning and shooting. It was simple stuff, but it humanises the AI and made it very impressive.

This seems to be that concept to AI really taken to an all new level. What impresses me is that the AI seems to respond to everything happening and make realistic actions based on it. Every sound and movement you make is analyzed in the context of the environment and given an appropriate response, not just in gameplay terms but in visual and aural terms too.

I don't know how difficult it would be, as im not a programmer, but it would seem to me that adding some voices that say "he's over there" or whatever is needed based on the context wold be a rather simple thing to execute
They said that their goal for last of us AI is to make them feel human, not human as in human player playing in multiplayer games, but believable human put int that situation.

I'd say they succeeded so far.
 
Damn that was intense, and I was only watching!

Whoever programmed that camera is awesome.

You know, with that stealth run, I actually got a Dead Space vibe. It's just tense ALL THE TIME, and you're always weary of what could be around the next corner. Throughout the entire thing I was worried that someone would creep up behind Joel, or even try to attack Ellie.

Survival horror with human enemies, who would've thought?
 

Akainu

Member
As impressive as it looked it was just smoke and mirrors though. Could you even die in that part, like if you didn't jump at the end? Could you even NOT jump at the end? That's the kind of cinematic stuff I was talking about, it does nothing for gameplay and it dumbs games down when they rely on them too much. And that stuff is only good for 1 playthrough because you've seen it and yet it just keeps happening.
I remember dying at that part because I didn't jump I thought it was automatic.
 

charsace

Member
You can see why they've been working on this game since Uncharted 2 wrapped. I would love to see a presentation on the AI. The AI in this game seems to be so alive.
 

Endo Punk

Member
I'm glad we are just getting the same area/setting over and over. I really hope ND keeps the game close to their chest because UC3 just had too much exposure to the detriment of the game.


I remember dying at that part because I didn't jump I thought it was automatic.


That part just looks so good one can be forgiven in thinking you have no control over it.
 
I'm glad we are just getting the same area/setting over and over. I really hope ND keeps the game close to their chest because UC3 just had too much exposure to the detriment of the game.

Yeah, I appreciate this as well. I want them to show as little as possible. In a game such as this, half of the enjoyment is discovering new locations and gameplay elements while you first play through the game yourself. I like the way 343 are handling this with the new Halo, we haven't seen much of the single player, but we've had a lot of multiplayer and behind the scenes videos to drum up hype.
 

Schlomo

Member
I remember dying at that part because I didn't jump I thought it was automatic.

It took me like 3 tries until I realised I'm supposed to jump out of that window, and then I missed the right moment several times and Drake jumped to his death. That kind of ruined this cinematic experience for me.

I love what I'm seeing in this Last of Us gameplay clip, but I'm afraid I have a talent for breaking even that because I won't do what the devs are expecting from me.
 
Criticism is one thing. You know, point out a weakness or any area that deserves some extra scrutiny... that's valid. But the one-off, baseless nature of these kinds of posts are so pointless. There's no explanation, no commentary on why this point is valid, just a really empty comment that sans explanation seems completely disconnected from reality.

How I would define gameplay-driven is something like Vanquish/Bayonetta. Which is probably the opposite of what I see in this game where it's strengths would be a much slower plot driven game. I don't see how that is "trolling", seems like that's exactly what this game is intended for from what I've seen.
 
How I would define gameplay-driven is something like Vanquish/Bayonetta. Which is probably the opposite of what I see in this game where it's strengths would be a much slower plot driven game. I don't see how that is "trolling", seems like that's exactly what this game is intended for from what I've seen.

Exploration is gameplay, environmental puzzle solving is gameplay, shooting is gameplay.


Fast melee combat and sick combos aren't the only things considered gameplay.
 

StuBurns

Banned
GAF should be better at taking criticism in threads. That is always the argument "you're entitled to your opinion, but just saying 'it's shit' is pointless", that would be fine if we held positive posts to such lofty status. No one ever complains about very simple positive posts.
 

meta4

Junior Member
How I would define gameplay-driven is something like Vanquish/Bayonetta. Which is probably the opposite of what I see in this game where it's strengths would be a much slower plot driven game. I don't see how that is "trolling", seems like that's exactly what this game is intended for from what I've seen.

How is Vanquish Bayonetta more gameplay driven than TLOU. So system's driven games are not gameplay driven now? It is most certainly trolling. At least it seems like it if no explanation is given.
 
How I would define gameplay-driven is something like Vanquish/Bayonetta. Which is probably the opposite of what I see in this game where it's strengths would be a much slower plot driven game. I don't see how that is "trolling", seems like that's exactly what this game is intended for from what I've seen.

Every time I've replayed a UC game it was because of the gameplay. The fact that the presentation is actually good and the exposition tolerable in these games is just a nice bonus.
 

meta4

Junior Member
Every time I've replayed a UC game it was because of the gameplay. The fact that the presentation is actually good and the exposition tolerable in these games is just a nice bonus.

It almost seems to be a crime these days to even attempt to have decent production values or good visuals without it being called non game cinematic nonsense. The best part is these posters I bet cannot give one decent reason as to how Bayonetta is a game but TLOU is not.
 
The best part is these posters I bet cannot give one decent reason as to how Bayonetta is a game but TLOU is not.

Nice strawman there. That's nothing close to what I said. The gameplay mechanics are quite different. They demand quite different things from the gamer. Don't know why you're taking it as either/or situation as "bad". This game seems right on track on where they want to take it.

How is Vanquish Bayonetta more gameplay driven than TLOU.

Depends how you define "gameplay driven games" seems our definition differs. I don't play Streetfighter for the story.
 

The Chef

Member
Naughty Dog are being incredibly smart with their AI design and it kind of makes you realise how bad AI has been (if they pull it off). It's kind of like when Halo came out, we were all blown away by the AI back in the day, not because they could flank or jump away from grenades, but instead because of how the AI responded. They would scream "he's behind us", or yell out to dodge grenades, rather than just turning and shooting. It was simple stuff, but it humanises the AI and made it very impressive.

This seems to be that concept to AI really taken to an all new level. What impresses me is that the AI seems to respond to everything happening and make realistic actions based on it. Every sound and movement you make is analyzed in the context of the environment and given an appropriate response, not just in gameplay terms but in visual and aural terms too.

I forgot about Halo that's a great point.
This video impressed on me how bad current ai really is. Especially since I am replaying Uncharted 3 right now and that ai is terrrrible.

Let's hope it's this sophisticated when we are actually playing it.
 

meta4

Junior Member
Depends how you define "gameplay driven games" seems our definition differs. I don't play Streetfighter for the story.

I dont play SF for story too. I did play Deus Ex / HR for the story. How does SF having a lack of story make it automatically more game play driven than Deus Ex for eg. By saying more gameplay driven do you mean to say SF is more of a game than Deus Ex HR or any other game giving importance to story? Like I said it almost always seems to be a crime these days for games to give even a semblance of importance to story because they are in danger of not being called a game. Having a bad story like Bayonetta / Vanquish or a non story like SF seems to be almost a boon and a straight ticket to be called more gamey or more gameplay driven.

Cant a game be both driven by strong gameplay and strong story or does it always have to be either or?
 

KageMaru

Member
How I would define gameplay-driven is something like Vanquish/Bayonetta. Which is probably the opposite of what I see in this game where it's strengths would be a much slower plot driven game. I don't see how that is "trolling", seems like that's exactly what this game is intended for from what I've seen.

Just because the campaign is plot driven, versus something like Bayonetta which has a plot for filler, that doesn't mean the gameplay that is present in LoU isn't of quality or worth playing the game for.

GAF should be better at taking criticism in threads. That is always the argument "you're entitled to your opinion, but just saying 'it's shit' is pointless", that would be fine if we held positive posts to such lofty status. No one ever complains about very simple positive posts.

Agreed. I think the extremes at GAF need to be toned down in general.
 
I dont play SF for story too. I did play Deus Ex / HR for the story. How does SF having a lack of story make it automatically more game play driven than Deus Ex for eg. By saying more gameplay driven do you mean to say SF is more of a game than Deus Ex HR or any other game giving importance to story? Like I said it almost always seems to be a crime these days for games to give even a semblance of importance to story because they are in danger of not being called a game. Having a bad story like Bayonetta / Vanquish or a non story like SF seems to be almost a boon and a straight ticket to be called more gamey or more gameplay driven.

Cant a game be both driven by strong gameplay and strong story or does it always have to be either or?

remind me of when ND first show Last of Us and most of what they're talking is the story, basically they're saying if we're gonna do story in games, let's do a really good job on it. and a lot of gaf's kneejerk reaction is that mean worse gameplay.

having a great story/character didn't mean the gameplay have to suffer.
 

Duffyside

Banned
Exploration is gameplay, environmental puzzle solving is gameplay, shooting is gameplay.


Fast melee combat and sick combos aren't the only things considered gameplay.

Right, but to make the exploration part of a game have "deep gameplay," you do more than just make lots of areas for you to walk/climb to. You incorporate some challenging platforming elements or, as you said, puzzle-solving.

To make puzzle-solving deep, you do more than just simple things of moving a box to reach a ladder. And obviously the shooting was why he brought up Vanquish and not just Bayonetta -- "deep" shooting gameplay would involve different enemy types, evasion, weapons with different effects that you need to understand how best to use, etc.

Just saying this game "has gameplay," well, yes, obviously. But just walking around to corners of rooms and having shooting doesn't make the game deep in that regard.

I don't see why people can't just say "yeah, if you only care about deep gameplay, maybe this one won't be for you." Know what? Journey doesn't have deep gameplay either, and it's the best game of the year. That's not the only thing "games" are these days, thankfully.
 
You've seen one 15 minute area in the game. Lets not jump to conclusions just yet.


Also a game doesn't need to have deep mechanics to still be gameplay driven, there's more variety in gameplay in this game then there is in Bayoneta and Vanquish for example.
 

i-Lo

Member
Yeah, I appreciate this as well. I want them to show as little as possible. In a game such as this, half of the enjoyment is discovering new locations and gameplay elements while you first play through the game yourself. I like the way 343 are handling this with the new Halo, we haven't seen much of the single player, but we've had a lot of multiplayer and behind the scenes videos to drum up hype.

I think ND are gearing up to be like R* with their GTA games with a different reason. When a game is this plot driven inherent gaps form when people are shown different sections of the story for demo purposes to its detriment. Also, the multiplayer aspect of it is yet to be revealed. Given the game comes out next year, it's likely we'll see some more SP and MP footages.

remind me of when ND first show Last of Us and most of what they're talking is the story, basically they're saying if we're gonna do story in games, let's do a really good job on it. and a lot of gaf's kneejerk reaction is that mean worse gameplay.

having a great story/character didn't mean the gameplay have to suffer.

These are the blanket reactions here:

1. Good story perhaps indicate to bad gameplay
2. Having MP will most likely be to the detriment of SP
3. Gameplay>Graphics (yea, so let's get back to 8 bit era, fuck yea)
4. Heavy Rain (& BTS) was/will be an interactive movie (because the inherent lack of options on a controller has nothing to do with it and people still ask for innovation).

EDIT: Sincere queries and criticisms here were only in the beginning of the thread. Now it's just first rate trolling.
 

StuBurns

Banned
It looks plenty deep to me, there's very tight item management, multiple things can be crafted from certain sets of items, making the choices more difficult. You can reduce anything to 'it's just shooting', 'it's just stealth', etc. Vanquish is the best dedicated third person shooter out, this game is not a dedicated shooter, it's attempting a number of genres, and it's ND's first attempt at a 'systems' focused game.
 

Duffyside

Banned
You've seen one 15 minute area in the game. Lets not jump to conclusions just yet.


Also a game doesn't need to have deep mechanics to still be gameplay driven, there's more variety in gameplay in this game then there is in Bayoneta and Vanquish for example.

"Let's not jump to conclusions" .... "there's more variety in this game than Bayonetta."

...What? Also; no, there isn't.
 

Duffyside

Banned
Is your definition of variety in gameplay the different amount of combos?

Also, "what?" what?

You said don't jump to conclusions, and then you jumped to a conclusion.

Bayonetta had a Panzer Dragoon segment in it, for Pete's sake. Among everything else I could list. I don't think there's anything seen so far in TLoU that Bayonetta didn't do itself.

But let's not turn this into that thread. TLoU is a day one purchase for me. I just don't like seeing people so devoted to the game/dev/company that when someone says "hm, I dunno if I'll like this game, because I only like deep gameplay" people freak the hell out and call him a troll.
 
You said don't jump to conclusions, and then you jumped to a conclusion.

Bayonetta had a Panzer Dragoon segment in it, for Pete's sake. Among everything else I could list. I don't think there's anything seen so far in TLoU that Bayonetta didn't do itself.

But let's not turn this into that thread. TLoU is a day one purchase for me. I just don't like seeing people so devoted to the game/dev/company that when someone says "hm, I dunno if I'll like this game, because I only like deep gameplay" people freak the hell out and call him a troll.

I didn't jump to any conclusions, what I said was based on what we already saw and already know about the game. (Crafting system, swimming, stealth, shooting, platforming, puzzle solving, different locations, etc)

You said "But just walking around to corners of rooms and having shooting doesn't make the game deep in that regard." implying that was all the game will be. That's why I said don't jump to conclusions just yet.
 
A little reminder of what's to come:

ibmxgZGgeqvDxP.gif
 
Just because the campaign is plot driven, versus something like Bayonetta which has a plot for filler, that doesn't mean the gameplay that is present in LoU isn't of quality or worth playing the game for.

Another strawman. . . keep em coming? Can you quote what you referring to. Seems a lot of ppl are second guessing genres as "good" and "bad". Game looks like it's playing to it's strengths, that gif definitely shows that.

You said don't jump to conclusions, and then you jumped to a conclusion.

Pretty much, trying to say a game fits this style = bad or that one shouldn't like it.
 

KageMaru

Member
Another strawman. . . keep em coming? Can you quote what you referring to. Seems a lot of ppl are second guessing genres as "good" and "bad".

Maybe I just misunderstood your post. I thought you describing the game as plot driven meant the gameplay would be lacking or suffering as a result. If you didn't mean that, then I apologize.
 
Seems pretty clear to me.

This games strength isn't the gameplay (like Bayonetta) is not saying the game is bad. Or perhaps it is? Well I guess ppl see what they want to see. If the graphics and choreography/animations weren't as good it would be less immersive/believable for the type of game this is.
 

The Chef

Member
This games strength isn't the gameplay (like Bayonetta) is not saying the game is bad. Or perhaps it is? Well I guess ppl see what they want to see. If the graphics and choreography/animations weren't as good it would be less immersive/believable for the type of game this is.

Who would enjoy a game if the gameplay sucked?
 
The game looks like it has many strengths and gameplay definitely looks to be one of those strengths. In fact, it's hard to point an area of weakness.

This is the real deal here, folks.
 

The Chef

Member
Nice try, that's nowhere near what I said.

Uh, yes it is. Don't back peddle. Bro seriously what person would enjoy a game if the "gameplay wasn't a strength"? Seriously I'm curious what the hell your talking about. Do they play the game because it looks pretty? Because the controlls are nice? Because the story is good? Why?
 
For example Bayonetta strength is it's gameplay. That's it's strongest point and the dev should be pleased with the result because that's the genre's aim.

However I disagree that this games gameplay is more varied than Bayonetta or Vanquish as someone claimed. But that's just me.

Uh, yes it is. Don't back peddle. Bro seriously what person would enjoy a game if the "gameplay wasn't a strength"?

Your trying too hard to suggest "the gameplay sucks" from all this. KageMaru clearly understood what I meant.
 

apana

Member
I said wow. So if you replay it different scenarios will occur but you will still ultimately get to the same endpoints and trigger the same scenes?
 
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