GooseMan69
Member
I hate to say this, because it’s one of my favorite games, but repeat playthroughs expose the games weaknesses quite a bit.
The biggest problem is that the game often railroads you into playing on its own terms, which stifles player agency and creativity. Situations are presented as stealth sections, but then the game pulls the rug on you and forces you into combat for no reason. I don’t have a problem with action sequences in stealth games. Plenty of great stealth games have them. The problem here is that the game sends mixed messages to the player. You think “oh I think I can sneak past these guys”, and even if you successfully keep yourself hidden, the game will force you into a fight you were trying to avoid. Examples:
Bills Town- Before breaking into the school, there’s a section where you can silently take out some infected. No how matter how quietly you do this, you will cross a threshold where the game spawns aggro enemies behind you, forcing you into combat.
Pittsburg - There’s a tank that follows you around for a bit in this area. At first, it appears you can sneak by it undetected. But no matter what you do, you will be attacked by it once you cross a certain threshold in the level. The game also spawns aggro enemies at this point.
The game also arbitrarily decides that you have to kill all enemies in an area before progressing. There’s multiple areas where I snuck through, found the exit, only to be told I have to kill everyone first.
Then there’s the issue of enemy spawns being janky as fuck. This game has “monster closets” galore. Financial district after Joel and Ellie rifle cutscene is prime example. If you try to stealth this section, enemies will keep spawning in random corners of the map that you thought you already cleared. This is because the game wants Ellie to shoot a certain amount of enemies. And she doesn’t shoot if you’re in stealth. So the game is essentially trying to force you into a combat encounter.
Another prime example is invisible sniper section. I remember finding a second story window in one of the houses with a perfect vantage point to take out the sniper. Problem is, there is nobody operating the rifle. It’s literally a floating gun. This must have been an oversight, I’m sure they didn’t intend for there to be a window where you can see into the sniper den. Because the only way to progress here is to do the scripted QTE fight with the sniper.
To be fair, there are plenty of sections that ARE stealthable. These are by far the best gameplay sequences. I really wish they could have had more of that.
Fortunately, Part 2 is a fucking masterpiece in encounter design. It alleviates most of the issues above. It has a “sandbox” feel, where the game gives you huge levels, and tons of mechanics and tools to experiment with. The majority of combat arenas can be exited at any time, making stealth a far more viable option. NPCs organically occupate the levels, instead of being awkwardly spawned in. Just so, so much better.
Story be dammed, the gameplay and encounter design of Part 2 is so fucking far ahead. I can’t justify saying Part 1 is a better game. I just can’t.
I wonder if the remake will alleviate any of this. I know the AI looks way better, but it doesn’t seem like the encounters themselves are designed any differently. Shame.
The biggest problem is that the game often railroads you into playing on its own terms, which stifles player agency and creativity. Situations are presented as stealth sections, but then the game pulls the rug on you and forces you into combat for no reason. I don’t have a problem with action sequences in stealth games. Plenty of great stealth games have them. The problem here is that the game sends mixed messages to the player. You think “oh I think I can sneak past these guys”, and even if you successfully keep yourself hidden, the game will force you into a fight you were trying to avoid. Examples:
Bills Town- Before breaking into the school, there’s a section where you can silently take out some infected. No how matter how quietly you do this, you will cross a threshold where the game spawns aggro enemies behind you, forcing you into combat.
Pittsburg - There’s a tank that follows you around for a bit in this area. At first, it appears you can sneak by it undetected. But no matter what you do, you will be attacked by it once you cross a certain threshold in the level. The game also spawns aggro enemies at this point.
The game also arbitrarily decides that you have to kill all enemies in an area before progressing. There’s multiple areas where I snuck through, found the exit, only to be told I have to kill everyone first.
Then there’s the issue of enemy spawns being janky as fuck. This game has “monster closets” galore. Financial district after Joel and Ellie rifle cutscene is prime example. If you try to stealth this section, enemies will keep spawning in random corners of the map that you thought you already cleared. This is because the game wants Ellie to shoot a certain amount of enemies. And she doesn’t shoot if you’re in stealth. So the game is essentially trying to force you into a combat encounter.
Another prime example is invisible sniper section. I remember finding a second story window in one of the houses with a perfect vantage point to take out the sniper. Problem is, there is nobody operating the rifle. It’s literally a floating gun. This must have been an oversight, I’m sure they didn’t intend for there to be a window where you can see into the sniper den. Because the only way to progress here is to do the scripted QTE fight with the sniper.
To be fair, there are plenty of sections that ARE stealthable. These are by far the best gameplay sequences. I really wish they could have had more of that.
Fortunately, Part 2 is a fucking masterpiece in encounter design. It alleviates most of the issues above. It has a “sandbox” feel, where the game gives you huge levels, and tons of mechanics and tools to experiment with. The majority of combat arenas can be exited at any time, making stealth a far more viable option. NPCs organically occupate the levels, instead of being awkwardly spawned in. Just so, so much better.
Story be dammed, the gameplay and encounter design of Part 2 is so fucking far ahead. I can’t justify saying Part 1 is a better game. I just can’t.
I wonder if the remake will alleviate any of this. I know the AI looks way better, but it doesn’t seem like the encounters themselves are designed any differently. Shame.
Last edited:
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. Come on, be honest…
