Uncharted and The Last of Us - Great and Terrible Games

This video is over two hours long because it discusses four different

games

. I've put breaks in each section so the video can be watched in parts. There are links in the description. Each section

last

s approximately 15 minutes. The reason I spend so much time looking at each game is because it's meant to function as a critical analysis and watchable plot synopsis, meaning that even if you've never played these

games

, I'm talking in depth. Enough about the gameplay and story so you can understand everything. You should have a good idea what these games are about after watching this video.

Which also means I'm going to spoil everything about them. The Uncharted games are a PlayStation series. exclusives developed by naughty dog ​​The first was Drake's Fortune, which was released in 2007, then Among Thieves in 2009, followed by Drake's Deception in 2011, all of them for PlayStation 3, the fourth game in the series has just come out, A Thief's End for PlayStation 4. You should also know that there was another game, Golden Abyss, that was released for PlayStation Vita. I haven't played that game so I won't discuss it, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I think it's a prequel that takes place before Drake's Fortune.

Loss to Us was also made by Naughty Dog and came out in 2013. Although it is not part of the Uncharted series, it could be seen as a spiritual sequel of sorts. I mean, both games are third-person shooters with cover mechanics that share a lot. of features, but they differ drastically from each other through some relatively small adjustments. We'll take a full look at this game at the end of this video. If the first three Uncharted games competed in an Olympic event, then Uncharted 2 and 3 would be left fighting over who gets the gold and silver, while Uncharted would be sulking at the bottom with a bronze medal, but there is a big difference between these two sides, the gold and silver medals are real.

While bronzes won't like a painted p

last

ic piece, that's how sharp the quality increases after the first one. I would go that far. like saying Drake's Fortune isn't even a good game. It's comfortably mediocre and would be downright

terrible

if it weren't for the strong introduction it provides to the series' characters. That's a surreal thing to say about a game where parts of the story saved it from being a waste of time. Instead of the game, I now know that I can often seem much more negative than I actually feel about a game, especially in older videos like Dragon's Dogma or even Blood-borne or The Witness.

So I want to say now that I think the other games in the series are good, but also that I'm not exaggerating when I say how much I don't like the first game. I played its demo when it first came out and I was I wasn't really impressed that I didn't get it, it wasn't until In Charge 3 came out that I went back and played it and I'm surprised such a weak game got a sequel, of course I'm glad it did. Even if it were because I'm in graph 2, it's a big improvement, but that in itself is a big surprise because of the main problems.

It mainly has to do with the length of the game. I reviewed all five games shown here in the same way to make this video. I mean, I didn't rush to review all the content. But I did not. I didn't inspect every corner of every area. I went at a comfortable pace. Uncharted 2 and 3 took me around nine hours each to complete the last of us took 14 Uncharted 4 to 15. The first game only took 6 hours and despite being the shortest. Of all of them it also has the least amount of variety and its gameplay settings and also recycles much of its content.

First though, let's look at the story even though it is the strongest part of the game. It has its own massive problems. It makes absolutely no sense. And there are long periods of time when very little happens. Still strong. However, because he lets himself be carried away by his characters. I'll find her, how much trouble could one girl cause? Ok let's go. We open with a profound quote and a surprisingly smooth transition from an underwater coffin to her appearing to be dragged onto a ship. The two characters here are the focus of the Nathan series. Drake and Elena Fisher Drake is a descendant of the famous explorer Francis Drake, who is assumed to be dead in the coffin they just climbed into.

Elena is a journalist who finances Nathan's expedition to find the coffin so he can record everything and make a documentary out of it. These characters only recently met before the game began and are still a little awkward around each other. Dirty, this discomfort can also be felt by the player, as the dialogue in these games is saturated with attempts at sarcasm and one-liners. At every opportunity I've said in the past that I'm a little sick and tired of it being linked to a lot of action movies and TV shows. I'd say the closest thing Uncharted has to its fireflies since Nathan is More Captain Reynolds than Indiana Jones or Han Solo, at times it even sounds like voice actor Nolan North is trying to emulate Nathan Fillion in some of his lines Desperate times, right?

What does that mean? I believe in the wind, what does that mean? The writing gets better as the series goes on and that's true here at the beginning. It gives the impression that the characters are aware that they are in a game. They talk to themselves, move and speak as if they were actors rather than real people. It gets better as the game progresses and I would say that by the second game the problem has completely disappeared. Although it is possible that it is simply the player who gets used to these characters and their gestures. If anything, the first game serves as a

great

foundation for Nathan Drake. and Elena Fisher for the rest of the series.

This opening is also pretty good and sets up two other things in the game: the pirates attack and you have to defend yourself against them with a gun and use parts of the ship for cover and eventually fight them with your bare hands But Nathan's casual reaction too clearly shows that this is a normal day for him, fighting is common for this man and either he has become desensitized or the game is screaming at you that this is not a story that you are The intention is to take Uncharted 2 very seriously to something similar that is is opening and what we will see when we get to that game.

The problem here requires only a brief rewind to see the game opening with that profound quote. Each game in the series actually tells and some of the plot points that happen afterward. Let me wonder if Naughty Dog themselves forgot that they weren't supposed to take it seriously either. However, this is not the problem in the first game. Then, in the second and third, the last main character of the series appears at the end of the scene, Victor Sullivan. Who is basically an older, grumpier, occasionally wiser version of Nathan Drake? He has acquired a no-nonsense attitude despite his advanced age, but he still puts up with a lot of shit from Nathan because they have known each other for a long time.

The trio escapes on their plane and recaps a story safely from the Francis Drake Pirates. Kaufman was emptied because he faked his death. His diary was there. Which is full of clues necessary to find El Dorado, an ancient lost city of gold. This begins a tradition that continues in every Uncharted game, including Uncharted 4. There is a secret location full of riches as the final objective. A long-dead explorer almost found him and failed, but he left many clues and a trail to follow. Nathan Drake and his friends try to find it while being chased by another group that also wants the treasure.

That's the basic skeleton of the plot used in all four games, the added meat is what's different each time Sully explains that he's in deep debt and that he really needs this treasure hunt to end. Well, this time the scene that ends with Nathan and Sully handing Elena over. They leave her. in the fort and she acts as if there is a stage of people watching her. She should have seen one coming. The next area is with Nathan and Sully, they walk through a jungle together and talk about some of their old adventures. It's a pretty decent dialogue and fills in some of the silence as you progress through the level, this place acts as a second tutorial, no shooting yet, just some climbing and puzzle solving, these are added with the other main parts from the content of the Uncharted game series, through combat shooting or stealth, to generally exploring. walls to climb ruins or ledges puzzles We will get to them in just a second pieces of a unique type of lethal situation that you need to play and then Movies of stories that run without the player's control The puzzles in Uncharted One are no different from the rest of the Gameplay on offer here by that I mean it's

terrible

, the climbing isn't much better and it makes you follow the only real path available to get over a wall or something else then you'll be pushing a box or When moving a ladder these parts are They feel more like filler than just something bad.

But then you get to these puzzles that require you to look at your journal or at Francis. Drake's notebook in this case. We have already given you the solutions. You just have to follow them. Some of the game's later puzzles require a little more thought. But it's more about trying to understand the clues in the book than looking at the clues. puzzle instead here It's about using these shapes in the correct order. That's it That's it for this puzzle, other puzzles aren't much better and some of them leave you wondering why they exist. We'll get to them in a moment.

This walk through the ruins ends in failure. There is no lost city of gold. In fact, it seems that someone already beat them to the treasure decades before. Regardless, Nathan and Sully move on and find an abandoned submarine. For some reason, Nathan thinks this might be related to the treasure and wants to investigate. He hands her Francis Drake's notebook. Sully before leaving for no reason. It's not that he's afraid of getting wet since he was already swimming at this level before, but it happens. Anyway, you have to climb a little more complicated to reach the submarine, which is expanding. part of the experience you gained climbing the ruins before.

This part looks good And the inside of the submarine is conveniently trashed inside you find out that Nathan's guest was right somehow The Germans were also looking for the treasure because why don't you find out that El Dorado is in town? But a giant golden statue. You find the information needed to continue the search, but Sully is attacked outside before you have a chance to use it. Nathan shoots down a torpedo on the way out, which will show how much bad luck the guy will benefit from throughout the games. That's probably Sully's bed. he is held captive outside by villains.

So forgettable that I had to Google his name to write this script. Gabriel Roman Sully O's Roman has a lot of money. He used his last wild goose chase with Nathan to buy himself some time, but instead it made Roman more interested in finding the treasure. himself Somehow followed the two to this island He shoots Sully in the chest, killing him Quick and Nathan downed explodes, giving him a chance to escape before he can be forced to find the treasure for Roman Huyes immediately. a few seconds later, who also followed them both to the island. They quickly reconcile their differences since Sully has just been killed.

He fights some Roman thugs on his way back through the ruins they cleared earlier. The combat is very simple, hide behind, cover anyone, the enemy. stop shooting, take some headshots and continue with the sequence, it ends with you leaving with Elena and her car, then you are both on a plane flying to the next island, which honestly looks exactly like the same island you were on. you were a second ago. That really confused me when I first played the game. Nathan doesn't seem to dwell enough on the death of his old friend and still makes jokes and is sarcastic.

This could be seen as a continuation of the false help he maintains to appear as if nothing fazes him. him and I know it's a pronounced facade. I just wanted one of you to lose your mind when I pronounced it wrong right there or it could be because Sully isn't really dead. So the writers didn't think to use any moments to lament a character. when he returns later The plane is attacked Nathan and Elena Bale within a minute of each other with parachutes and they separate when they land on the island at this point the story slows down immensely So this is the beginning of the terrible and I'm tired You're stuck in This island and in this environment for the rest of the game very quickly You encounter some Roman thugs And you get into firefight after firefight after firefight You move from one area that has tight cover to the next and continue with very few breaks to get more story or interaction with other characters.

It wouldn't be so bad except that the combat is one of the most boring iterations of third person with cover I've ever played. Guns feel the same way. There are a few variations of the same pistol and assault rifle. Then there are shotguns and sniper rifles. They are standard things and you canpresent a solid argument. And these combat encounters are here just as some filler gameplay sections to act as a break from some of the story sequences. Unfortunately, as is the case at this point in the game, they last too long and simply aren't interesting. The other problem I have with them is that aiming precisely at the gamepad never feels right to me now.

I'm not saying that shooting games can never work with a gamepad. I know some people have played enough shooter games on consoles for it to become second nature to them. But Uncharted 1 has bullet sponge enemies that can survive unloading entire clips on them. Headshots are the best and most efficient way to complete the game. But aiming with the analog sticks can feel like Nathan is trying to shoot while he is drunk. One solution here is to modify the controller's sensitivity settings, but this is trading one problem for another, you can do this so the target reticle can move.

Accurate enough to aim correctly regularly, but aiming is painfully slow. You can be a drunk turret that rockets from target to target or you can be a tank that should make those loud beeps every time you start turning. I must say that the shooting improves with each game and Loss for us has its own changes that, in my opinion, work in harmony with these limitations. But it's not something I think can be considered good or fun. We'll talk a little more about shooting in later games where you continue. the jungle and you approach to find Elena.

You arrive at this ruined fort and go through one of the first

great

climbing sections in the series. The camera even zooms out to give you this. See what you will climb. There is no real danger here. You follow the only true path that is available to you. And that's it. There's nothing else to do, just follow the handholds and continue. Nathan does all the work for you and you push him in the right direction. There's another section like this before entering the fort properly, which ends with another long, unforgiving one. shootout series Like the previous jungle, the game really squeezes all the playtime I can out of this area.

Two things happen here that are worth talking about. The first is that this is where the idea behind the game begins: the puzzle treasure hunt. deteriorate This Ford is falling apart. Do you find a closed door with a symbol that links to the guide in your book? This leads you to a key that was hidden in a nearby tower that is also collapsing and you need to open the door. This was a deliberately placed test for whoever is still searching for the treasure. This door leads nowhere, it's just another part of the fort that the Roman thugs had no problem getting to, but you, the acrobatic Nathan Drake, had to follow an elaborate trail to find the key to get through.

Now I know this may sound incredibly Mickey. even for me But I wouldn't mention it at all if this didn't set the standard for every puzzle that awaits us later in the game. The other thing that happens here is that Nathan contacts his ancestor and receives an undiscovered message from Francis Drake. There should be a moment of reverence for our hero and it almost is, but it's immediately interrupted by another fucking gunfight as if the game was so afraid to let us go more than a few minutes without climbing some ledges or shooting something. Elena is also in this fort.

She is filming much of the area as she is determined to make a visible spectacle of the expedition. You almost reunite with her, but end up captured. The story finally picking up in this part is pretty good, Eddy Raja is your captor and apparently he and Nathan have some history. They make fun of each other while Elena is off playing Nathan's damsel-in-distress hero, Eddy Raja is a less intimidating villain than Roman. , but it is definitely more entertaining and interesting. When Elena uses a car to tear down your prison wall, he chases after you as you drive away.

This is one of the action scenes in the game. You act as a turret on the back of the car that has infinite ammunition and you make other cars and bikes that chase you explode. You can also top a lot of the trees you pass by, which is what I found to be the most impressive part of the sequence. It's a passable section, ending with Nathan Elena risking a fatal fall rather than being recaptured by Eddy. Let's take things back a little. There are more shots to do in the following sections, but now Elena is with you.

Nathan is someone to talk to and moved through some of the flooded ruins on the island at a better pace instead of constantly being stuck in the jungle at the fort. It's important to know that Nathan really wants to abandon the treasure hunt at this point. It is Elena who pushes him to continue. She reasons that the way off the island is next. They have to go find the treasure anyway. So why don't you do both and see what happens? Nathan agrees and they continue. There is another vehicle section here. That's the worst in the world. series the two traveling on a jet ski.

Now this is handled as if you were riding two hidden cows together who hate each other. It might have been nice if you could focus on speed and between obstacles, we have to constantly stop a name. a grenade launcher with Elena in it or declare a path I suppose in theory you could try to get through everything quickly in these sequences, but the enemies here also tend to be armed with explosives that can activate floating barrels in the water that can kill you in one hit. hits if you activate them, it's very tedious and never feels fun.

You reach the middle of the short customs on the water. Elena wonders aloud if something otherworldly happened to the colony that caused everyone to disappear and all the buildings to flood. Nathan refuses to believe there is anything supernatural. could exist. It's a brief preparation for later when it turns out you're wrong. Just get up and disappear. Yes, you fight more sunless Roman henchmen in the building and we see that Elena and Nathan are starting to trust each other a little more. She films more of the area and the zoomed-in wall discovers that Sully is still alive and working with Roman on the island.

Hello. Shortly after this, she loses her camera in a fall and still wants to search for the treasure even though she is no longer collecting footage for her show. Now that Sully appears to be alive in a merchant, Nathan is convinced to stay on the island and the two. together in another terrible jetski sequence that has the same problems as the previous one. Elena and make their way to a section of the Lost Colony further into the island, including a monastery where you meet Sully. This part of the game is one of the unexplored, its main flaws were surprisingly close to the end here because much of what remains in the game involves retreading this location again.

And again, you also make your way through this building twice in this open courtyard several times. Thanks to waves of enemies that keep appearing out of nowhere after you've killed a certain amount of other enemies. The game really highlights every bit of content. can get out of these areas AND since that combat is only average at best. Isn't it fun? This ties directly into the puzzles and story of this section first. However, let's take a good look at the meeting with Sully. You look awfully good for a corpse. Nathan and Elena rightly accuse them of switching sides.

What after you learn more about Sully's backstory with Nathan and in the upcoming games? It's something Nathan really should know better than to do anyway. It is somewhat forgivable that all these details have not been planned yet. It turns out that Roman actually shot Sully, but Drake's notebooks often have enough bullet for him to survive and he is forced to help Roman find the El Dorado statue ever since. Why does the game have that really awkward and forced moment from earlier with Nathan giving Sully the book? I don't like this because, as we established earlier, there was no reason Nathan would have given it to him, but the real reason I don't like it is because it has such an easy fix of a line from Sully that says: Hey kid , give me that book before I go stomping on that submarine.

If you get killed there, at least I can follow the book myself without your sorry ass. This shows how shameless Sully can be. be and I'm really sorry for that horrible impression and then he cares about the treasure almost as much as he cares about Nathan since he never wanted him to risk going into the submarine to begin with, he still has the book to block the shot and the means to chain to Roman throughout boom done It's not so forced anymore what I said I really like that Sully wasn't a traitor in this series. Does he do this more than once, actually, introducing you to a character with some major clues that he will become? in you and then?

They don't and everything is fine. It keeps you guessing some of the times as surprises happen and your suspicions about the characters won't always be correct. There is much to be gained by subverting expectations. And you can watch my videos in the Tomb Raider series If you want to see a story that gets it wrong, you use the book to solve a puzzle in the monastery, which once again is already solved for you. You just have to follow the instructions. This acts as a starting point for what I consider to be the most ridiculous part of the game and perhaps the entire series.

This puzzle leads to an underground section that, once again, the Roman men have somehow broken into before you, leading you to another part of a building you already explored previously. Yeah, so I go in circles to the top of a church where you follow clues to open a path to a secret hallway. You can also look through a window to see a symbol on another nearby building. There are all of these. lovers of really elaborate clues and mechanics, all for which amounts to going around in circles and never finding any real treasure. But only the next clue which you could have easily avoided if you had been given the freedom to explore the area yourself with the rest of the clues in the notebook.

It is here that you eavesdrop on a conversation with Roman and his two main assistants, Attie Raja and another guy named Navarro. There are more clues about something supernatural lurking on the island. Is Roman the typical evil guy who puts on a posture of wanting results? The cost doesn't matter. This scene is mainly about introducing you to Navarro and more intense foreshadowing of the monsters you'll be fighting soon. The clues will eventually lead you to the same room that Celie provides you with the Distraction and you assassinate a few more guards on your way there. You open a secret passage to one of the most impressive locations in the game.

This maze-like level full of overlapping paths is a decent section that is once again ruined by the Romans who somehow find an alternate path into the area even though you just had to jump through so many ridiculous hoops to find your own. path. It's a section that I think didn't really need to fight until the end. It could have been a nice break from all the combat. Just let it be the puzzle of finding the right path down here. Anyway, Nathan and Elena find where the golden statue is. should be and discover Francis Drake's corpse instead.

This is one of the best moments in the game. Nathan is clearly devastated by this discovery and not just because the treasure is absent, it's the drink. He never found him, he just died here and learned that his idol met a pathetic end and failed in finding him. the blow and it comes coupled with Eddie Raja once again, taking the lead. It doesn't last long though, as this is also the great appearance of the monsters that inhabit the island, you have to wonder why it took Nathan so long to find them, but it works to twist the combat into a great Story Moment You Look Forced to fight alongside Eddie while Alayna works to rescue you, monsters require different tactics and normal human enemies.

They are much faster and attack you from all sides, standing still and shooting doesn't work. well, and that made fighting them awkward until I tried running and gunning instead, this turns a bad fight into something. That's a bit nicer and having freedom of movement without having to worry about cover since these monsters don't have weapons to destroy your health while you run is a decent change from the rest of the game. It's a shame it comes too late and is only used a few times. Eddie dies here and that's one less villain, two more to go.

You barely escaped in time and ran from the underground city to a Nazi military base because seemingly remote islands and video games can't exist without some kind of Nazi influence. There is some more climbing here in the game. It actually allows you to go for more than a few minutes without having to fight something. Your goal is to turn the power back on so you and Elena can escape without having to fight too many.the monsters that chase you out of the previous area, but then you regain the power and more monsters form outside the walls that just chase you until the last sequence, this is where you learned that El Dorado is cursed, what is the reason. that the creatures you have been fighting exist, the curse turns people into these monsters.

Nathan, having seen the supernatural monsters, now believes in the curse. He knows that he has to stop Rowan from taking the statue off the island and rushes back just to witness. Roman takes Elena hostage, so Nathan will no longer interfere. Loud and clear idiot. Well, there's no microphone on your part. Too bad, after a long series of battles, Nathan encounters Sully and they immediately decide to interfere. Anyway, you make your way back to the monastery section and the church you were in before along another hidden path. Finally you can see the golden statue, which is not a statue at all, it is a sarcophagus with a cursed corpse inside Rome is infected. with Christian he goes crazy.

He is killed and at this point in the story Navarro, who barely appears in the game or is mentioned at all, becomes the final villain, which really cost me a lot of attention. But I can see why some people might like Navarro. he claims that the curse is the true treasure and is worth far more than gold to the right buyer. He begins the escape from him with El Dorado and Elena. Monsters attack you and you have to charge forward. Just don't fall into the water because Naughty Dog. I decided this should be an instant death for a reason I don't understand, the sequence always seems a little strange, shaky and like rushing towards me.

Navarro is escaping in a helicopter, you traveled with him and he caused the accident you see right now and maybe you can see what I mean. You end up on a ship that dates back nicely to the beginning of the game with the first gunfight you had with Elena. Do you start on a boat and end on a boat? Unfortunately, this is one of the worst final boss battles I've seen in the game. Navaro breaks practically every rule that has been established so far, both for you and the enemies. Here you have a laser sight, which is a mechanic you found earlier that requires rolling form to break the lock, since it's a one-hit kill.

Navarro cannot be freed. He remains behind cover indefinitely. He never runs out of ammo if you try to charge him. He will kill you if you try to shoot him. when a cover appears, he will kill you. Basically if you try to attack him in any way he will kill you, what you need to do is use cover to hide from his constant attack pattern and finish off all of his attacks. He either protects these forces or retreats into the next area where you do it all over again now, for one thing. This can be seen as a good final encounter as there is a sharp focus on all the cover-based shooting he has been doing throughout the game and it is against the more powerful enemy who has some of the same abilities as you.

But there is no room for any real creativity in this fight. You have to follow the predetermined path. The boss must prevent his shots from killing the guards. Rinse and repeat in the next area because there is a set end to all of this that you must overcome even here with Navarro standing in the open. You can't do anything, but follow the predetermined path, move from cover to cover closer and closer, and then engage in a quick fight instead of shooting him. It's like they transferred the same thought process behind the climbing sections to a shooting section.

There is only one path, only this time there is some trial and error involved in learning what that is with a bunch of wrong paths that seem reasonable at first, look like things you should be able to do, but are still wrong because the game requires this set exact actions on your part. Navarro falls in the fight. Nathan goes towards Elena without giving her a fatal blow. Navarro Then, of course, he gets up and threatens to kill them both. with a gun and then just stands there doing nothing right. Nathan takes the time to push a helicopter off the boat instead of charging at Navarro to disarm him.

Somehow this works and hey, like I said at the beginning, as long as you don't do it. take the game, seriously This is all good, the ending of the movie also reinforces this it's surprisingly short for one Elena and Nathan have some final comments Then Sully shows up with a treasure he magically found somewhere So the whole adventure was a total failure for the three of them. They all walk away from the island, and that's it. That's the end. It's so abrupt and makes me wonder if sequels are always planned for the series. So it's an unexplored game.

I think it suffers a lot from overusing boring combat and chaining together puzzles in strange, arbitrary ways. It's still worth playing to see the start of an otherwise good game series. We still have a few more to complete and obviously have a lot more to say about the series. I'll handle some things. I'll go back and look at some examples of HR 1 at least once, but for now, let's move on to the first sequel. Most people consider this to be the best game of all time. The first three some even think is one of the best games ever created.

It can also be surprisingly divisive. Some people think that the game and the entire series are quite boring and that Rifton's opinion is so broad and different that it is really interesting to me my intention with it. The section of the video is "Passing Among Thieves" in the same way I did with Drake's fortune. But I also hope to illustrate why I think some people view the game in very different ways. First of all, I want to say that I think the Uncharted games get better with each entry There is a giant jump in quality from 1 to 2 and then a small step from 2 to 3 The games are closed But I enjoyed three a little more Uncharted 4 is an improvement most significant in my opinion for reasons we will see in the next video One thing that Uncharted 2 does better than all of them.

However, it is its opening, which is possibly one of the best interesting things in any game. Period, once again we have the deep quote to start and instead of starting with some fun dialogue or action, Nathan is sitting on a train with a gunshot wound to the stomach, we go back and change perspective. The Train isn't even standing. It's hanging off the edge of a cliff and then things start to go to shit and we're controlling Nathan hanging along with the Train. The sequence works first on three levels, the visuals here are truly impressive. I'm playing the remastered edition, but I'm sure the PS3 version would still look decent if I played it today.

Secondly, you have a half-dead Nathan hanging from an emergency train doing all kinds of crazy stunts. I can't think of anything more obvious yet. A fun way to set the tone of the game. The things you will do are crazy and over the top. Try not to accept it too. Oh really. This is the standard we are setting from the beginning. So enjoy how ridiculous it is. Thirdly, you are not in danger here. You can't miss, so it acts as a tutorial for moving Nathan and climbing, and the fact that he's injured also helps explain in-game any mistakes the player might make.

It's also likely that a new player won't even realize that he's not in danger and that's something you should try to remember. We'll come back to this and it's a big thing after you get off the Train, you hit some more climbing sections and do some shooting. The flashbacks begin here as Nathan becomes more and more. more injured This part is still ridiculous jumping on the train wreck, but I think it's a cool scenario and well set up. It's already much more interesting than anything you were doing in the previous game. The same goes for Uncharted 2's story in this one.

The opening stage feels like a big departure from the first game, to the point that you might wonder why they didn't start a new series. Nathan is still here, but Elena and Sully are nowhere to be found. Nathan seems to be enjoying some sort of free time and two new characters appear in his place, Flynn and Chloe. This part of the story is quite dense with information. Flynn has a job offer. breaking into a heavily guarded museum and stealing an oil lamp for a collector who hired him. It is established that Nathan has worked with Flynn before Chloe shows up and there is a hint of some familiarity there, which Nathan is forced to hide when Chloe pretends not to. to meet him and talk about the devil Here comes now Nate Drake, Nathan Drake Chloe is one of the best drivers in the business She will take good care of us.

I bet the idea that the three of them are going to manipulate each other is established, which leans heavily at this point towards Nathan being played by the other two, more importantly. However, the main objective of the game is set along with hints from the game. unexplored main villain You were following a trail left by Francis Drake to find Eldorado You have to deal with the opposing forces controlled by Gabriel Roman here You are following a trail left by Marco Polo to find Shambhala and you have to face the forces that appear controlled by another powerful madman named Lazarevich in a charge.

The big treasure was a golden statue and Uncharted Two is the gigantic gemstone. There's a similar set of all of these things in Uncharted 3 and the interaction between characters here is stronger than in the first game. But some of the same attempts at what are present even down to the very question about whether he spent any time in a foreign prison. That? Yeah, unless you want to end up in a Panamanian jail, we should probably take care of this ourselves. But what's worse, you obviously haven't been to a Panamanian prison, relax, relax, relax. Have you ever been to a Turkish prison, friend?

If they catch us, they'll lock us up and throw away the damn key. You realize that, right? Then you make things more interesting after returning to the frozen train wreck. We're taking this guy straight. You were seeing Nathan happy, warm, and eager to betray the trust of the one he hired Flynn to recover the oil lamp. And now you get to see where those ambitions ended up taking him as he fights to survive in the cold. The story shifts again between these two moments in time with another revelation that Chloe was already in contact with Nathan and that the two are in a relationship and that there is some sort of special dagger that Nathan felt important enough to pick up between them. the ruins of the Train.

So, to summarize, the beginning has given you a visually stunning introduction while you get familiar with the controls. There's nothing in the story sequences that references the first game, so it won't be missed if you're new to the series, and the tension builds quickly as you start to wonder if Flynn is telling the truth or whose side Chloe is really on. Flynn from Nathan or herself and you have a seemingly difficult task to steal. a museum in front of you with the biggest mystery of how Nathan ends up almost halfway in the middle of a train derailment.

If you played the first game, then there's even more here to make you wonder why Nathan is still with Elena? what happened to them or the treasure they found where Sully I really think is a strong opening and marks a significant increase in the quality of the series that continues with the next scene. You execute the heist at the museum with Flynn and Chloe. This is a surprisingly long sequence that introduces a new side of combat to the stealth series. This was technically already an option in the first game, but there are more opportunities to use it in the sequel, in fact.

It seems pretty obvious to me that the general idea behind every encounter from Uncharted 2 onwards is that Nathan will use stealth at the beginning to reduce the number of enemies, which will eventually naturally lead to a firefight with whatever is left. Flynn is here to help guide you through some of the climbs and self-takedowns you work with. him and that you have some competitive banter while working at the museum, what do you bet he'll take us straight to the boiler room? Yes, we are in Yes, like Flynn, right? Well, like Flynn, I don't get it. Just give me a push.

Flynn makes it clear that he wanted to bring a gun in case they got into trouble. Needham and Nathan show that he occasionally has a conscience about killing people when he doesn't agree. and he says that the guards at the museum are just doing their job and don't deserve to be killed, but that doesn't stop him from killing one without a hint of remorse. Wow, this is especially fun since I think it's a teaching tutorial. What do you mean about Ledge's takedowns? So we've already seen a lot more variety in the first hour of Uncharted 2 than the constant jungle we haven't seen.

The main difference going forward is this change in scale. Now it is a global adventure with the passage of time between chapters and new locations. In the end, Nathan opens the lamp and discovers the next clue to find Shambhala. Flynn shows his true colorscolors and takes out a real weapon. Not to kill Nathan, just to stop him long enough. so I've captured the game apparently gives you a chance to escape in a final chase sequence and at least the first time I played I was convinced I was going to make it out without getting caught, then you get arrested when you exit the game. sewers Nathan is in prison for three months and goes a little crazy while he's locked up.

You overlooked a small detail, you didn't think what? Face it genius. You have been deceived. Oh really? Hey Jackass, you're ruining the show. The game restarts here. Sully appears and there is a line that explains where his money went. From the treasure in the first game to the fat, a few palms. They spent the rest of your money. Chloe is here too, and Nathan is understandably distrustful of Sully's men's relationship and the three of them go on to start plotting in a way. That's very similar to the opening scene on the beach. I think most people will still be suspicious of Chloe, but Sully's insistence and the trust gained in the first game is enough to make this plausible.

A new plan is formed to use Chloe's position as Flynn's partner to infiltrate Lazar Twitch's base and acquire more information about Shambhala. The following sections are odd moderation. When one is charred in various ways. Actually, you are back in the jungle. You're alone with Sully. They remember some of his past adventures. There's even a line that's a remake of an old one from the first game. He brought a prostitute to church. Unfortunately, it's also a comeback. for some of the TDM This is quite disconcerting since well, it's almost exactly the same flaw that was seen in Drake's Fortune.

You get stuck in the choke arena behind cover and keep fighting wave after wave of enemies that keep appearing and it goes on. It's long and it's one of the rare parts of the game that does this. It's almost like they're poking fun at the first game a bit by doing a quick rewind before moving on to a much better game anyway. You collect the information and continue exploring. In some nearby ruins you find the dagger that was on the train at the beginning and at the end. The sequence here is also similar to the first game.

You find new information. You then take on the bad guys before you can escape. They end up with the same knowledge you just found so that when you finally manage to escape, the race is still on for both groups to go after the treasure. In this case, you head to a city in Nepal to find a temple that will leave the path to Shambhala in the giant gemstone once again in another. way that marries the first game Sully is absent after this opening, only this time he remains out of the game until the end. He decides that this adventure is beyond him and lets Nathan and Chloe continue.

Chloe had some Nepal with Flynn to go on. Working undercover with Lazarre's vicious forces, Nathan goes there alone with the plan to meet her later. I think this first part in the city is the longest period of time you're alone in Uncharted 2, which is the Train scene, depending on how. It doesn't take long and I think the games work better when Nathan is paired with someone. The interactions between the characters are something the series excels at and is a good way to clue the player in by having the other character. suggesting something instead of having to rely on the UI prompt, some players get stuck, but that doesn't stop the game from doing it anyway.

It seems like that would get me there, which is a problem for me in this area the first time I do it. You have the short action part to start when Nathan is chased by a car and then you are left to wander the city streets in the middle of a battle. Lazarevich does not search for treasure in the same way as Nathan. He's using the track. Finding a temple means he must raid the city and tear down each temple until he finds the right path through brute force rather than understanding clues. So the city is being torn apart in this chaos and lazarevich while there are people everywhere.

The guy clearly wields a hell of a lot more money and power than Roman in the first Uncharted, as in most of the game. I think these city streets look great. They feel very authentic and that feeds into the problem I had here after clearing the place of enemies, you have to find a way to get around the city. You quickly discover that all the streets are blocked in some way. You have to find something to climb. instead, it turns out that it starts on this road at these signs. Now this may seem obvious to those who have already played the game.

But I didn't find these signs to be that sturdy, they are very scalable. It's another example of the game having the specific Order of events it wants you to go through and being very uncreative or alternative ways to get around them. Although I'm willing to admit in this case that I could be the problem and this is something simple I missed. The only time the series does this? Yury, it's not a close in the next battle, the shooting is for the most part a little better in the sequel. I don't know if the controller sensitivity was changed or if the aiming reticle was changed, but it definitely felt better with each game.

The series continued with the most notable difference here with Drake's Fortune: Among the Thieves Unfortunately, weapon variety is still lacking. The biggest change is some new enemy types with shields and heavier armored mercenaries. The core gameplay remains the same. It remains, mostly behind. cover and aim with some precision with loose controls to bring life to the mouth. Overall, the best changes are that you often move through different rooms and environments as you fight now that you've left the jungle, you rarely face continually spawning waves of enemies, and in the few times you're there it's one more arrival. dramatic scene of a Jeep loaded with guys instead of guys appearing out of nowhere on corners.

It feels much better once you enter some of the inner sections of the city. You move fairly quickly through many different rooms and fight as you go. The objective in this part is to reach the top of the tallest building in the city to detect the temple that has the same marking as the path they follow. Following Chloe and Nathan they finally reach the roof and manage to spot the temple better than being ambushed along the way by one of those helicopters. They're bitches, this is for all intents and purposes a boss fight. There are some interesting moments with the building collapsing while you're still inside it, causing you to jump out of danger and something of a chase sequence before you go back to fighting the helicopter and shooting it down.

It's worth repeating here that you shouldn't take the game seriously for two reasons: Drake not only survived an attack by a flying death machine, but he managed to make his way to the explosives needed to destroy the thing while wounding who knows. How many bullets and very shortly after this you drop through the streets of the city and run into Elena in desperate moments, right? So let's pause for a minute, I think I've already said that line about not taking the game seriously at least three times. It's the excuse the game can use to make you do really ridiculous and incredible things.

Surviving the destruction of an entire building and shooting down a helicopter looks like fun. It's also great that Elena is here because I think the interaction between her and Nathan is the best combination in the series for funny and endearing dialogue. But just because you can excuse it doesn't mean it's good You can suspend your disbelief about a lot of things look at the monsters in Uncharted One You can accept the curse and the rules it has that turns people into crazy beasts that are stronger and faster than normal humans Although this is impossible You Can I still accept it as if they suddenly grew wings and flew around seeing lasers coming out of their mouths, which is the same amount of Impossible as before.

You would have a problem with that because that is taking things too far and breaking established rules. I think helicopter flying is perfectly fine. It's in line with the baseline of ridiculousness established with Elena's opening train wreck. However, for me, history unravels. It's a story that's here to provide a reason to go through all the action sequences and character interactions. So it doesn't need to be something stellar and compelling, the scenes and dialogue are the reason you're here. But it still has to make some sense. Elena being here requires so many coincidences that he was sure Sully was behind this.

He should have let Elena know that Nathan was out of her head and that she needs to go talk some sense into him, but no. The reason she's here is because she got a new job which just so happened to be doing a story about the same guy Nathan is fighting, this means she's in the same town Nathan is in. Same time. moment and while he's in town She just happens to be wandering down the same street at the right time to bump into him so she can be in The game I hate coincidences and stories I hate them even more when they have easy solutions to what I just said that Sully is behind this.

Uncharted Three does almost exactly the same thing with Elena and it seems very lazy. Regardless, she's started a great dialogue now that she's here. I feel some history here. Elena Fisher. Last year's model. There is a mockery of a love. triangle between Nathan Elena and Chloe But the game rightly doesn't focus on that and in the end it's resolved with everyone being adults about their feelings and not being petty. Which is a refreshing change from what's usual at the moment, although it does add to the tension. a bit as it all turns heroic by protecting Elena and the cameraman she dragged along to film in the city.

Fast forward a bit you get to the temple you use your notebook to solve a puzzle involving the arms of a statue and then you pass an underground section almost die in a trap and then you have to solve a much more complicated puzzle. At least it seems that way, this is mainly a climbing section. That looks fantastic. This gives you the next clue to locate Shambala and reveals that the dagger you have is the key needed to reach the city. Somehow the loser bitches find the temple right after you and you have to fight your way back out.

Elena's cameraman was shot in the fight. Chloe wants to get rid of them, but Nathan refuses. You go through one of the most hilariously awkward scenes I've ever played in the game when you support the cameraman to move through the alleys and you both take bullet after bullet since he moved. so slowly, which of course has no real ramifications. Because this is a video game and damage taken during cutscenes is the only time it's canon. It's still just the first injury the cameraman suffers when you get to the end of this part. He tried but it's over, he can't go any further.

The cameraman's only purpose was to die on the scene. This is how the game tries to set up. Those are bitches. He is intimidating to keep his cover. Chloe has to pretend to have captured Nathan and the others. Flynn seems to realize her deception, but doesn't Lazarevich do something big? The bad guy struts around and then kills the cameraman and since he only met him 20 minutes ago, I can't remember his name and keep calling him the cameraman. It can be said to what extent this death fails to have any impact on the murder. Chloe probably would have been a better lazarevich.

She then further demonstrates that she skipped a lot of classes at the evil villain school by leaving before confirming that Nathan was murdered. In her place, she is left in the hands of Flynn Elena and Nathan. Of course, they escape. Chloe leaves with Flynn and they head to the train station, so they can travel to the mountains where Shambala is supposed to be. Along with a dagger key taken from Nathan, the rolls from the first game are reversed here. Elena wants to give up on Nathan not because she thinks Chloe is in danger, so you could argue that Chloe couldn't have been killed in that scene since that's Nathan's motivation to continue, but it could have become a revenge story. or he could just be hungry for the treasure or so many other reasons, really Elena decides to help him and the two begin. to reconcile some of their differences.

It's clear that they still have feelings for each other and, as always, their dialogue is some of the best in the series. No, I don't really have much of an Honor Among Thieves option, the only thing that might top it are some of Charlie's cutter exchanges in Uncharted 3 and some of the scenes with Salmon are plotted for Jews. Of course, that's ignoring the Last of Us, which has a better story and dialogue across the board. But we'll get to that: you have more bad guys and you have a shootout at the train station. There are many snipers in this part and it is one of many gunfights. sections that have the same type of default events that you shouldcontinue as part of the escalation instead of having many options and freedom in combat.

You need to stay here and learn how events in this exact order work so you can get through it You were intending to jump onto the train, but you're pinned and he comes to your rescue and you drive behind the train. We jumped off the wagon and got on it and left her behind for now. At least Nathan is alone again. and most players will immediately make the connection with a train to the opening scene and we will go over this part wondering what exactly causes the accident. I haven't talked much in detail about the set pieces of games yet.

I'm saving a lot of comments for the end of this part since a lot of what I have to say can apply to all of them. However, this part of this series deserves a lot of praise. Arguably the best level of all. And that includes Uncharted 4. I think I like some other sections a little more, but not by much. If you'll excuse the pun, there's a lot riding on this part. You're afraid of the accident in front of you, but the whole event seems so incredible But I don't even know how Naughty Dog made it work The Train always moves through so many different environments through the jungle across bridges into the mountains It seems so compelling and it's even built into the game.

It's one of the rare parts of this series where there's more than just climbing and shooting: you have to keep track of enemies both on and off the train and further obstacles along the way. of the road that can kill you if you are not careful. There's another boss fight with a helicopter and the solution this time makes a lot more sense by using parts of the train for cover and eventually using one of the tanks carried on the train to take it down along with the fun. Yes, it's a bit simple mechanics. that makes you fly missiles into the air before they can reach you.

Then there's a moment where you subvert your expectations after the helicopter is shot down, since I guess most people would think the end of that big battle would be what? Train crashes at least that's what I thought. There's a strange moment of calm afterwards where you say: wait. This is still going, you face Chloe and Flynn and that's when Nathan just doesn't know when to give up. Part of the train derails and we finally make it back. to the beginning of the game It also marks the halfway point between these, there is a longer, more substantial side to Drake's Fortune.

There's a lot that could be said about Naughty Dog's attention to detail, not so much in the gameplay, but in the visual animation, the mess. at each level, etc. I'm sure there are other people who have made much better videos than me, as I try to see more of the gameplay, story, and my stuff here. I can't help but point out how elevated this repeated scene is. Nathan is a new dialogue. He this time he is mumbling to himself. It's like that change in Fight Club when at the beginning Norton says I can't think of anything and then after the flashback, going back to this part at the end, this time he says I still can't give anything.

It's not breaking down the fourth wall, but he's hammering away enough to cause some cracks. You skip a few in the more tutorial parts here, which happens seamlessly, you can enjoy the Train show without the tedium. To do all those sections again. It's great. Unfortunately, there remains something I am conflicted about. I think the big confrontation on the train was a great climax in the game. The next level is slow. Quiet, without fights, you have a peaceful walk through a town in the mountains. Before you get to that, you have to fight at least three waves of enemies and the snowy train crash arena.

Meanwhile, Nathan continues to bleed. to death when it comes to sands. This is one of the funniest. There are a lot of different routes and more options to commit suicide than usual, but I think it's largely unnecessary in a game that already has too many gun combat, a short walking section that the player gets lost in. The snow before the movie plays when Nathan is rescued could have been better, a guy named Tenzin saves you a few days ago and you wake up miraculously healed from a gunshot wound in the same way that many action heroes do.

Do they give you a walk through the town? Without anyone talking to you to distract you? There is a language barrier that makes Nathan still a stranger. He is still clearly welcome and interacts with some of the people you pass. It's a quiet break from all the action, but it also sets the stage for some tension later on, when this peaceful place is attacked by Lazarevich Tenzin and leaves you as an old man in the town where you can speak English Elina is also here and there is a break in narrative coherence from unexplored 1 to 2. This guy's name is Schafer and he explains that he first came to town like Nathan did.

Injured after searching for the giant gemstone in Shambhala. He speaks of a great mythical and supernatural power that the stone possesses, which Elena's suspicions also support and is quick to point out that Lazarevich clearly doesn't need any treasure for the money. He probably spent more looking for it than it's actually worth after Unexplored Ending 1. When Nathan discovers the curse and even witnesses it firsthand, you'd think he'd be more open to believing Schafer's story from power to power. It is precisely the problem that some of the most fearsome rulers throughout history have possessed only a fragment of the stone men of Chintamani such as Tamburlaine Genghis Khan.

If a simple splinter could grant such power, what would become of a man if he possessed the stone itself? This is crazy, it has to be what he's looking for, Nate, so Lazarevich really is crazy. He's chasing a myth, what if he doesn't? Elena, come on. I mean, what if it's true? We have seen what he is capable of. I get that your doubt is actually a pretty big part of the plot: Shafer was trying to convince Nathan that the stone's power is real and this is really stupid, it's just stupid. Is Nathan someone who has more reason than anyone else to believe it yet?

He doesn't do it because I don't actually know that the game doesn't use him at all. Actually Maybe it will be used as justification to continue TENS in the next part But this could easily have been necessary to find another clue leading to Shambala. Imagine If one day you meet a ghost after a while you need a vampire or a zombie. Would you really be? So surprised after meeting each other? The first ghost that appears next is probably the longest acrobatic section in the game. You work through everything with Tenzin swinging on ropes that he throws at you climbing the ledges.

Yes. You almost got killed by a Yeti monster that you can't actually kill yourself. You're only meant to survive long enough for Tenzin to save you in a scripted sequence. He takes you to a huge area full of gears and wheels for you. Climbing is a single-player co-op section that has you as Tenzin pulling levers and switches against each other. There's a lot of jumping and tracking and it's the closest the game gets to making you think about where you need to go next. although a bit The ending here is very similar to when the monsters attack you in Uncharted.

You just had a great plot. Revelation that the stone in Shambala is actually cursed. That there was some Nazi involvement in the past which I suppose was mandatory in previous adventure games. 2010, the Nazis know. You have to fight more monsters while waiting for an elevator, just like you did with Eddie Roger and Elena in the first game. Both intend to almost Iowan, Eddie jumps onto the platform but both manage to reach safety only to discover that Lazarevich is just a gryphon Tenzin's Village People are being massacred because they are vegetarians. Separate them in search of the relic dagger that Schafer has taken prisoner and the intensity of the invasion continues to increase.

However, Tenzin's people are not helpless and remain in some amount of resistance plus mercenaries Keep attacking, fight your way through the village That was so calm and cozy a while ago eventually One of the tanks you saw on the train It rolls through the streets and acts as another boss fight. You and Tenzin have to hide from his attacks while you climb through the houses to find RPGs and the right vantage points to shoot them. Much of the village is destroyed in the sequence and you really feel like you're fighting something so big that it has you completely outgunned.

It is a memorable sequence. and it's actually the moment in this series where I had a change in perception about how Naughty Dog does these sections. Let's finish recapping the rest of the game before we get to Elena getting another car after the tank is destroyed and the two of you give chase. after Lazar's bitch convoy and then tries to save Schaffer, this is the first of three times the series does this, you have a long line of enemy vehicles that you must attack and then jump to get through. I'm Charlie three. has a sequence that does the same thing so it's not plotted and I'm sorry to keep doing this.

But we will talk about it in more detail when we return to the tank section. There's a lull in the action when you arrive at this gigantic abandoned monastery. You could be forgiven for thinking this is actually Shambhala, especially since compared to a charred one. The game should be ending by now. There's actually another whole section after this one that works together and in its favor in terms of pacing. ending Perhaps this is another moment where the game tries to subvert your expectations. It has this final act that is a surprise. Things start off quietly but escalate quickly.

You can try to use things to get through here, but like many sections of the game, it's actually impossible. The game doesn't tell you that, though, so it can be frustrating to retry some parts to perform stealth kills when the game actually has triggers that prevent you from doing so. There are many shots here that follow a similar style. There are snipers and rocket launchers that appear that you need to kill quickly. Often the only way to know where they are is to be killed by a single hit, mind you. You have bad luck. It will hit you the first time.

So there's this trial and error in these sections that makes you have to memorize where and when these guys appear in order to eliminate them. At the same time, you deal with normal enemies from behind cover without feeling overwhelmed. That's probably why. The game has quick restarts and checkpoints everywhere to facilitate this type of gameplay. This part could have easily been terrible since it has a high concentration of gunfights. But there's enough variety with different encounters approaching a turret to steal it. If you take out a tower using a sniper rifle then it's a decent section, there's plenty of destructive feedback to keep you engaged and you're never stuck in one part for long, avoid the traps and the ones that an uncharred one fell into, but again the En my opinion, the shootouts aren't fun enough to be more than decent.

Even with all the variety, you almost always hide behind cover and play whack-a-mole. This place seems to be behind the mountains. There is a lot of open space. around the monastery You have to climb a bit to get here and it is clear that you are high above a nearby lowland. Anyway, you find Schaffer dying in Nathan has a much stronger reaction to this than I think is fair considering how little he needs a man. It is firmly decided that Lazarevich is too evil to keep the power of the mythical stone for himself. Nathan Elena reaffirms. they need To go after him, you meet Chloe shortly after this and solve one of the best puzzles in the series and probably the best puzzle in Uncharted 2, but you move these objects and then decide the correct symbols.

You use the notebook again. but the answers are not so clearly expressed this time in essence. It's still the same as the others, making the player feel smart instead of needing them to be, but it's still pretty good Elena, can you hear me? Yes, I think I just found the secret entrance Yes, you see the base of the cliff with all the statues Meet me there What happens next is another terrible moment in the story, you go through another short sequence and unlock the path to Shambala It's far away other side of the monastery and on the edge of this vast open space that you can see here Would you look at that?

You got there to send some stairs and are captured by Lazarevich. Now. This part is fine. It seems a bit forced since you've fought so many enemies before, but this time you're overwhelmed because the story requires it. But hey, don't take it too seriously, right? Those are unstable enough bitches that there would be some tension, but if he had killed Chloe before or some other major character that might show up along with her, then it might have become even more stressful since he could be expected to kill again here. The way to Shambhala is in this huge interior corridor, the bridges become misaligned and Nathan negotiates the lives of Chloe and Elena, but by convincing the Irish that he needs them to access the city,those bitches agree and practically accuse Flynn of being useless and force the two of them to explore forward to fix the bridge like the ending of Uncharted 1 being on a ship which clearly ties into the first scene.

Here's another acrobatic co-op part with Flynn that ties into the job. They both did it in the museum. There's another simpler puzzle to solve at the end and then a fight against more Yeti monsters. So there are two things happening here that I still don't understand. The first, smaller. Is that Lazarevich? he crosses the bridge and rips the face off one of the dead Yetis and shows that they are actually people in disguise, but they are still monstrous people, they are not normal. They have still been enhanced in some otherworldly way. Especially considering how many bullets they can take and how they can jump and climb.

There are more of them in the next section and I don't really understand why the game did this, it's heavily implied that The Power of the Gemstone is what turned people into more monstrous forms So maybe it was for consistency and so that They don't grow fur or something like that. But then why bother with fake outfits, why draw attention to it when it doesn't matter? is very close to a Scooby-Doo moment where it is revealed that there never was a monster when his mask is ripped off. Just an elaborate ruse, but there are monsters and supernatural forces at work.

So what the heck is the much bigger problem? The doors open and show Shambhala a gigantic, lush green paradise with a vast open sky. A vast open sky when you were simply standing. in the mountains overlooking a height a few minutes ago Your trip around the city is pointless You don't walk enough for this to be hidden lazarevich has helicopters Or you could just have a laptop with internet access and just find the damn city on Instead, Google Maps. This place just isn't hidden enough to stay out of the world's sight. And the only way this could have made sense would be if it was underground.

Really look at how big this place is and then look back where you open the entrance. It's like Elena's arrival in Nepal. It's too big a problem for me to dismiss. The game is a bit fun. But maybe other people will be fine with it. And I'm being too picky because if we ignore it, then Shambhala. It's a great way to close the game. Although it's also a missed opportunity. This place looks amazing and you have a fun intro when you run and slide deep into the jungle city. You move through it to all of Chloe and Elena's new enemies in a new mechanic that introduced the volatile blue sapper.

Like the enemies don't work as well since they jump a lot, but they also shoot at you. So the controls never feel like they work well against them. That's probably why the game never throws too many of them at once and gives you blunt crossbows that inexplicably kill them in one or two hits. There are more open areas later in the series, especially in Uncharted 4 and it's a shame that for some reason that wasn't the case. It's possible to do the same here, as the sprawling city looks like an interesting place to explore. They keep you confined to narrow routes and eventually you reach a temple and discover that the gemstone doesn't really exist.

It is a large group of amber from the Tree. of life On the other hand, a source of great power on which the city was built around it can grant eternal life, and probably some other powers, to whoever consumes it. The trees beneath the temple and one must wonder why the city is in its current state if the people enjoyed those powers and managed to build the place. It could be that SAP also corrupts them or makes them stupid. But this is something that is easier to let go for the sake of telling a simpler story.

Lazarevich is before you and he has already been here. He got fed up with Flynn's nonsense and left him for dead again. He skipped too many lessons and didn't stop to confirm the death. Flynn is petty enough to try to kill Nathan and his friends instead of helping them get revenge on Lazarevich, who simply killed him. He detonates a grenade. Elena almost died. She is hurt enough that they have to leave town immediately. Mason decides that keeping our dog away from the Tree of Life is too important and he leaves Elena with Chloe. The objective of the game suddenly increases for us to save the world stage since the trash would be too evil a force if he left Shambhala with her powers.

This is the end of the game. He alone would be too late to stop Lazarevich before he consumed some of the sap. You watch as the James Bond villain's scars are healed by the powers of the trees. And it shows clearly. for you in a movie scene that is now immortal or almost immortal. Actually, I don't know how immortal he is. This is the final boss of the game and you defeat him by luring him near the large SAP deposits in the tree and then blowing him away. I'm awake when he is closed for some reason, this can cause damage to him when the bullets can't, you also can't consume any SAP yourself in terms of story, it's quite strange that Lazarevich gets hurt.

Sort of, but it's not really the The fight lasts quite a while, and the best thing you can do is run away from him. Since your usual tools are ineffective, it's a much better final boss: Navarro in the first game. But I would say the service is just a little better in the end. In the end, the game completely embraces the action movie cliche of Lazard dying and giving a big speech about how he and Nathan aren't that different. Both are as bad as the other. You're no different than me, here. m ylönen men. You have killed how many today?

The game has the balls to draw attention to the fact that Nathan has killed hundreds of people. Who has criticized the series for the feared ludonarrative dissonance? Uncharted 4 even has a trophy with that name if you kill 1000 enemies. I disagree with this criticism of the first three games. Enemy forces are hostile to you first, even when you instigate some of the encounters. It is clear that they. We will kill you and we will not capture you apart from that moment. I mentioned at the museum that I think the game's use of violence is fair and fits with the over-the-top tone the games are going for, which makes the tsar's bitch speech here even more questionable.

Nathan doesn't actually kill him. He sees the Guardian monster surround the damaged tree and allows them to finish off the warlord. The final part of the game is to escape the ruined city as apparently much of it was held up by the tree. There are two more action sequences: a falling bridge and a sliding part. with a few shots Both are quite short, and then that's it. All that's left is that the final Thieves movie has a longer ending than Drake's Fortune. It works much better and shortens the story and ends smoothly instead of the abrupt fate. black after Sully magically appears with the treasure Chloe and Nathan agree that their relationship is over Nathan admits that he loves Elena you have one of the best dialogue scenes in the entire series as the game reaches the credits well, so on a scale of one to ten.

He was really afraid of dying for four. Yes, for what? Yes, you were at least an eight. You were a total of eight and eight. Those Guardian things were an eight. Are you kidding me? Yes, they were terrified. What is a ten? clowns Clowns for my death. I hate, I hate clowns. Oh my word, I thought he was dead. You thought he was. Yes, you did it. Tears, we shed a lot of tears. It was raining No, it wasn't that you were unconscious and it got totally sunny outside and you were scalding hot it wasn't sunny You were unconscious, whatever.

I kept your tears in the proof jar. I'll give you five, right? That's all there is to Uncharted 2, which means we're two games in and have plenty of examples to work with so far. I've tried to avoid commenting too much on how gameplay works in the series, especially in scenes that I wanted to take a more neutral look at that while also paying more attention to the story and my opinion on it. The reason for this is related to what? I said at the beginning of the Thieves section that some people love these games and think they are some of the best ever made.

Other people really don't like them and don't know what all the fuss is about for those who haven't played. I thought showing you much of the series first would be better so you can make your own judgment before looking at why this is. The difference of opinion exists and in the simplest way. I think I can continue with this sentence. The Uncharted games are cinematic experiences that aim to be visually interesting, which may seem like a tame thing to say. But for some people, this is the holy grail of what they want from games, for others.

It's exactly the opposite of what they want. Look, this isn't just about graphics. It's not about emulating movies. A cinematic experience can be surprisingly difficult to really define in games. Or at least it can be a challenge to understand how some people use it. It could be something as basic as trying. pretending there's a real cameraman recording everything during the movie scenes instead of really stiff shots of the characters. You could refer to the pacing of our film as scripted dialogue and scenes that unfold without any interactivity or choice; some have even argued that a lower frame rate can make something a more cinematic experience and those people are crazy, but to me all of these games fall under that cinematic umbrella, the games that try to make you feel like you're controlling a movie character Another way to say that phrase could be Uncharted games are a series of QuickTime events without buttons.

A mechanically interesting game gives the player many options and the freedom to use them, whether in a combat system or exploration or tools and options to navigate a story. Although that can be blurred. the line between narrative and gameplay This can lead to incredibly awesome moments when you make something cool happen in the game. Visually interesting sequences and the unexplored, on the other hand, try to give you the illusion that you're doing something cool when in reality you're following a meticulously designed, guided chain of events. You are on rails without realizing it. There are no options.

It's a movie scene in which you control a character. And as long as you don't break the scene, everything is fine. The game ends when the director asks to cut when you go off script before going into examples. I just want to say that I really like games for this reason. I don't love them, but they are entertaining. I especially like them in your first game. Visually interesting doesn't do many of these scenes justice. This is another reason why I wanted to show some of them. before talking about all this. It's not my favorite thing about games, but it's definitely fun and I'm trying really hard to critique them without making them seem too simple because Naughty Dog put a lot of work into the level design and environmental cues to push you down. that preconceived correct path, so that you don't realize that you are on those rails.

I suppose many players don't realize that they are in no danger while climbing the Train in the opening, set pieces this way are no different than the past you follow while climbing. They just look a lot better or those climbing parts have more additions. Like there's not a lot of decision-making going on, even when what you're doing seems so elaborate, whether it's reaching higher with an oversized ceremonial dagger or switching from gear to gear in the mountains It's all about how cool it looks. even if you are doing the same thing over and over again Not all sequences are like this, some combat arenas have a certain freedom, others are surprisingly rigid, such as the rocket launchers in the monastery or the appearance of more powerful armored enemies.

Sometimes enemies will appear and flank you, and because Nathan's health pool is very low, whether they shoot you or not is determined randomly. This can lead to a frustrating game where you have to play the role multiple times. times and memorize what new enemies appear so you can correctly move to new cover this way. Even some of the gunfights become choreographed battles that you learned through trial and error and then when you master it all, the end result can look great. Even if the shooting game is so simple for me. The illusion was shattered and Strengthened years ago, when I was tanking with Tenzin in my first match of the first half, I was blown away by how amazing it felt.

This wasn't a movie. I had control. It felt very scripted, but it still moved Nathan so clearly that the game was reacting to everything he was doing at the time. I beat this part and due to bad level design or my own stupidity, probably my own stupidity. I didn't see this twist later.I thought it was stuck and I had to go around the tank closely and then this happens. There are many sequences in the game that can break when you don't follow the path. being in the game it doesn't know what to do with you it's like you drop a legend and climb and die only there should be more options here or a better example would be when you don't follow the precise chain of events The game wants you to do it with the boss Fortune of the Drake.

You should be able to shoot him more times though, a good loadout. The illusion was broken with this tank and I realized that somehow the game was manipulating me to have a convincing time. I wasn't the one doing all the cool stuff in the game and I was just going along for the ride and giving some basic input. But after a while I came to appreciate this even though the way I'm describing it may sound bad, really. Isn't it true that the set pieces still look great and because of the way they are made, they can make things visually that aren't really feasible in other games with deeper mechanics?

It's still not my preferred type of game, but I can still fully enjoy it. I know I'm repeating myself here, but I really want to try to address why so many people love or hate these games and why critical reception towards them can often wane. be polarizing too The car chase is another example of when the game gives you a little more freedom But even here you can reach a dead end if you don't jump when you should yes, like in the Train part There's enough in that you can interact with it and it's not as Rails-y as some of the other parts.

That's probably why this series uses this template again in the next few games. Ultimately, these games are very simple in what they demand of both in terms. of mastery and how interesting they are to play, but the visuals make up for it not only with the graphics, but also with the spectacle of what you are doing and the fact that you are in control of everything. For some, I believe the illusion is never broken and they remain captivated by others. I think the game can be enjoyed for what it is even when you recognize and predict the basic controller input the game expects from you for a group.

The story is a wonderful presentation and the characters can contribute with that to make it the best game of all time for others. It's not something they think the game should be. Then there are some in-betweens that can watch it as a fun, mindless action movie and still be entertained. Thank you. As I said earlier in the video, Uncharted 3 is my favorite of the original trilogy, but not by much. I think the best moments in Uncharted 3 are better than 2, but it also has some bad moments that are worse. I think the story is more ambitious in scope, but it has some much bigger plot holes. and deficiencies because of that.

At first we can see that things are a little different this time after the usual reverent quote: We see Nathan and Sully walking through London. There are no shootouts, no ridiculous climbing section. The tone is a little more serious and this is maintained throughout the game. This is what I considered to be the turning point in the series when Naughty Dog decided they wanted to take it a little more seriously. Unfortunately, it's a corner they don't quite turn until Uncharted 4 and this third game suffers from some drastic conflict and tone. The opening of the story shows us the main villains at the beginning of this time.

Which I think is brilliant, Nathan, and sell it in this pub. make a deal to sell Nathan's ring, which belonged to Francis Drake, the buyer is a guy named Talbot who represents a woman named Marlowe, who he will meet shortly. Charlie Cutter is also here, who is looking for weapons for Nathan and Sully. The deal is cancelled. When Nathan claims that the money he is offering is fake, Talbot disagrees and a fight breaks out. Talbot runs away, I'll mess something up here. He will let you know so you can understand something about Talbot. It's really important.

He's actually not human. He is a cyborg who wears a human skin suit. It's a big twist that comes later. It is unclear whether he is from the future or not, but he acts so erratically that there is a possibility that he is a time traveler. He decides to show mercy and does not interfere and leaves instead of fighting. We will see it much later. There is a lot of mystery around this character, since the game leaves it up to you to explain many of his actions. This fight in the pub is when you first gain control of Nathan and is a great example to further back up what I talked about in the last part.

The Uncharted series tries to be visually interesting rather than mechanically. A lot of effort was put into these fights to make them look fantastic. Nathan and I think Sully will also use the environment around him convincingly by grabbing objects by slamming enemies into walls or tables. It's the beginning of the system that I think the last of us took to another level. But how to play? You are smashing a square triangle and occasionally a circle. That's all. You can even toggle between pressing the square triangle button. You will then automatically activate the defensive animation without having to time it.

I'm not criticizing this for the lack of difficulty because I don't think that's the point like much of the series. It's about giving you the illusion of what you are doing. All of this cool stuff happens when it's actually a more flexible QuickTime event that only occasionally shows you button prompts. This fight lasts quite a while and moves from room to room and ends in the bathroom of a British pub. Which I can tell you from experience. They are some of the most disgusting places in the modern world. One of these guys is much larger than the others and they act as mini-bosses for the rest of the game.

This is not the only one that appears. This time it's more of a fight and much more scripted, but once again, it looks cool, as do the deer, so that's the point of the series. I think it was a good idea that the first fight was a fight without weapons or stealth. The reasons I like Uncharted 3 more is that it's not afraid to let you go for long periods without having to shoot something. This time around it makes stealth and fist fighting more viable options, so there's still some variety missing. lots of depth But the casting is good enough that you don't get too tired of one guy for too long The same goes for the story outside the pub You meet Marlowe Nathan and Sully have lost the upper hand and she takes your ring from you It's clear that She has some history with our two heroes and she lets them live Mr.

Solo and I won't hurt her precious child. I asked myself what is mine? As she walks away. She appears visibly distraught when Charlie Cutter shoots them both in the alley for no reason. Fool, damn, welcome, her majesty Marlowe. We have to get you out. I actually don't know why she reacts like that. It's one of many things that is never clearly explained. Some of the encounters you have with her after her directly contradict her reaction here. Although it could be excuses or having some sentimentality towards Nathan and Sully or that. she's kind of a villain She doesn't need to be extreme when she already is The ring is all she wanted, not her lives, so Nathan and Sully are dead Here we go to a flashback to when Nathan was a teenager.

He should be. I noted that Uncharted 3 takes place two years after Uncharted 2, and once again, Elena is nowhere to be found. She is absent from the game until about a third of the way through and you wonder why again. This flashback is long. sequence without gunfights, the game trusts that you won't get bored by having some things to look at. Explore and enjoy a story that you can take at your own pace. There is the upgraded version of Nathan's diary that you can read, which is updated more. regularly this time This is also a feature that has been further improved and is

uncharted

4.

You have a cool moment here when you realize that this is when Nathan stole Francis Drake's ring and that this is how we need Sully for the first time. time. In terms of gameplay, this is the game's climbing tutorial. Every Uncharted game has one and this is an Uncharted game of three. You're following Sulley around town. She's also trying to steal something from Drake's exhibit. She has the resources to make a copy of the key to enter the cabinet. This part is decent. I can understand why some people might consider her boring, but she's not much different than most.

In my opinion, the climbing parts are more transparent about how little danger there is while doing it. Nathan Steele Sully's Wallet Sully notices and confronts him. It seems that Sully outsmarted the boy, but Nathan had already lifted the key and is the ultimate winner. He goes to the museum to steal Drake's ring, but Sully is already there along with a group of guards and a young man. Marlo, there are two items they want from the museum: the same ring Nathan is looking for and a secret decoder that uses the ring as a key. A minor issue here is that I don't understand how a ring could be used to activate something like this. and even if it could, why wouldn't a replica work as well because these elements are the reason why Uncharted 3's story happens at the end of this part.

Marlowe has the decoder. Nathan has the ring. Marlowe has little patience for the whole thing and agrees to kill a teenager who gets in his way. Little beggar, you must not touch them. Silly. Sulli thinks this is going too far and interferes allowing Nathan to escape. The Rain This is the first chase sequence in Uncharted 3, and like many other pieces in the game, it uses visual cues to guide you down the right path. Although when you lose them or they don't communicate with you, the section can seem horrible. and forced. However, doing it in one take, so to speak, is great.

It moves quickly and you feel like a champ dodging all of Marlow's adjustments. In the end you are cornered and Sully comes to rescue you. Nathan reluctantly partners with him and the ring remains in his possession, the decoder remains with Marlo and, although it is possible that each group made few attempts to steal the other piece over the years, it was approximately two decades before current events occur with Nathan and Sully trying to obtain the decoder and finally follow Drake's leads. The flashback ends with a cut similar to the previous one. In the opening of two in Uncharted, Nathan and Sully say that they will be destined for great things in the future.

I see great things in our future son, great things, and then abruptly we return to seeing them dead in the alley, just like the celebration on the beach that left Nathan nearly dead in the snow this time. However, there is another layer. The shots were fake. Charlie Cutter participates in the plan and works for them. The ring Marlowe received was also fake. The money Talbot was offering was real and we are still in the middle of a scam. We have to climb something easier while we walk through the streets and alleys to meet Chloe. There's still nothing.

Alaina's sign, which is fine for now because Charlie Cutter is one of the best characters in the entire series. The introduction of him is clearly intended to make you think he's an asshole bully. Then when he participates in the plan, things change quickly, you're sure. They didn't see you, Jalen, no chance. Sorry, that door is scary. I'm sorry. He is as fast with his math as Nathan and Sully. He is knowledgeable and never falls behind Nathan when he solves clues. He sometimes even gets ahead of him. View this mark This is John Dee's signature, John Dee tells you.

John dee wonna Queen Elizabeth's closest advisors Everyone knows that he signed all of her letters to the Queen with this symbol, meaning that he was her eyes, the original double-oh-seven . You see, we look at each other twice and that is really so relevant. Some of his lines are funny and more. The most important thing is that he is really having fun. He often acts like a child playing a role in one of his favorite adventure movies. He has a great time in almost every scene he appears in and I even loved his complaints about being claustrophobic or endearing.

You hear a lot of things as you enter the sewers beneath the city. Like I said, you meet Chloe, the best driver in the business, and climb a bit further in a puzzle. Alright. He's probably the worst in this game as he's slow to start. Even after solving it either way, things continue to get weirder as you go down the sewers. There are some guards who can kill both with stealth and weapons. It is similar to the museum. heist in the first game, especially when you're scaling all the sewer walls. Then you arrive at the old train station.

Then the next section is even older than that. Even the characters comment wondering who the hell they are dealing with and how powerful they must be to have all this hidden beneath the city. So I guess I'll answer that now is the best time to watch this video. Although it is a minor plot that is revealed later, Marlow is the leader of a secret society that was formed hundreds of years ago by Queen Elizabeth. Francis Drake worked for the group, but ultimately betrayed them when he found something too powerful for them.they had. Marlowe is at least equal in power and influence to Lazarevich in the second game.

He can even surpass it. He ties into what I said earlier about the ring. It doesn't make much sense that she hasn't found a way to use the decoder in 20 years or that the ring would be the key if it eventually became that difficult to use. It's just a minor quibble, as I like that the ring Nathan has been wearing for two games ends up meaning something. But since the game is trying to take itself seriously this time, it's not something I can call good about the story. Actually, this is not the ring. And that goes double for what happens next.

Nathan and his friends sneak around Marlowe and use the decoder. They used the artifacts and the underground vault to find the next clue. The game sets up the same thing that the previous two games did. We are following the trail of a dead explorer, Francis Drake, we are searching for a long lost city full of riches, the Atlantis of the sands, and another much more powerful group is competing with us to find it however things are supposed to be. to be different this time, what is the bad plot point that you escaped by going through several shootouts in the process.

Marlowe and Talbot have no way of discovering the same clue that Nathan just made in the group, he even celebrates this in the next scene. The scene raises some questions about whether they should risk going toe to toe with someone as powerful as Marlowe and this fact is posed as an excuse to continue the search because things are different this time they are ahead and there is no way around it. Marlowe to find out where they are going. I don't know, no, wait a second because if you remember the last time we went around the world in search of a lost city, things got more than a little uncertain.

Yes, but this time we have the advantage Drake only had half the clues, Lawrence only half, we have both and Marlowe has nothing. Ford then splits into two teams to find the next set of breadcrumbs on Drake's trail. And of course, Marla finds them. Anyway, following them somehow, that's all. That's all the information they gave you. I thought it must be building up to some reveal that Chloe Sully or Cutter betrayed them, but no. It's just as lazily explained that Marlow somehow found them and followed them, which is honestly terrible. That's all. This is how the game continues to have conflicts in its story like, oh no, they just let Nathan and his friends do all the work for them and then they just show up at the end instead of fighting them at every point.

Nathan and Sully pair up. They find a jungle in France to go through together. And this is three games in a row where they both went through an environment like this early in the game. I guess it was a tradition they were looking for, which is fine. Dont do it. stay outside for too long and end up exploring this gigantic Manor castle instead of Talbot, who supposedly followed you. He ends up arriving here with a larger number and sets up camp before you. This means that you are going through the usual cycle in the game. Exploration, climbing, combat, puzzle solving. and ends with each of us.

This is not a bad area by any means. It looks great, it has a puzzle that actually requires a bit of problem solving, and the ending sequence is one of the best. But Talbot's cyborg powers of simply appearing dragged him down. Along with this part where you find the corpse of one of his men who looks much older than he should be. He specifically draws attention to this and never explains it. I think the answer must be these evil spiders infesting all the main ones. Places you travel to throughout the game. They suck the life out of their prey or something.

At least I assume so, but this is never shown to you or perhaps Talbot's cyborg body requires the life force of a human to function from time to time. You find half a medallion and then immediately lose it when Talbot shows up, game won. I don't let you fight him here, which is always frustrating when games arbitrarily decide when you can or can't defend yourself. Nathan tries to do it in the movie that plays and Talbot shows off his superhuman robotic precision by shooting him in the Now Marlo's people have the same information you have, but it's okay because Nathan drew an imprint of the thing in his diary. .

What's that? Stay in the light The spiders I just talked about chase you out of the basement. It is a short race that establishes the rule that they are afraid of light. Shortly after, the chase resumes only this time you're outside running the fire. That's burning down the entire mansion around you. This part is no different than any other climbing part of the game. But all the fire makes you feel like you have to move quickly because you're in danger. The same goes for the standard shooting parts that What You'll Do Here against Talbots' men apparently don't care that they're about to be buried under a burning building in terms of gameplay.

This is just the typical climbing scenario. Visually, the place looks great when it starts to fall apart. And there's an explosive ending when the tower begins to fall, knocking you down as you run across the roof. Which has one of the most compelling parts. For making you think you're making smart decisions by following the stable parts of the roof? What lines up perfectly with where the tower descends to make you fly? You end the conflict in a stalemate with Talbot since they both have the information that was hidden in the matter, but also with urgency since if they followed Nathan and Sully, that means that Chloe and Cutter must have been followed somehow, and since Talbot can use his cyborg powers to teleport around the world, he may already be there.

There You go to Syria to save Chloe and Qatar and the next section in the Citadel is probably the worst part of Uncharted 3. I must say I'm losing the plot here. Remind me again why we're doing this. No no no. No, if you're preparing for one of your I'm too old for these speeches, forgive me buddy, these guys are playing for keeps. Yeah, so Chloe and Cutter aren't answering their phones, which is meant to create the idea that they might have been attacked when in reality they just forgot to charge them, which is mind-boggling that that was considered a pretty reasonable excuse to put on the game at the beginning.

You have an elaborate climbing part that you would normally have to open some shortcut after so Sully can get through. The game has a magical teleport to you. And I know it may seem very nitpicky, but previous games use these situations as problems to solve and it's a little strange. They just forgot it here. Then you enter the next tower alone and Marlo's men inexplicably knew you were coming. They are already active and ready to fight. Now, as we just established with dead cell batteries, Chloe and Cutter haven't been discovered yet and Marlo's people should have no idea where we were coming from just because you're in this general area.

So why are these enemies already armed and active and knowing you are here if they follow you so closely? You have to wonder why they don't just kill you at any point. This part is pretty thoughtless, and I'm sure it's impossible to do it with just stuff because of that. But he has to make a way for Sully again later. You clean it. However, this area isn't all bad after the group meets up. You get some great dialogue with Cutter and a fun action sequence when Nathan throws him out a window. There's also a good puzzle down here when you have to move. the globe to match the light sources, but is marred by some truly unnerving moments where you have to wonder what Naughty Dog was thinking.

First, the clues you follow here are to look at the stars and then move the camera to where the lines are. the strong one, who is as awkward as he is stupid for hiding something, when you get to the final part of this series, Talbot literally appears out of nowhere next to the cutter, no one else notices him. He uses a mind control toxin, a dart gun. I swear. I'm not making this up to make Cutter susceptible to his orders. He then steals the notebook. They have been using it as a guide and then walking away without doing anything else.

This deserves its own section. None of this makes sense. This moment is why I've been making the joke about him being a cyborg. How did he just show up here? How does it have this toxin? All he does is tell Cutter not to trust Nathan. Why doesn't he just kill them? Alright, now all he has on them. Where's the rest of his guards? How is it possible that he disappears again? And it gets even worse because the toxin works, but only sometimes Cutter gets enraged but doesn't start fighting Nathan until a few minutes later, right before his effects start to wear off, his claustrophobia triggers it I guess, and I was here for a long time just dodging all of his attacks until Sully finally showed up and broke up the fight since it was just Nathan.

That cutter doesn't trust because of Talbot's orders, the group resolves what happened, cutter recovers and they realized that the book was missing because Talbots stole it. You go through one of the worst parts of the puzzle that involves spiders and requires you to throw torches ahead of time to light your way and the only way this puzzle works is that these bras act as infinite torch dispensers. What is the only puzzle? Whether I ever have to resort to this kind of crap to function is at least the only one I can think of right now. Maybe there is another.

That's just as bad. Immediately after this, you find the second half of the amulet. Nathan relates it to the imprint he made of the other so they know where to go. The next cutter decides he's the best one to take it since Nathan lost the last one, Cutter, the guy he just mind controlled a few minutes ago and everyone thinks it's a great idea and lets it happen. Of course, Talbot appears again out of nowhere and you're in a four-on-four matchup. Put down your weapons. Yes, I don't think so. Well, what a dilemma then. We seem to be evenly matched until the rest of my men show up.

That is, we can wait. The balance tips when Cutter regains mind control and the others are forced to drop their weapons. But, surprise, it turns out Cutter was faking it. So Talbot would let his guard down So not even Talbot knows how his own toxin is supposed to work Cutter shoots Talbot in the chest clearly killing him and sending him to the ground, you run away And since this is now a game and not a The bullets of the movie doesn't hurt anymore So you're fine, but then the chase ends with Talbot attacking again and the cutter separates because of course he's the one wearing half the medallion.

So he has to be the one who is late. behind so Talbot and Marlowe know where to go next. How is Talbots still alive? I don't know, the game seems to be preparing for a big event here, like they're about to kill off a character, but Qatar jumps in and just breaks his leg. This is something the series fails to achieve and never has the balls to kill. Removing a character to raise the stakes, it should have been Chloe in Uncharted 2 and it should have been Qatar here. I really like these two characters and I think most players will, but I like that the characters are the only ones you can kill. because their deaths are the only ones that are going to have any impact, the series constantly teases that it's going to do this and then doesn't pull the trigger at the end, but back to Talbot for a second, the game draws attention to a Survival after Qatar is understandably furious about this and wants to know how he survived and the game never addresses that topic.

It is never resolved. You never find out how he took that bullet. He then he is a cyborg. Which makes it worse. Did Chloe and Cutter leave the game after this and never return? They aren't in Uncharted 4 either. So yeah, I really think one of them should have died here in this story, it could have been different to make this section good. Because the game also foreshadows that it will lead to something like that, but several points are made to Nathan. Let it go, let the adventure go this time and not interfere anymore. Let this go and there are some hints that old Sully will be the one to pay the price.

It's blatantly said in the next scene after you. You leave the Citadel, steal a bus, and Khloé, the best driver in the business, can't drive. Sully does. At the business, she cuts off his vows due to his broken leg, Chloe leaves with him and the scene ends clearly showing that the only reason. That Sully still follows him is because he feels he owes it to Nathan. He's trying harder than he should. You are ready. This marks the end of roughly the first third of the game from this point on. I think the gameplay improves. There are some fun set pieces before the lesson and some much better puzzles for the story things are kept consistent, the best example being Elena coming back now, when Nathan and Sully had to go to Yemen, the gametries a more organic way to reintroduce her, but it still requires as many matches as before and Uncharted 2.

It turns out Elena has the exact job. needed in the exact city they need to get to to get passes to explore. She even knows the city well enough to be able to act as a guide again. I know I'm repeating myself a lot because I'm looking at three games here instead of just one, but I really liked her relationship with Nathan Elena, so it's worth going through all these hoops to get her back into the game, but the story could have been written differently. way, so it didn't have to be essentially repeated. Try Everything Again They were married and then quickly divorced in the last two years.

Elena still wears the ring. Nathan is more interested in the one Drake is wearing around his neck. This is a quiet section of town. That's a good change. After escaping the Citadel, you continue for a while without shooting people and instead follow Talbot, who has appeared in your path. Again, of course, he already knows that he is being followed since his cyborg sensors have scanned the whole city. There is a fight in the market and then you reach the path to the next hidden section, the three of you descend into one of the most elaborate parts of the series.

Here are three puzzles, all of which require real problem solving rather than just following the answers in your notebook. The book only gives hints rather than figuring it out for you. There were also two this way. You have to find the path on the floor that matches the symbols in the book and then you had to move squares on a grid by calculating what the surrounding square should look like. Here they are The first puzzle is to match the book sketch with where you are standing. Then three switches can be put together. The path then splits into two puzzles.

The first asks you to place some gears in the correct order with a clever light trick. which acts as a clue along with the symbols on each one. Finally, there's a light and shadow puzzle with all these mechanical body parts on spikes. You must place the light in the right place to cast a shadow that impales the figure on the wall. It looks great. And these aren't mind-blowing, but they're also not as insultingly simple as the other puzzles you've done before. They don't reach the same heights in some of the big moments and the witness says.

But they're visually appealing and require enough thought, I think they're entertaining. You find a star map at the end of this section that Nathan refuses to record and asks Sully to memorize it. This is as strong as the moment in a no-load when Sully takes Drake's diary AND it was a giant red flag to me that something was about to happen to Sully. You might remember this. No, I don't really recommend that you have to run away from more spiders first. They don't care that much. on the light and you have to constantly shake it like a windshield wiper to continue.

Then you get stuck in the door and somehow your shotgun makes them retreat. Don't know. To be honest, this part is a little awkward. I can see what they were trying to do, but I think they should have just kept using fire. There are some messages written in Francis Drake's room warning. Anyone trying to find the lost city Elena is not as insightful as Nathan when it comes to uncovering clues and puzzles. But she is much more adept at thinking about people and their motivations. This is the second time she points out that there must be something else going on and that someone who is rich is Marlo or Lazarevich wouldn't be looking for treasure just for the money.

You'd think Nathan would have learned his lesson about mythical artifacts from him by now, but no, not much more is said about it. OK. You have outwitted her. You know where to find the city and Marlowe doesn't. Why can't it be enough? There is a shootout when you leave a smoke filled room which in my opinion lasts too long and then you go upstairs. He comes out and Talbot fires another of the hallucinogenic darts at him. This time he hits Nathan and even without Talbot around to suggest something. He goes crazy. This is different than what happened to Cutter, but it's so poorly explained that I don't even know how to talk about it.

So I won't do it. Nathan runs around town and this part just drags. He just goes on and on. However, this is really happening in his head. Since Talbot and Marlowe captured him and are interrogating him. When it's finally over, you're sitting at a table and everything is calm, apparently you just told them everything. And that Sully is the only one. one who knows how to get to Atlantis from the sands. So I think the horror of the sequence we just went through speaks for itself. It really is abysmal, but not everything is bad here. Marlow reveals some facts about Nathan's past.

She hints at his real name. It's such a sudden and sobering shift in focus that I was immediately drawn to it. And that's further support for what Nathan, by stealing the ring, hinted at earlier: he might not be a descendant of Francis Drake after all. Mother commits suicide. Father. She gives her son to the state at the age of five. Entrusted to st. Francis boys at home Dickensian It seems like he is preparing for Nathan to be killed and discarded, but he manages to free himself, this turns into a chase sequence with you running towards Talbot.

Which doesn't make sense, since why doesn't he just teleport to the side? . This part is great. It's a longer, more complicated chase than the one you did in the previous flashback, only now you're the aggressor. There are many signs that you should be aware of and respond to, which if you understand correctly. try to make this feel amazing first. Unfortunately, Talbot shows more of his cyborg powers by being super human fast and strong even after you catch up to him and fight, then you get captured again anyway, so it was all for nothing, which may seem strange. a little off and I have a theory about that So when Nathan wakes up, he's taken to another location when Marlowe's pirate friends show up out of nowhere once Nathan is a prisoner.

He apparently has Sully, which Nathan blindly believes. because sometimes history requires him to be an idiot. You break free You have a massive fight and then they let you fight your way through this gigantic junkyard of shipwrecks in the middle of nowhere I am Me In terms of gameplay, this is probably my favorite part of the trilogy. I go back and forth between this and Uncharted Train 2 in terms of story is filler I guess. Did the team behind the game and the cutscenes have these cool ideas about Nathan swimming for cover and spreading himself wide open?

Shooting ranges with much more freedom that transitioned to these shootouts as you climb up the side of a tower, everything is limited to the fight through a cruiser, which is where you discover that Sully is not stopped at all and then a fight to get out of him when he starts to sink and I mean, look at all this stuff that shooting ranges are about. As fun as the combat will be in these games. Which means it's only slightly above decent, but visually climbing and using the deck is a neat trick. And then you have the cruiser that makes you learn the layout on your first trip so you really understand how messy it is when it starts to sink. , the ceilings become floors.

You're climbing onto the furniture. It's like getting on the train on a larger scale. It's one of the more visually interesting but mechanically shallow parts that the series does so well, although there are a few missteps. There is a lot of trial and error to learn what it means. The game wants you with our old friends, the rocket launchers appear killing you in one hit, so you have to play the role again and this time be prepared for them. There is an armored guy on the ship. That's the best example I can use to support. This idea that some of the combat sections have this predetermined path that you have to follow like a climbing part or a set piece.

He shows up and even trying to headshot him I ran out of ammo before I could kill him because what the game wants from you is to avoid him until the grenade launcher Guy starts attacking and then you kill him? steal the launcher and then use it to kill the armored guy with two hits and if you waste your time thinking you can just shoot this guy with normal weapons since he looks human enough for it to work right? Then you're screwed because you're not doing what you're supposed to do, maybe it's Telesur's robotic brother or something.

Something similar happens after the ship starts sinking and there is a big firefight in the cargo hold and sometimes enemies appear behind you or on the flank. you and if they randomly fire enough shots before you know you may die before you understand what's happening. So there's this rhythm that you have to learn when dying, where to shoot and where to hide next, which once you have it, feels good, but when you don't, it can be frustrating as can the appearance of rocket launchers. Even with the quick reloads feel so forced To the story, there's nothing here Sully was a prisoner turns out he wasn't you escape the ship That's it you wash up in Yemen time has passed, so Sully really has been kidnapped but no by Captain Crunch and is forced to work with Marlo Nathan finds Elena and they plant again on one of Marlo's planes to rescue Sully, he won't be gone for a few hours So, Nathan gets a chance to rest and sleep. a bit.

So we're about two-thirds of the way there. Now, which just goes to show how much of that boat sequence is filler, since there's still very little story. Suddenly, we have so many. later in the game. As I started saying before, it's like half the team had the idea for these cool things to happen, but they didn't have time to fit them into the story. Nathan is then randomly taken hostage by a new character whose sole purpose in the plot is to make this section possible. It's a poor resolution to the conflict between gameplay and story that Naughty Dog is usually good at avoiding, at least I think they mostly managed to avoid it and then tried two or four and lost us Elena and Nathan. go together to get on a plane.

It makes sense to use stealth as much as possible here, but there's one part where it's literally impossible. You can clear an entire area, but there are two guards at the end who will never move even if you kill. If you put them together quickly, it still shoots up and more cars form the area again. It's completely arbitrary and you have to wonder how many other sections make it look like. You can use the car all the time But you really can't, the game has its own ideas about what you have to do Overall, this is a throwback to the train station scene from the second game.

Nathan even comments that he decides to go to the plane alone, which almost kills him. Elena helps him with the car to reach him. the plane Using the time jump just like he did on the train Elena then escapes on her own and Nathan boards the plane to hide for a while The story wants a big accident to happen here, the title screen and cover even makes it happen. show Do you know what's going to happen? So when does Nathan start crawling around the plane? You have the most alert guard in the entire series sitting there waiting to take him out and make everything go to shit.

This sequence follows the same visual style with little to do as many others and just as fun is the part where You're Hanging from the Plane shows how extreme this can be as all you have to do is keep going. It sounds like you're hanging on for dear life. I wonder if there is supposed to be more to do here as some of the cargo ships around hint at the idea of ​​a moving deck but it is over very quickly, if you like it something is missing or maybe you were destined to parachute into parachutes or something on the way down instead of it being a movie anyway, we just have a couple more parts to get through Nathan is the only survivor of the accident.

There were apparently no usable supplies and none of the boxes survived from this delivery of supplies to Marlowe. He has no choice but to wander aimlessly in the desert. He has no water and no food and even though he tries to remember the star map. He can't rebuild it. This part goes on for a while and I'm pretty positive about it, as I've said many times. I don't think the combat is that engaging in this series? So I don't care when the game has been doing something else; others may not agree and for them, this could be one of the worst parts of the entire series because there is nothing to do.

Nathan begins to hallucinate, sees some mirages and discovers that he has been going around in circles for at least two days with the player occasionally taking control and then watching it on film. I think he looks fantastic and could have been great if he had led to some kind of change in the game. Unfortunately, when he arrives in an abandoned city. , suddenly he is fine now. I know I can be very picky about things, but I feel really justified in bothering about this part. I'll give Naughty Dog credit because this is not the Atlantis of the Sands.

It's just another place Marlo's people are looking for. So they didn't give him much luck. But he runs intothis place, he finds a well that falls and finally sees water. He spits it out and proclaims that it is not drinkable. Three Whovilles. Then she runs into the main section of the city and at first I thought this was cool. One of Marlo's boys is practically taking a shower while he pours water on himself, in contrast to what Nathan just went through. This is really funny, but then you fight with all of them and Nathan. He has abruptly returned to action hero status.

He's not slowed down or fatigued or hurt or anything. There are no interesting twists in the game by forcing him to use different tactics or weakening him like he was when he was carrying the cameraman in Uncharted 2. and he would be willing to forgive all that. He'd really accept that after you kill all these guys, Nathan doesn't drink any of the damn water they were carrying. They just established that they have water, the game tried its best to show you yet. Instead, you don't just need ammunition, guns and grenades. This part goes on for several battles, and he doesn't drink, so what was the point of Desert Odyssey if he didn't do anything and the game quickly forgets about him five seconds after finishing?

Some locals rescued you. He got a horse, stole an RPG, blew up a door and finally got a drink at his camp. Hell, the leader of these guys is as useless and disposable to the story as the pirate captain who kidnapped you. He is here to explain the city. What they are looking for was lost when it was used to imprison some evil Djinn in the water beneath it three thousand years ago. King Solomon commanded the power of the jinn demons born from smokeless fire. Until they rebelled. He imprisoned them in a bronze vessel and threw it into the depths of the city.

Iran became a place cursed by the tormented spirits of jinn. Which seems like a great plot point to me, but it's introduced very quickly and then glossed over, so it's a bit strange. But this leads to one of the best action scenes in the series, so I guess it's okay. This is a better version of the car chase in Uncharted 2 in almost every way. It's longer, it makes more sense. The images are much better. You have more control since you can go from the car to the horse and then back again. It's a bit like a car chase and a train chase together.

Really? There is one of the large mini-bosses to fight towards the end. And you get to rescue Sully and it feels like you actually did it instead of it being a movie. This is one of the few scenes he has done so. So well that it blurs the illusion that I'm in control, so that's great. You and Sully leave together and head to the end. There is another section that I suspect will never be able to be completely completed by stealth once you are spotted. These guys can. I suddenly see through the sandstorm like it's a sunny day and I really don't like this part because you get to the Lance's of the Sands entrance video and here is a room similar in appearance to the gates of Shambala in the previous game and that similarity.

At first it teases what I can only describe as an inferior version of the final chapters of Uncharted Two. It seems to have many of the same strengths and flaws. But this part of the game continually gets worse as it progresses. First of all, it suffers from the same stupidity. question that Shambhala asked: how can a gigantic sprawling city of gold remain hidden in the desert? in the modern era If the surrounding sandstorm is permanent and therefore blocks it from view, even though there are clear skies when you enter, how does the city maintain that storm that is never explained?

The city needed to be buried in order to tell the story. work at the most basic level and this is doubly frustrating because it comes so soon. Here you go underground and spend most of your time in this buried part of the city. All they had to do was cut this opening part, but maybe they didn't want to do it because of the next plot twist. The city has a lot of machinery. Parts of it are designed to pump water from a huge reservoir beneath the streets. You find what is functionally a fountain with Sully and have a drink, then all the omens come true.

The sky darkens. An eclipse occurs at this time when they discover. Talbot City appears nearby in his usual form and shoots Sully, he dies and Nathan becomes enraged to pursue and kill them. Please, the supernatural part of the game is revealed here in the form of these corrupt humans. They teleport and breathe fire. towards you at this moment. I was really interested in the story because I thought, shit. Actually, they're going to explain how high but he does the things that he does. Clearly it must be some kind of projected form of the imprisoned Jinn, explaining how he is able to do everything. the crazy things he can do.

He's manipulating Marlow to free himself and these creatures from those like him and you go on for a while and things start to get weirder and weirder. Nathan is hallucinating again. You have some mind-blowing sequences until your vision clears. You are underground and kill some of Marlo's goons. You have to wonder how exactly they got here before you, but it doesn't matter, you meet up with Sully and he's fine. More or less fine. And I had a great time, Commander, with you. Then the water you drank is contaminated by the imprisoned stream. Everything that happened after Nathan used.

It was all in his head. So once again, the game didn't have the confidence to kill off a character and chickened out on it. Instead, it was just a dream. What's really crazy about this part is that nightmare Talbott was still acting like a normal Talbott? This shows how little care was put into his role in the story. But if you think about it, Marlowe and Talbott want the Djinn because of this magical effect. Is the water. That's the real treasure, but Talbott has been poisoning you in exactly the same way throughout the game. So even that doesn't make sense.

I can't even begin to understand. What was supposed to happen here. It could be argued that they want the Djinn for some other nefarious purpose and I'd love to be able to discuss that, but nothing is ever said about that. The ending here involves fighting a group of guys. Reach the watery prison. where the Djinn is buried. The thing is being lifted like the golden sarcophagus and I'm tired. You then fall into the water and shoot the crane, causing the entire city to start collapsing with just two shots. We have a code, Jinna steps back. Below, Nathan rises slightly from the water and, miraculously, the effect of the poison does not stick to either of them even though they are right next to the fountain this time.

Then you have to flee the ruined city. Just like the end of Shambala, complete with a bridge that falls down as you walk across it. This time there is no final boss. Marlow is dying Nathan tries to save her for some reason Talbot goes crazy, even though he clearly sees that you were testing the savior. You never find out why they wanted the junior, what he looks like or what he's capable of in the end, just deflating. Even an unexplored one had the decency to spend more time showing off the final treasure. Then there's the excuse of a boss fight, which is just a QuickTime fight.

I guess it ties into the opening just like the other games did, but it's still a basic QuickTime section with button prompts. On screen something that the series has avoided as much as possible until now and that ends up being the last piece of gameplay of the entire trilogy. Nothing is revealed about Talbot. He dies. Silas arrives and they flee the city. Nathan loses Francis Drake's ring in town and doesn't get it back. Sully reveals that he has been keeping his wedding ring safe. Instead, Nathan takes us as a replacement and for the third game in a row. it ends when he realizes that Elena is the one he wants to be with.

Alright. I changed it for something better. Sully has a new plane that looks like the one from the first game. They walked there and that's the end. It's not like a brother wipes out his drake fortune, but doesn't that give them enough time to go down like a thief? It's a weekend for solid play overall. Which I probably made it sound a lot worse than it is by nitpicking the story. The reason for this is that it tried to be more than its predecessors, it was given more to work with with more space to have material exclusively for the story and unfortunately I didn't manage to put it all together in a coherent way.

Whether it's due to time constraints or some problem with the development of the last few chapters, I can't say I want to praise his ambition even if it failed. Especially given the quality the rest of the game has and the entire series has in its animated voice acting and the quality of the writing in its dialogue, only the overall story suffers, which I'm tempted to say can be attributed to the idea of ​​Gameplay as King as in Tomb Raider rights, but I'm not exactly sure it wouldn't be fair of me to ignore it. Many of these problems are fixed and lost on us in Uncharted 4 and that bad writing is an easy label. put something in when you don't know how the development of a complete project was.

This video is already very long, but I think it's necessary to watch the last of us while we're here. We've already committed to watching the series leading up to Uncharted 4. It wouldn't be right to leave out what could be. It is argued as a spiritual sequel. The last of us was released in 2013 and is one of the best games I have ever played. I don't know if it's worthy of a spot on my top ten list or something, but despite some teasing, I've done it in the past. I don't really have a top ten list. A big part of why I like it is its story and how it's told, which are two different things in my mind.

It's a decent story. That is very, very well told. It doesn't necessarily use video games as a medium to tell that story in a unique way. But at the risk of having to give up my credit card, I don't think all video games should aspire to do that. that on the surface the game has a lot in common with Uncharted. Both are third-person shooters. Combat involves frequent use of cover between shots. There are still some sections of their own. Many small adjustments combine to make it something very different. For the story, one of the reasons I like it so much is that it's one of the best games to ever manage to make both the gameplay and the narrative work together.

Aside from two moments, the game's mantra is king does not interfere with the story of this game. I also don't think the game was ever sacrificed in order to tell any part of the story. Some people may not agree with that, since the game uses a lot of movies. But I don't think this happens often enough to overload the game. There are probably ways the player could have retained control in many of these parts, just as similar scenes do in Half-Life 2. But all you need to do is go back. and replay that game to see that non-stop movies can sometimes be the best option, do both ways have their merits?

The Last of Us is about two people, Joel and Ellie. Initially, it may seem like it's all about Joel, just as Nathan is clearly the main focus of Uncharted. But as the game progresses, it becomes clear that it's about both characters. The setting is the United States after a fungal infestation has drenched most of the population with Cordyceps. It's a more creative spin on zombies that is visually refreshing, but not as somatically as many zombie stories. The zombies aren't really the point. It's about Joel and Ellie. Another key difference of the game is much more based in reality.

Which may sound ridiculous considering I just said the game has bee fungus. While I am on the map to establish visitors in our world today. Which is used as a base. make the player do incredible, impossible and ridiculous things. The Last of Us gives us the impossible scenario from the beginning and then makes it as real and believable as possible. No one in this game has the acrobatic ability of a trapeze artist on meth. There are no parts where you're hanging off the side of a plane, slash, car, slash, train. It's a game that wants you to take it seriously and actually takes itself seriously, unlike Uncharted 3, which just wants you to respect it without earning it.

The gameplay also has more depth. But just a little more, there is no climbing or action set pieces. It's all about gunfights and stealth, with occasional unique situations that twist these basic encounter types like the Uncharted games. There are still many cases where you are guided on rails or invisible parts. which are meant to be more interesting visually than mechanically, but there's definitely more here for the player to work with. Let's start with what I think is the best shot change. I criticized the gamepad's imprecise controls for aiming a gun earlier in the video. I don't know if this is intentional or not.

But this limitation clearly works in favor of Last of Us ammunition being scarce. So much so that they quickly teach you that if you want to shoot a lot, every shot you take has to matter. Automatic weapons are extremely rare. I don't think you can use one until the end of the game. SoFor the vast majority of your time, playing against enemies will also throw more deliberate spaced shots at you. In some ways, shooting feels wrong, aiming is difficult. Know that you can't miss it, it encourages this more methodical style of play, really thinking about how to aim and use the few bullets you have, which ties in nicely with using the analog stick on the controller for these. kind of strange moves When enemies shoot at you, things become so chaotic that you can't afford to waste much time either.

Since aid does not regenerate in this game, there is stress on both sides, which is one of the reasons. Why would I recommend playing the game on a higher difficulty level if you're familiar with shooters? This also encourages you to make the most of stealth when you first arrive in an area with enemies. This is like foreplay before you get caught up in her. The best case scenario is to kill everyone silently so you don't have to have a firefight and can save your health packs. I generally don't like stealth games that force you to do this kind of thing, as it rewards saving. and reload if you don't know an area ahead of time then you can hit that end or get stuck simply because you didn't know the layout of a map yet.

You act like a browser for a few tries to see what it's all about and then reload it to play it properly, which, however, is kind of a waste of time for me. The best parts of the game were that I used stealth to defeat about half of the enemies, then I made a mistake and they detected me, which segued into a crazy fight to beat the guy who saw me to death and end it with a shootout. Sometimes I succeed on a clear and silent level, but most of the time what happens is acting out a drama.

Unfortunately, the combat has some issues. The first is one of those problems with the King of Players that I mentioned a minute ago. Enemies have many weapons and infinite ammo when you kill them. You can't loot any of them. This bothers me because the game tries to be realistic in many other ways, but it gets worse when you play long enough and start to learn how ammo drops work because only sometimes enemies drop ammo. and it's almost always for the weapon you're currently using. And only when supplies start to run low does the game make these small adjustments as you play to ensure that you always have some ammo, but enough that you never feel comfortable.

Enough to waste some of it? If you had a lot of ammo, then all the stress in combat would be lost and you could just aim your shots without worrying about where they will go if you do so so that the enemies run out of bullets. So that wouldn't be good. either because you can choose battles by weighting them, although now I say that if the AI ​​was a little better then it could be a rewarding experience for smart players if they threw shots as bait to make them lose their ammo to get out. of bad situations that actually sounds pretty good.

Just because you can't think of a solution doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So it's still worth pointing out the problem. In my opinion, combat also becomes less fun when you are thrown into a battle without any chance to use stealth. in advance This is, unfortunately, how the first battle of the game works. This doesn't happen often and is not always bad. But when it does, it usually feels much worse than other sections. Stealth also has some issues of its own, but we'll get into those a little later. Other things that improve the midgame are the crafting and damage of the zombies you take.

Cured with a medical kit, it is necessary for the player to find it or, rather, create it with materials collected in the environment. All this is done without pause. So if you make the mistake of going into a fight unprepared, you want to make sure you have a good chance to be safe and restore your health. The same goes for tools that can be crafted, such as Molotov cocktails and shrapnel grenades, and changing your weapons. in cases that you assign to them so you can use them. It's a great system that allows you to carry a lot of weapons for variety in combat, but also that you can't just switch between them like crazy during those fights to make them really easy.

However, I would say these are small adjustments. The thing is that health does not regenerate for free. That's the big one. Oddly enough though, I'd say this has a bigger impact on the game when you're not fighting. If there's anything we can use. The crafting system comes with standard weapon upgrades and experience levels, but they are not awarded on kills. enemies But searching for gears and pickups and all the places you pass through makes exploring just as important as combat, and since Naughty Dog tries so hard to make all these places look so interesting, it gives you a gaming reason to go through them .

All of them, which is also reinforced in the story. I'll briefly mention a few examples of this when I summarize the plot, but there's even more emphasis on characters and dialogue in The Last of Us and in Uncharted, many of these conversations are optional and you'll find them watching something or talking to Ellie. I saw this before the outbreak you did, did she completely gut her at the end? Nobody is destroyed. It's a Dumpty movie, so who dragged you to see it? I don't know. Do you stay focused? It's okay, it's okay. These feel like real, natural conversations rather than so many Force Ones like in some RPGs.

When you beat a major plot point, head back to camp and know you need to have a new conversation with one of your companions, since they trust you. now more shit here the characters are talking about what they are seeing and going through while it's happening regarding the zombies. They provide a lot of variety not only in the different types of zombies of which there are actually only three, but in that. I have to handle them very differently than human enemies. I think a lot of games could benefit from having at least three factions like this, the standard humans, some kind of monster, and then the player allows two simple types of encounters to feel fresh because they can.

Although I think it's a shame that you never have to deal with zombies and human enemies at the same time. That could have been quite interesting and is something I think is important to emphasize right now. The gameplay here is still in development. simple side It's not incredibly deep, but it's still a whole step above Uncharted's traversable and useful shooting galleries. This is no longer just filler between story sections. And since the game makes the story as important as the gameplay, I think it was a good decision. It's much easier to keep them from colliding with each other when you keep it relatively simple and still a lot of fun.

Tommy, listen to me, he's the contractor. He is the contractor. Well. I can't lose this job. I understand, let's talk about this in the morning. Okay, we'll talk about it in the morning. You know Scoot Monday at work, huh? What are you still doing when it's too late, shit? What time is it? Today it's already past your bedtime. Honey, please not now. I don't have the energy for this here This is your birthday So we've touched on the game, there are a few more things I want to talk about But let's save them for some breaks as we progress through the story.

We will do so below, a summary of each section. The Lost, unlike the chapter system and Uncharted. This game uses the Four Seasons as a way to break down each one. section with smaller parts divided into each. We start in summer, which is by far the longest of the four. I wondered that it has about the same amount of content as the other three combined before. However, there is the game's prologue that can work in two ways. Depending on the person playing, simply put, there will be two types of people holding the controller: those who know something about the game and saw a trailer, and those who They know absolutely nothing and play blindly.

That may seem really stupid and basic when presented like that, but here's why I'm bothering. We start playing as Joel's daughter, Sarah, not Joel. She is not the same girl seen in the trailers and considering she is a game about the apocalypse. Fear begins to invade what is happening. Which is helped by how great the initial exchange of dialogue between these two characters is. You kept complaining about the broken watch, so I figured you know, you like it. Honey, this is nice, but I think it's stuck. . It's not what no, no no. Oh haha. Where did you get the money for these drugs?

I sell hard drugs. Oh good. We started helping with the mortgage, so yeah, you wish Joel was a struggling single dad and Sarah cared deeply about him. They have a solid relationship despite this situation. The dialogue is fast, funny and delivered as confidently as a great movie scene and you know. This is all about to go to shit and Sarah is going to die. If you don't know anything about the game then you can experience the surprise of the city falling into chaos and not being clear about what will happen next. You have some time to explore the house which at the time of release was one of the most compelling houses I have ever seen. in a game and I witnessed this trick that I love.

A few minutes later, there is a reporter on television who is dealing with a crisis. You are a little girl safe in her quiet house. Clearly, far away, an explosion occurs on the television that can also be seen through the window. And so, whatever is happening in the city feels a lot closer and then it was a second ago. Things continue to get worse as the scene progresses. Joel runs into the house. They are pleasantly attacked. that we kill someone, which is much more impactful for these characters since they don't know what's happening yet and they're just contrasting that with Nathan's reaction in the first scene in Uncharted 1, Joel's brother.

Is Tommy introduced who is important to the story later? You're just the helpless kid in the back of the car during the ride. But with the insight of an adult holding the controller who is able to recognize that these two men don't have the foggiest idea what the fuck they're doing. There's a sense of scale to this opening that I really like, it actually feels like you're being led through a real place. The visuals aren't as innovative now, so it may not have the same impact. But at the time it was very impressive. One flaw I can point out is that the game switches avatars midway through.

Sarah is injured enough that she cannot walk. Joel has to carry her and sometimes I wonder if the game should have kept the player with Sarah and had Joel carry you. Arguably, the change could ruin a late-game moment. But like I said, I have to wonder and remember that the opening ends with Joel fleeing the city with Sarah in his arms. Tommy is only a few minutes behind them, a soldier stops him from leaving, and if he didn't see Sarah's death coming before, now what this guy mutters into his radio is going to be a fucking moment.

Sir, there is a girl, I think the image of This guy is also important because she is carrying the automatic rifle and the flashlight. You really can't see it clearly. He opens fire. Joel turns to protect himself. Sarah Tommy appears and kills the soldier. Sarah was somehow still beaten into the game, completely convinced how serious it will be in the final moments of this scene, they could have faded away. the block with Joel crying They could have avoided showing the girl dying But they don't just stay here Sarah moans and screams as she dies, the game makes you see it and solidifies the tone that the rest of the game will follow The opening credits playing 20 years later, in Summer Much of it was played out like a movie, this is something the game is often criticized for and it's definitely true.

Some people want games to always be completely interactive and think it's a failure when control is taken away from the player. I think it's fine as long as it's not done in excess. Of course, I think it's better when interactivity and gameplay can be added to the story. But it doesn't have to happen for me to enjoy the game. Otherwise, if our loss was a movie or TV miniseries to better match your lens, then I think it would be pretty cool if the gameplay sections don't detract from that. So I think it's still great. It's not pushing the medium forward in terms of interactive storytelling.

I don't think it has anything to do with it. I do think there are a couple of moments in the game that add to the story, although what I want to talk about here is the amount of people you fight and kill again. Some have criticized the game. For this, Joel is a monster who kills too many people while you play. I think he is being naive. These sections allow you to experience how harsh the world has become and how ruthless those left must be to survive 20 years. A naughty dog ​​has long since properly thought about what might have happened in two decades.

Some places have joined together. Something resembling a new society has emerged in some areas. ButThe zombie threat has not yet been resolved and these safe havens are not. lasts forever This is the world Joel has been forced to live in after losing his daughter, all the fighting you do while controlling it. It's been a regular occurrence and judging by some of the things he says mid-game. What you see while he plays, could be some of the most peaceful years compared to what he has seen. That's how you go and pay me back, huh? Pay you for all those damn years.

I took care of us. I took care of myself. That's what it's called. I have nothing, but the nightmares of those years in which you survived because of me were not worth it and it was not only him who survived. It's established right away that he's doing better than most, he's become the kind of man who thrives in this new world, and because of that, the next scene may be a little boring depending on how much you've invested in it. game. Evidence from Joel's partner appears. apparently someone robbed them and they want revenge, but you have no idea who these people are, so it's hard to care.

It's really about showing that Joel has made something of himself. And what is life like now inside the safe zones? The place is understandably totalitarian because safety is more important than anything else when there are monsters that can turn other people into more monsters. People are executed right there, in the same place, on the street, if they are infected, a bomb explodes, which, although unusual, does not happen. Surprise exactly Joel or the tests. You are also shown a network of resistance against what passes for a government, a network that apparently has a lot of respect for evidence, not so much Joel, although Tes is the boss and Joel seems happy to debate some topics with her, but ultimately They are content to follow orders.

There are also mentions of a larger resistance group called the Fireflies who are apparently being purged from the safe zone today. Joel and Tess don't care about any of this, all they want are the guns that were stolen. In them, you go through some combat and stealth arenas, they introduce you to the basics of the game. This is some sort of old shipping or warehouse area, so the things you use for cover here make sense. It's not the best part of the game, but it's functional Joel and the trials confront the guy who robbed them and if there was any doubt in your mind if these are noble people or if noble people can exist in this world, it's crushed when they execute it. without thinking twice, that's stupid.

Idea, a new character named Arlene appears right after this. She is an officer of the Firefly group and they are the new owners of the weapons that Joel and Tess want. A new deal is struck so they can smuggle something out of the city that turns out to be. Ellie, the other main character of the game. What happened? Don't worry. This can be fixed. I received help from her But I can't accompany you. This section here of credits to Elly isn't necessarily bad. She's just slow because she has to introduce the characters a lot. Joel's new life, both gun use and stealth, then human enemies and zombies. what the government now looks like to those who are rebelling against them.

Stories usually have some kind of slow momentum like this after a big opening and The Last of Us is no different, although it can feel much worse than just a movie or book because the gameplay must also be shown to the player in a similar way. I think it's fine for a first game. It suffers a little in the later ones. From this point on, the game changes and shows how far it moves away from Uncharted in two ways. How much more of a cohesive story are you trying to tell and how much less of a cohesive story are you trying to tell?

And that's stupidly contradictory, but it also happens to be true. You'll follow me, so what I'm trying to say is that the goal of the game is to get Elly to the fireflies all over the country. Being partnered with Elly all the time means that the game has a permanent relationship for the player to follow and see changes, while in the graph Nathan continually goes through so many different pairings with characters. Elena and Uncharted seem to spend the most time with a single character. But the game is so short that it is comparable to some sections. and the other two games in opposition to this.

However, they are all different levels that you go through with Ellie, many of which have abrupt breaking points and jumps forward in time because the game is spread over the course of a year and there are large gaps in the time that never completed in the story can also be seen as more of a series of stories although there is a stronger permanent between Joel and Ellie, the goal of getting Ellie to the fireflies remains vague for most of the game and there is no villain who is constant from beginning to end. So, more cohesive with Joel and Ellie, less cohesive with all the many adventures they have while traveling, this also makes it much easier for me to summarize at the beginning because most of these are simply situations that you have to overcome while both.

The player and Joel trust Ellie more and more. This starts by escaping the city with tests where you learned that Ellie is infected but she is immune, which is why the fireflies love her so much. Citizen of Marleen. Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl to make a vaccine? So that the zombies can be eliminated Tess immediately latches onto this as hope for humanity. Joel doesn't give a shit and she doesn't agree, but she accepts it anyway because she's in charge of Joel. And we have come this far. Let's finish it. Do I need to remind you?

What's out there? I understand. At some point, proof is bite, which makes her even more desperate to find meaning in Ellie's immunity, since this is now the cost she is dying for, whether she likes it or not. This leads to one of the most wonderfully dark moments in history. game when Tess turns on Joel and guilts him into taking Ellie, which is yet another example of how high the quality of the writing is in this game compared to many others. And it's already worse. This is fucking real, Joel. You have to take this girl to Tommy's house, he used to lead with this group.

He will know where to go. No No, that was your crusade. I will not do it. Yes you are. Look, there's enough here for you to feel some kind of obligation to me. So take her to Tommy's. It's like we have a date. Well, I'm the romantic type. I have your ways. It's easy for me. Joel is cold towards Ellie, but far from being indifferent, he often loses his temper. There are moments when he lets his guard down and something of his past self comes to light. The wristwatch scenes are the Most often pointed out examples: Your watch is broken and then here, with him looking at it in a calm moment, which is probably something he's not even doing consciously.

He doesn't care about the Cure and at the time of Tessa's death he barely cares about Ellie yet. The guilt trip works and he continues. Why do you just take me back to my room? She was up to the task. Maybe she's better now. That will mean annoying your friends. The changes and survival were not too high to begin with. The next scene shows parts of the new world and at the same time is the backdrop for this new partnership. These sections offer more opportunities to explore and do something. of that carrion. I mentioned it above along with some optional conversations with Ellie.

Would you play this before? No. But I had a friend who knew everything about this game, apparently there's a character called Angel Knives who would punch a hole in your stomach before kicking you in the head. We've gone from Joel barely speaking to her to humoring some of his quirks when they arrive in the town of Bill, a smuggler Joel and Tess worked with. When they are alone, Joel is a bit friendlier towards Ellie when they meet. With Bill he acts like she's more of a nuisance in the sense that she's just a job, probably because he's now more aware of her actions.

There's someone else who judges him and doesn't want to admit that he's starting to like the girl I need. gun No, you don't, Joel. I can handle myself, no, just stay here. Okay, just wait until you get me killed. This will go down as the worst damn job you've ever done, Heads. Oh, and hell, the test is fine with a suicide mission. It's no accident that she's about the same age as her dead daughter, just as it's no accident that she speaks with the same kind of quick-witted sarcasm, though it's a little harsher. more swearing, which is more likely a way to make the player identify with her more than Joel.

He comes late. What time is it? There's a part here where Joel walks into one of Bill's traps and has to shoot the zombies while he hangs upside down. It is one of the few parts that comes close to the unexplored set of pieces. It's a fun twist, but because I'm a picky eater. moron It bothers me that the game magically gives you infinite ammo to make this work. Although I don't see a way around it without it becoming frustrating. Bill is an erotic survivor. That's always mumbling reminders to himself. He finds some of his notes scattered around the city.

What's the usual terrible video game crap where people leave journals everywhere? Then you meet him and yes, this is a rare exception. This guy has gone a little crazy and all the notes make sense. He apparently owes Joel a lot of favors and the deal they make is for a running car to call him even as they get ready, he orders Ellie not to touch any of the things. , which she does anyway and steals a couple of things that appear later. This part has more weight in the game. A stealth section that involves some zombies than a shootout at the school bill.

He mentions that he had a partner working with him for a while and that he left. at the same address they're going to get a working car battery from a truck that crashed into the school a while ago. When you get there, the battery has already run out and a giant zombie attacks you in the gym. This is a boss fight, the game's justification for all the different types of zombies. Does the fungal infection (cordyceps) continue to grow in more hosts over time? The longer a person has been a zombie, the bigger and stronger they are.

From the newly turned ones that are like normal zombies to the blind clickers and then the giant brutes seen here, the boss will kill you instantly if you get too close. he throws fungus bombs at you between charges. I'm mostly neutral in this fight. I think it feels a little forced at times, but it's fun to get away from the other enemies. These things return later as semi-normal monsters and you can easily learn what they are. demolished with fire damage. After this, you find that companion in a house. He was the one who took the car's battery and managed to fix it.

But he was bitten before he could leave and committed suicide before the infection could change him. You can find a suicide note. He goes on a hate rant against Bill and the game even lets you give it to him, which is pretty harsh. But without much context about the relationship, Bill might be glad he at least had something from them. If it's this hate note that Joel and Ellie leave together in the car. She reveals what she stole from Bill. She keeps a comic and a porn magazine. She tells a pretty good joke. I'm sure your friend will miss this tonight.

Light read, but has some interesting photos that are not for children. Get rid of. That's what you hold your horses for, I want to see what all the fuss is about. Oh, my knees are together And this makes things fall into place about Bill, that Frank was more than just a friend. I like this for two reasons. It adds some extra weight to everything that just happened in the previous scene. But only if you stop and think. about it for a second or two instead of having it over your head, but I once had someone I cared about, a partner, and that the game has a homosexual character without his sexuality being its defining trait.

I think it's much more. mature and serious way to approach this kind of thing And it also means that while Joel was hiding what happened with the tests from Bill, he was doing something similar with his partner About your friend over there That's a tough deal What else did you get well? This makes you all nostalgic, you know, that's actually before my time. I also like this car scene because it shows Joel and Ellie bonding with Samara along with one of the funniest time jumps when Ellie proclaims that she's not tired and then she is. Immediately asleep in the next scene?

This is one of the quietest moments in the game and doesn't last long; becomes one of the most memorable fights for me, as it's one of the rare times where starting already in a firefight works. Actually? Well, you're just not even hurt. This battle against the Raiders is hectic and I think the fact that you are dropped into an unfamiliar area and cornered adds a lot of tension. I felt like I had beaten all the odds when I went through this part. This is the beginning of what I believe is the longest series of directly related events in the game, going throughPittsburgh, meeting Sam and Henry and reaching the end of the summer.

There are many fight exploration sections and some character development with Joel and Ellie. He is starting. to open up to her and that changes immediately after the car accident when you find Raider Supply's garage. He reveals that he is on both sides of the fight they were in and that adds some more complexity to what he had to do to survive. And then 20 years we didn't see after Sarah died, I'll take that as a yes. Take it as you like. Once again I see that people criticize his character a lot and I don't think it's fair.

He is not beyond redemption. And at no point does he seem to enjoy the violence he inflicts on others? It's purely about survival. Of course, there may have been a time when that wasn't the case. But we can only be guided by what we are shown and told in the game. I think the endgame also plays a big role in how people view the game. Joel, he's a selfish bad person and we'll get to that. But he's funny for now. There is a cycle between different combat sections. Some light environmental puzzle solving and some story. The battlefields are larger here and at least in my experience, this led to more opportunities to screw up the southern part and get into a firefight.

At one point you get separated from Ellie and have to go through some zombies. Then when you reunite, Joel almost dies and Ellie saves him. This is the first of many turning points in their relationship. I'm not sure if Joel is embarrassed or angry that she had to save him, but initially he's angry and he acts like a jerk and you just hang back like I told you. Well, you're glad he didn't do it right. I'm glad some damn kid didn't blow my head off. Soon after there's a pretty good optional conversation about it with Ellie being just as passive-aggressive as he is.

She's basically telling him. that he is going to treat her like a child and then she is going to act like one. She waits there, she's fine. We have to go back out and find that bridge. Jolin finally admits that she was right and allows him to have a gun, a rifle at first and then a pistol later and says that she should start helping him. He went on to accept her and trusts that she won't accidentally shoot him in the next scene. I know I do this a lot. But I want to skip this part and come back to it.

There's a problem in this section that relates to a couple of other things I want to say about the game. The same goes for the next part with the armored car. So let's go over this. You have to run away and end up taking refuge in one of the nearby buildings where you meet Sam and Henry. Who are this section's version of Bill, the guest stars in this area? Henry is the older brother Sam is the younger Ellie immediately bonds with Sam Henry and Joel take a little more time, the siblings have a similar dynamic to Joel and Ellie and since Henry often treats him like he's an idiot and much less mature than it really is.

I have to wonder if this is meant to make you think about how Joel treats Ellie. If so, I'll be honest and say I didn't understand it. I found them to be standard characters, interesting because of the conversations they can start. but it doesn't have any greater meaning in the game. Anyway, the four of you head deeper into the city. The goal is to reach the bridge and this is something that all the games in this video do often? Benchmark in distance that you are always working towards and I am often surprised at how much closer you can get to these goals after finishing what seems like a short section.

Sometimes it will be a building or a tower or, like I said, a bridge. In this case, you can browse all areas exhausting all options. So these types of guys are not strictly necessary and I would say that these games are used too often as they occasionally feel predictable. But for the most part, it's a good way to give yourself a goal. That's not just dialogue You rest for a while before going to the bridge Joel and Henry are still distrustful of each other But there is enough trust for Yolo to go to sleep It's already night and that makes the next section one of my favorites in terms of Images I like to sneak down this street with the bright spotlight on and the radar screaming at things in the dark.

You work with Henry to perform a double stealth takedown and then move on to do your best to take down the rest of the guards, including shutting down. the spotlight So let's talk about those earlier parts now that we're on this one, the problem with some pieces in Last of Us is that they can go back to what you mapped out for me. Naughty Dog has this very strict and limited idea of ​​what I need to be doing in a scene and if you deviate from that plan the game just breaks it. I'm not 100 percent sure about this part specifically.

But the way the guards keep jumping off the barricade while I stealthily kill some of them leads. It makes me believe that clearing this area with stealth is impossible, probably because the sound of battle is what makes the armored vehicle return. What I am sure of is the previous encounter with that vehicle, which is an invincible death tank. Even if you think you're smart and get under his gun to blow him up? Which probably sounds familiar if you watch the full video? This part feels like the awkwardness of the Uncharted 2 Village scene with another large vehicle.

Like you have to run away because there are written events linked to this car. You can't fight him even though you should be able to. More Then we get the part where Elia covers you with the rifle. Which is also impossible to do with stealth alone because the game has a movie after this with dialogue mentioning Ellie fighting. This could have easily been resolved if someone had seen Ellie. It's not the players' fault or anyone seeing Joel from the beginning. So the player doesn't resent Ellie for making a mistake and having to fight. As I did?

Even before that is when Joel gets separated from Ellie and you have the basement area that is completely empty of zombies until you hit a trigger point that makes them all appear out of nowhere. It's like they come out of the walls. There are more parts. Something like this is coming, and it's frustrating because Naughty Dog clearly wants to give players the illusion of freedom instead of giving it to them. There are solutions to these encounters, either they do a better job of funneling the player into activating points before they can explore everything or Spend extra time and have alternate parts of the story that react to different ways you can get through each area about something a bit larger than its size.

The most ridiculous one we've already gone through is right after the test dies if it waited for the crash. doors to kill the soldiers in an ambush, I thought I was being clever when I did it here. You can then return to the room with Ellie and see Tessa's corpse on the floor. Nobody talks about it or mentions it. You can not do it. anything Then you continue along the path you should take and now on the second floor balcony There is a big message from oh no, Tessa's corpse, how sad because the game shits itself when you go off script.

Yes. The group manages to overcome it. the door and have to fight their way onto a truck before the armored vehicle makes its way to catch them. Everyone, but Joel goes up. Henry realizes it is useless to try to save him and flees with Sam. Ellie demonstrates her loyalty by not just staying. behind but actually jumping from a safe place to stay with Joel. Which I think is pretty cool of her, the two find an alternate path to the bridge, which involves another shootout and then a chase sequence from the armored car. That's what's being played right now.

And this is something I really like about the game. See how the car misses practically every shot? As long as you run like you're supposed to, does the game also do the same in combat? Often the first shot that an enemy would give you, especially if he is one who has just appeared to enter the fight, has this special animation linked to Joel Flinching as he cuts around his head, but doesn't actually hit him. Uncharted doesn't Don't do this even in Uncharted 4 during scripted chase sequences when you're not meant to defend yourself. Nathan will continue to take a ton of damage and the screen turns red as he takes bullet after bullet.

The same goes for new enemies that simply appear. you eat that damage. I guess the last of us has to do this because there is no regenerative health. But it adds a lot of immersion for me and I wish other games would do something similar. In the end, Joel and Ellie have no choice but to risk a somersault into the water by all reasoning they should have died, but Henry and Sam save them and spot them in the river. This makes the next part awkward in two ways. First, it's literally awkward in the game since Joel is bloodthirsty since Henry abandoned them but also saved them, it takes him a few moments to resolve this conflict and then everyone moves on.

It's also awkward because the whole betrayal and chase sequence starts and ends so quickly that it doesn't feel necessary. Maybe this is a case of the game allowing the gameplay to take priority since that chase sequence was done without enough planning to sync it with the story. I'm not sure it's no big deal. Just thought I'd mention it while we're here. You'll be very happy you didn't kill me. Either way, the four continue working together and pass through a sewer. level Which is a common setting in many games and, at least as far as I can remember, is usually bad.

However, The Last of Us is the exception and this is my favorite part of the summer section. There are a lot of fantastic environmental stories here that you can decide to skip or inspect depending on how much you care. Some things are surprisingly dark even for this game and there are plenty of journal entries to find that make a little more sense in most games since the place is covered in posters. Some real things. Thought has been given to how the people here would have gotten food and water to survive and I think it's a shame this place wasn't still active when you got here.

I think it might have worked well to break up the action and see a thriving little town and the still functioning sewers might have been more interesting than the zombie killing you do here in the game. As my last point, this is not something I'm sure about, it's a part I really like. I guess I just wish there were more. Maybe the people who live here might have had a section that they blocked off that was full of zombies that you needed to get through. So you could have had the best of both worlds. Maybe I'm wrong. and it would be worse because the next area offers a peaceful break anyway.

You can explore one of the most compelling suburbs and, by playing, all the houses can be entered and looted. There's a lot of poking around and optional conversations, and it's honestly. Great In terms of gameplay, however, it's luring you into a false sense of security. You think you've put enough distance between yourself and the Raiders in town and you're quickly proven wrong. It's strange to me that the least favorite part of the game is right after one of the best. This is the most obvious example of the game having a set order of events that you must follow of anything we've seen so far.

Including the unexplored, this section stood out in my memory so clearly that it's the reason I knew I had to replay The Last of Us and talk about it in this video. There is a sniper at the other end of this area. The game tells you to keep going so you have a better chance of taking him out. What it actually wants you to do is enter the house and sneak up on him in the room. But it doesn't tell you that, so I did what I would do in any other game. : I looked for the nearest piece of cover. to the sniper window I could find and I tried to kill him and you can't, you just can't, there's no one holding the gun.

It doesn't move when it points at you. You can throw explosives and maltose at the window and it doesn't matter, the game refuses to let you choose, you just have to figure this out or a better way to say it would be that the game refuses to let you use your usual tools to figure this out. However, it gets even worse when you are forced to surrender and go through the house, the sniper anticipates that you will sneak up on him and hides in the room. But he is invisible, you can look inside before entering. He's not there.

He magically appears when you walk through the door. I think Joel would be more suspicious after years of fighting that the game replaces him so he can have a fight with the guy Followed by you picking up the rifle to protect others At least the game gives you the same infinite stack of ammo that the sniper used beforehand Now this part is fine. The best time is when the armored vehicle appears, because if you're like me, you probably thought it was behind you and you wouldn't have to deal with it again. Some zombies also attack others, which are also programmed to set up.

A little twist on thenext scene. This movie is from late summer. And I think it's the first time our narrative perspective changes Um, Joel: Ellie Joel and Henry are busy getting along after getting injured in another fight. Sam feels abandoned in the other room. What are you afraid of? Oh? Let's see that Scorpions are pretty creepy. Ellie tries to cheer him up and of course since this game he can rarely have a happy moment. It turns out that Sam is infected and proves that his older brother is right about being an immature child by not telling anyone, which almost gets Ellie killed in the morning.

The previous night's celebration shifts like a whip to Henry having to kill his own brother and then. pointing the gun at each other No one spoke Henry Henry no The game then cuts to black, we cannot see the consequences or how Joel and Ellie react. It's a rare case of letting the player imagine for themselves what I really liked about Joel and Ellie. They clearly get along better in the next scene, but not as much as you think, considering how much time has passed. Clearly, Henry and Sam's death was a setback and how they judged each other and maybe that's all the game was going for to show how a similar treatment. ended and how easily it could be them or maybe it's the narrative judging them for leaving Joel behind on the bridge.

Like I said, I'm not sure we'll stay together. There are three seasons left, but I'd say we're at least halfway through the game. Fall has another big turning point for Joel and Ellie. Also sees the return of Tommy from the opening. There are some more optional conversations here and some depth to the characters is shown by having them talk about various things. There are a few nods to the events that just happened with Henry and Sam, but the entire mood and conversation isn't dominated by that. Not all dialogues are sad. It makes them feel like real people with complex thoughts and reactions to what is happening.

This probably won't be the first time I've said this. The writing and characters in this game aren't just good for videos. games are also good compared to many movies and books. That doesn't stop this section from having some flaws, although I would say that the fall opening has some extreme changes in quality with some moments of gameplay filler that I don't think the game needed - one of the best moments ever. the game. Then you come to this dam. There's one of the exploration puzzles that we'll talk about a little later. There is no combat yet.

We're supposed to approach Tommy Joel's brother from the opening and we end up running into him a lot. sooner than expected Ellie who was a lady says Joel explains to Ellie that the two did not part on the best terms Tommy was more idealistic and invested in the fireflies Joel does not say this But it is clear that he was more jaded after years of doing horrible things for both him and his brother to survive. Damn, bro. But Tommy doesn't seem to mind this at first, he welcomes his brother literally with open arms. He reveals that he is building a new city here with his wife Maria.

Who is the leader of the place? They have a semi-functioning electric dam. So their houses have electricity, it all sounds great, but Joel doesn't care. He's here to hand Ellie over to her brother so he can end it all. Sometimes I think this might be a plot hole that Joel and Ellie are clearly picking up on. Ellie best showed that she was committed to him the moment she jumped out of the truck earlier and reinforces it when she hesitates to separate from Joel even for a few minutes after they arrive at Maria's town. Come on, Ellie, let's give the boy something. space Joel apparently doesn't have such strong feelings for her, but I'm not sure if it's that simple right before he tries to leave Ellie with Tommy.

He has given her a photo of himself with Sarah. I'm fine. Sure, I mean, I said I'm fine. He refuses to take it. It's clearly too much for him. And now that I think about it, I wonder if that's why Henry and Sam died in the end. It is a much more recent reminder of death and trials. Joel also seems stubborn enough to me to follow the plan he formulated in his head. Months ago and you hadn't thought to consider that things might have changed but he had taken that girl off your hands. This is how you're going to pay me.

Hey? Pay? All those damn years. I took care of us. I took care of myself. That's what it's called. I have nothing but nightmares of those years when you survived thanks to me, it wasn't worth it, to bring you the cure of humanity, you will play the angry little brother. Tommy refuses to take Ellie and the two are about to have a heated fight over it when The Raiders attack the dam and this is the game I mentioned a moment ago that I thought was completely unnecessary. It's the closest the game gets to Uncharted's terrible shooting galleries.

I guess it provides an excuse to interrupt the conversation about Ellie. And finally. She leads him to have the opportunity to steal the horse and leave, but a spectacle with the quarry lighting up the city could have worked instead of a fight of strength. Unfortunately, it only gets worse. This is the only other moment in the game where I think the gameplay is The king reared his swollen head and ruined part of the story. Ellie ran away from the dam on horseback. Joel and Tommy follow them and are ambushed on the same path Ellie took. Which he somehow managed to get through without any danger.

Yes, you have to do it. He stop and play whack-a-mole with the Raiders and your weapons. I really don't like this part in defense of Naughty Dog. However, these fights may be here because the combat in the next part is more necessary. You located Ellie on a farm. She felt that Joel was about to leave her and that doesn't make her happy. Well, I guess we're both disappointed in each other then. What do you want of me? She admits that you wanted to get rid of me the whole time Murrieta was apparently telling her some things about the jewels' dead daughter, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better big moment presented in a game than this one here.

Stop the nonsense. What are you so afraid of? Then I'll end up like Sam. I can't get infected. I can take care of myself. Have we gone well? We seem to be doing well so far and now you're going to do even better with Tommy. She does not. You know what Maria told me about Sarah Ellie. You are stepping on something powerful. Thin ice here. Delivery is perfect. Does the expression on Joel's face reinforce what is being said? There's a well of rage and sadness that threatens to burst if Ellie keeps pushing and that's why the radar showing up is important because Joel isn't stable enough here for this break to be necessary to welcome him back to the Raiders, though I do not believe that.

It would have been bad if they just showed up without having been seen before. A line from Tommy worrying about making so much noise while traveling through the woods could have solved it too. This is another thing I'm not sure about as I really think this combat and house section is a much needed step in the story. But the two fights before this one are terrible. It's enough time for Joel to start thinking and calm down. He reconsiders what he should do And by the time they get back to Maria's town, Joel has decided to move on with Ellie Going back to town I was upset at least My mind was already made up It's very different for Joel to decide to do something instead of feeling guilty or forced by Tessa Marlene and Tommy was giving her the option to leave.

Joel is different after the scene. He still doesn't love Ali like a daughter. But he's gone through the same change that made Ellie jump off the truck. He is more patient with her and opened up the discussion, which is very clear in the many conversations in the quiet beginning of the next scene. First, first, that's right. You just received a sword. a couple of times everything makes sense. They arrive at a university on horseback. Ellie still has questions, but now Joel has answers. There are still limits, but they are understandable and they received a gentle reprimand instead of the harsh dismissals of the opening game.

Fireflies are meant to be here. But it's so calm that everyone, Joel Ellie and the player, quickly concludes that this isn't going to work. It will be the end of the game. There are some zombies at the beginning. Which is a nice return to the other side of the game, since it's been a while since the sewers in summer. It's a solid section. That looks great. And I really appreciate how Ellie will ride the horse to follow you. So that the game doesn't waste your time with all this. Unnecessary back and forth towards the horse while opening up many paths to go further in college.

I think most games wouldn't. I don't have the courtesy to do that for you. At first, the ending here feels like an anticlimax. You walk into the university proper and you get the impression that someone is following you live. Turns out they are some monkeys that were used. For the experiments here that were released, the place is abandoned. There are some audio logs from an investigator that give you the information on where you should go next. Along with the short and tragic story about how they were doing experiments on monkeys with cordyceps in order to find a cure The researcher decided to let the mountains that killed them Trap Benton since they were infected he had to commit suicide before turning.

Oh my goodness, Joel and Ellie achieve their next and final objective: reach a hospital in Salt Lake City where the fireflies have wondered what their last base is. Some hostile scavengers move into the University. Things quickly take a turn for the worse when Joel falls in the middle of a fight and is impaled on a piece of rebar. He didn't expect this. In fact, I knew very little about what happened in the game when I played it, other than a gameplay trailer with Joel and Ellie. So, as a surprise, Angela was so hurt after her bond with Ellie that I wondered if the game was going to kill.

This is Ricci Andrea. Seriously, at least as things stand and your movement is really limited, your view of what's happening isn't clear either. Ellie has to save you several times as you struggled to line up a handful of shots. Joel is about to die here and I. I guess he's more driven by adrenaline than being able to stay on his feet, which ends predictably with him giving up and passing out on the horse. Ellie, naturally, is freaking out about the whole thing and she doesn't know what to do. The game here cheats a bit by making another cut to block without resolving how it is.

Ellie gets out of this situation. She doesn't have enough strength to move him and drag him a little safely, but she doesn't distance him from her. We see in the next section. I strongly suspect that this black cut that goes into winter when you control it will be in a completely different situation. It makes you wonder if Joel is dead. This opening is one of the most memorable in the game of deer hunting. and it could also be quite long depending on how good you are at shooting. The first time I missed quite a few shots.

The second time I didn't fail at all and I had a long trail of love to follow because of it. Either way. It goes on for a few minutes and you're in a slightly tense encounter with two strangers when Ellie finally says that she needs medication, which means Joel must be alive. We'll come back to these guys in a second. So let's talk about that. The game wants you to wonder if Joel is alive or not. This is good and bad, but it also leads to the game's worst plot hole, which isn't actually how Ellie changed the role she could have dragged to some kind of temporary shelter nearby to trap him. she wakes up again and then get back on the horse or find some kind of sleigh with harness or cart to put her on and then have the horse drag her.

There are quite a few ways. It might make it difficult, but it is possible if you have resources, which you are. It's still a cheat that the game doesn't show this, although the plot hole is that the game loses its commitment to realism about halfway through the winter portion, but only temporarily. So Ellie killed this deer for food and these guys find it right after she tracks it to where she collapsed. This guy here is a nameless grunt. The other is David, who as an aside here is voiced by Nolan North, the same guy. Who does Nathan Drake?

It's really impressive how different they are, and if I can take a minute to push my own theories, I consider it further proof that Nathan's Mal sound from Firefly is intentional. Could you tell me what the hell is going on. but from a larger group Women and children. We're all very, very anxious about it, even though David is in charge of a group of people who live relatively close by, you're not supposed to be sure about these people. Ellie, who is usually one of the most optimistic characters in the game, is equally unsure and I think she is trying to channel what she thinks Joel would do if she were in the same situation.

She doesn't stop any of her reverence towards them, but they don't attack her even though they outnumber her, they offer to make a deal. I don't think she wants to win, but she's desperate enough for medication to seek it out. Anyway, you have antibiotics. David stays hostage while the other goes and takes the medicine. This partIt's fantastic because it plays with your confidence. I think most people will think that David is evil and he is waiting for an opportunity to do it. kill Ellie Then it turns out that she had a gun that she could have used all along and actively tries to protect it when they are attacked by zombies.

He praises her shooting ability and does not use any of the opportunities presented to him to attack her. They work together, the player might even learn to trust him through the game. Ellie also lets her guard down at the end, which later goes awry when David He reveals that his group is the same people that Joel and Ellie killed at the university months before, massacred by a crazy man and gets the heads, it's a crazy man, a girl who travels. Everything happens for a reason. He still lets her go, although with the medicine, he follows her the next day.

So why didn't he kill her when she had the chance? ? Well, the reasons are disgustingly complicated, disgusting in the literal sense. This is not the plot hole. Joel is because he is half dead in the cold basement of a house when Ellie returns with antibiotics. She gives him a dose and it seems like she is in such a state. a bad state that is in a fucking coma. This isn't bad in and of itself, it's what happens after Ellie realizes it. She followed her and takes the horse to lead David's men away from Joel. This is one of the best sections of the game as your combat options are a little different like Ellie.

There are even more reasons to focus on stealth and be more demanding and align your skills. shots like the escape sequence at the beginning of Uncharted 2 I thought she was going to make an escape David captures her just before she can make it and they take her back to their base as a prisoner From here you switch between Joel and Ellie The big problem is that Joel wakes up alone and is miraculously cured. He staggers a little. Minh then is perfectly fine to run and climb, shoot, kill dozens of people and you get the idea. It's like he becomes Nathan Drake.

Watch when he is my favorite part of the game. I love the switch from Joel to Ellie and how the game handles what is functionally its only villain in the form of David. But this problem with Joel stands out. He shouldn't be able to stand let alone run and fight. Like many of the problems you have. discuss until now The worst thing about this is that it could have been avoided. I think the root cause is that they wanted the player to wonder if Joel was dead so they couldn't have scenes with them together before hunting deer with him. be awake and maybe move a little, but he still needs something to fully heal.

So he needs antibiotics too it's bad. I guess this was written backwards? They needed an excuse for Ellie to be stuck with an injured David Joel and needing something was the best option, so they used it, but in the process they made Joel's recovery so sudden that it ruins the credibility of the game. Maybe you don't care about this kind of thing. It didn't ruin the game for me. He didn't even spoil this section. I just wish it had been handled better. So that could have been another great part of the winter portion instead of something I have to ignore in order to enjoy its best moments, of which there are quite a few.

Few, there is a sickening revelation that Ellie has not been taken to be eaten as the butcher may have led you to believe, but to be in love with David and your special Oh. Ellie remains defiant and brave and does not back down from him. Joel shows similarly. a slice of his violent and ruthless past as he tortures David's men to find out where they took Ellie and which is possibly one of the most badass scenes I've ever seen in a game marketed right there. There five, ask him. Fuck. Man, I told you I wanted my shit.

That's ok. I don't believe in waiting for her. She subverts expectations by avoiding being captured and cleverly uses her bite and immunity to her advantage. She finds her own way out of David's camp and almost makes it before the man himself corners her in an old diner this acts as a boss fight that tests you in stealth rather than combat, both to keep you out of David's line of sight to sneak up on you and avoid the broken plates on the floor that make noise and also to hear when David steps on one. to get her location.

At one point you switch back to Joel, who is making his way to the same town and I expected him to show up during This Boss to help Ellie and he doesn't. Ellie takes care of this herself. She cuts David's face into pieces and the only thing Joel rescues her from is her wrath as she does it. This is the final big change in the relationship. Joel fully commits to her as he calms her down and names her her adopted daughter. She realizes that he is not dead and that she is. I won't be alone. It's such an important moment for these two that we don't even get to hear it.

Their voices are blocked for us before we cut the block and move the spring. This is similar to the jump we saw from Summer to Fall, the two of them have just gone through something traumatic. They're still dealing with how it's changed them, but it's not the only thing dominating their lives. Ellie is calm in the first scene of Spring, which is the shortest of all the sections. It could be explained because she is still recovering from what happened, but it's not that simple. There are still optional conversations that happen here. And in such stark contrast to this that some have criticized the game for lacking subtlety.

You have the happiest and most beautiful moment in the game from the beginning. I think it's more likely that Ellie is scarred by what happened. with David, but it's the fear of finally reaching the fireflies That makes her quiet just like Joel and maybe the player she senses that something isn't quite right I'll wake up I've never been on a plane It's not weird Before But we get to that. Let's look at two things the game does that I think fall short. The first is about the stealth sections, so the clickers in particular. I really like these enemies.

I also like that they require resources to kill silently, as it's another way that crafting becomes more important than encouraging you to scavenge, as do upgrades that make your ships have more charges to kill more. clickers with each one These things are very sensitive to sound and while it is true that the game is wrong when they say they see like bats More or less They come using sound So, if you hear one click, you have to hide, that's how they see you . This plot hole is weird and I don't mind ignoring it because the name and the clicking sound they make is different enough to be interesting and the enemy still makes a lot of sense.

They are powerful and blind, they just don't make noise, maybe it could have been more interesting if it was based on both movement and sound, so that you have to be silent while you move and you have to be still when you hear the click . starts to require much more careful timing on the part of the player But it's fine as it is in the game right now. It's the teammates who break it who can make all the noise they want while following you. They even talk or use objects. This is bad from the beginning with Tess and Elly in the ruined city, but even worse when you're with Bill, who has apparently set up his main house right next to a bunch of this stuff.

Which, funnily enough, makes sense since they don't seem to give a shit about him? I would say that the reason Naughty Dog did this is so that the player never fails because of something an AI companion does and that is a very good idea. But the solution has its own minor problems if Ellie stays behind until you clear an area. It's also been bad in that it forces you to kill all the clickers, which means the game now has to carefully make sure you have enough materials for the SHIVs or remove that limitation entirely, which I think would be a bad thing in the game. at the moment. just avoid many of them now and decide for yourself.

The best idea I can come up with is that the zombies don't care about Ellie because she's already infected. They don't need each other and therefore they will need her and therefore she can do it. whatever she wants while Joel has to handle them like he always does. This unfortunately breaks up the encounter she has with David, but you could then specify that it's just the clickers that ignore her because they have progressed more toward cordyceps amplification and are therefore more sensitive. To feel and in others or something like that? That doesn't solve the part about the students or Bill making noise.

But I think that only happens twice and it also means that only one of the AI ​​companions has to be careful with what he does or says or they could force the player to clear the clickers only in these encounters. It also could have opened up more opportunities for unique situations by having some locations that only Ellie can explore if there are a lot more clickers than Joel could handle. Just as she doesn't need a gas mask when the intern area was ultimately sports, it's not a big deal since the game often makes Joel stand apart when you have some zombies to fight.

I just thought it was worth mentioning since it would be mostly positive about the game. The Other Thing I Don't I don't like the single-player co-op sections and when I say I don't like them, I don't dislike them either. I'm completely neutral since they feel like filler, but I can appreciate what Naughty Dog was trying to do. The parts I'm talking about are in every game we've seen. It's when Nathan has to push someone up a wall or a ledge or he has to push a box so the other person can climb. The same is used. and we got a lot more lost besides finding wooden paddles for Ellie to stand on and cross the water since she can't swim.

I include some puzzles in this category for such stellar moments as finding the wooden plank or placing the ladder against the wall. These are boring and the game makes you do each of them a few times. Sometimes I think they are just there so you don't walk area after area without doing anything other times, like climbing a ladder. I'm wondering if they're hiding some kind of loading time, the main thing I'm wondering is if this constant back and forth of helping and then getting help from these characters is a weird attempt to make you appreciate them.

You're bonding with this teamwork and look. I'm in control of it, which I think fails, it didn't work for me. Instead, I felt like I was being slowed down. So maybe I'm completely wrong here and it's just about downtimes and making areas feel bigger than they really are. It's undeniable that the game makes some attempts here. You arrive in town, talk to Ally, need her help to get a ladder from the second floor, do the usual. With her button he asks to call her and nothing for the first time. . It does not work. She is distracted and in a bad mood.

You have to call her again. She's trying to show at least something and that's what makes me wonder if there could be other reasons for all this fake co-op. Anyway, this is the beautiful moment. I mentioned earlier that it was one of the most talked about scenes: when the game first came out. My God. There is an announcement at the beginning of the level about which cities you have drafts in. The 20 years since society collapsed, these animals have prospered, this nature has begun. to take back the city The zombie fungus only infects humans. So the animals are largely unaffected.

I think that's part of what the scientists were trying to show from the infected monkeys at the University, that although they carried cordyceps they were not infected. I really liked the scene and I disagree with other reviewers who said it's too obvious or too blatant about one of the game's main themes. The giraffes looked great. The shot of the city looking familiar and strange at the same time is incredible. It's enough to separate Ellie from Aerelon Kali and acts as a moment of calm after everything these two have been through. Even Joel stops to admire them all and watching them doesn't end until you take control and he decides you've done it.

It pretty much serves as another kind of calm, the one that comes before things go to shit. Many things could improve if we earned them, either through observation or thought, but not everything has to be that way. Sometimes you can enjoy something for its simplicity. The next two parts of the most difficult encounters are the two main types of enemies, first zombies and then humans with guns a little later. I don't have much to say about zombies, other than flamethrowers. overpowered against them, which ruins part of the challenge here. Especially compared to fighting human enemies. There's not much history down here either.

Joel and Ellie work together to break through the underground. They probably should have gone back and found another way instead of risking crossing. This river of broken cars and buses, especially when Ellie still can't swim, works in the end so I guess it's fine, but it makes them look a little stupid. Both are swept away by drowning. Joel tries to resurrect them. her when two of the most idiotic guards and all the fireflies appear and knock him out when they clearly saw them come out of the wateragain. It's not a big deal and is necessary to have this blackout transition. to the Firefly base Then you wake up inside it.

It's one of the minor plots of the game. This is the final section of The Last of Us. It's where Joel's two big plot lines in Ellie's relationship and the trip to the fireflies intertwine and then clash. Welcome to the fireflies. The objective is whether you have accepted it or not, it is about delivering the cure for the zombie infection that will be used for the rebirth of humanity. The twist here is that this plot now directly conflicts with the other because it is necessary to kill Ellie in order to extract the means to create the vaccine.

This is a twist that many players predicted and that's okay. A good twist is an unexpected plot development or something that makes everything that came before have new and exciting meaning. A great twist in the story. He does this and still makes history. Interesting even if you predict it? What's the case with the ending here in The Last of Us? A lot is said about this ending and I am no different. I have a lot to say about it. First of all. I think it's worth reviewing exactly what's going on here without any of my comments.

Damn, you don't have to worry about her anymore. Well, be careful. I'm worried yes. Please let me see it. You can not. They are preparing her for surgery. Oh, you mean surgery, the doctors tell me that the cordyceps, the growth inside it has somehow mutated. That's why she's immune. Once they eliminate it, they will be able to reverse engineer a vaccine. Magazine, but it grows throughout the brain. She does it. Joël wakes up Marlene. explains the situation Joel refuses to accept it Marlene gets on her horse called morality and says there is no other option and threatens to kill him There is no other option here Joel pretends to back away and then kills the guard who was about to scan him from the hospital and then Do you struggle to overcome it?

Combat Sequence I just mentioned the most difficult group of human enemies, as there are quite a few of them and this is the only area of ​​the game where automatic weapons are common. The game even breaks one of its own rules and you can loot one yourself to use. You fight your way through several waves of fireflies and then enter the operations room. There are three surgeons, Ellie is unconscious. But I live on the table, one of the surgeons grabs a scalpel and stands in your way. The player is forced to kill here. The game will not continue until you do this Joel picks up Elian, you run out of the hospital under gunfire, an elevator takes you to a safe place in the parking lot where Marlene is waiting as the last obstacle between Joel and Ellie, she begs Joel to think.

For the greater good, this and flash, it jumps between this moment and Joel driving Ellie in a car and it is finally revealed that Joel shot Marlene and then executed her so that none of the fireflies would chase them. Ellie remains unconscious during all of this, you just come after her. She's fine, so that's it. Reactions to this ending range from calling Joel a selfish monster who doomed humanity to him being right and justified in what he did and somewhere in between he was. I'm sure he did something selfish, but they still agree because they really like Ellie.

It is no exaggeration to say that there are more than a dozen interpretations and reactions to what just happened. The most important one for me is that many Is it determined by the choice you make in the end? If you've played, you're probably thinking there's no choice. What are you talking about? You have to kill the surgeon, the game does not allow you to leave. It is another part of the game that is on top of Rails and requires a specific set of actions on your part. And you're absolutely right that the real choice is whether or not you have Faith in the nah dog writers to decide if this section is full of really stupid plot holes or if they're intentionally in play or to support Joel's decision.

So let's go over that. First of all, fireflies are a bunch of amateurs who have no idea what the fuck they're doing. Marlene is almost dead. The first time you meet her, her group was being crushed out of a safe zone with just Joel and Tess. had a better handle Up. This is an organization. That is so mismanaged and desperate that he had to entrust the possible cure for all humanity to two strangers who? It also turns out that some of the worst thugs out there are making the deal to get their stash of weapons of all things.

This is a group that has been continually absent in all areas. They're supposed to have it under their control They're losing bases and resources everywhere The perimeter guards didn't even know how to handle a drowned girl on top of a man with both hands showing trying to resuscitate her, which almost resulted in that precious one cure for humanity would die right there, on the spot. Hey, if Marlene was smart, she would have told Joel that Ellie died right there on the street and that they quickly did an autopsy to rescue her. What information could they? It gets worse because you can't even trust the Nobel Prize rejects' research staff because the last time you saw some of their work, he was a man so stupid that he managed to get bitten by one of his own test monkeys he had.

I just got infected with cordyceps. Oh, and these are the people who want to work with Ellie. These are the people who think that killing one of the rare or only cases of someone with immunity to cordyceps is the right decision without even a day of observation or live testing or all the scans they could possibly think of before resorting to rip the fungus out of his brain. Joel is unconscious long enough for the fireflies to have done even a fraction of all the possible tests. That needs to be ruled out before they have to kill Ellie and make it clear. .

It's not even about the moral dilemma at hand. It's about saving humanity, killing yours, and destroying this potentially unique case of immunity forever. They are idiots who have no idea what they are doing by jumping into this irreversible procedure, the average IQ on the planet. goes up when you kill this guy. Which brings us to the choice. Do you think Naughty Dog users decided to ignore all this really obvious stuff to make this interesting? A morally gray issue or they were left on purpose to make the fireflies look like idiots. Oh, that Joel isn't a crazed lunatic when he goes on a killing spree?

There is a lot of support for this on both sides, the game has absolutely benefited from its ending and how much discussion it generated, one could argue it's worth it, the plot falls due to how much attention is paid to God. On the other hand, the more you think about it. The more you realize that if the game takes Firefly seriously and truly believes that he is making the right decision, then much of the game disintegrates and becomes a waste of time. Meanwhile, there's all the evidence I just provided that shows what a joke fireflies are and how much Marlene could be simply responding to pressure to take the last shot.

They have to find a cure and gain some legitimacy before they are eliminated. Unfortunately, the game doesn't say it clearly enough through Joel. He does not tell them to do more tests or to wait or to ask for leniency. Instead, he goes straight to the plot. That's the most personal thing for him. But he was simply unconscious and knocked out. It's not fair to expect him to be thinking critically here. He's already worried about Ellie Vaughn, someone else, there's no one else. So you were going to show me where there's enough? stop This may seem biased because I really like the game But I'm willing to think that it is this version that is intended.

The reason for this is how Marlene and this grunt treat Joel like a piece of shit with Marlene Grandstanding and claiming that she has it much harder than Joel, which invalidates a large part of his life and the most recent events of the previous year. . He happened to travel at her request. They are so eager to send them packing on her way without any sign of the supplies that were originally promised to her without talk of proof, and have the audacity to act as if they are giving her this. Big gift for not killing him along with Ellie Marja Maddy here.

He tries anything, shoot him. Don't waste this gift, Joe. There's even an audio log in which Marlene confesses that her orders from above her were to kill Joel and not let him go. So I have to conclude that they are desperate idiots who have nothing. idea of ​​what they're doing, which makes the next section easy to justify and also eliminates a lot of the discussion people have about whether Joel was right to kill them all and save Ellie if there was almost 100% chances of receiving the vaccine and If the Fireflies took the time to explain how killing Ellie would result in finding out that with almost absolute certainty.

Then there would be good reason to argue whether Joel is right or not. But as things stand now, I'm sorry to say that anyone who engages in that discussion with an attempt to really judge. Joel is glossing over how unsuitable the fireflies are for doing anything, and I like that the ending shows that there is another group who are just as lost in the world as Crazy Bill, the Grade Hunters, and the Slowly Dying Safe Zones. It's places like the house made in the sewers and Tommy's new town that are the current hope for humanity, although it's not going to be easy, as the sewer section demonstrates.

Maybe it's explained in an audio log somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure why the fireflies are even fighting what's left of the government, except that it's become a habit after the early days of the Apocalypse, when the military was killing so many people to keep the safe zones viable. Nice and no, my money is on the military. Why would they kill all these people? Can't you let everyone in? Both sides clearly think they are doing the right thing. They think they are noble and idealistic and keeping humanity forward, but in a very real sense, they know more than the hunters.

So that's the really long reason why I think Joel is absolutely right in his opinion. decision to save Ellie There is another question we need to address after this. But for now, let's take a closer look. Look at this area. There are two things I really like here, both related to the beginning of the game. The first is the presence of the soldier looking at enemies with flashlights and automatic rifles, which are almost exactly the same visuals as the guy he shot at the beginning. down Sara? I consider this section to be the most difficult in the game.

And I don't think these two things are accidents. Joel faces the exact same situation again and has the same thing to lose this time. He is capable of counterattacking and each of these guys was one of the deadliest weapons in the game. It is difficult to defeat. He makes each death more meaningful and has a higher chance of the player noticing this link. at the beginning of the game Secondly, and directly related to this, the scene where you flee holding Ellie is the last time the player is in control of Joel. And it's almost identical to the run you had while holding Sarah when you first took control of Joel.

That's why I said at the beginning that it might be worth tying Sarah's abrupt change to Joel from the beginning to the end together, this time you make it, Ellie lives. Joel doesn't lose another daughter. The only thing I'm not sure about in this part is the surgeon. This may sound strange. But I have to wonder if Joel taking control of the game for a second would have worked better. Many have argued that forcing the player to kill this guy makes the scene carry more weight. But because this isn't actually a real decision, like I said, the game won't continue until you do this.

I wonder if it would be deeper if Joel thinks so hard. about this while maintaining the camera's perspective as if you were still in control. He lifts the gun from him and decides for himself. Either way, the surgeon is not so innocent for reasons I just went into too much detail about. He is so determined to kill Ellie that he is actively willing to defend her commitment to him with a raised scalpel. That he's not the kind of person you'd want to turn your back on while lifting someone off an operating table. The scene ends with the jump back and forth between Joel's decision to kill Marlene and him lying to Ellie that the trip is over.

To be a failure; that Cordyceps immunity is quite common and cannot lead to a vaccine. Joel: It turns out there are many more like you. Joseph: The fireflies stopped searching and quickly sent them on their way; Now they will return to Tommy's house. The game's epilogue is with Ellie, the player controls her as they follow Joel. If you haven't played the game, then you might be wondering why Ellie would believe what is obviously nonsense from Joel, and she doesn't. The game ends with that confrontation, but not before you get a glimpse of what's new. man Joel has become; a mix of his old pre-apocalypse self and the ruthless killer still lurking beneath in my first playthrough.

I thought his speech here was alittle pathetic (Ellie says "I bet he would have", not "yeah" here). He's so committed to the idea of ​​Ellie as his adopted daughter that he seems desperate to make it work. I'm not so sure, as I might think of it as a victory; that he was given a second chance to relive the night Sarah died and this time he saved her. That's why her biological daughter is at the forefront of her thoughts and why he can talk about her. He has finally done something after years of struggling to survive. That's worthy of her, something that might have made her proud of him, which is unlikely considering she just killed about two dozen people.

But hey, Joel is the only one who needs to believe it. moments and as suddenly as any other season of the game. Ellie asks Joel directly if he was telling the truth about the fireflies. Joel lies to him. He swears it's true. Ellie says "okay", the game ends. This is the part of the ending that really deserves speculation and gets as much or more than Joel's decision. Does Ellie believe him? Ellie knows he's lying, but she accepts it as necessary? Is Ellie now afraid of Joel, after suspecting him of killing all the fireflies, and doesn't want to question him?

There are many things like this to discuss. On the other hand is whether Joel is right in lying to him, and that is probably the most difficult thing to reconcile in the game. The strongest argument would be that Ellie should have been woken up and given the option, but the fireflies didn't let Joel do that. They forced him, whereas if they had been willing to work with him, he may have been convinced if Ellie had insisted on sacrificing herself; Which I'm not entirely convinced he is, since it's that long rant about how more tests should be done first, but that doesn't change the fact that you'll have killed so many people that Ellie supposedly respected, including Marlene, who was a close friend of yours, should I explain all this to her?

Probably, but how to start? And, by telling him all that, you are making him share a lot of the blame for her, even though she didn't ask him to do it, He did it as much for her as for himself. She's half the reason all those people are dead. Is she so wrong to lie to him about it, when it protects her from that knowledge? To me, I think she knows he's lying, she doesn't know why, but she strongly suspects it. She's just as stubborn as him, so I'd like to say that she can't let it go and eventually gets the truth out of him.

I'd like to say that, but for some reason this conversation seems firmly definitive on the matter, and she's willing to accept this to secure her relationship. "What happened in spring does not cancel out everything that happened before in summer, fall and winter." Anyway, that's my opinion, which may be wrong. I ended up talking about this game for much longer than I had originally planned, and when I started this project I had no intention of even playing it. It was just Uncharted. These games have already been discussed a lot, so I hope I've managed to come up with some new ideas, or at least provide an acceptable alternative to playing the games yourself for those who can't do it, but want to try them. what they are about.

Going back to some of the points made throughout the video, I think the second and third Uncharted games succeed in almost every way when it comes to the ultimate experience they were trying to achieve; a fun action movie where you get to play a role doing visually exciting things and, like action movies, it can be a lot of fun because you know what you're getting into and you're not expecting a great piece of art, both in terms of mechanically as well as in terms of history. That's the only area where I think they fall short, especially in Uncharted 3, which I suspect is a result of some pieces of the game dictating too much about how the story could work.

However, there are also those long sections, like getting lost in a desert, that seem to be there just for the story. So maybe they were given some semblance of equal importance, but they didn't blend as well as they could have. For The Last of Us, I want to say it again, that the main reason I like it so much is how much work was done to fix that flaw I just mentioned. The story is taken seriously, and if the gameplay sections were prioritized over the narrative, then they did the best job I've seen in the game of making them fit together.

The story being told isn't the best I've ever experienced, it's not even the best story in a game, but it is told to such a high quality, with what I would say is the best acting in any game, and it requires some thought. Seriously and then it lives up to that standard that I feel compelled to praise it. The gameplay sometimes adds to this, but it's mostly above average, and I think that's fine. I think Naughty Dog is the best in the business at creating entertaining, linear, narrative-driven games that are heavy on story and spectacle, and lightweight. mechanical depth.

For some people, that's the best gaming can be. For me, I think there's potential here to add some of that missing depth, to incorporate some gameplay that adds to the story in unique ways that only video games can do. Personally, I think that means a more reactive story with choices that try to be as invisible as the signs you have to follow in the scenes. I think the four games we're reviewing here are constantly improving over the previous ones. I think Naughty Dog is capable of achieving this. The next video will be a similar review of Uncharted 4.

The plan wasn't to spend that much time on each Uncharted game, but I started writing and this is what came out. The Uncharted 4 video was meant to be the longer of the two, but now I'm sure it'll probably be as long as what we did here for just one of the games, about 40 minutes. I hope people enjoy it. I highly recommend that you play the game yourself before watching it. Let me know what you think in the comments below. I've started using Twitter more regularly to give updates on future videos, so if you're interested in that, you might want to follow me there.

There should be a link on the screen along with the usual ones. I make similar updates on Patreon that you can read without promising anything if you want to check it out; This is also the place where you can support the channel if you want to see more of these videos. Thank you very much for watching, congratulations on getting through it.