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Completed – The Last of Us – Characters

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Characters are what make or break a story. If they are interesting you will enjoy the story they are telling be it by reading a book, watching a movie or playing a game.

I'm not the biggest fan of the uncharted games, I enjoyed the characters & the story had me interested but I just did not enjoy the gameplay. With The Last of Us, Naughty Dog have perfected the package. The characters are excellent & the relationships between them shows a very real depth of realism. Obviously the main characters are Joel & Ellie, seeing their relationship develop over time from a reluctant arrangement to relying & caring for each other.

Their experiences with the other characters they have encountered has only helped bring them closer. Tess, Bill or Henry & Sam. All of these human encounters add another layer to the storyline & one that I very much enjoyed playing.

The gameplay is very much focused on stealth based attacks be this by using the bow/arrow combo or sneaking around to perform a melee kill. I suppose twenty years after a virus outbreak ammo & supplies are going to be a bit scarce. I enjoyed luring the enemies into a trap by placing nail-bombs at corners & enticing the enemies to charge over to me. Getting a group of clickers together & treating them to a molotov cocktail is one of the most satisfying aspects of completing a difficult area.

Yes it is a linear story but when it is presented, voice-acted, played so well there is nothing wrong with linear.

For me this year has already been an amazing year for gaming. Skyrim, Ni No Kuni, Lego City Undercover, Journey, Walking Dead, Forza Horizon & Red Dead Redemption have all been amazing experiences. I have just added another title to that The Last of Us. I'm only just over half way through the year, I still have the PS4 & Watch_Dogs to come yet.

The New Outrun

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Author’s note:  this article was written in 2004, originally designed to appear in ugvm07.  It didn’t appear then, nor in the Christmas special, nor in ugvm08.  It was written before Outrun 2 had been released, and in fact the arcade game was first announced just as the article was finished.  Everything’s moved on significantly since then.  So, is this article redundant?  We’re publishing it for the same reason that Edge has recently reprinted material from its first three years, and GamesTM has reprinted its reviews and retro features.  It gives an insight into videogaming history, of how genres can evolve and die out, only to be revived.  We hope you enjoy it as such.

Magical Sound Shower.  The tune bops along without a care in the world, elegant pauses from time to time to remind you that it’s not in a hurry.

But you are.  Pelting down the road in your red Ferra…generic sports car, weaving in and out of traffic.  Under huge stone pillar-type things.  By the side of the sea, over bridges, past odd fuzzy huts at the side of the road. Don’t crash, or you and your pretty lady friend get thrown out the car – you’re not wearing a seatbelt.  But you’re not going to crash.  Past that blue Pors…other generic sports car.  Past that grey saloon.  Get to the end of the stage – will you go left or right?  Better choose quickly …

Outrun is a landmark in arcade gaming.  It’s a formula that many games have tried to copy, but most come nowhere near.  The home conversions of Outrun were originally on underpowered hardware, but recently near-arcade-perfect versions have cropped up on the Saturn, on the Dreamcast (in Shenmue 2), and on the Gameboy Advance.  For now, we don’t care about them.  We want to know: what is the new Outrun? [Read more…]