Review: The Last of Us

the last of us review

While Naughty Dog might be more well known for the Uncharted series when this generation is said and done, the buzz that surrounded The Last of Us before release was monumental.

Having journeyed across the fungus-infected zombie plagued United States of America, Anthony and Mitch are tackling The Last of Us in a dual review. Or will it be more of a duel review? Continue reading Review: The Last of Us

The Last of Us Reviews Explode Onto the Web

the last of us reviews

Man oh man, if there’s one game for the rest of this year that might be able to topple BioShock Infinite off of its lofty perch, it’s The Last of Us. Sure, everybody might have their own personal Game of the Year (come on, Battlefield 4), but I predict that those two giants will be slugging it out for that prestigious award come December.

What makes me say that, you ask? Well, in case you missed it yesterday, the review embargo for Naughty Dog’s fungal-fueled post-apocalyptic title lifted and there are some fantastic reviews out there. Here’s a round-up of what some outlets are saying about it:

Pretty much unanimous across the board, except for Polygon’s review which highlights a few inconsistencies with the shooting mechanics. The multiplayer is of particular interest to me, especially considering I kind of forgot that The Last of Us even had this mode.

The game is out next Friday, so what do you guys think about these reviews? Are you getting excited?

The Last of Us: Fun or Shun?

The Last of Us

Fun or Shun is making a surprise comeback! In this feature, GamerSushi editors take a look at an upcoming game and give their thoughts on whether or not it will be worth your time to play. We’ve also done this with Dishonored and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. This time, we’re giving Naughty Dog’s upcoming survival action adventure The Last of Us a litmus test. Continue reading The Last of Us: Fun or Shun?

Last of Us Devs Had to Fight for Everything Female

The Last of Us

As you may know, Naughty Dog’s upcoming post-apocalyptic tale The Last of Us stars a pair of main characters: a grizzly, bearded man named Joel, and a teenage girl named Ellie who bears a passing resemblance to Ellen Page. However, as the developers do publicity and interviews in preparation for the game’s upcoming release, it’s becoming more and more clear that Naughty Dog had to fight to keep Ellie in the spotlight. I find that particularly interesting because Ellie is by far the more memorable and striking of the two characters.

For example, in a recent interview with The Escapist, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann explained that “the research group wasn’t planning on focus-testing female gamers – it’s something we had to specifically request”. This paired with the fact that they also had to insist that Ellie be included on the cover of the game paints the state of game marketing in a particularly dispiriting light. Apparently the going wisdom is that women don’t play videogames, so they shouldn’t focus test them, and men won’t buy games with women on the cover.

Continue reading Last of Us Devs Had to Fight for Everything Female

New Last of Us Trailer Shows Off a Violent World

One of the next big releases on the gaming calendar happens to be the release of The Last of Us in May. Developed by Naughty Dog, this game is set to be a new IP for the PlayStation 3, just in time for the end of this console cycle.

The release of the newest Red Band trailer for The Last of Us shows off even more of the story and the world than ever before. In this trailer we see more than just Joel and Ellie, we see communities, other survivors, some of the infected and different locales as well. Early trailers just showed off bits of the overgrown city, so it’s cool to see that the game opens up in a bigger way, with what looks to be a crosscountry trip of sorts.

What do you guys think of the new trailer? While I’m not completely sold on the actual game yet, I do have to say that Naughty Dog’s storytelling abilities are almost unmatched in the industry at the moment, so I’m excited to see what kind of journey they have in store for us. Some of the thematic stuff looks like what the Walking Dead show tries to tackle but constantly fails. Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

How to Apply for a Video Game Job, by Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog

For Did You See This Wednesday, we’re talking about a subject that I know is near and dear to many of your hearts: applying for a job in the gaming industry, as brought to you by Naughty Dog. I resisted the urge to make a doggy style joke in the title, in case any of you are wondering. Puns!

Naughty Dog, creators of games such as Uncharted and the upcoming Last of Us, have released an amazingly helpful guide for game industry hopefuls. Resumes and Portfolios: The Naughty Dog Way breaks down what the developer expects to see from potential employees, including a list of what they like in a portfolio, and the kinds of qualities they’re looking for. In a beloved industry with a notably small pool hiring only the best talent, this kind of guide is more than welcome. Continue reading How to Apply for a Video Game Job, by Naughty Dog

Justifying the Violence in The Last of Us

the last of us combat

One of the biggest problems that critics had with the Uncharted series is that wisecracking every-man protagonist, Nathan Drake, becomes a mass murderer on a war-crimes scale over the course of a game. Naturally, it’s a video game, so you can expect to be shooting dudes, but this aspect of the Uncharted games always rubbed people the wrong way.

For Naughty Dog’s next title, The Last of Us, they’re seeking to address this concern by making the combat tense and building up a good contextual reason for killing other people. In a post-apocalyptic world, the survivors you’ll run across aren’t afraid to use violence to achieve their goals, so you’ll well justified in defending yourself. Combat is also changed to be a grueling affair; instead of jumping from one firefight with dozens of guys to the next, The Last of Us aims to make encounters with just a few other survivors as tough an challenging as fighting through a whole level was in Uncharted.

Even Naughty Dog acknowledged the disconnect between the character-building cutscenes in Uncharted and the action sequences so it will be interesting to see if they can pull this off when The Last of Us finally hits. What do you guys think? Were you bothered by this particular problem in Uncharted? Do you think Naughty Dog will actually address it?

Source – The Penny-Arcade Report

The Last of Us Truck Ambush Trailer Draws You In

Naughty Dog’s first post-Uncharted game, The Last of Us, is still on approach for the end of this year, promising to bring Naughty Dog’s signature cinematic style to a post-apocalyptic father/daughter tale. Even though the Earth is supposedly covered with whatever sort of zombie has been cooked up for this game, the real danger in these situations is other people, as is aptly demonstrated by the Truck Ambush trailer which shows the hard choices a man has to make after the world has gone to hell.

Admittedly I wasn’t a huge fan of Uncharted 3, but The Last of Us is still on my radar because I know Naughty Dog has it in them to deliver a really tight story-driven experience. It will be interesting to play a family man as opposed to the wise-cracking Nathan Drake and I’m sure there will be a lot of tense moments to go with it. What are you thoughts on the trailer? Do you want more?

The Last of Us: Debut Trailer

As we all know, the Spike VGAs hit last night, with a spattering of announcements and trailers, many of which we’ll have the time to get excited about over the next week. However, the post-show buzz seems to hover directly around one game: The Last of Us.

While The Last of Us was teased just a bit over the last few days, nobody had any idea what it was, save for the fact that it was a PS3 exclusive. All that changed last night when gamers were treated to the world premiere trailer, which happens to be all stunning in-engine footage.

I do have to say, I’m a fan. Seems to be a cross between I Am Legend and Enslaved, although we’ll see how the gameplay shakes out eventually. Many props to Naughty Dog for keeping development of this title secret for so long. Yet another reason why I’m glad to be a PS3 owner.

What did you guys think? Go!

Review: Uncharted 3

In 2009, the release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves not only solidified the series as a noteworthy entry into the current generation — it also gave the PlayStation 3 its first must-have franchise. On top of winning numerous game of the year awards, Uncharted 2 became the standard that other modern action games are judged against, most notably in terms of its voice acting, writing and unbelievable set pieces.

For two long years, gamers have waited for the follow-up to Naughty Dog’s smash hit, and in a year of other contenders, a question mark has hung over Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Could it live up to the earth-shattering release of its predecessor? And even more unthinkable: could it surpass it? In this unique GamerSushi review, a number of the GS staff weighs in for a consolidated effort to analyze one of the year’s most anticipated titles. Continue reading Review: Uncharted 3

Review: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

uncharted2-among-thievesUnless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few months, you know that Uncharted 2 is the Playstation 3’s big great piece of hype, lying in wait to strike at just the right moment this holiday season. You also might know that the game is the object of a ridiculous amount of affection as gamers and reviewers alike swoon over its pixelated action. So, how does the game actually stack up? Let’s find out.
Continue reading Review: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Now Playing-Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Since I am on a budget these days, I have turned to Gamefly for most of my gaming needs. This allows me to play games that I would normally never buy. One such game is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. To clarify, this is not a review, as our review process has yet to be finalized, but merely my thoughts on the game as I close in on the final few levels.

Continue reading Now Playing-Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune