Watch this first, and enjoy!
"A picture Is worth a thousand words"
In that 22 seconds of gameplay alone, it felt like "a thousand words" were said about just how great the combat is
The brutality, intensity, the dynamic nature of it etc
The player throws a brick. It hits with such brutal impact. That noise too! (PLOP!) It staggers the enemy (Notice how the enemey has a cut on his head from the brick afterwards and is bleeding. Man them small details!)
It gives a window of oppurtunity to move or do something!
The combat in Last of Us is very dynamic and multi-faceted so another player couldve used that moment to line up the perfect shot or he couldve ran away, naturally lost the enemy via organic stealth, snuck into hiding, and played cat and mouse with the enemey; luring the enemy around with throws/distractions (the stealth in Last of Us was amazing too btw - most natural and adpative stealth ever)
But here the player decides to chain a running dash to meele combo off it
It all flows smoother then hot melting butter (Pulling off combos like that in Last of Us feels soo damn good. In particular, Brick throw to running pipe smash is seriously one of the most sastisfying gameplay sensations ever!)
The players' punches hit with emph! and knock the enemy backward. (The weighty-ness, responsiveness, and feedback in the combat, whether meele or shooting guns is all unmatched in Last of Us. Naughty Dog are fantastic gameplay designers)
But look at how the enemy gets up and punches the player back! It knocks the player backward. Holy snaps, its starting to feel like an intense struggle !
However that ceated space, and the player pulls out his gun!
Now this is important, NOTICE how once the enemy A.I sees the player take out his gun, the enemy A.I pulls out his own gun and quickly shoots the player. The shot bucks the player backward. The player close to dying manages to fire off his own shot which completely blows the enemies face off. The gunplay in Last of Us is in a class of its own (the feedback, hit detection, real world consequence etc its unmatched)
I mean holy snaps!!!
That little encounter played like an intense strugle between life and death for survival...no scripting, no cutscene....it all happened via his gameplay through his inputs and actions. Its a shame some people take all those little things for granted which make it all possible. Naughty Dog's gameplay designers deserve so much more credit. Naughty Dog ARE the best gameplay/and TPS designers in gaming too...
And guess what? That video is just a very small sampling of the many more dynamic, larger scale, more intense combat encounters you have in Last of Us depending on how you play. Thats why the Last of Us has the best pure combat of any game Ive ever played. No other game even comes close to capturing the same levels of intensity or feelings of survival that Naughty Dog with Last of Us flawlessly captures with its combat
Furter more, the core combat greatness in Last of Us is interwoven with meaningful real time crafting and item resource managment. Its bananas! No other game plays like the Last of Us or plays as good
Now, here is a gif showcasing just the gunplay in Last of Us.
Look at the impact, look at that ragdoll !
Here is another gif showcasing a "this is sparta kick"
LOL Haha. Yes, in Last of Us you can also sparta kick dudes off high places!!!
There just so much you can do with the combat in Last of Us (even set traps and lure enemies into them with distractions lol or even lure multiple enemies into one area with distractions then molotov them all to hell)
All in all, The Last of Us has friggen AMAZABALLS combat gameplay; combat gameplay that is also innovative and ambitiously designed (more examples of that are one hit Clicker kills, scarce ammo, and bullets that actually stop you in your tracks forcing you to play smarter) Lets show more appreciation for the hard work Naughty Dog gameplay designers put into this game. They deserve better. The greatness of the gamplay and in how its perfectly interwoven with the story is what makes The Last of Us one of the greatest games ever made. Share some of the awesome moments youve had with the combat in Last of Us
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