The Last of Us 2 violence IS too much * no spoilers

I never was oversensitive about violence. Hell, I even watched some gore videos on the web. But this game... man it's over the top. One thing is to watch videos, the other thing is to plan and orchestrate murdering yourself. And oh boy, this game is a most realistic murder simulator i have ever played.

Especially it's sickening to see the violence against animals. When I had to plant a bomb to get rid of a guy with a dog that was sniffing me out, oh boy, the spectacle of seeing half a dog and half a guy flying and their guts scattered around made me question what the hell am I playing.

What ever message or agenda the game is trying to convey goes through the roof, because what ever the motivation of the main character, I can't relate when my character kills dozen of guys in most gruesome ways.

Shooting, burning, crashing sculls while they beg for mercy. What the hell, ND was trying to prove with this shit.

If I had to kill so many people, i would just turn around and go back home, because I am no better than the guys I hunt down.

No brief sweet moments can justify the pain and suffering that my character is causing to other survivors.

I suppose there is something to say about the game making you feel disgusted, irrespective of whether that was the intention. Frankly that’s how the first game was structured, forcing the player to do heinous acts they may not have been comfortable with.

The 1st game felt less gruesome as the events were presented in such way that you had no control over the stuff that was happening. I never felt guilty over my actions. There was a noble ultimate goal to them. But in part 2, main characters are devoid of any humanity and their actions are completely irrational.

Too bad this game turned me into a dog hunting machine. Their existence made the game harder. But, yes. The violence in the game isn't a joke. The fact that NPCs beg for their lives really drives the point home. The world of The Last of Us is ugly, with it's inhabitants committing ugly acts.

Yeah the violence in this game made me feel uneasy. Funnily enough it was another Sony game that made me feel like that and it was God of War 3 where Kratos tore that one guy’s head off. I think it was Hermes.

I’m honestly impressed with how much detail ND put into the gore and makes Resident Evil 2/3 remake gore look cartoony comparison. Normally, I would say Mortal Kombat 11 is too violent but I will admit that TLOU2 really pushes the limits. The bodies don't get destroyed in a realistic manner, it's so over the top that it makes it less effective. But then again, MK was never about shock horror, to begin with. I really didn't care about killing Dogs in this game because I'm really a Cat lover and Dogs aren't my pet thing but I can totally understand Dog lovers will not like this game and that's understandable.

Games are becoming more and more "real" in the violence department. Same with TV shows. I don't mind the portrayal of raw violence, and it does certainly make you feel something when it is done right. It's just hard to say with this one such as TLOU2. I guess it's more of a subjective thing really but look at The Walking Dead comic, (excluding the TV series) TLOU/2 was an inspiration to The Walking Dead in ways.

Really? It didn't move me one bit. I for one welcomed the violence 'cause it's escapism. Can't do those things in the real world.

Ever played Mortal Kombat 11?

I prefer my violence/gore to be over the top. Don’t really care for it being realistic especially against dogs. I feel terrible for the developers that had study that stuff for countless hours trying to get it as realistic as possible. Yikes.

@ivangrozny:

For me, it was the exact opposite. I loved killing people in Last of Us 2. Way more than the zombies. The crunch of their skulls when you blast their heads with a shotgun was the most satisfying thing I've felt in a game for a long time. I loved the way blood splatters and watching your enemies go numb when you blow off a limb and they bleed out. The screams played out like....a symphony, y'know? It's hard to put into words.

And yeah, I'm aware of how messed up it is to enjoy it so much. It's just how I've been enjoying the game. And it's not like I would do any of it in real life, it's just easy for me to see the disconnect from reality in videogames. And maybe I got a lot of pent up anger somewhere in me. But this was a nice way to relieve some stress! Also I naturally hate dogs so killing them in LoU 2 was a breeze.

@ivangrozny: well that’s humanity if you want to play rainbows, butterflies and unicorns buy a Nintendo consoles just saying

thats not humanity. thats mental illness side of humanity.

nintendo is the side of humanity everyone dreams of. peace and love. groovy man.

The game is hardcore. In this instance, hardcore means freaking NASTY gore mixed with strong emotional themes and some strong realism. If you can't stomach that kind of thing, don't play the game. It could potentially cause you mental trauma. Seriously.

TLOU2 isn't more gory than some other games. The difference is the humanization of the enemies you encounter with the realistic approach to violence. If that makes you feel uneasy or uncomfortable, I'd say they accomplished a bit of what they were trying to do.

TLOU2 is more popular than November's elections.

On thread, i disagree. For once, an aaa dev didn't pussy out on the violence, realistic violence that is. Instead of having some casual ass violence that most games have for as much sales/demographic as possible, they went ham on that violence instead. TLOU2 has the most satisfying shotty headshots and most importantly, the best land mine explosions and dismemberment of bodies i've seen in a game. So damn well done. Even the little details such as when you explode someone into bits with a land mine, some pieces of meat get stuck on the ceiling for a few sec, then fall down. No games pay attention to this kind of small details. Only with Sony will you see this kind of awesomeness.

Dude we emptied the shelves of toilet paper because of the Coronavirus. What do you think people will do in a world like that?

Also holy crap this must be like the 12th LOU 2 thread

I'm very surprised we don't have much brutal af gifs for this game. Or maybe there are some, i'm just not looking for them cuz i don't want to get spoiled.

Been saying it, we have not seen such a popular topic on SW in a long ass time.

Shadow of Rome is still more impressive. Aside from that, it doesn't bother me because it's a video game.

Sad to say, I'm numb to it since this gen because of:

PS3 GoWs

PS3 TLoU

PS4 GoW

Assassin's creed series.

Last 2 dooms.

Reminds me of how Crysis ruined by expectations for years in terms of graphics. Last of Us 1 did similar in terms of grounded game violence 7 years ago.

GOW3 was pretty violent, but not as realistic as TLOU2 violence. All other games (especially AssCreed LOLOL) ain't got shit on TLOU2 when it comes to violence.

Absolutely helped me get numbed from it all. Also MK. I know it ain't realistic but it helped.

Funny thing is, real life wounds that are a little bad but not THAT bad make me far more queasy. I hope it stays that way. I'm kinda scared.

In my playthrough I ran from encounters almost half the time. I both hate and like it. Running feels cheap but damn am I stuffed and ready for the next encounter which I most likely will sprint through as much as I could lol.

I never experienced the begging or itsy bits flying off because I mostly played stealth and never used those firebombs and smoke bombs except with abby where I really had to use those pipe bombs because I couldn't run away.

It’s a game. Pixels. Nothing more. Chill out and get a grip.

I guess the game portrayed its theme pretty well then.

It's interesting people are throwing fits at Last Of Us 2 dog murders, when something like Total War will happily kill hundreds of animals in one sitting, to the point horse corpses will literally be piled on top on each other.

Of note, the mans work whom it's emulating, Akira Kurosawa - revered horses and made it a point to show them among the victims at the end of Kagemusha.

Seen some pseudo -pop - culture -pyycomology articles talk about disconnect, that the player is having fun while atrocious shit is happening, which is funny, considering they spend half their time complainng about titties in games like Bayonetta, Street Fighter or jokes or Saint Row where the products are designed as escapism fun, any aspirations towards le Shindlers List non-existent.

The best being Mortal Kombat, where a bunch of slutty suits (not the graphic murder) had the game straight up scored down.

A few years later, with 11, the sexuality is scaled back with the depictions of violence now more realistic and graphic than ever.

Big clap, pull that Dead Alive game, core values.

The game’s hilarious, and I love the combat. I think if anyone is really bothered by its portrayal of violence, they’ve not witnessed real violence and suffering. There’s a WORLD of difference, and no matter how many times they call out their friend’s names, or how many times they comically gurgle and scream in their death throes, I cannot help but grin from ear to ear. I enjoy the violence so much that I play it in slow motion to pop off head shots and blow off limbs left and right and to watch the reactions, and I’m one who cannot stand to watch any gore videos that entail real suffering so I’m a wuss in this regard. And screw the dogs....I love watching them innocently wander into my trap mines.

Bring it all on, and I hope they go further in their next game.

What I can understand is the concern of someone who is mentally ill getting their hands on this and taking it to heart in not being able to see the distinction. I would also certainly not let my child play this. But in terms of how horrific this is to real violence? I still think there’s a LONG way to go.

I closed my eyes quite a bit during forseable deaths. Some death animations they cut prematurely because even they probably drew a line somewhere. What doesn’t make sense to me is the neck snapping death animation. What one would think would be the most gruesome scene instead gets a neck snap (still pretty dark). I think even ND couldn’t handle crossing That line.

Kills hundreds of people to get to the antagonist. Lets him go because killing him would make you 'just as bad as he is".

This, when you see the real thing it stays in your mind forever even if it's on a video.

Lol people really try too hard to hate on this game. The excess of violence, the collateral damage, is there exactly to illustrate the devastation caused by hatred. It doesn't undermines the game's message at all, it justifies it.

Having said that, it didn't upset me. I love the details, the death animations, gruesome sound design and voice acting of the cannon fodder. Really top quality stuff that does wonders for world building.

One aspect where the game fails is that combat situations are all against patrols that actively attack you on sight. I would love to just come across civilians more defensive than aggressive towards you. Having people trying actively to kill you makes engagement easy. Trying to be stealthy (or not) with civilians in the mix would be more interesting and even open space for different mechanisms and decision making.

@Zero_epyon: yeah in his/her world we are unicorns eat butterflies and poop rainbows

It's an uncanny valley of sorts, violence in games.

On one hand, you can have all the cartoon/fake violence you wants, gibs flying everywhere.

On the other hand, as it approaches realism, it get's a bit excessive and unappealing.

I'm sure Naughty Dog had a point, an intention, for all this realistic violence, but frankly I think it either get's lost in the fact that a.) this is a game, and b.) it's unappealing for such harsh realism to be in something that is used to get away from reality.

Oh man! The cordyceps infection in real life modern America would be like, ten times worse. 🤣 I imagine most of the country would be overrun in a week due to people not wanting to mask up against spores.

In Man of Steel movie, seeing Zod's neck getting snapped by Superman really took it to the next level of dark even by Comic Book movie standards at the time. All the killings I done in all of my gaming life has grown into me but the TLOU2 just takes it to the extreme and even as a veteran gamer, it can (or sometimes) bother me but at the end of the day, I'm trying to live. Kill or be Killed in Last of Us 2.

Some very disturbing comments in this thread. *slowly walks away*

Spores are a liberal hoax!

lol

I think they got their message across the best way they could within the video game medium.

I kinda get your points on why it doesn't work, but you could apply that to any media, so those points aren't really valid.

If it's not your thing dont play it, I for one appreciated the realism towards violence and the effects of revenge seeking. It definitely made me think

@davillain-:at the end of the day, I'm trying to live. Kill or be Killed in Last of Us 2.

A scenario like you coming across a group of teens doing some random innocent stuff (like bathing in a lake) and you be forced to stealth that section, or be seen and then face the split second decision of killing the kids before they escape and alert enemies or just let them go and face a regular encounter. That would be the kind of thing I would like to see the game mess with.

1:57 is one of the coolest kills I ever seen in gaming also 2:21 is sick too this games violence is kinda of how I picture a Manhunt sequel it doesn't hold back.

I performed a 1:57 by accident. I didn't aim first and shot. Didn't expect the screen to spray like that.

I don't get it. What happened at 1:57? Looks like she shot the guy in the head and he fell into the glass.

That was pretty cool clip, either way, violence is not half as bad as people made it out to be. I like the blood pooling effects.

Yup, that's exactly what happened. What's impressive about it is that his face exploded as it would in real life, the blood splattered on the glass, then his limp body fell over, breaking the glass. None of that was scripted.

lol, so true.

I absolutely love The Last of Us 2's violence. I wish there was more of it. The humanisation of it is absolutely intense. I wish said violence (and much worse) could be performed on a certain character though.

@uninspiredcup: How is it so hard to understand? I've used this example before:

There are literally 100 times more deaths in Spartacus than Game of Thrones but you don't give a **** when people die in the former, in the latter however when characters like Ned or Oberyn die you wanna turn the TV off.

it's different.

Another analogy for you:

Thousands of kids die in Yemen every single day, but you probably don't cry or even care about it. IF YOUR DAUGHTER got stabbed to death I think you would feel a bit different about it.

Sounds like I did a good thing by me skipping this as the first game was too dark for my tastes.