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

When Last of Us first came out, it was widely considered one of the best games of all time by many

More then a year later, its still widely considered one of the best games of all time

Last of Us will ALWAYS be held in the highest of regard.

People who have played it know why!

Here ^ is a video of everything Last of Us got right (which basically was everything it did. It was close to as perfect as possible. Them Naughty Gods)

Watch it!

Its easy to see why Last of Us will be seen as one of the best games ever made by many, for years and decades to come

The impact of the gameplay, the story, the way both came together, the emotional impact the game as a whole had on so many. Its all unmatched. It resonated deeply (thats something that will always last that people will never forget. The emotional impact of the game. It will only grow stronger as people look back)

(Only Naughty Gods themselfes will top Last of Us IMO)

And I bet we will start to see the big culturaly impact or influence Last of Us has on gaming as more time goes by (the populatirty, as more games copy it, the movie adaptation becomes a big success etc)

anyway, some need to come to terms with the facts. Gamers love Last of Us and it IS just a tiny vocal minority of trolls on the interenet pissing in the wind of all the priase the Last of Us rightfully has earned and derserves. You dont matter trolls/haters on neogaf/forums!

In fact, what makes me even happier is seeing the rage - from the minority of its detractors as Last of Us continues to dominate awards and all GOTY polls.

Now I hope the Last of Us gets even more accolades just to spite them haha. Glorious. I want to see "them" lose their minds over it

Last of Us being voted as the number 1 game of all time by the majority makes me so happy! Also proves gamers still have good taste;)

Nostalgia is a bitch though !!!! So its why im even happier that the Last of Us, all though only a year to two years old, was still voted at the top based on its merits. Its just about being the greatest up to this point (not most influentional or anything like that) Again, its about the game that has simply been the best up to this point, and people felt that game was Last of Us. Its NOT outlandish at all to have Last of Us #1.

Ive been gaming since the NES era and The Last of Us is the greatest game I have ever played.

Im going to to tell you why I felt that way and why the Last of Us was so special from a gameplay point alone!

(I will talk about the story and other elements in another post)

Last of Us is a game for the the thinking man because: you could play it how ever which way you wanted to given the tools you had. There was challenge, and a lot of improvisation was key to the combat, which required you to think!

There were so many dynamic, tense, on the fly moments that could occur when playing Last of Us depending on how you played, choices you made, and how enemies reacted.

Whether you were playing cat and mouse with the enemies - or picking em off one by one in exhilirating fashion as you manuvered around, even using bricks or bottles as distractions etc...

Whether you had to improvise when your cover was blown in stealth and shit hit the fan, and you were able to come up with a different gameplan on the run - or on the go, and succeed - getting into a brutal brawl in a last bid to survive or popping off your gun with a defeaning boom etc....

Whether you were able to frantically lose the enemies when caught durring stealth, "disappear," re-think your gameplan- give the stealth another go and finally have the success you wanted....

Whether you just barely managed to get by an encounter through the skin of your teeth while on low health and low resources....

Etc etc etc

No matter how the cards turned, no matter how you chose to play, no matter what strategies you used, playing the Last of Us was pure gaming bliss ....some of the BEST pure gaming ive ever played or experienced. Last of Us has THE BEST gameplay of any game I have ever played BAR FRIGGEN NONE.

There IS NO other third person combat game that even comes close to matching Last of Us in gameplay... (or even comes close to having as original of a gameplay style as orginal as the gameplay style in the Last of Us is)

To recap, Last of Us has dynamic, intense, brutal, well thought out, sandbox-like combat, that perfectly blends survival horror with action, that is still challenging, and is backed by item resource managment mechanics to boot. What else out there is like it? Tell me!!! There is nothing else out there like the Last of Us.

(Oh and I almost forgot one thing! We still arent done! The Last of Us has such amazing gameplay, that I forgot to talk more about the industry standard Naughty Dog just set in GUNPLAY with the Last of Us too. Just like your bullets had an impact on enemies, bullets would blow you away and stop you in your tracks. Thus you were forced to continue to play smart and approach with caution at all times etc....but in still always a fun way....Now comprae that to a character in Gears of War who eats bullets with no effect like a walking tank. God, Gears of War has the shittiest gunplay ever)

The more you breakdown the Last of Us the more you realise just how amazing and revolutionary the gameplay truly was in the Last of Us.

None of the Last of Us detractors can ever tell us exactly why the gameplay wasnt any good or wasnt doing anything special

They cant explain so reasonably!

Here is the difference, people who actually played Last of Us CAN TELL YOU in great detail exactly WHY the Last of Us was amazing/had superb gameplay

But the other side (the minority of haters) can not even attempt to explain away their controversial opinions regarding Last of Us

That says it all

I find it funny how anyone can make a big deal about Last of Us being #1 (also talking about the thread on neogaf about this. Thats who Im adressing too. The haters there are insanely pathetic)

I guess the millions and millions who also regard Last of Us as one of the grestest games of last year/this year/generation/all time etc just dont know

Take the hint haters:

People love Last of Us and it IS the TROLLS who are the tiny minority on the interenet pissing in the wind of all the priase the Last of Us rightfully has earned and derserves.

For anyone else reading this! This is how you expose them. Just ask them, "If its not doing anything special in the gameplay then what games play like Last of Us?" It always shuts 'em up with a quickness lol.

Or tell them to explain why the gameplay is bad. They can NEVER give any logical reasons that are based in any seamblence of reality why

And you know why, because the gameplay in Last of Us is objectively GREAT.

Anyone trying to tell you the gameplay is bad, or that its just another shooter is straight up full of shit, or doesnt know shit about video games

But we can see RIGHT THROUGH IT. Its disregarded on sight!

Congrats Naughty Dog! Well deserved. Amazing game.

The story was so good that the gameplay doesnt even get the full credit it deserves too.

The gameplay in Last of Us was friggen amazing too.

Never played combat that tense, brutal, dynamic, engaging, and well thought out before.

Last of Us plays like a unique blend of a next gen ManHunt, MGS3, and RE4 all wrapped up into one!

Plus the way the gameplay and story merged together so perfectly etc,

Last of Us is just a god tier game. Easily one of the best games of all time, and my personal best game of all time. Naughty Gods indeed