This is the finest comment I have read on gamespot in quite some time. You present a counter argument to the review that is well formed, respects Tom's point of view and avoids the trappings of typical ignorant fanboy rants. Much respect to you good sir and I agree with every one of your points.
The next five words of my sentence you took out of context were very important. Tom's opinion does not align with yours, or mine when it comes to this survival horror game, but I go on to explain that I value his taste in indie side scrollers. Look to the bigger picture before jumping to a conclusion
While I would've scored the game a bit higher- why bother reading multiple reviews if you think all reviewers should have the same opinion? I may not agree with what Tom Mc Shea says, but I will defend to my death his right to say it. The trick to reading game reviews is knowing which journalist have opinions that align with yours in different types of games. For example, I disagree with Tom's overall opinion of The Last of Us, but I put a lot of stock in his opinion of Indie games- he led me to play Outland, Closure and a few other PSN games that were both reasonably priced and a lot of fun. I trust Chris Watters' opinion on shooters and Kevin Van Ord for RPGs. If you don't agree on Tom for this reviews, keep that in mind if he reviews "The Evil Within" or another survival horror game and perhaps read IGN or Giant Bomb's review as well, before deciding whether or not to purchase it
I wouldn't call the ending a cliffhanger- I sort of love the way it ended to the point that I hope the DLC and inevitable sequels leave the characters of the original alone (though I'm sure we haven't seen the last of one of them). The feeling that last dialogue exchange gave me is indescribable- it broke my heart and made me feel disgusted, but somehow I also totally related to it in a way, which made me feel even weirder. I didn't think the Bioshock Infinite ending would be outdone so soon (nor did I think Elizabeth would loose her place as "favorite sidekick of 2013 so soon) but the Last of Us stole the crown if you ask me- any further exploration of those characters would risk diminishing that impact
I'm with ya for the most part, as my play style was very much "stealth kill everyone and comb every inch for supplies before you move on" in most encounters; but that would have eliminated "sneak by and don't kill anyone" as an option. I'm not saying they couldn't have devised a more elegant solution, but that is the flaw in a stealth focus game that supports multiple approaches using the "hang back until the coast is clear" system.
@ruythalacker As much as that was annoying- I'm glad Naughty Dog went with the "your allies are invisible to enemies" rule, instead of "your allies are constantly blowing your cover" if they couldn't sort out the best of both worlds.
@JoonKimDMD @grey_fox1984 Playing on hard mode, there were definitely many moments in the game that were VERY scary. I didn't find the combat boring at all and really enjoyed having to make "every shot count" as Joel put it. The puzzles felt much more natural than the puzzles in most survival horror games. There were no silly "find the crank with the square peg" bits. The graphics were phenomenal, so on that one, you're just plain wrong. The AI is problematic, but I don't think it ruined the game at all, it just broke the immersion. The narrative however, made up for that in spades. The ending is probably the most original video game conclusion I have seen in years- it leaves you with a roller coaster of emotions that never get resolved.
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