It's That Most Wonderful Time of the Year
XMAS BREAK TIME TO GAME YAYAYAYAYAY!
I now have a PS3 at last (yep, late to the party) and am playing The Last of Us. SPOILER FREE!
I have been playing TLoU is small doses because goddamn it is stressful. It's mostly daylight horror - no alternate dimensions, nightmare realms coated in rust and blood, no entrapment in a building at night (at least not yet). Twenty years have passed since the parasitic fungus (Cordyceps unilateralis - it's real) mutated enough to infect humans and caused a pandemic. (This is where I tell Dave to shut up about the effectiveness of antifungals and let me enjoy the game). People are confined to quarantine zones under martial law. Thus far, there is no treatment or cure for Cordyceps infection (okay, I would think a treatment for early stage would exist by now, but whatever). The disease is spread by inhaling the spores released from an infected, or fluid transmission from an infected (bite). An infected victim succumbs within a couple of days - the fungus works its way into the brain of the host, and eventually bursts through the eyes and part of the head. The host remains animate for a while, able to roam and find victims to infect.
Joel, the player character, has carved a niche for himself in Boston - he smuggles. Usually drugs and weapons. He has a partner (NOT ROMANTIC), Tess, who is as much of a pragmatic survivor as he is. Both are middle aged, with graying hair and faint wrinkles. Life is grimy, and dangerous, but hey's it's life. After handling a deal gone sour, Joel and Tess are unexpectedly given a new mission - escort 14 year old Ellie out of Boston. "All" they have to do is take her out of the heavily guarded quarantine zone, through infected downtown Boston, and hand her over to another group at Boston's capitol building - the Massachusetts State House.
Well I've managed to do exactly that - and it was rough, and just the first few chapters of the game! Of course, by the time the trio reach the location, the pickup group is dead. And they're being chased, and all that's left in the inventory - 1 health kit, 1 shiv, 1 wooden plank on the verge of breaking, 2 molotovs, and 8 rounds of ammo. I sob. I am stressed!
Geez this game is hard. I've skipped rooms because exploring is just so dangerous, and I am sure this is contributing to my lack of supplies. Most of Joel's weapons are improvised, cobbled together from crap lying around. Although I have no clue why the designers wouldn't program Joel to pick up broken glass and other sharp debris for stabby weapons. If he's going to wrap one end of broken scissors with duct tape to make a shiv, why not the same with the remnants of a display case? There is constant autosave, so dying sets me back only a few minutes. Once I died right as an autosave was happening, which cleared the room when the game reloaded. I did not dare find out if the enemies, which has hounded Joel down, were in the rooms they originated in, or if they despawned. However, it doesn't seem like I can manually save separate files, and I am concerned I may find myself in a no-win situation due to lack of supplies. I do not know if this game is like Dishonored, where it is possible to complete the game without upgrades. The AI is smart - I learned today that I can't hide forever and wait for the right moment in their pathing loop - they WILL eventually modify their path and find Joel. They will follow Joel up and down flights of stairs - I need to learn how to shake em - I know it can be done, by breaking line of sight, putting enough distance, and then going very still. They will call for help. They can grab and drag Joel away from safety. So nasty! Also oddly, I don't seem to be able to customize the controls at all. I don't like how the aim/shoot buttons are set up, making me even worse at shooters than I already am. Good thing it is possible to smash a clicker head with a brick. I managed to do that exactly once so far.
I like how so many survivors are clearly not young. This is a post-pandemic setting, with a low population. Not much reproduction going on. Ellie is no Sherry Birkin - she is very good at lethal takedown. I never have to worry about her being seen. I like how anyone who has survived this long has earned, and even so, Joel admits luck is a huge factor, too. And eventually luck will run out. For Joel, and for me. Shudder.
I now have a PS3 at last (yep, late to the party) and am playing The Last of Us. SPOILER FREE!
I have been playing TLoU is small doses because goddamn it is stressful. It's mostly daylight horror - no alternate dimensions, nightmare realms coated in rust and blood, no entrapment in a building at night (at least not yet). Twenty years have passed since the parasitic fungus (Cordyceps unilateralis - it's real) mutated enough to infect humans and caused a pandemic. (This is where I tell Dave to shut up about the effectiveness of antifungals and let me enjoy the game). People are confined to quarantine zones under martial law. Thus far, there is no treatment or cure for Cordyceps infection (okay, I would think a treatment for early stage would exist by now, but whatever). The disease is spread by inhaling the spores released from an infected, or fluid transmission from an infected (bite). An infected victim succumbs within a couple of days - the fungus works its way into the brain of the host, and eventually bursts through the eyes and part of the head. The host remains animate for a while, able to roam and find victims to infect.
Joel, the player character, has carved a niche for himself in Boston - he smuggles. Usually drugs and weapons. He has a partner (NOT ROMANTIC), Tess, who is as much of a pragmatic survivor as he is. Both are middle aged, with graying hair and faint wrinkles. Life is grimy, and dangerous, but hey's it's life. After handling a deal gone sour, Joel and Tess are unexpectedly given a new mission - escort 14 year old Ellie out of Boston. "All" they have to do is take her out of the heavily guarded quarantine zone, through infected downtown Boston, and hand her over to another group at Boston's capitol building - the Massachusetts State House.
Well I've managed to do exactly that - and it was rough, and just the first few chapters of the game! Of course, by the time the trio reach the location, the pickup group is dead. And they're being chased, and all that's left in the inventory - 1 health kit, 1 shiv, 1 wooden plank on the verge of breaking, 2 molotovs, and 8 rounds of ammo. I sob. I am stressed!
Geez this game is hard. I've skipped rooms because exploring is just so dangerous, and I am sure this is contributing to my lack of supplies. Most of Joel's weapons are improvised, cobbled together from crap lying around. Although I have no clue why the designers wouldn't program Joel to pick up broken glass and other sharp debris for stabby weapons. If he's going to wrap one end of broken scissors with duct tape to make a shiv, why not the same with the remnants of a display case? There is constant autosave, so dying sets me back only a few minutes. Once I died right as an autosave was happening, which cleared the room when the game reloaded. I did not dare find out if the enemies, which has hounded Joel down, were in the rooms they originated in, or if they despawned. However, it doesn't seem like I can manually save separate files, and I am concerned I may find myself in a no-win situation due to lack of supplies. I do not know if this game is like Dishonored, where it is possible to complete the game without upgrades. The AI is smart - I learned today that I can't hide forever and wait for the right moment in their pathing loop - they WILL eventually modify their path and find Joel. They will follow Joel up and down flights of stairs - I need to learn how to shake em - I know it can be done, by breaking line of sight, putting enough distance, and then going very still. They will call for help. They can grab and drag Joel away from safety. So nasty! Also oddly, I don't seem to be able to customize the controls at all. I don't like how the aim/shoot buttons are set up, making me even worse at shooters than I already am. Good thing it is possible to smash a clicker head with a brick. I managed to do that exactly once so far.
I like how so many survivors are clearly not young. This is a post-pandemic setting, with a low population. Not much reproduction going on. Ellie is no Sherry Birkin - she is very good at lethal takedown. I never have to worry about her being seen. I like how anyone who has survived this long has earned, and even so, Joel admits luck is a huge factor, too. And eventually luck will run out. For Joel, and for me. Shudder.