Regarding the difficulty of video games, the most common joke is to coordinate violent behavior with their urge to tell stories, so many games rely on the character Nathan Drake. Drake is the star of the “Uncharted” series and is known for his easy-going and rash charm-but in a game, he usually kills hundreds of people. They called him a smiling psychopath.
This joke is bound to sting Naughty Dog, a California-based manufacturer of uncharted territory. In 2013, they began to work hard to solve the meaning of “The Last of Us” (The Last of Us), which is a moody apocalyptic thriller that not only promotes the brutality of the image, but also tries to live in a desperate, cruel world. Constructs a framework in the middle and contrasts with the exquisite bond in development. Between the protagonist, the rude smuggler Joel, and his goods, there is a boy named Ellie.
Now, “The Last of Us” has a sequel. In this sequel, the wrestling match between the game’s violent actions and thematic intent has developed into a full-scale, bar-footed fight. This may be the first fair game in the history of a large budget action game. It became messy and problematic, and neither side was unscathed. However, by making some big bets, the developers will get a decisive blow, which will surprise you.
This is not all that part 2 of “Our Last Part” is trying.This is a game about women, not a game about women’s experience itself, But almost all the famous characters in this game are women, and they not only show outstanding ability and physical strength, but also fight against the dark impulses that men usually carry: trauma, obsession, anger and revenge. It’s also a game featuring LGBTQ+ relationships and characters. It’s characteristic is important, but it matters-no big deal, they are there.
Remember, it is doing all of this while still maintaining a pleasant action in the naughty dog mold, exciting, overflowing, fearful, beauty and destruction and adventure. There are so many, really, it’s no surprise that sometimes this game will diverge from its creator. (Yes, even the famous control of naughty dogs.) Not all methods work. Sometimes this tone can turn into frustrating, annoying nihilism. The motivations of the characters do not always add up. There are too many actors and sub-pictures are often cooked or cooked. When it was eager to launch its next big idea, some of its views were outspoken. At other times, its operation is rarely subtle and understatement. Before you understand the actual function of the game, you will be halfway through the game, and you need to do more before you really start to feel its terrifying appeal. In the end, it was devastating.
Without spoilers, this is a difficult game to discuss. I will not disclose any details, but if you want to be completely left out, it is best to stop reading.
The action was set four years after the events of The Last of Us, and the intermittent flashbacks let us understand how the character got here from there. Joel and Ellie have settled in a self-sufficient community in Jackson, Wyoming. After Joel’s fatal action at the end of the last game, the embarrassment between them seems to have widened. Elie was not so precocious when she was young, but her defensive ability and sharpness had a relationship with a woman named Dina. After a blizzard, something happened, Ellie and Dina set off for Seattle with revenge.
We spent most of the game running time in Seattle’s poor state. It is all in ruins and partly submerged by floods. At first it looked desolate, but because of the infected place, the weird fungus zombies made the society collapse. In fact, there was a turf war between the two survivor factions. The Washington Liberation Front (Wolves) is a paramilitary organization that is the war version of the first game Firefly, which took control of the city from the government after a brutal uprising. They have a charismatic leader named Isaac (a guest appearance by the magnetic actor Jeffrey Wright), once we learn more about them, what they portray The picture of survivalism after the outbreak is very different from the frontline figures of the Jacksonian. Seraphites or scars are not well drawn. This is a weird cult after the apocalypse that has been engraved and pasted and has never given a reasonable reason for its existence.
On the battlefield, Ellie got caught up in this fight and started to cause all sorts of destruction-but only after a lovely calm. When she and Dina arrived in Seattle for the first time, the game’s relentless linear momentum was briefly destroyed and used for open-world exploration of ruined urban areas (a similar plot evolution in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy). This is a wonderful atmosphere and scene setter. After that, we will return to the old road of naughty dogs for the rest of the game, although the environment is spacious and complex enough to satisfy close exploration when you are looking for supplies, and has great flexibility in providing supplies. Come join the battle.
In battle, you know best that you are playing the sequel to one of the most challenging developers in the world (although few are known for the perfection of its game mechanics). The careful iteration and professionalism of the design team is very obvious. It retains the thin, muscular setting of “Last of Us”, where the lack of ammunition and supplies constantly forces you to experiment. Some of the rougher edges have been eliminated, but they cannot eliminate their fragmentary nature-panic, desperate scratches and unexpected messy baptisms are largely part of the atmosphere.
The same is true for stealth, thanks to some mechanical lifts in Uncharted 4, and the prone position is more feasible, and it is also very satisfying to play. Now, this is a very good stealth game in itself. Like any game that dies quickly, it can still be frustrating, but a very smart smart auto-save system can keep up with your progress and means you hardly need to restart the entire battle. (Even by Naughty Dog standards, the entire game experience is incredibly smooth and smooth.) My main complaint is that you spend more time fighting humans than infected, and the battles they face The personnel are actually not that interesting and not that scary. .
The violence is very vivid and disturbing. There are ugly sights everywhere, such as the tearing sound of shot pellets, or the vicious bouncing used by Ellie to open his neck when performing stealth kills. It may be disgusting. Is it on purpose? for sure. But I still can’t help but find the sour and dirty traces of satisfaction, especially in repeated battles. Sometimes it will interrupt your contact with Ellie in a way that is not applicable to the game. Sometimes, in cutscenes, it just goes too far, beyond what is needed to leave an impact or point out an opinion.
This is one of the reasons why I initially suspected that “The Last of Us Part 2” was too rigid on my own cold attitude and was just a highly polished painful porn. Another reason is that its attention is divided between many ambitious games, the distribution of characters is constantly expanding, and most actions are completed within a few days, so it does not have the soft but continuous emotional core of the first game- Such deliciousness slowly melted between Ellie and Joel, and melted into love during a year’s journey. (Ellie and Dina’s relationship may be like this, but it didn’t get the necessary screening time-for good reason.) Without that kind of warmth, that kind of heart, it seems painful to spend time in this world.
I am happy to report that my first impression was wrong. Unfortunately, I cannot and should not fully explain why. I will limit it to this: Druckmann and his team have developed a grand plan based on a fundamental structure of the game that was not obvious at first. Once you finally understand it, it still burns slowly, because the writer’s subtle character shaping-dialogue is underestimated and natural-takes time to complete its work. So it is not until the final stage of the game that the real power can be exerted, because when you approach a certain point, its overall necessity becomes even more frightening.
This is a lot of money for developers, but it does work, and the return is almost indescribable. To claim that you will never feel the same about video game violence again is too much, but the shock is profound and disturbing. This is something puzzling. As the game draws to a close, more things happen, just like its predecessors, even if not, it may be ambiguous, its influence and emotional complexity.
What really shocked me was that it was like a surprise from a developer who transparently loves the language of movies like a developer, that is, the function of Part 2 of “Our Last Part” is completely unique as a video game. . There will be a special empathy between the player and the protagonist of the game, and other media cannot replicate this empathy. Druckman and his team used this connection to have such a devastating effect. This is a sad and timely reminder that it is both important and impossible for people to live in the experience of others. Play, then listen.
