The Last of Us

I try not to write reviews because, really, there are plenty of people who have done that and done it better. This is no attempt to review the game either but to bring up something I kind of find a bit interesting.

Every site and reviewer out there is lauding this game as a masterpiece, citing its superb storyline and well thought-out voice acting along with the message it conveys. I’m not here to argue that. The story is done good, the voice acting is top notch. The message is easy to understand.

No, what I’m here to argue is that this game has a surprising lack of gameplay. It’s something I find a bit troublesome for a game that has such a great storyline. It’s not often talked about but the problem with this game is that it feels like you are walking from cutscene to cutscene. There’s dialog while you are walking that just provides exposition and character development. This is good for story purposes but it’s not good, in my opinion, for gameplay purposes.

Now I’m not saying this game doesn’t have gameplay. It’s there. It’s just not a lot. There’s no boss fights either. In fact this is the issue I have with the game. The gameplay elements (which are either stealth or combat according to preference) are the boss fights. You walk and walk and walk, listening to the characters talk while you push forward on the analog stick then when you get to an ending point before a cutscene you’ll face a small battle.

I’m all for games becoming an artform and in the case of games like The Walking Dead, I can see it being more focused on the story but even I felt the game didn’t deserve Game of the Year status. Adventure games are fun if done right. For the most part The Walking Dead: The Game is. In the case of The Last of Us it looks like it struggles to decide on being either a game or an interactive film. Interactive films are decent and that’s what Adventure Games are. But it’s about striking that balance.

The Last of Us seems to fail at its gameplay mechanic just having you push along for story purposes without any major events happening then giving you a small battle arena to stealth or fight in before repeating the same long trek to the next cutscene.

Now don’t get me wrong! The Last of Us is a great game. I just think many people are ignoring the fact that it’s not giving you much gameplay because they’re taken in by the story. I see no reason it can’t have both.