RobRab

My Spoiler free take on this Game: Scrolling through the many, many negative reviews made it abundantly clear, that a lot of the people who dislike the game have not played it. If you are unsure about weather or not to buy the game, do yourself a favor and watch some more professional reviews than the ones on here, as they are not only un based, but also riddled with spoilers. Regarding the Story: The Story takes some really unexpected, gut punching, turns and sports a diverse cast of characters, which seems to be the main source of grief for most of the other reviews on here. I want to keep this part-2-spoiler free, so I won´t go into specific moments or characters here, but if you played it, you probably know what moments I am talking about. Now I expect most people interested in this game have played the first one, or at least know what happened in the first game, especially since both games are available on the PS4. That being said, spoilers for the first game ahead. The first games story was the story of violence in a post-apocalyptic world, were every faction thought the use of violence was justified to further their goals. (e.g. the military violently trying to keep order, the fireflies using violence to resist the military and the looters/raiders using violence with a survival of the fittest mindset.) No faction really objectively can be called an evil faction as a whole (Individuals of course can be) even cannibalism is to a certain degree an more of an act of desperation rather than on of evil intent. In this violent World, no one really wins, or gets what they want in the end. Joel may have gotten out of it with Ellie, but in doing so, lost friends and allies and basically doomed the human race by stopping the only chance at a cure for the virus. Joel himself is neither the bad , or the good guy of the story. Like the other factions, he thinks his own goals are just or at least necessary for survival. We see Joel kill and torture people without second thought to and in the end lieing to Ellie all so he can achieve his personal goals. Yet we still root for Joel, not just because he is the main character, but the game places you firmly in his point of view of the Story, you get to see how Joel grows as a character and how determined he becomes during the length of the game. So in conclusion: The first game was set in a brutal World, where everything can be taken from you at any time, because from someone elses point of view they had the right, or the obligation to do so. That being said, it is utterly incomprehensible to me that people complain, when this is also the case in part 2. The world is still violent and everyone thinks their killing is justified, be it out of revenge, or subjective necessity. So in my opinion, no the Story is not out of place for the series. Regarding gameplay: Not that much has changed since part one, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The Combat encounters feel still very intense, weather you try to sneak around, try to make what little supplies you have count, or getting creative by luring enemies into traps. There are a few new mechanics (going prone, tall grass and pistol silencers for example) however the encounters in itself lack a bit of variety when looking at the series as a whole. There are both new kinds of humans and infected to fight, although be it very few, but most encounters play out the same where you sneak around until you get caught and have to either improvise, or hide to surprise enemies from a flank or go back to stealth. However these mechanics control very fluently and it is very satisfying to see the AI react to your approaches. (though I really wish the companion AI would do a better job of not blocking me or taking the best cover spot for themselves) I do wish there were more encounters with infected and humans. It is always fun making these groups fight each other while observing the carnage/using the distraction to sneak away. Outside of Encounters there are some larger areas, where you can explore and potentially stock up on supplies, get more context to the story or simply have some small encounters, that tell a story about the world itself. About the Graphics: Not really much to say here that hasn´t already been said, it is one of the best looking games on the PS4, the environments burst with details and the level design is well executed, so that you don´t get stuck and get an introduction whenever something new is introduced, so that text pop up tutorials don´t have to interrupt the gameplay (e.g. you see a new infected Type fight other survivors before having to fight one yourself) In conclusion: The Game is very well made. The Story, in my opinion, fits the tone that the first game has set for the World. The Gameplay is fun, if also repetitive after a while The Graphics are gorgeous