This game really wants you to regret your murder spree, subjecting you to scenes that are downright grotesque at times. Yet they went out of their way to not only reintroduce, but refine the third person combat so it feels better than ever. Putting aside the story, it never knows how to reconcile the tension of those two desired emotions: you shoot an enemy and it gives that satisfying red “blink” on the cursor, only to listen to them scream in agony for a solid 30 seconds.
“Ludonarrative dissonance” was a popular topic around the time of the Uncharteds: much electronic ink was spent asking how Nathan Drake could yuk it up with his body count. But if The Last of Us Part 2 teaches us anything, it’s that a light-hearted pulp hero shooting an entire standing army is less disingenuous than a gratifying shooting gallery that demands you THINK about what you’re doing.
“Don’t you feel terrible about shooting this dog?” My brother in Christ, you put the dog in the game to be shot!
(We’d also like assurances that the people behind that one awful arm scene are doing all right)
“Ludonarrative dissonance” was a popular topic around the time of the Uncharteds: much electronic ink was spent asking how Nathan Drake could yuk it up with his body count. But if The Last of Us Part 2 teaches us anything, it’s that a light-hearted pulp hero shooting an entire standing army is less disingenuous than a gratifying shooting gallery that demands you THINK about what you’re doing.
“Don’t you feel terrible about shooting this dog?” My brother in Christ, you put the dog in the game to be shot!
(We’d also like assurances that the people behind that one awful arm scene are doing all right)