FTL: Faster than Light (PC)

Reviewed on PC, available on PC, Mac, and Linux

FTL: Faster than Light is a wonderful but difficult adventure.

It's hard to be a member of the PC gaming community without hearing of the indie upstart game, FTL: Faster than Light. As someone who is highly skeptical of both AAA titles and indie titles alike, I put off purchasing FTL for quite some time. Eventually, a Humble Bundle came along which included FTL, and being the sucker I am for Humble Bundles, I bought the bundle and installed FTL shortly after. After all, the worst that could happen is I end up wasting a few bucks.

FTL takes place in a sci-fi future deep in space. The most dominant faction is called the Federation; a space military faction that consists of multiple different races and attempts to bring order to the galaxy. Opposite of the Federation is the Rebellion; a largely human faction that believes the Federation is evil, and is attempting to overthrow it via war. You play the role of a Federation scout ship that has just discovered the Rebellion is launching a massive sneak attack, large enough to win the war, and are rushing to warn the Federation fleet. As an interesting story element, it is never stated which faction is the "good" or "bad" guys, which comes into play when the player makes moral decisions throughout the game.

Each ship comes with a unique crew, weapon loadout, and installed systems.

Before starting the game, you are given the option to choose which ship you will control. Initially, you start with a single ship with a very basic and balanced loadout. As you complete special missions or achievements during the game, you will unlock new ships to play with during your next play-through. And there will be a next play-through because this game is hard, and even on the easy difficulty setting, you will likely lose and restart several times before defeating the boss at the end. For some games this can be a negative remark, but for FTL the difficulty adds to the weight of every decision made in the game.

Once a ship has been selected, you are set onto your path with a very Oregon Trail feeling event system. You are given the option to select a planet to fly to, but with very limited information, it is impossible to determine what awaits you at each destination. And since each playthrough is randomized, there is no way to intentionally set your path to the best possible outcome. Will that homing beacon lead to stranded civilians, or a trap set by raiders?

Battle against a foe requires great attention to both side's strengths, and the amount of risk vs. reward.

When you do find yourself in a combat situation, the fights require full attention and careful planning. Depending on your ship`s strengths and your opponent`s weakness, battles can be over very quickly or drag on for several minutes. You can target the enemy`s oxygen supply and attempt to sufficate their crew, or send over a boarding party to fight them directly without damaging their ship. Regardless of the action taken, the player must be careful with his crew, as their deaths are permanent, and replacements are found mostly with luck.

Which leads me to my only gripe with the game: there is too much reliance on the randomness of the game to truly master it. It is possible to make all the right moves throughout the game and still lose. On one hand, it makes for a more realistic and stressful game, but on the other, it creates mass frustration when trying to achieve a specific goal during the game. Some ships can only be unlocked with very specific triggers that happen entirely at random (and may not happen at all) during each playthrough. 

No matter how well equipped you are, defeat can be just around the corner.

Gameplay - 9/10
There is a lot of challenge and frustration to be had playing FTL, but it all adds to the satisfaction once you finally achieve your goal. The simplicity and fair learning curve encourages players to keep trying different layouts and approaches. Too much reliance on the randomness of the events can cause this game to be overly unfair and frustrating at times.

Design - 8/10
Visually there is much improvement to be had. The 2D sprites will turn off many gamers who would otherwise enjoy the game. Sound effects and music are top notch, however, and really draw the player in. The interface needs a bit of work, but is capable of getting the job done.

Replay - 10/10
You will die and start over, many times, but each time learning more and becoming a better captain. There are tons of ships to unlock, with different layouts that can offer vastly different playthroughs. If cooperative multiplayer of some sort was added, this rating would go through the roof.

Final - 27/30 Amazing
FTL was made by persons with a great idea that chose not to take the easy route and make an easy game. They made a game that will continue to challenge beginners and experts alike, with new stories being built each play. This is a game that is a stone throw away from becoming legendary, and if an FTL2 is ever made with better graphics, fewer no-win situations, and cooperative multiplayer, it will be game of the year without contest.

Recommended Buying Price: Even at the full 10$ price, this game is a steal.

Starbound (Beta, PC)

Reviewed on PC, available on PC, possibly consoles in the future.

A space-themed builder-adventure game with high expectations.

Get your pitchforks ready, because I'm about to admit something that is sure to anger a lot of PC gamers. I don't like Terraria. Not even a little bit. I bought the game and on four different occasions, I tried to play it, and quit due to boredom and severe lack of interest. Despite the constant praise it was given, the game was never up to par with builder-competitor, Minecraft. With this in mind, Starbound shares a lot similarities with Terraria, and you can see why I was hesitant to buy into the hype. But after much debate, I caved and purchased Starbound, and was surprisingly happy with my decision.

Starbound is an open-world miner-builder RPG of the 2D family. Unlike Minecraft and Terraria, Starbound allows players to create a detailed custom character, and provides a background as to why your character started their journey. Although you start on your very own spaceship, your supplies are limited and require you to beam down to the planet. From the surface, you gather food and materials to craft medieval-era tools, weapons, armor, and even structures. As the game progresses, your tech level steadily increases, allowing you to fly around to other planets, craft more advanced items, and so on.

The game currently includes 6 races, with a 7th on the way.

On a visual scale, the game looks good for a 2D game. Planets with different biomes are vastly different in color palettes, ranging from lush alien forests, to deserts of sand and bones. The large number of visually different monsters, items, and blocks allow for some very creative and unique experiences. Lighting and water effects are more impressive than any game in the genre. Unfortunately, character animations are few, and monster animations are practically non-existent, so the world ends up feeling a bit stiff after a while.

Creatures spawn just out of visual sight, often times in large and aggressive groups. Many occasions I've stepped away from my house for a few moments and came back to a wall of angry enemies. In one instance while mining, I found and mined a small patch of iron, only minutes later to have it spawn 6 enemies that swarmed and killed me. This combined with the death penalty of losing pixels (the game's currency needed to make almost everything) can make for a very frustrating experience at times.

The alien environment are pleasantly reminiscent of Spore.

Combat is simple and straight-forward in most cases. Swing your sword, shoot your bow, don't let the enemy hit you. Most enemies will charge directly at you over and over until they are killed. Every now and then, you will encounter an enemy with abilities, and combat becomes much funner. The first boss fight is an excellent example of this, and while he is strong and will take several attempts to defeat, the victory is both satisfactory and rewarding. Lastly, your character can unlock abilities, called Techs, to spice up your character's capabilities.

The inventory system is bare-bones, but the crafting system is plentiful and well designed. There are dozens of tools, weapons, armors, decorations, etc of multiple tiers and play-styles. Items and crafting recipes are found inside dungeons, or buried deep within the planet. There are hand-held shields in the game, but after a few trials using the lowest-level shield, it seemed to be broken and did nothing but make me a target. As I mentioned before, almost everything requires pixels to make, and it becomes a grinding process to gather hundreds or thousands of them in order to make even the slightest upgrades.

Dungeons, villages, and other interesting structures can be found at random.

Gameplay - 9/10
Despite its many flaws, the game is addicting and rewarding to play. Building your character from a desperate existence to a badass space commando is a damn good feeling. The tools to build your own and (mostly) functional environments are plentiful. Multiplayer is double the fun and functions well. Patches and updates are regular, adding content and fixing bugs, and giving me confidence that this game will be one of the heaviest hitters on the market in little time.

Design - 9/10
Although I'm not a fan of the 2D style, I will admit it has grown on me. The vastly different biomes and underground areas paired with the large variety of npcs, enemies, and items gives for a very unique and charming visual appeal. Lightning and water effects are high quality and add a lot of neat experiences.

Replay - 9/10
There is a lot to do, and even more to do if with a friend or multiplayer. With new content and features being added fairly regularly, there are a lot of reasons to keep coming back to Starbound (or in my case, don't stop playing). 

Final - 27/30 Amazing
Starbound is a game with exactly that - sky high expectations. The game is may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy creative building games, or adventure loot games, then Starbound is worth looking into. There is only one thing I have to request from developers reading this review: More!

Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires (PS3)

Reviewed on PS3, available on PS3 (PSN Exclusive)

The Dynasty Warriors series is famous (or perhaps infamous) for it's grinding hack-and-slash gameplay that has changed little over the generations. Traditionally, the games take place during the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" era in Chinese history. From here, players select their character from a massive roster, and jump into the battlefield to clash against their foes. The "Empires" series takes this familiar and 1-dimensional game and adds a new element of strategic management into the mix.

In Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires, the game introduces managing territories and resources, in addition to the standard battlefield gameplay. During setup, players may choose from pre-built scenarios which dictate the starting forces and resources, or they may choose a clean slate to manually (or randomly) populate the map. Even further still, players can then choose to play as a leader, officer, or roaming mercenary with no allegiance yet. Once the starting conditions are set, the player is free to begin their conquest.

A leader discussing with his officers their next course of action.

From the strategic map, players will manage four different types of resource: Food, info, gold, and a new resource called "fame". Food is used to heal and train your soldiers, info is used to invest and for diplomacy, and gold is for purchasing equipment. Fame is broken down further into six categories: Brave, Wise, Kind, Orderly, Affluent, and Evil. The higher your fame is in a particular category, the more abilities you unlock of that type. For example, a player with high orderly fame can summon elite cavalry, while a player with high evil fame can pillage enemy bases. Any abilities you earn can be selected and used anytime in the battlefield, and add a very interesting and fun aspect to the game. The game is interrupted with a cut scene every time you use an ability; which is highly annoying in multiplayer or even after an extended play.

Despite having all these different resources to acquire, the strategy portion falls flat very quickly due to no significant depth. Unlocking new abilities can be fun, but the usefulness of the early abilities compared to later ones ruins the incentive. Improving your army is borderline meaningless, and the only worthwhile investment is buying items to buff the player himself. Diplomacy is also painfully shallow, as it is impossible to have long-term friendly relations with another faction. You can make a temporary alliance, but the moment it expires, former friends will be marching on your lands without hesitation.

Defeating thousands of enemies takes little effort.

Once the player has reached the battlefield, they must navigate capturing (and defending) bases to create a path to the enemy's main camp. Enemy soldiers and officers will engage you, but serve no purpose other than to stand in your way, and are quickly dispatched after a few well-placed combos or musou attack. Friendly officers have improved A.I. over previous games, and are capable of pushing and even capturing the main base. Fame abilities (called strategems) are by far the most interesting part of the battle, allowing you or any officer to place ambushes or set bases on fire. Unfortunately, strategems are far from critical, and rarely change anything significant.

Perhaps the most redeeming feature Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires has to offer is it's detailed custom character creation. Complete with sliders, tons of outfits, and ridiculously large weapon selection, it's very easy to make tons of unique and interesting characters. Even further still, you can choose to have your custom character replace a particular officer in game, allowing the player to replace all the generic officers with characters they have made. Players can also download custom characters from PSN, or choose to have PSN automatically push random custom characters seamlessly into the game instead of generic officers.

The custom character screen will entice you for hours.

Gameplay - 4/10
There is nothing new to be had here in terms of gameplay, aside from a strategy mode that adds little to nothing (even compared to previous Empires titles). Combat is fun at first, but dries out quickly once you figure out the formula to win even against powerful enemies. The strategems are a step in the right direction, but need a lot of work to become worthwhile.

Design - 6/10
The visuals are high quality on characters, but the environments are plain and barren. Strategy map interface is pretty bland and generally uninteresting. Occasionally, there's a cool cut scene where your character interacts with another character during the battle, which adds a lot to the feel. Most points are given here for the excellent custom character creation.

Replay - 8/10
Playing with different fame types and custom characters greatly improved the replay value of this game. This game gets excellent replay points for the return of split screen, which is becoming a rarity these days. Different scenarios and a few unlockable features after beating the game. There's also the ability to jump into another player's game via PSN, but its only for a single battle and takes a long time to match.

Final - 18/30 Poor
With this many games in the Dynasty Warriors series (as well as the Empires series) you would expect to see some ground-breaking improvements of some sort. Unfortunately there is little satisfaction to be had, aside from the custom character creation. If you are a die-hard fan who lives for this franchise, then grab a friend and create custom characters to greatly improve the experience.

Recommended Buying Price: No more than 30$

XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC)

Reviewed on PC, available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn-based strategy game, based off of the classic XCOM: UFO Defense, and developed by Firaxis (popular for its addicting Civilizations series). In this game, the player leads a small force of specialized soldiers against the alien threat attacking various countries. The enemies are stronger, smarter, and in greater number, but can XCOM rise to the challenge? It should be noted, this game is fairly violent, despite it's appearance.

The goal of XCOM: Enemy Unknown is to defeat the alien menace while defending various countries in the world. The combined countries make up a mysterious group, known as "The Council", who funds the player and provides objectives. If a country is frequently attacked and XCOM fails to defend it, the country will drop out of the XCOM project, and cease to fund the player. If too many countries drop out, the game is over. The catch here is that multiple countries are always invaded at the same time, and its only possible to defend one, so managing defense can be frustrating and require significant planning.

Soldiers are highly customize-able, and level up by killing enemies.

At your disposal initially are basic soldiers, equipped with your standard body armor and assault rifle. After a mission or so, they will choose a specialization and become either a Sniper, Heavy, Assault, or Support class. Their stats will gradually increase, and players can choose which talents to unlock with each soldier's individual talent tree. This is all possible only if your soldiers survive, since death is permanent and frequent on harder difficulties. Your enemies will have stronger weapons from the start, and it becomes apparent when your favorite troop's face is melted by a plasma rifle.

Enemies are various and very, very powerful on the game's intended difficulties. One true aspect of the game is how desperate the fights will feel, and how conflicted players will be gambling on the lives of soldiers they have invested in. Your soldiers will feel the pressure too, and if things start to go badly, they will panic and attempt to flee or open fire without orders. No matter how perfect you play, some losses will be unavoidable, which is a very praise-worthy piece of the game. This is war, after all.

Enemies are wide in variety, with different strengths and weaknesses.

In order to improve your chances against the alien threat, the player must choose to research gathered materials from the enemy. In time, the player can unlock some impressive technology, including new weapons, armor, robots, and even aircraft. The catch is that research is painfully slow, and only one research project can be done at a time. Would you rather improve your soldier's weapons and ability to fight, or your soldier's armor and ability to survive?

Visually, the game looks fantastic with an excellent color palette. Structures and forests are detailed, inside and out. Alien ships are well designed, and feel mysterious and threatening from the inside. Walls will crumble under fire and cars will explode, as nearly everything is destructible in this game. Finishing shots will bring the player's camera into a kill-cam view, bringing great satisfaction (or great disappointment depending). The sound effects are top notch all around, with the exception of some absolutely terrible voice acting during randomized escort missions.

Foes will maneuver to get the best shot on you, while keeping themselves protected.

Gameplay - 8/10
The combat is highly entertaining, while also being highly frustrating. Research and development is exciting, and customizing your troops is satisfying. Enemies are smart and challenging, with excellent AI. The global and base management elements of the game are great, but felt like there could have been a lot more to do. Mission variety is a little stale after a while.

Design - 7/10
Visually, the game is high quality, but stages are recycled too frequently. In a full game, a player may play the same stage 3-4 times. Missions in different countries do not differ from each other, and always resemble an English-speaking city. Similarly, troops from different countries speak perfect English with no accents whatsoever, which hurts the immersion. Voice acting is notably bad by escorted NPCs, and they honestly sound like they were done by random people with no acting experience.

Replay - 8/10
With the popular Second Wave features unlocked (various select-able changes) this game has greatly improved replay value. Harder difficulties will challenge the player significantly, but only add so much. An additional point is granted for the optional "Iron Man" mode, which auto saves the game and prevents the player from reloading to provide them a better outcome. Multiplayer is 1v1 versus only, which is a significant oversight. Mod support is surprisingly poor as well.

Final - 23/30 Good
There is a great experience to be had playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown; especially now that the price has dropped a bit. The gameplay is smooth and satisfying for strategy fans, but may leave players wanting at the end of the day. If you are on the ropes about this game, try the demo and see how it feels. Although I personally enjoyed it, this game is not for everyone.

Recommended Buying Price: No more than 40$

Cube World (PC, Alpha)

Reviewed on PC, available on PC, possibly consoles in the future.

Before I get into any depth with this review, allow me start by saying Cube World is NOT a Minecraft clone. It's a common mistake to associate this game with Minecraft, simply because it also shares the block world style. While Minecraft has large focus on building, Cube World has its own flavor with roots strongly in the RPG genre, and is a great experience even currently in its alpha stage.

Cube World is an open adventure RPG that generates the world based on a user-input seed (similar to Minecraft here as well). Fans of Minecraft will notice vast improvements in terms of the in-depth character customization and classes. Currently there are 8 different races (which only change the character aesthetically) and 4 different classes. After choosing your character, you can play either locally or connect to a server for multiplayer.

There are some interesting races to choose from, in addition to the casuals.

Visually, the game is impressive for an alpha stage. Within the dense forests, open lakes, or undead-infested dungeons, there is immense effort put into making the world. Although the land is randomly generated, it doesn't feel oddly pieced together. Cities full of NPCs, shops, and class trainers also spawn randomly.

Mobs and NPCs appear in the wilderness in a realistic manner, instead of spawning in plain sight like in Minecraft. Players will frequently run into groups of adventurers, both friendly and hostile, wandering the country side. The variety of creatures is also a high mark, and although I am uncertain of the exact number, there seems to be at least 40 different types of creatures. There are also boss enemies that appear throughout the land.

Places of interest show up on the map, with color coded names for difficulty.

Combat is fun and surprisingly intense for a game of this genre. The character classes are designed to keep the player alternating between abilities, and use items quite frequently. Warriors, rogues, and rangers build up MP through combat to unleash their stronger abilities. Mages start with full MP and it gradually decreases through spell casting. All classes also have a stamina bar, which is used for dodge rolling, climbing, and hang gliding.

The inventory and crafting system are effective, although still in their early stages. Players can craft equipment from materials gathered; provided they have the required stats to wear them. There are very few crafting choices initially, but more recipes are found dropped by enemies or purchased from shops. There are plans to implement the ability to build, but at this time, players cannot build structures of their own.

NPCs offer minor dialogue, but can show the location of places and reveal how to tame certain pets.

Gameplay - 9/10
Cube World is a great game that's fun to play, and even more fun to play with friends. This game takes the formulas from many successful games and merges them into an addicting product with a bright future ahead of it. There is still more to come, and in future reviews, this score may change based on the added content.

Design - 8/10
The design choice is a brilliant take on the block art style. Despite looking similar to Minecraft, players will immediately notice that everything is much more fluid and natural. Points are lost for an incomplete user interface, and some incomplete aspects of the environment. Again, there is more to come in the future, and this score will likely change.

Replay - 10/10
There is no level limit, so players can continually play and reach higher levels. Four different classes, with different move sets for the weapons equipped. Tons of items to craft, dungeons to explore, and bosses to defeat. With more additions on the horizon, there will be tons and tons of reasons to play this game regularly.

Final - 27/30 Amazing
If you can manage to buy and download a copy of Cube World, you are in for a treat. There's a bit of a learning curve, and still lots of incomplete parts of the game, but still easily worth the $20 price tag. This game is best with some friends, so convince a few to join you, and support this awesome indie upstart.

Hotline: Miami (PC)

Reviewed on PC, available on PC

In Hotline: Miami, you take the role of a mysterious character (known by the community as "Jacket") as you are given discreet jobs to kill people. Not much is known or revealed about Jacket, but it becomes clear that he has serious psychological problems. Reality frequently distorts, and the game often keeps you guessing about what is really happening, and who is giving Jacket the jobs. I'll admit, I wasn't quite sure what to think of Hotline: Miami at first look, but it's really an interesting play.

Gameplay wise, Hotline: Miami sticks to a simple style reminiscent of ye old arcade games. The action is lightning fast, and player deaths occur after a single hit by any enemy. Upon death, the player can restart the area instantly by pressing the 'R' key and try it again. There are a large variety of weapons with slight strengths, and more are unlocked as stages are completed.

This game is a straight-up murder simulator. No, seriously.

Enemies are very basic, and don't offer much challenge except when you are taken off guard. Loud weapons, such as firearms, will cause all nearby enemies to rush you from any direction (which frequently results in death). Silent weapons, such as melee weapons, will neutralize most enemies without making noise, but are still a risk to use. Keep in mind you will die in a single hit from gun or melee, so choose your approach carefully.

Before each stage, you are given the choice of which mask you wear. In addition to changing your appearance slightly, you are given a boost depending on your mask. Masks are unlocked by completing stages, and an additional mask can be unlocked by getting a high score on certain stages. Unfortunately, some of these masks have bonuses that are very circumstantial, so you will find yourself using only a handful of different masks from the large selection.

There's a good selection of masks, each with their own name.

With the mask being the only thing truly customize-able about your character, I couldn't help but feel like there could have been more. Unless you pick a mask that specifically gives you a weapon, you will always start the stage empty handed. Why would a hit man show up to a job with no weapon, when there are numerous targets involved? It seemed like an oversight, but doesn't take much away from the game.

At the end of each stage you are given a score and a rating. Surprisingly, the game tends to reward the Leroy Jenkins approach, and will give low scores for cautiously killing your targets. If you want a high score (which yields more masks), you will want to charge through as quickly as possible and rack up as many multi-kills as you can. This can be a little frustrating, as you will die a lot from that random guy who walks out and shoots you from behind.

A cautious approach will label you "Generic" and yield a poor score.

Gameplay - 8/10
The game is fun, although a little repetitive. Combat is simple, but jumping onto a downed enemy and smashing his head into the floor does satisfy. There are some moments in between stages that qualify as the game's cut scenes, which help balance out the adrenaline-fueled kill fest from moments before. 

Design - 7/10
The visuals are simple, but get the job done. I would go as far to say they add their own flavor to the game, rather than detract. Watching Jacket gradually lose his sanity is a high mark, and personally drove me to complete the game. The story will seem very confusing the entire game, and only truly makes sense after completing the bonus missions. 

Replay - 8/10
There's a ton of stages, each with a reason to replay them. A high rating will unlock new masks with different perks, and your cumulative scores will unlock different weapons that appear in all stages. Unfortunately, there aren't different difficulty levels, so you cannot replay Stage 1 on hard to adjust for your new strong unlocks.

Final - 25/30 Great Game
It's a dark game with a lot of frustration to be had, but highly satisfying. The beginning is arguably slow story-wise, but definitely picks up and finishes with a bang during the bonus missions. Mask selection also satisfies, and gives an incentive to do better. If you enjoy playing a protagonist with questionable morality and psychological problems, then this game is up your alley.

The Last of Us (PS3)

Reviewed on PS3, available on PS3




Welcome to The Last of Us; a world ruled by a fungal infection that has turned 90% of the human race into zombies or corpses. Of the remaining humans, there is a struggle for control between the military and a resistance group called the Fireflies. Caught in the middle of all of this is our aging protagonist, Joel, and smart-mouthed sidekick, Ellie.

After an amazing prologue, we join Joel 20 years into the apocalypse. He makes his living as a smuggler, bringing contraband items in and out of quarantine zones. Distrusting of everyone and everything (save his girlfriend Tess), Joel avoids making friends and rarely spares his enemies lives. It is strongly implied that Joel has done terrible things to survive all this time. Early into the game, Joel encounters the Fireflies and is given the job to smuggle a girl named Ellie out of a quarantine zone and to a Firefly base, and thus the journey across the nation begins.

There are many open areas to explore in between tense moments.

Players will quickly realize that this is not your typical zombie-blasting survival game. This is a dark world with terrifying people and creatures around every corner. Supplies are always low, and direct confrontation with enemies is strongly discouraged. Hostile humans are smart and sneak up behind you. Infected will scream and charge when alerted - killing you quickly. Unfortunately, friendly A.I. is terrible, and they will often be standing in your way, or standing out in the open when you are trying to sneak (although this does not alert the enemy).

Combat is fluid and satisfying in nearly every situation in this game. When shooting guns or being shot, the hits feel real and both enemies and Joel will stagger or fall depending where shot. Melee combat feels intense, and Joel and enemies alike will use the environment to slam their opponent's head into corners or pin them against walls. Hold a human hostage and his allies will nervously circle you at gun point and try to talk you down. Infected will claw and snap at your face, giving but a moment's notice to react.

Enemies will fight you frantically.

Exploration is limited to certain areas, but the areas are frequent and the exploration is often rewarding. Most items found are used for crafting or upgrading, both of which are mandatory for surviving enemy encounters throughout the game. Unfortunately the crafting and upgrade choices aren't very interesting, and feels more tedious than rewarding. The weapons found in the game aren't very interesting either, but there are a good number of them at least.

The weapons and ammo system felt a little ridiculous to explain realistically. Joel eventually can have up to 9 weapons on him at once, but cannot hold more than 10-20 bullets for each gun. "Oh, I found bullets for my rifle but I've already got 10, I'm full up. Hey look a flamethrower, better put this into my pack." I understand the idea was to make ammo scarce to prevent blazing through enemies, but I would have preferred making the number of guns carried limited to 3 or 4, and forcing the player to choose between them.

Infected encounters are frantic and often result in death.

Gameplay - 10/10
There's no getting around it, The Last of Us is fun as hell if you have the patience to play through the slow and fast parts. The combat system is excellent and should be used as an example for third person shooters in the future. The weapons, upgrades, crafting, and inventory system could use some work.

Design - 10/10
The visuals in every environment are wonderful. The graphics do not look as amazing as everyone has been ranting about, but still capture the feel of every room in the game. The game sounds and subtle music are excellent and blend in well. The story and character design is excellent and one of the highest marks in the game, and will drive the players onward.

Replay - 7/10
Being a story driven game, there is only so many times you will want to replay the singleplayer. "Survivor" difficulty removes the ability to see enemies through walls, and makes for a good 2nd play. If you are a fan of multiplayer, it is included but I have not personally tried it. There are also unlockable outfits and such for both Joel and Ellie.

Final - 27/30 Amazing
This game is hands-down one of the better titles released this generation. It has its flaws, but they are easily overlooked in the midst of exploring the ravaged cities, or frantically running from a horde of infected. Be warned: it is a dark and often depressing game with a very dim light at the end of the tunnel. For those switching to Playstation in the next generation, be sure to pick up this gem as one of your introductory titles.

Recommended Buying Price: No more than 50$