I'm still playing 'The Last Of Us' MP

Comebacks in this game are chest beaters!

 

I'm down to my last few bullets, i've taken refuge behind some dumpsters behind an abandoned restaurant near the corner of the map. Its myself and 2 teammates left against 10. I'm jacked! My heart is hammering in my chest as i wrack my brain for a good strategy for getting out of this alive. I can see the red bogies on the mini-map heading for me from 3 different directions.I check my backpack and yup, i got no parts to spend, cant even afford armor. I can see one coming around the corner...he passes me, i have the 'covert' perk and he cant see me! I lean out and brain him with my last few revolver bullets. Now they all know where i am....fuck!! Where the hell is my team??

Just as i'm about to get rushed and go down swinging my team shows up and shivs the guy from behind, he heals me (i had nothing left at all) and gifts me a molly (moltov). At this point i can't believe i survived that. Myself and the remaining survivors regroup at a cache box and we end up winning the game.

This game is the BALLS!!! and I think i've figured out what's kept me coming back to this game on the regular for years, across two systems, since it came out.

A lot of multiplayer games i just can't get into, maybe its my reaction speed, im 32 now and my fingers aren't as wizardly quick as they use to be. My cat like speed and reflexes are waning. MP games generally  move waaaay too fast for me to care about anything that's happening or the learning curve is so steep that i mid-as well be stranded and starving somewhere on K2 frozen and alone. So now i just don't even bother. Spawning and being instantly murdered no longer appeals to me. Hyping up a game with your friends by saying "Oh man, its a fucking amazing game....but the learning curve is pretty steep though" isn't an encouraging review.

What 'TLOU' has taught me is that pacing in a videogame is everything. One of the features of this game in particular that keeps me coming back is it's perfectly paced for me. I can breathe and think and work with my team.  I can duck out of situations that look dangerous and regroup someplace else. Crafting is intense, especially if you don't have the 'crafter' perk. You have to stop, press a button to take your pack off and physically make a Molotov with the supplies you've gathered during the round. All this is happening, usually, while you can see some asshole creeping up on you. The gameplay corners your brain into strategy mode by way of suspense.

The timing and spacing of this game allows for those tense moments. Naughty Dog has made a multiplayergame with consistent tension and they did it by simply slowing the game down and providing very few resources so as to cause the player to stop and thing about what to do next. Its simple, genius, and absolutely a pleasure to play.

Another reason i come back is the online community of players. Ive rarely me a group of people who genuinely care about playing as a team. Sure there's the stoned idiot every once in a while but he/she means well!?  A great example of a strong online community is when a new player happens to be on your team. Instead of 'noobing' him to death or leaving him to get dead most players will walk them through the basics or have them tail them to show them the maps. Its really cool i continuously see new, low level players online, its great to see the community still growing after all these years.

Ill leave you with a video from youtuber 'EatMyDiction1' of his games as an example of how gentleman play MP games and actually enjoy themselves. Pay attention kids this is how you have fun and work together.