NAtURAL DOCtRINEs' Terrains Become a Life Saver

NAtURAL DOCtRINEs' Terrains Become a Life Saver
  Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
 Written by Dustin Murphy

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to use the terrain around you to survive where survival seems the bleakest? NAtURAL DOCtRINE is going to do that in a brutal manner this time around. Kadowkawa Games has began to pull every little bit of attention to detail as possible in their first title in the strategy genre. Doing this will put any fan on the edge of their seat as they prepare to get their hands on the title in North America on September 23rd and September 26th for our friends in the European markets on PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4.

   NAtURAL DOCtRINE features beautiful visuals and very interesting game play that will span between the three consoles with cross-play and cross-save to back those mentioned visuals. In the world of NAtURAL DOCtRINE’s Feste, players will take on and conquer the evils that lurk within the mines just outside of the villages, this also means players will be handed the responsibility of keeping the Fortress like town of Feste alive. In the images that have recently surfaced, players will be using the environment to survive or die. This is something that not many games do. With these attentions to detail, Kadokawa Games has developed one of the most detailed Tactical RPG’s to date that could possibly be considered a champion in difficulty for the strategy genre. With monsters lurking around every corner, lava rivers in some of the mines, and hidden traps lying around; death could be imminent, so are your chances of survival. With treasures hidden around the maps as well as new paths, players will be challenged to explore, but also to pay attention to details. If not, there may be a troll or flood of enemies waiting right around the corner.

Official Information about the Game:

Seasoned explorers and novices alike venture underground into dangerous caves to collect the coveted material known as Pluton. On your first trip into the depths of these mines, your company of explorers quickly realize that things may be direr than you had imagined when you encounter a brand-new type of evil lurking below the surface. Will your band of explorers be able to defeat this new threat and warn the kingdom of their presence before it’s too late?

Square Enix E-store Sale

Square-Enix Online Store Gets a Back to School Sale

  Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

                                                              Written by Dustin Murphy

If there is anything that is a bit of a bummer, it’s going back to school. If you ask any gamer; there is nothing fun about school, but Square-Enix has come up with a way to solve that. Starting now, gamers, fans, and anyone alike can head over to the Square-Enix Online store and receive a discount of 20% on a single title. Want Drakengard 3, but also want Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Collector’s Edition for PS3)? That’s not a problem! You can get both for 30% off or if you want, get three or more games and receive up to 50% off!

What games does this include? A lot of them, but the most recognized out of the games are as follows: Drakengard 3, Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and Murdered: Soul Suspect. Those games alone are enough to cause someone to jump rather quickly at such an amazing sale. For more information regarding the sale, head on over to the Square-Enix Online Store now:
http://store.na.square-enix.com/store/

Moon Hunters Heads to Kickstarter This Week

Moon Hunters Heads to Kickstarter This Week
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Dustin Murphy

  Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

Written by Dustin Murphy

Ever wondered what else would come around the crowdfunding site Kickstarter? Everyone seems to and that’s good! As of today, we’ve learned that Square-Enix Collective and Kitfox Games have banded together in order to crowdfund Moon Hunters; a pixel-art mythology-building RPG. For those interested, starting August 26th, they can head over to Kickstarter and help fund this title! Square-Enix’s Collective is a curated platform, one that allows for developers of games to post their ideas, and you, the gamers, to choose whether or not these games should become a released title. These games are not, however, are not developed by Square-Enix, but instead, created by your very own neighbors within the gaming community. Luckily, the developers supported by Square-Enix’s Collective undergo a Team Assessment before they can begin their funding campaign to ensure that the team’s ideas are going to pan out, and they have the capability of delivering their title as Square themselves would. Not familiar with Kitfox yet? Some of you actually may know them for their critically-acclaimed title by the name of Shattered Planet. The game released on mobile platforms and Steam Store. With it having launched and become such a huge hit, they are now ready to go into full development of Moon Hunters. The problem? They need 45,000 USD in order to complete their project. Official Information from Square-Enix’s Press Release: “The team is really eager to show off what we’ve been working on and get more input from the community,” commented Tanya Short, designer on Moon Hunters. “Collective has helped us find our audience for a mythology-building RPG, getting the word out about this beautiful game we’re trying to make.” “Moon Hunters caught my eye very early on with its great visual style and design bursting with personality - and gamers echoed that with strong support during the game’s feedback campaign,” added Phil Elliott, project lead at Collective. “Since getting to know the team at Kitfox Games over the past 9 months, we’re really happy to be supporting them through their Kickstarter - we’ve learnt a great deal since Collective launched fully in April, and we’ll put all of that experience into this campaign and help the team get the best result they can.” Before crowdfunding, Kitfox Games underwent a Team Assessment from Collective, a process to assess the developer’s skills, experience and plans for use of funds. This was led by an experienced development director at Square Enix. While this is not a guarantee on the part of Square Enix that the developer will accomplish every goal they’ve set, it’s an indication that we believe they have the capability to deliver a finished product according to their stated aims. For more information regarding the Square-Enix Collective Visit: http://collective.square-enix.com/projects For more information about Moon Hunters Visit: http://www.moonhuntersgame.com/

Trials Fusion Empire of the Sky

 Ubisoft Releases Empire of the Sky for Trials Fusion

  Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

Written by Justin DeMaio - PSN ID: CorePuncher

    I almost named this article “Ubisoft Releases Another Controller-Smashing DLC” or “Ubisoft Releases Another DLC That’ll Make you Quit Gaming” but I decided against that. Ubisoft released another Trials Fusion map pack called “Empire of The Sky”. This is their 2^nd of six playable downloadable content packs for Trials Fusion. Coming on the heels of “Riders of the Rustlands”, which was the first DLC released for Trials Fusion, “Empire of the Sky” is very similar in terms of layout and just as challenging, if not more. Some games you’re just good at and some games you’re not and I have concluded that I am just simply not good at Trials Fusion. I can get towards the tops of leaderboards on easier difficulty tracks but when it comes to the Hard and Extreme difficulty tracks, I fail and fail again. I’m sure Ubisoft had this in mind when designing these tracks but I just can’t believe that they wanted someone to fault 200 times and still not be able to get past a particular obstacle.  By the way, I did finally get past that one I’m referring to but trust me, there are plenty more to come and some that are way more difficult. Trials Fusion is a great game, don’t get me wrong, but I am either missing something or just not very good at the game, plain and simple. 

   You can pick up this latest DLC track pack (like that?) for $4.99 or for free if you’re a Season Pass holder. “Empire of the Sky” brings new tracks, challenges, editor objects, and trophies. The maps have more of a futuristic design; even one has limited gravity so you kind of float, which is very cool. In total, there are nine new tracks which include one Supercross track, one Skill Game, and one FMX track. Some of the new editor objects include anti-gravity technology, force fields, and floating platforms to help you create some mind-blowing tracks. User created tracks is one of Trials Fusion’s best features.

   While I can’t spend hours upon hours playing Trials Fusion before starting to go crazy, it’s still an excellent game to pick up maybe once or twice a week and play for a little bit. It’s a great change-of-pace game and I look forward to what new and exciting tracks and features that Ubisoft can bring to the game.

PlayStation Network Hit By DDoS Attacks

PlayStation Network Hit by DDoS Attacks

  Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
 Written by Dustin Murphy

 With gaming, web browsing, streaming shows, or movies, there’s always that bit of a bump in the internet. Sometimes it’s the service getting overloaded with requests or the ISP unable to keep up with them, but sometimes there’s something more sinister, a group of bored people. As of the past twenty four to forty eight hours, multiple gaming services, and companies have been hit with DDoS attacks. Their games have been rendered offline, extremely slow, or unable to process enough data for everyone to connect. We have heard from multiple support accounts on twitter such as Blizzard Customer Service (@BlizzardCS), PlayStation Customer Service (@AskPlayStation), and even rumours going around that League of Legends as well other services were taken down last night and earlier today (august 23rd and 24th).

However, there are reports coming in that many of the services are beginning to stabilize. So far all services affected have stated that the “attackers” did not obtain any information or personal details. As far as it has been reported, this has simply been a server outage and won’t have any long term effects once the companies get everything up and running back to normal. We’ll report on this if anything else changes from what we do know.

Citizens of Earth Pushed to November

Citizens Earth Gets a New Election Month!
  Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
 Written by Dustin Murphy

If you are like me, this game looks like it’s going to be amazing! Playing in a JRPG world as the Vice President of Earth who needs their help! Unfortunately, due to him having spent some of his funding, we have to wait an extra month, but fear not! His election is on its way and we will be able to experience it for 14.99 USD and will be available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and PC. For those wondering, the countdown is coming to an end! Will you be able to stop the Vice President from his leisurely activities since he is seemingly relaxing as we await his appearance on our handheld and home consoles?

 For those who were a bit bummed about the delay, don’t feel down! The game will feature a 30+ hour campaign that plays like a classic JRPG, in both the world and play style! So get ready, prepare those consoles or handhelds, and get prepared for the most entertaining election of your life! 

 

 Stay tuned for our upcoming review this Holiday Season!

Far Cry 4 – An Introduction to Kyrat

 Far Cry 4 – An Introduction to Kyrat

Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

Written by Aaron Johnson 

In the most recent trailers for Far Cry 4, we are shown the fictional country of Kyrat in all of its splendor and glory. These are just glimpses of the vast landscapes we are to tackle in the next Far Cry. From high up in the Himalayan Mountains to the valleys in between, you will be exploring the country while a bloody civil war wages on that has split the country’s people in two with the imposter king Pagan Minn fueling the flames of this war. While exploring, you’ll come across animals never seen in a Far Cry game, like elephants with which you can mount and ride, just like at the circus. But this “circus” is none like you have ever seen; tigers mauling people to death, elephants stampeding into enemy cars or men, flying around the mountain side in a squirrel suit, keeping the wildlife in check, and visiting the spiritual world of Shangri La in your mind. Everything in Kyrat has the potential to be deadly, so tread lightly, explore everything, and try to keep your wits intact.

Another cool feature on Far Cry 4 happens to be the Keys to Kyrat, which are ten unique codes that can be given to anyone on your friends list that will enable them to join in on some multiplayer action for 2 hours per key, even if they don’t own the game themselves, I’m sure you will be able to give multiple keys to one friend, if that’s what you choose to do with your ten keys. I feel that this is exactly what Sony has in mind for their Share Play initiative and this is just testing the waters to see how well it works using the Gaikai technology that they acquired back in 2012 since the Keys to Kyrat are only available on the PS4 at this time.

Dead lsland 2 Gameplay reveal

Dead Island 2 Game-play Reveal

 Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Aaron Johnson

Sunshine and slaughter in beautiful, sunny California, a place where you may play with zombies all day or mutilate them rather. The newest Dead Island 2 trailer is full of game-play, but mind you its pre alpha, so who knows what will end up in the final game. Anyway, the game-play looks AMAZING! The trailer showcases the many different ways to kill a zombie from hacking off limbs with a fire axe to freezing them solid and shattering them to bits, one of my favorites was the weed whacker with a propeller on the end. Everything looked very smooth and fluid, from running a zombie through with a machete to stomping a head into the ground. You can tell the great folks over at Yager (the people making the game) have put a good amount of effort to make the experience unique compared to other zombie shooters. I want more Dead Island 2 now, but I know that’s not going to happen. I believe Yager and Deep Silver have a great IP and hope to see it continue in the direction it is moving.

Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragments Set to Release Next Week

Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragments Set to Release Next Week!
Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Josh Turner 

 Words cannot begin to express the level of excitement and hype I have for this game. You can ask any of my co-workers that have had the unfortunate experience of interacting with me the past few weeks.  All I talk about is SAO! SAO is an acronym for Sword Art Online, and unless you don’t follow anime or manga, you should have already known this. The series centers on an idea we have all toyed with at one time or another; what if we could play our video games from the inside? What if you and I WERE our characters, living out our actions and mistakes? Simple enough concepts, but it goes so much further from there.

During the launch of the game, players quickly find themselves locked in the game, unable to log off. It seems the creator of the game purposely locked the players within the world and has made it where if they die in the game. Their VR Nervegear will send out a high powered electrical shock frying their brains and ending their lives. The story follows Kirito, a young boy who has been playing this game since its beta phase, giving him a leg up on the competition, quickly earning him the title of a “Beater” (A Beta tester who withholds useful information for his own gain) among other players. Kirito has one simple goal, beat the game by clearing all 100 floors and save as many lives as he possibly can.

The reason I went into such detail around the story is this game and the show are one in the same. From all the pictures and early release data that have been gathered, you’ll be playing through Arc 1 and possibly Arc 2 (think seasons 1 and 2). Also worth noting is the inclusion of the original PSP Japan-only released SAO: Infinity Moment, which is getting a full graphical face lift for its re-release.

Even though this game is built off of an MMO’s premise, this is primarily a single player journey. However, there is local AD-HOC Multiplayer for up to four other players. Don’t fret, even though this is a single-player game set in a MMO’s universe, the developers have set out to make sure that all NPC’s interact and react as if they were living breathing players as well. 

You’ll also be able to interact with key plot characters throughout the game like Asuna, Leafa, and many more in and outside of combat. Battles in this game are meant to be as fast paced and high octane as their show counterparts. Players will have to master systems like Switch, Bursts, and Sword Skills in hopes of conquering all 100 floors and returning home safely!

Look for Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragments to be released this coming Tuesday on the PS Vita’s digital marketplace!

Capcom Announces Resident Evil Remake

Capcom Announces Resident Evil Remake 
  Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
 Written by Dustin Murphy

Have you ever wanted a reason to return to the Arklay Mountains and the Arklay Mansion where a horrible experiment went wrong? We know that Resident Evil has been a title that has been remade, remastered, and re-released on multiple platforms, and this is not surprising; it’s a classic. What we do know is that the terror is real, with its HD remake heading to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC. Unfortunately, we are surprised to not hear anything about it heading to the Wii U or even Linux, but we can only assume that this may happen in the future or that there just isn’t a presentable market at this time. Resident Evil is expected to release digitally across North America and Europe in Early 2015. Perhaps for those who do not have internet, they can expect a physical release to be announced at a later date.

 With having become one of the most popular franchises of all time, the Resident Evil series has smashed through 61 million units and counting to this date. What does this mean? That the game has received a critically acclaimed acknowledgement as a masterpiece, and will remain so for all time, with how much acknowledgement it carries. With having been “remade” back in 2002, players experienced new upgrades from graphics to game-play, clear to the new visual elements. These were things that earned the game a rather heavy nod once again. This time around, they aim to do so for both fans new and old to the series. With these upgrades, many of us hope to see the original clunky controls return, but the capability to switch between clunky and modernized controls (like those we experienced in Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6) would be a great option. Either way, will be welcomed if we get to see the re-visit we had seen in 2002, but also the original trip in 1996 on PlayStation.

 With new age technology having come forth, Capcom plans on using the newest/latest resolution enhancements and 3D model technology in order to upgrade the games resolution, textures, and even the atmosphere, so that the game itself feels more alive, more realistic, and even more like what we’d expect when experiencing the events of Resident Evil. Think that’s all? No, not at all. Zombies, crows, and even hunters will be experienced in fully remastered  5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Players will also be able to experience the game in the original 4:3 screen ratio or the new and so far, beautiful 16:9 widescreen mode which will let the game be experienced in all of its HD remastered glory.

 There are several things that have been left to question and hopefully they will be answered soon. Will the original voice track be left intact? Will the original voice acting be there? If so and a new one is used, can we experience both new and old? There are things such as this that has yet to be revealed, but one thing has been, control schemes. For players wanting to play the title in the old school classic mode, this is actually fully possible. This will allow players to use the original d-pad in order to control Jill, but will also allow players to use the analog stick in order to control the character, which puts it in tandem with many current age games. The schemes for both screen ratio and control can be changed in-game at any given time.

Official Information Regarding Resident Evil:

 The intense horror fans first experienced with the release of the original Resident Evil is back. Taking place in the now notorious Raccoon City, players will choose to take on the role of either S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) team member Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, who has been sent into the city to find the missing Bravo team. When the team is suddenly attacked by a ferocious group of mutated dogs, desperate for an escape, they take shelter in the Mansion, but will they ever get out alive again? Players will need to be brave as they venture through the dark, enclosed spaces searching out the horrors that await them. With limited ammo and survival items available, gamers will need to keep their wits about them to survive the various traps and puzzles that greet them at every stage.

Atlus Citizens of Earth article

Atlus U.S.A., inc. Reveals Citizens of Earth

Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

 Written by Dustin Murphy

Ever wonder what would happen in an RPG when the guy with the right intentions possibly goes a bit on the dirty side? In Citizens of Earth we get to see that! In this title, the Vice President of the World has muddied up his hands in order to save his people. By doing this, we mean that if one thing went wrong with his appearance, he’d look bad - really bad. We’re talking so bad that he’d look like he had just gone to a bad barber! In Citizens of Earth we learn that you, the player, will help him recruit a population in order to help the Vice President out. In the terms of helping him out, you’ll be fighting all his fights so that he doesn’t have to.

In this title the masses will not recruit easy, instead players will have to work hard, ask the people to help, and even possibly help make it so that his political party is staffed with the everyday average Joe. Who are these people possibly being recruiting or how? Simple; help them. For example that Atlus has given us, help the Cat Lady find her cats, help a conspiracy theorist find out some info by giving it to him, or perhaps maybe helping someone out in a way that suits their needs.

Citizens of Earth will be available on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, and 3DS this October. Price and release date are not stated at this time, but go check out http://atlus.com/citizensofearth for more information!

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7dB-oeXPM

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors News

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors News

Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

Written by: Jesse Olvera (Co-Founder)

 The Legend of Zelda has been around for well over 25 years, Hyrule Warriors will be taking a break from the standard formula of a Zelda game, but instead give us what the fans have been asking for, a dynasty warriors style game. We still get the adventure mode which feels like a general Zelda game, which is an action adventure game, with a few puzzles thrown into the mix. Hyrule Warriors is strictly an action adventure game, but will allow gamers to play as their favorite characters, that they have always wanted to play as. Newly introduced characters like Ganondorf, Midna, Zant, Fi, Darunia, and Princess Ruto will allow fans to show off their skills with these characters, like never before. There will be DLC for Pre-ordering through Gamestop, which is Ocarina of Time, and if you go through Amazon, it will be Twilight Princess. For more information regarding Hyrule Warriors, stay tuned to Blast Away The Game Review.

Mario Kart 8 Gets New Three New Cars in Upcoming Update

Mario Kart 8 to Get New Cars in August 27th Update

Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

Written by Dustin Murphy

Does your inner racer have enough options for vehicles to use, in Mario Kart 8? If not, we have some information from Nintendo, and this will surely be exciting. On August 27th, 2014; players will be able to get the Mario Kart 8 update on the Wii U, which will include new features and allow the ability to obtain three new free vehicles through the in-game download options. The three vehicles that will be released are the Mercedes-Benz GLA, the 300 SL Roadster from the 1950’s, and the well-known legendary Silver Arrow from the 1930’s. Let alone are these being released, but as of today, players can now obtain Super Mario Kart on the Wii U for 7.99 USD on the eShop to celebrate with for those who never experienced the original title.

Other features that are also coming in the update include access to the new “Mercedes Cup” in game and found in the online tournament sections. The other changes include the ability to display the course map on screen during races, the order of which the menu will be displayed so that it shows “Next Race”, as well as “Watch Highlight Reel”. Players will also remember the most recent kart options you have selected, even if you’ve shut your Wii U down for the time being. Players can change the options of how other players’ Mario Kart TV downloaded reels will show up, this includes the ability to focus on other characters or actions.

A score screen will be added so players can see how many coins they’ve collected, as well as their own win-loss record, for their online battles including their most frequented characters. This update includes stability improvements when playing online to help players have an enhanced experience, which many are excited for.

For more information about Mario Kart 8, visit http://mariokart8.nintendo.com/

Review: The Last of Us: Remastered - A Beautiful Apocalypse - Part 2

The Last of Us: Remastered - A Beautiful Apocalypse - Part 2

Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page

Written by Dustin Murphy

Editors Note: This is a 2 part review, done by 2 team members, our Writer extraordinaire, Josh Turner & our Founder, Dustin Murphy. This is part one, done by Josh Turner

Pros:

• Unlocked Frame Rate that Stays Near 60fps at 1080p at all times
• Graphics are more detailed and livelier than ever
• Online multiplayer has seemingly been re-tuned for the next gen console
• Characters are more believable than before, as well as their environments
• The original game remains intact, and is refined
• Collectibles still remain very well hidden and fun to find
• Multiplayer items have been added for more, and higher, rates of customization

Cons:

• Multiplayer match finding seems to take a bit longer than normal
• For frame rate junkies, there are dips in some areas, but it doesn’t last long
• Enemies still remain hard for newcomers and will provide a hefty challenge
• Some weapons are extremely over powered in multiplayer and do need reworked

Final Verdict: 9 out of 10

Final Thoughts: As much as the Zombie-Type genre has been overloaded, The Last of Us is one of those entries that breaths a new fresh breath into the genre. It’s one that offers an emotional trek, across the United States, with Joel and his foul-mouthed, joke-filled partner, Ellie. In their adventure, players will get to revisit, once seemingly, lush environments, but this time they are more believable than before. With no zoom in resolution changes or pixilation and higher particle density, the world is much more alive, and much more realistic than before. This isn’t just a mere-remake, but a pure re-imagining, but with the original fully intact. No changes were made, except under the games hood itself. For those wanting multiplayer, they are not left behind at all, the game features all previously released content.

-Campaign-

 When saying this is the campaign portion, you’d expect this to be about the story, but instead, many of you have possibly played the original and know what’s going on. Some of you have not, but the problem is: spoilers. That is one thing that makes discussing the campaign difficult, but at the same time, keeps the game fresh as possible. This portion will instead be about the performance changes, the enhancements that have been made, but also some of the things that still need fixed from the predecessor. 

 The Last of Us as we know changed the way the Zombie-genre could be seen. The game implied limited ammo, difficult enemies, puzzles, slow-paced moments that made the heart pound inside your chest, and ‘abilities’ that Joel and Ellie possessed to make them unique. This time around, we are given the idea that the game itself has been enhanced, and it has. When playing the title during intense action scenes, the frame rate was smooth, not that thirty frames a second smooth, but the sixty frames per second kind, which made combat much easier to go through. Aiming guns seemed precise, and not delayed due to the limitations the hardware gave it. This was a problem in the original since players would have to be concerned about a frame rate drop, and possibly miss their shot, only to suffer the consequences. With the Remastered Edition, this is something that has yet to be experienced, even with the sequences sometimes being filled with enemies, particle effects, and animations that would, otherwise, have slowed the PS3 to a crawl versus the PS4’s powerhouse, that backs it. For many of you, you may recall the spore filled hallways, water-filled tunnels, and the lighting effects that took place to give the game that realistic feel to it. Guess what? That’s been enhanced too now.

 Thanks to Naughty Dog, we are able to see something a bit more interesting when exploring the vast lands, of the United States, during Ellie and Joel’s travels. Many will be able to point out the fact that in one of the starting scenes, Joel and Tess are exploring the outer city limits, which have been blocked off by the remaining government based forces. When having explored the area. I was capable of seeing the world, as if I’d never seen it before. It wasn’t that watered down and layer-mapped area that sometimes had flickering leaves and water animations, instead it was if I had seen the world Naughty Dog created for the first time. Water moved, with Joel’s steps, the grass seemingly pushed down beneath his feet, and even the snow, in some of the later stages, left foot prints for enemies and me to track. This was what began to make the game a bit more unique than before. One of the levels players explore, a building is collapsing and they have to make their way through it, but with the infected, this was a challenge. In this stage, I got to see one of the biggest advances, in graphics, in the game, thanks to the use of flashlights, Joel’s listening ability, and the random debris that floats within the air quite often. This was something I was not expecting, and highly applaud the team for. 

 With all the changes having been made under the hood, players can truly expect the game to be astonished with many of the graphical upgrades, but also amazed that everything remained intact, in this transition. The game has not seen any changes from where hidden secrets were, how puzzles were performed, or anything. Players are seeing what I could consider a true HD remake of all the games content.

-Multiplayer-

 Want a good reason to take the fight online between Hunters and Fireflies? In the multiplayer, players will choose a faction, unfortunately, from what has been experienced, factions can’t be changed immediately, but only after completing a “12 weeks” type situation within the multiplayer itself. These weeks can be completed through the three game modes available: Survivors, Interrogation, and Supply Raid. Unfortunately, both Supply Raid and Survivors are team death match type modes, but survivors; being the one without respawns.

 Much like the campaign, the multiplayer features all the campaigns creatable items such as: bombs, first aid kits, smoke bombs, cocktails, shivs, and my personal favorite, melee weapon upgrades. All of these function in multiplayer just like they do in campaign. Each is brutal, powerful, and gives a heavy tactical advantage, depending on the play style.

 Like in most multiplayer titles, The Last of Us features a class building system, which allows players to choose weapons, feats, and “weaponry buys”, which they can access through kills and resources. These perks do get stronger, but cost more slots within your custom classes. These upgraded perks will give you an edge against your enemies. However, do note that it doesn’t change your chances for survival or even how powerful you are against them, which is based on pure talent, weapon chance, and teamwork. Thankfully the maps all play to each play style, and allow for players to enjoy the game how they want to, gladly setting up combat scenarios, no one player would expect For snipers, you may not be able to use your stamina to listen for them, as they may have a feat not allowing themselves to be spotted, you may not be able to even hear them at all for that matter when wanted, or needed. The only thing that may give them away might be the flare off their scope. The multiplayer does require a lot of teamwork, and coordination, in order to survive the requirements for a players “village”. 

 Players will be required to meet certain requirements, in order to keep their survivors happy, and also take on special scenarios, via weapon kills, wins, losses, and or gatherings, in order to keep their survivor population up, in order to make it past the twelve weeks mark. This is something that makes getting a high population difficult as the attacks, raids, and such goes up, and also come in seemingly higher frequencies.

 Overall, The Last of Us Remastered is a true masterpiece and deserves to be recognized as a host, to the once upon a time, Game of the Year title, which earned more than two hundred Game of the Year Awards. This one sets itself up there, if not higher, on the expectations players have. For those wanting to experience it, The Last of Us Remastered is now available physically at all major retailers and digitally through the PlayStation Store and requires approximately 50 GB’s of hard drive for both multiplayer and single player portions. For digital, memory requirements may vary based on what portions are downloaded.