PS4

The Last of Us – A Late Review

September 5, 2016 General Technology

I’ve never been so stressed and nervous playing games ever, as I have been with The Last of Us – Remastered on PS4 lately. This has drastically changed my perspective on gaming and so I decided to share my thoughts through this blog post. The Last of Us (TLOU) released on the PS3 by Naughty Dog in 2013 and the PS4 in 2014, I couldn’t play it on the PS3 for reasons that I will describe later in this post but I’m so glad that I picked it up for the PS4.

Naughty Dog launched the mind-blowing and one of my favourites Uncharted 4 in 2016, which is an open world thriller and action-adventure title. In contrast, when I played TLOU I couldn’t bear the thought that it required me to work in stealth to progress in the game. The semantics for Uncharted were quite simple and linear but not with TLOU and that left me disappointed on the PS3. When I started playing the Remastered version (that’s what they call it for the PS4) I looked at it from a new perspective with no comparison with Uncharted, and that’s how it became more enjoyable for me.

The Runners, Clickers, Bloaters are without a doubt the worst characters to face in The Last of Us. Runners are still fine as mêlée attacks will overpower them but I have problems with the Clickers who can overrun you at the slightest noise. The Bloaters are the worst looking and the toughest of the group of infected creatures and I realised very late (after several ‘deaths’) how to defeat them. There’s a specific strategy to defeat these guys individually, or you may just use stealth tactics to go ahead further in the game. But at some point eventually, I’m left with no choice but to face their grunts and horrible attacks. It’s the worst situation in this game, one which I couldn’t come to terms with on the PS3 version.

One of my favourite features in the game is ‘crafting’. You could be creating medicines for yourself (Joel) or mêlée weapons or Shivs (sort of dagger to kill Clickers). To craft any of the items I must constantly scan the surroundings for items like scissors or adhesive tapes or antiseptic and so on. It’s wonderful to note how the game will change for better or worse if you continuously engage or fail to engage in exploring the vicinity for items. I have kept searching for Firefly pendants as well with zero luck. There are Artefacts and Manuals too which will help you to upgrade your weapons and skills, it’s a narrative relevant to a post-apocalyptic world and one which hits you hard when you consider the devastating effects of climate change on the environment. The game’s AI engine is also very sensitive to your moves and will change the gameplay often and keep you immersed.

It’s a great game, and if you own a PS4 you must own a copy. Moving on, let’s see how I can settle my score with the Hunters now.

Uncharted 4 – A Perspective

May 18, 2016 Design Photos Technology

It’s the last installment in the Uncharted series of Nathan Drake’s treasure hunting adventures and gun fights, and this time, Naughty Dog has pushed the gameplay and the graphics beyond imagination. The hype was on a mammoth scale for the final farewell to one of gaming history’s most exciting franchises. By the way, this isn’t a review for Uncharted 4, it’s just my perspective on the gameplay and the graphics for the title. It also made me go for my first PS4 – the Limited Edition Uncharted 4 bundle.

I just finished Chapter 8, and there was plenty of energy, mind-boggling puzzles and enough stress for surviving in a fighting situation, an anticipated feature of the gameplay anyway. Collecting hidden treasures of course (and fretting over the missed ones usually) but I’ve somewhat become a pro at this one. Apart from the intense gun fights Uncharted 4 has added an exciting crouch-movement in stealth mode too. The stealth move was present in previous titles too but has greater significance in Uncharted 4. So when you are surrounded by tall grass you can remain undetected to a group of mercenaries and take them down quietly to avoid a full-fledged gun battle. Watch for the stealth meter as it fills from White (about to be detected) to Yellow (something suspicious and investigating) and finally Orange (you’re screwed, dude!).

Uncharted takes you on a virtual holiday around the world and I absolutely can’t wait to play the next chapters in Uncharted 4 to see how the adventure takes me to other locales — I know the Madagascar map is awesome from the promos. When it’s Uncharted it’s been a norm to play the title more than once to absorb the story and the gameplay.

I just wish that this isn’t the last title in the series but that seems likely. The Internet is talking about Naughty Dog’s willingness about the development of the Uncharted series with a different studio. A serious gamer once told me the series would continue but with a new character. I don’t want to speculate though I wish Sony doesn’t pull the trigger on one of its most successful titles.

Finally, I will post some Uncharted 4 game screen captures. Enjoy the vivid landscapes while it lasts. The graphics quality is just jaw-dropping.

Also, au revoir to Nathan Drake!

Uncharted 4-1

Uncharted 4-3

Uncharted 4-2Uncharted 4-5Uncharted 4-6Uncharted 4-7

 

Further Reading:
Could Uncharted 5 Actually Happen? Here’s What The Director Says
Naughty Dog Creative Director, Neil Druckmann, weighs his opinion on a possible fifth franchise title. Interesting read.
A Brain Dump of What I Worked on for Uncharted 4
Ming-Lun Chou worked on the programming of Uncharted 4 at Naughty Dog. This is a brilliant post on the behind-the-scenes of the game (to avoid any spoilers, I will read this after I complete the game). You can also see some game graphics in his blog post.

PlayStation Virtual Reality

November 7, 2015 Design Technology

The Paris Games Week (PGW) concluded last week and I watched the PlayStation media event.

What has fascinated me from the beginning with the PlayStation (PS) console is the ‘Uncharted’ (UC) and ‘InFamous’ titles. ‘Uncharted – Among Thieves’ was the first title (Part 2 in the series actually) that I got my hands on , and I was completely stunned with the gameplay and the graphics. It’s much like watching a movie actually. After that I have played almost all the ‘Uncharted’ titles to date. The much anticipated ‘Uncharted 4 – A Thief’s End’ was announced at the PGW to be released on 18-March 2016, it’s the last title in this ambitious series. The sadness over its culmination has overtaken the excitement from the launch. Guerrilla Games’ ‘Horizons Zero Dawn’ was good in terms of gameplay.

But the highlight of the event for me was definitely the demonstration of PlayStation VR. While Facebook has longterm goals for Oculus, Sony has already announced some terrific exclusive titles like ‘Robinson – The Journey’ for the VR platform, and many others. Looks like VR may finally become a mainstream reality soon and can’t wait to get my hands on it.

PS4 20th Anniversary Limited Edition

Go, Gone, Poof!

December 16, 2014 Technology

If you’re fretting and fuming over losing the chance to buy the PS4 20th Anniversary Limited Edition console today in Canada, I’d suggest DON’T! I am sure there’s a long line of Canadians doing just that over the last few hours. Sony commemorated 20 years of the launch of the PSOne by producing one great PS4 console design calling it the “PS4 20th Anniversary Limited Edition”, LIMITED in true sense of the word not just marketing gimmickry. Since the original PSOne was launched on 3-Dec or 12/3 they decided to produce only 12,300 of the PS4s worldwide. Just 12,300 can you believe it!! (lucky they didn’t go for just 123 pieces because that’d have been awkward).

The Japanese were the first to get their hands on this rare masterpiece on 3-Dec-14, and the Canadians today and I was keeping an eye on @PlaystationCA in the hope of some early news of this rare console launch. Here’s how I had hoped things would have worked – the tweet would have included a future date and a time when the link would go online on Sony’s online store, I would stay prepared with my CC and boom! But this happened today when I was away from my notebook for just 10 minutes only. Now I wasn’t told that the link would come and go *poof* within minutes. That’s insanity!

PlaystationCA Tweet

And I can’t even say I was “too late” because when I returned things had changed drastically in a matter of minutes! (I almost cursed myself “what was I doing in those 10 minutes?”)

PlaystationCA Tweet

 

So I resign to the fact that with just 12,300 units worldwide it was practically impossible to get my hands on one of them. Congrats to everyone who could buy it. Kudos to you. I am really envious, just so you know.

Here’s what I have to tell Sony though – you always disappoint me. Be it the incessant hacking of your servers (this has now become like an annual hacker party where everybody’s invited) where my privacy is compromised, or the multiple account ID issues on PS Vita/PSN. And now losing the chance of acquiring a masterpiece, a collector’s item which got you fixated on the launch date. Agreed you had to commemorate the launch of the console but getting serious about a number (12/3) that practically makes no sense WORLDWIDE when you consider the colossal gamer community Playstation has! (the ones who supported you by buying your PS consoles and titles for 20 long years!). It’s so pitiful to know that you had to celebrate this memorable gaming moment with your fans with only 12,300 units! Tsk tsk.