The Last of Usis well known for being dark and gritty. Both the story and combat are intense experiences that keep the player on the edge of their seat until the next encounter. With that said, the originalThe Last of Usmultiplayer mode, titled Factions, took away some tense combat in favor of a more relaxed environment. Factions did well as a nice change of pace from the main game, but since Naughty Dog announced that the nextThe Last of Usmultiplayer adventure will be its own standalone title, it would benefit from creating a more gripping experience.
Multiplayer modes in story-driven games often find it difficult to maintain the theme and structure of the story while also providing a worthwhile multiplayer experience. Naughty Dog is definitely creating a challenge for itself by promisinga multiplayer game set inThe Last of Us’ worldthat is story driven. In order to capture the tense and unforgiving nature of the previous titles, Naughty Dog may want to look into adopting features from other successful, hardcore multiplayer games, such asEscape From Tarkov.
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What Makes Escape From Tarkov So Intense
Escape From Tarkovis a unique blend of realistic FPSand survival. The game has gained quite the following in recent years because of its challenging mechanics, tense firefights, and addictive loot system. The main draw ofEscape From Tarkovis how it combines different elements from popular multiplayer games and implements them in a way that entices players to continue to explore the world and challenge other players, even if it means risking all the gear they have accrued.
The combat inEscape From Tarkovis hyper-realistic, which comes with both positive and negative effects. Players do not have a HUD or any sort of aim assist, aside from the sights on their weapons, and must navigate the world of enemy players while also being careful not to hurt teammates, as friendly fire is always on. Every shot counts inEscape From Tarkovbecause ammunition, weapons, and healing items are scarce resources, and each part of a character’s body can be damaged individually and must be healed with specific healing items, so there is no miracle cure that automatically heals a player fully.
The scarcity of resources and player vulnerability makes strategy andplanning a priority inEscape From Tarkov, especially when survivability is made even more difficult by requiring players to maintain food and water levels, similar to other survival games such asRust. Not only do players have to keep an eye out for enemies, but they must also ensure they are staying fed and hydrated, or else they could succumb to a natural death.
The main goal inEscape From Tarkovis for players to accumulate a stockpile of resources and escape each raid with their life. If players are able to successfully escape, they keep their loot for the next raid and effectively have an advantage over other players. Since enemies are always looming around each corner waiting to hunt down players and take their loot, the game is full of adrenaline and a constant sense of dread, but that is part of the reason whyEscape From Tarkovis such an intense and thrilling experience.
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What The Last of Us Multiplayer Can Learn from Escape From Tarkov
BecauseEscape From Tarkovis solely a multiplayer game, it does not have to expand upon a story or create any sort of connections, which grants it much more freedom to create its own unique experience. However, sinceThe Last of Usis so heavily story-focused, it needs to walk the line between staying true to its roots and creating a compelling multiplayer experience. Fortunately, much ofThe Last of Us’ story focuses on scarce resources and survivability, andEscape From Tarkovhas laid down a blueprint that Naughty Dog could follow.
The newThe Last of Usmultiplayer gamewill likely share some similarities with the previous Factions game mode, but it could also raise the stakes and create a more realistic challenge. Previous iterations ofThe Last of Ushad players searching for pieces of scrap to improve weapons, create tools or armor, and effectively gain an advantage over the enemy.Escape From Tarkovalso encourages scavenging and hoarding materials, but makes it more worthwhile by having each item mean something – possibly the difference between life and death in the next firefight.The Last of Usshould make its scrap and looting system more closely resemble a survival game, in which each piece of equipment or scrap found is crucial.
Escape From Tarkovis not a battle royale, but it does play similarly to one. The combat in battle royales is intense and fast-paced because it usually means one of the parties involved is going to lose the match, andEscape From Tarkovmirrors this intensity by making players vulnerable and using a large space in which firefights could be sparse, but each encounter is quick and deadly. The main game ofThe Last of Usfollows a similar formula, with enemies usually spread out and moving tactically between areas of cover so players never know when the next attack may be. The multiplayer could therefore create spaced-out, tense firefights that may take a while to begin, but once they start, it becomes a heated skirmish where one well-placed shot could determine the victor.
Though it isunlikelyThe Last of Usmultiplayer would adopt survival featuressuch as food and water intake, the game could create an extra layer of danger through other means that are more on par with previous games. BecauseThe Last of Ushas players going against human and infected enemies, the multiplayer could include a type of PvE that has players facing off against each other while also attempting to either evade or eliminate the infected. The hunger and thirst levels inEscape From Tarkovact as an unsuspecting danger in the background that could eliminate a player if they are not cautious, and the infected inThe Last of Usmultiplayer could provide a similar threat.
Escape From Tarkovis the definitive culmination of realism in both survival and FPS games, and it has created a unique experience that ultimately presents itself as a very intense and exciting experience.The Last of Ushas curated some of the most gripping and heart-stopping storylinesand third-person combat in modern gaming, but its multiplayer rendition has lost some charm. With that said, it makes absolute sense forThe Last of Usto adopt features from a gritty multiplayer title such asEscape From Tarkovand introduce them in its new multiplayer game to create a more realistic and extreme challenge.
AThe Last of Usmultiplayer game is in development.
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