It was mildly disturbing, yes, but I think that was one of the great parts about it. Every hit felt heavy, and even snapping the dudes neck wasn't nearly as easy as portrayed in the typical video game, which, while expected, was great nonetheless. I went nuts when the guy got shot in the the face with the shotgun because of how fucking brutal it was.

@Dagbiker said:

Was this the same demo I saw, were a few seconds earlier that guy was going to shoot you and your daughter?

You raise a good point, but she is not his daughter. Still applies though.

On-topic; while the internet has totally desensitized me to violence, especially animated, it still feels distinctly more humanized than in most games. I like the implied choices between survival, resource management and morality. Adds a whole new layer to fight or flight when you're running out of food, so to speak.

I actually appreciate the approach to authentic violence the game is taking. It's far more immersive than the torture porn most so-called mature games resort to.

They did mention in an anterview that you would get the option to sneak past people often. But at the cost of not getting their resources.

"Anyone else disturbed a bit?"

Nope. Game looks amazing. Literally the only thing from E3 that got me excited.

I've worked my way through Max Payne 3. My skin is a little thicker I guess, still it boiled own to the usual video game morality of 2 kinds of ppl in this world, those who didn't really deserve it, and those who deserved it and more.

Ah lern-ed that while playing Manhunt. I guess. The Last of Us is even working murkier territory, well that is where some games are going. Actually I have really taken to Max Payne 3, despite the beginning of that last chapter banking on 'creativity'.

Game looks great, the intimacy of the violence makes it brutal and ugly, unlike Far Cry 3 where the bloodshed was presented in far more glib fashion. Interested to see how this emergent gameplay works, i.e. enemies reacting to your attack patterns. What took me out of things a bit was the lead guy getting shot and shrugging it off like any other game of this nature, even though the game presents violence more realistically. Video games, right?

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

It was weird to me, though, that the girl was basically unfazed--minus one "holy shit, Joel!"--by all the crazy violence around her. Perhaps it's later in the game, and in earlier parts she's much more affected by it.

AFAIK she grew up post-apocalypse? She does help kill a couple people; I imagine such things are just a part of life to her.

Anyway...graphics, AI & such in games aren't good enough yet for me to really be bothered by violence. Give it another 20 years or so and yeah, maybe.

Yes, I thought the pleading was unnerving. That's good though, I think it should be disturbing, you're killing a human being. Even though he is virtual, he is a pretty good immitation of the real deal.

Yes, and this is a good thing. To feel disturbed is to feel an emotion, an emotion which the developers are attempting to evoke from you. They want you to feel disturbed at what you are doing; it is necessary for survival in this world, and a motivator to attempt to use stealth as much as possible (as a real human would rather do in this situation).

So if you're disturbed, this is good. If you're not, then that's more of a problem. Disturbing does not mean without merit.

@EthanielRain said:

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

It was weird to me, though, that the girl was basically unfazed--minus one "holy shit, Joel!"--by all the crazy violence around her. Perhaps it's later in the game, and in earlier parts she's much more affected by it.

AFAIK she grew up post-apocalypse? She does help kill a couple people; I imagine such things are just a part of life to her.

Anyway...graphics, AI & such in games aren't good enough yet for me to really be bothered by violence. Give it another 20 years or so and yeah, maybe.

Oh, really? I didn't know that. Makes a little more sense. I was under the impression the apocalyptic even in this game was more recent.

If its making you feel, or question something than its doing something different. That is a good thing, not to mention it is still only a game.

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

@EthanielRain said:

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

It was weird to me, though, that the girl was basically unfazed--minus one "holy shit, Joel!"--by all the crazy violence around her. Perhaps it's later in the game, and in earlier parts she's much more affected by it.

AFAIK she grew up post-apocalypse? She does help kill a couple people; I imagine such things are just a part of life to her.

Anyway...graphics, AI & such in games aren't good enough yet for me to really be bothered by violence. Give it another 20 years or so and yeah, maybe.

Oh, really? I didn't know that. Makes a little more sense. I was under the impression the apocalyptic even in this game was more recent.

It had been several years. She was actually born after the apocalypse.

@TheHumanDove said:

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

@EthanielRain said:

@CrossTheAtlantic said:

It was weird to me, though, that the girl was basically unfazed--minus one "holy shit, Joel!"--by all the crazy violence around her. Perhaps it's later in the game, and in earlier parts she's much more affected by it.

AFAIK she grew up post-apocalypse? She does help kill a couple people; I imagine such things are just a part of life to her.

Anyway...graphics, AI & such in games aren't good enough yet for me to really be bothered by violence. Give it another 20 years or so and yeah, maybe.

Oh, really? I didn't know that. Makes a little more sense. I was under the impression the apocalyptic even in this game was more recent.

It had been several years. She was actually born after the apocalypse.

gracias! thanks for the info.

(Can I also say that your avatar is great? What an awesome movie.)

The main thing about that video that put me off, was they went looking for trouble, they went into these guys place and killed them all.

The guys supposed to be looking after a 14 year old girl and he goes looking for people to kill and rob.

@Korwin said:

@luchadeer797 said:

For nearly every game I've play I'm usually able to deal with the violence that is put on display, whether it be just the sheer audacity with which they present it all or from the sheer scale of it all in which many things can get lost or be forgotten. Yet something about The Last of Us' demo struck a chord with me. Make no doubts about it, I think this game looks fucking stellar and will surely be looking for the means to get a PS3 and it, but the violence disturbed me to an extent I wasn't expecting. The intimacy of its violence, the honest emotion of a man pleading for his life, and the main guy choking that man out it was all sorta fucked. It certainly helps to make a statement about the desperate and lawless nature of the world though. So, what did you guys think of it all? Am I just being far too sensitive or did you find it a bit surprising as well?

If you're uncomfortable with what's on display then the developers have achieved their goal. The game seems to be focusing on trying to add some genuine impact to your actions in the game, and that's a good thing. I'm genuinely excited about idea of a game trying to add some level of emotional impact to the onscreen violence that is normally portrayed as little more than a mindless means to an end (don't get me wrong, that stuff still has a place).

Still what was going on there didn't hit me quite as hard as "The Finger Scene" in Heavy Rain.

Um that "emotional impact" your talking about all goes out the window the second the guy gets shot, shrugs it off and says "im fine".

The thing that bothered me about the demo is the fact that it just seems a little too much like Uncharted. I'm not saying that in general that is a bad thing but I just feel like maybe there is a little bit too many combat sequences, the violence looked like it would be impactful but you have to wonder how long it will take for that impact to wear off if you are just continuously and, after awhile, mindlessly fighting through wave after wave of bad guys.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

The main thing about that video that put me off, was they went looking for trouble, they went into these guys place and killed them all.

The guys supposed to be looking after a 14 year old girl and he goes looking for people to kill and rob.

Actually no. If you've seen the trailer where they're in a truck and get ambushed by a bunch of guys, they said the E3 demo took place after that and those were the same guys. This wasn't ''their place'', they just sort of made it their territory. Joel and Ellie just needed to pass through.

@zoozilla said:

I was more disturbed the by the audience cheering whenever someone was violently killed at the E3 press conference.

When he shot the guy's face off, I don't think the reaction they were going for was "Fuck yeah! That was awesome!"

True that.

@Strife777 said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

The main thing about that video that put me off, was they went looking for trouble, they went into these guys place and killed them all.

The guys supposed to be looking after a 14 year old girl and he goes looking for people to kill and rob.

Actually no. If you've seen the trailer where they're in a truck and get ambushed by a bunch of guys, they said the E3 demo took place after that and those were the same guys. This wasn't ''their place'', they just sort of made it their territory. Joel and Ellie just needed to pass through.

Im just going by the little bit of scripted gameplay they showed. Its a great looking game and ill play it. Naughty Dog easily my favourite dev this generation.

Nothing disturbed me about The Last of us. It was violent, sure, but I was expecting it to be. If I had to say one thing that disturbed me was that it's release is in 2013. I wanna play it NOW!

I was only slightly disturbed by the shotgun blast to the face, but the violence throughout the trailer felt appropriate given the situation these characters have been placed in.

Eh it's still a video game and the violence is still far from having an effect on me. That said when I play it I'm most likely going to be the sort who tries the stealthier approach anyway, its more fun for me that way. Same way I played Crysis.

Not disturbed in the slightest. I've lived in this far too long to let a video GAME disturb me. And remember, if you have a problem with something that is YOUR problem and not an excuse to go all Duddly Do Right.

Edit: And who is to say that if you let that guy live he pulls a knife and stabs the little girl in the throat and you end up shooting him anyway?