I'm pretty sure it's under embargo right now, which is why you can't see the full review anymore, but at least this much was said in the review:

The Last of Us is not just the finest game that Naughty Dog has yet crafted and an easy contender for the best game of this console generation, it may also prove to be gaming’s Citizen Kane moment – a masterpiece that will be looked back upon favourably for decades.

5/5 Stars - Unmissable

source1source2

Isn't Metroid Prime already the Citizen Kane of video games?

Seriously though, Last Of Us looks kind of pants-shittingly good.

Not according to Jeff, but he doesn't like Red Dead either, so what does he know about video games .I haven't played Metroid Prime, so can't say either way.

God, I hate when people try to say that about a game. It sounds so idiotic in so many ways...

I wholeheartedly agree. If a piece of entertainment is good, then let it be good on its own merits. Making comparisons with time-honored books or films only serves to create unrealistic expectations.

I'd prefer The Last of Us to be The Last of Us of video games and that games from that moment will be called "the new The Last of Us". I'd generally want people to finally get that video games are something so completely different from literature, cinema and drama that using the same techniques to criticize, compare and analyze doesn't cut it at all.

I mean, this certainly further validated my immense excitement for the title, but the expression itself is just silly. I don't think most people a) saw Citizen Kane and b) recognize what that film did for cinema.

@aegon: Jeff said that regarding the demo he got to play recently, right? I heard another reviewer talk about his problems with this particular demo (Simon Miller, EIC over at videogamer.com). But on their latest podcast he talked a bit about the full version and the gist was: "I was wrong, the demo was just not very good. The game itself is great and has the best beginning I have ever played." He even recommended not to play the demo.

What the fuck is Citizen Kane? Does it involve Kane the wrestler??

No game where you wander about a spooky house and shoot monster dudes with a shotgun is the Citizen Kane of anything. That stuff is based on a thousand games that already came out.

You combine a flannel and a bottle to make a fire grenade, then watch a cutscene. It's not some ground-breaking new method of design.

Also how in fuck's name do you accidentally leak a review? They're usually written by one person.

I have to back away from the internet until this comes out don't I? Damn spoilers will start showing up all over soon.

I have high hopes for this game as this could be the swansong for the PS3. I'm too young to even care about Citizen Kane but knowing that it's a good film is comforting.

So it's the God Hand of Video Games?

@pie said:

Yup - almost had the ending of Bioshock spoiled for me by these very forums.

It's going to suck come E3, since I won't be able to stay away from them.

Damn I forgot about E3. Live stream chats are going to be a Danger Zone

The Last of Us is the Metroid Prime of video games.

The Last of Us is the Cheeseburger of Sandwiches.

[edit:] but tbh, it's one of the very rare games I really envy console players for.

I will make that decision for myself, supposed leaked video game reviewer guy.

Not the biggest fan of citizen Kane so I certainly hope not

fuck that noise

@humanity said:

While the measurement of its quality is certainly subjective, there is no denying how Citizen Kane completely transformed the film medium. Completely. I think people forget that bit when they bemoan the comparison.

EDIT: what I mean to say is that when people often look for "the Citizen Kane of" (in our case, vidya) they're referring to the incredible leap forward not only in narrative capability but also technologically as well. Citizen Kane was a film of many, many firsts for the film medium, and people are keeping their eyes peeled for its video game analogue.

People bemoan it mostly because it's a hilariously bad comparison. As you said, Citizen Kane transformed movies in many ways. I believe that the Last of Us is capable of having a great story that will resonate with the player on a level we haven't experienced before - but will it define the entire game industry? I doubt it. Much like Bioshock Infinite, it will probably have an (arguably) great story backed by very typical gameplay. I don't care how realistic the AI might get, running around pulling left trigger then right trigger, pushing a ladder over to go over a wall that is slightly higher than your jump reach, that is not the Citizen Kane of gameplay.

@humanity: I agree with you. I personally don't think The Last of Us will transform the medium, either. I probably misinterpreted all the snark in this thread.

@oldirtybearon: Oh no worries I completely get it, on Giant Bomb it's very easy to get sucked in by the Snark Monster. This past week seeing all these almost hysterical threads about the XBO it was really hard to control an impulse of going into every single one and saying "you are out of your goddamn minds!"

I'm just kind of happy to see what appears to be a decent game coming out in June. Maybe this will wake the publishers up to the reality that not every great game has to come out from September to October. Movies have a summer blockbuster season. Why don't games take advantage of that same concept? It isn't like people suddenly stop turning on their consoles when spring arrives.

I don't think you could have a "Citizen Kane of video games". Games can be so radically different in how they work, how they're made and what they're trying to do, that no matter how groundbreaking a game is, it's never going to inform how every other game is made going forward.

Maybe inside specific genres, you could say some games are the "Citizen Kane of the genre". I mean if you really wanted to...

Citizen Kane is the Last of Us of movies.

@slashdance: Pretty much. People need to learn that video games can't really be held to the same standards as old media. Not because they are inferior or superior, but because they are different.

I haven't seen CK yet, how was it so revolutionary?

How many cliches can you fit in one sentence?

"Challenge accepted" by internet video game reviewers since forever. Most reviewers are sickening, they should be telling people about how the games play not keep farting cheesy terms and begging me to love the game.

Empire Online: the number one source for reviews.

This seems really odd. Sony usually pushes out their games well in advance to get the hype train rolling (a little too early if you ask me). U2 and Killzone 2 both had reviews popping up 2-3 weeks before release. Although with E3 happening between now and the game's release, I suppose they wouldn't want all that new console hype drowning out any reviews that might pop up before it.

Casablanca > Citizen Kane

It's a shitty comparison to make, but they didn't say it is gaming's Citizen Kane, just that it may be.

You shut your goddamn mouth sir.

YES!!!!!! most likely my last PS3 game. Going out on top the PS3 is.

goddammit why's it only PS3? :(

They're fucking idiots for putting it under embargo; when was the last effective trailer and buzz for this game? 6 months ago? I guarantee Dark Souls II will have a hugeass hype train prior to release (just as Dark Souls did) and this is just completely mum by comparison. If people aren't allowed to talk about it then it might as well not fucking exist.

@neoepoch: Unforgiven > Citizen Kane; also Taxi Driver, Once Upon a Time in America, Seven Samurai, and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

I'm trying to remember the last game the citize kane of gaming line was used like two years ago and i'm drawing an absolute blank. So there you fucking go. Video Games.

So one site has a review about the game and based on only that review it is an instant classic?

I think that Polygon had a review about a game called SimCity which was supposed to be so fantastic.

Didnt quite turn out that way in the end.

Let the hyperbole commence.

I'll second @neoepoch's 'Casablanca > Citizen Kane' claim. Casablanca is both a great movie and fun to watch, Citizen Kane is important and interesting, but it's not very fun. I like my great entertainment to be entertaining.

More importantly, what's the Mean Girls of videogames?

God Hand will always be the God Hand of Video Games.

This looks more like the Ghost Dog of Video Games.

Spoiler: both of those movies are really not that good.

Casablanca is fun but Citizen Kane is intriguing. Lets hope that this is at least twos game that are intriguing for 2013.

We gonna go to fisticuffs? I'll see you on the field of battle sir!

Maybe in opposite world, that'd be true.

Casablanca and Citizen Kane are not good movies?....sometimes i get a bit depressed....this is one of those times.

A movie doesnt have to be necessarily fun in order to be good.

I guess there aren't enough CG explosions in Casablanca or Citizen Kane for some. This makes me wonder if there are almost no explosions in The Last of Us.