The Problem With Combat in The Last of Us Part II
Does shoot-first action make sense in the game’s world?
The Last of Us Part II (TLOU2) is a good game. It has spectacular graphics, wonderful artwork, a really beautiful soundtrack, an interesting story, and some masterfully created characters. But I just can’t stop wondering why Naughty Dog chose to go with that combat system for their game. Before I start ranting, I want it to be clear that my problem is not with the execution of the gameplay system, which is brilliant (those sound effects are out of this world), but with the choice of that particular system. As this also applies to the original game, I’m going to be mostly referring to the TLOU universe as a whole. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
TLOU2 puts us nearly 30 years after the incident that provoked the collapse of society as we know it today (you know, the zombies). During this time, as we see at the beginning of both games, people have managed to reconstruct society in the form of fortified communities or quarantined areas, so people can live more or less normally. We aren’t, then, at the beginning of the outbreak. This will be important later.
Alright, the collapse of the modern capitalist society that the TLOU universe sets out implies the end of the manufacturing of most consumer goods, which would include guns and ammo. I’m not saying, though, that there can’t be any ammo in this game. Far from that, it would make a lot of sense that the army or militias would’ve taken control of weapon factories. But, this also means that manufacturing would be very controlled. What I’m trying to say is that it doesn’t make any sense for most enemies to have such an immense amount of ammo and, if that is the case, it makes even less sense for Ellie (or Joel in the first game) to have so little.
On top of this, it doesn’t make sense that, having a bag, the maximum amount of ammo is so ridiculously low. It’s a decision that constantly reminds me that this is a video game and pulls me out of the atmosphere, as reality is quite different from that (I believe that you can put more than nine bullets in a bag). It is also really challenging to believe that a baseball bat or an ax would break after just four uses. Again, these are unrealistic mechanics that developers had to implement in order to keep the game difficult.
I strongly believe that, both in playing and lore terms, the game would’ve benefited from a combat system closer to Sleeping Dogs. I mean, a system more focused around melee combat with occasional shootings rather than a full-on third-person shooter. The fact that the game is set after almost three decades into a post-apocalyptic universe only reinforces my point. I can understand this type of gameplay in a world where the apocalypse had just begun: people would have the abilities and the mentality we nowadays have. However, after 30 years, ammunition and weapon scarcity (weapons do break, after all) would’ve made people go back to pre-industrial revolution combat techniques: bows, crossbows, and melee combat.
If you were living in a community in the TLOU universe for 30 years, it would make sense for you to be trained in combat. It would make sense to think that people would’ve gone back to fighting with axes, spears, and shields. Note how useful a spear and shield would be to keep the distance from the infected. The same way that a bow and arrow would be more useful than firearms (and to this precise point, I don’t understand why Ellie doesn’t have a bow from the very beginning). Let’s think about it: a bow is easier to maintain, repair, and even build. The same with arrows since they’re even reusable. This allows the user to practice, a thing they cannot do with firearms because, well, ammunition is scarce.
Without question, a weapon such as that would be much quieter, which is a huge advantage in a world where you don’t want to be heard by enemies. Lastly, on a gameplay level, weapon scarcity makes it more difficult when fighting bosses, as they would have firearms while you don’t.
Summing up, living for 30 years in a postapocalyptic world would’ve provoked a relapse into old ways of warfare, keeping the firearms for elite military units and having the rest of the mortals go back to bows, axes, and martial arts.
Thanks for coming to my Ted…err… TLOU Talk.
