Following my Review of The Last of Us Multiplayer and my Guide to The Last of Us Multiplayer Survival, I’ve spent countless more hours with the game, and one fine Sunday I had to sit down and pen my thoughts down on the amazing level design The Last of Us brings to us in its understated and underrated Multiplayer More.
Whenever I beat a single player story I do not always look into the prospects of extending my unique experience on the online mode. Majority of the times I’m shown the ground thanks to the existing masters of the game and other times I’d feel it’s just a namesake multiplayer mode. At times, even the word ‘online’ appalls me. Why? Because I usually like to play my style and not fit into an alerted and fast paced mode that almost every multiplayer mode compels me to take up. 2013, year of big online games, including Crysis 3, and soon to be revealed Watch Dogs and GTA V, but before all that takes place, let’s take you deep inside a personal favourite of mine from this year, and how it has lived up to its Multiplayer mode despite the limited play modes and simplicity in style, The Last Of Us Factions. This article will re-establish the simplicity and pure level aesthetics that the game mode delivers and sets a benchmark in, while being still at war with some of the big boys of the genre.
Whether you play the Supply Raid (20 lives per team Team Deathmatch) or the Survivor (No respawn round based TDM) Mode, one thing is for sure in The Last Of Us, you will feel the heat. Every time you step out, your heart pumps and your hands tremble, because you don’t want to disappoint your teammates by costing them a respawn ticket or an extra hand. You want to be at the heart of the fire and yet you want the opposition to bleed tickets, with all the in-game perks in your side. I’ve seen players in and out, there is nothing called endurance, a good player is the one who understands the environment in The Last Of Us Multiplayer: Factions. He doesn’t go out to kill, he goes out to take advantage of his environment, hide when necessary, kill when needed, and save the bullet rounds for further use. Or simply take the dare and run for the next item stash. There are approximately a thousand The Last Of Us players logged in as we speak, like you and me, and all of them have got a fair hint of what to do in the multiplayer mode. But experience isn’t your only way of winning.
That’s when the game’s level design steps into play. Whether you suck at the Factions or not, you got to admire the amount of thinking that has gone into making this a remarkable online gaming experience. It’s not like a commercial shooter game that mods its story mode map into an online battle ground. The online maps (no matter how less there are to choose from) are beautifully made to give an experience that is standalone of the single player story experience. The in-game perks are unbiased of whoever’s winning; in fact they often tend to favour the side that’s losing by giving them body armour or so. So that the fight stays fair. And the levels are equally unbiased to give you pressure and relief every time you come on top of a fight. The reason why most players like to stick around with their team mates is because it gives them more fire power. However, if your team is taking the damage, make sure to get all environment friendly.
I love the map called High School, especially because one gets to use the dark setting to his/her advantage. The building’s all decayed and shabby. With cracked windows and loads of hiding spots (behind the library stacks) so that you can almost camouflage yourself in the environment and elude the opposing team. The best way to play The Factions is to have a Marathon Runner bonus (in case you need to run long enough) and a Covert Training 2 upgrade (which hides you from opposition maps and listening mode in case you are crouched). Combining these two will effectively give you a Cat and Mouse chase that the mouse will surely dominate. And the High School level is the apt level for your Hide and Seek ways. This online mode is a complete stealth based game and one needs to use his/her environment a lot in order to stay out of sight. By running around you will not only compromise your position on the mini map but also draw attention if someone is actually spotting you with their naked eyes. There is a room inside the High School, with open doors on both sides, two cracked windows, and a broken staircase side. Which means this is probably the most unsafe place for you to park your butt. You need to collect the items from the stash inside the room and get the hell out of there before an entire horde of better players start attacking you from front, back, right and left. After all, who loves being Shiv Killed, right? If you want to be on the ground, take cover inside one of those buses. There is a cover space right on the edge of the terrace in the High School building that overlooks the ground. That’s a great place to wait and spot your enemies. Most of the times you won’t get spotted, thanks to its positional advantage. Make sure you have a Molotov to knock off an enemy while he tries to cross the terrace and jump through one of those broken windows in front of you.
My favourite The Last Of Us Factions map would be Bill’s Town. It is reminiscent of so many Counter Strike 1.6 levels in one go. To me, Counter Strike is still an audacious example of how to create an online level, but given the time it was set in, TLOU Factions has erased the small camping zones which existed in the CS version. Bill’s Town is a classic example of how two teams should be fated against each other. Although majority of the combats are poised in close quarters, there are some serious vantage points in this level. Best would be to make sure you’re well-guarded and head for a building rooftop. Two buildings in Bill’s Town are interlinked with a wooden plank. Most of the sharpshooters plant themselves on either sides and take on each other from the rooftops. But make a slight move, and you are exposed to the people below you. Taking down isn’t the only job in TLOU Factions, you also need to head for his corpse to collect the enemy left over items. And that’s when sh*t comes to you like karma. The listening mode doesn’t cover a huge range, so once you cross the plank and enter the other building for the items, you’ll find enemies opening up their arms to you with Molotov bottles. The entire bit of unpredictability can actually excite you, or frustrate you.
Another map, ‘Checkpoint’ looks like a simple level but it isn’t. Players absolutely love this level. And why not? Your item stashes are arranged in a squarish order across the map. And there are shops that lie in front of you. You jump through windows and head for the uninhabited shops in order to collect your stashes. Read that I already emphasised on the word ‘shops’, which should give you a pretty good idea of it being a closed area. If all of your team members head for the same item stash, rest assured you’re going to be bombed from the windows/doors or you are going to all burn with a single Molotov. There are open balconies that can absolutely greet you with all the warmth if you head for the open without caring for the rest of it. There is a box/ward like area inside the Checkpoint level that has an item stash with the most collectables. And needless to say, it is the most open and dangerous place to be if you care for your respawn.
The Dam, perhaps the most challenging environment in the whole of The Last Of Us Factions. And yet it is only a yard of a level to be thrown into. Trust me, I’m claustrophobic and I know that being crowded isn’t an advantage. The Dam can boast of one of the quickest team games even though you can run back and forth all the way up to the riverside to collect your stash. Having said that, you will also need to regard the huge jungle like surrounding cutting you from possible enemy threats. People love to craft bombs and leave it for booby traps in TLOU Factions, The Dam would be a place to look out for such landmines. The most challenging item stash is that on the riverside that awkwardly faces the dam, which is right in front of you. Be quick or be dead while you’re at it, because it takes just seconds for two gunners to hunt you from the Dam stairs. Or someone might pop in from the sides. Best would be to throw a smoke bomb and stay hidden inside the fog.
The Lake Side is a pretty crazy level if you get spotted; it has a wider scope than most of the other levels, giving you an opportunity to hunt off your enemies one at a time. The level is in the shape of a hill, so be careful with the elevated stuff, most of the attacks surprise you from top or bottom. The additional mist that blows in the level makes it even tougher to concentrate on single enemies, making it a clash of surprise rather than experience, like blind firing. There are plenty of cottages wherein you can get a parallel aim on the enemy. Make sure you head for the brains or it might get messy inside the cottage.
‘Downtown’ has the worst record in Factions, this level is highly avoided by gamers far and wide, the reason being it’s the most open level in the entire league. There are bullets that come from left and right. So here you can hardly save time to open your bag and collect your items.
While matches with tough opponents crush you in The Last Of Us, each level is designed to give you a temporary advantage. There are hiding spots where you can squeeze in in case you are the last survivor and you have planted tons of shrapnels on the ground while you wait for the enemies to run through them to get you, and end up getting ambushed. There are numerous broken windows in order to intercept furious battle scenes or take an awkward shot at an unaware opponent. There are higher grounds, which means you will get a battle advantage unless the opponents come in numbers or throw a bomb at you. This is a game made to fascinate and excite everyone, and cannot be manoeuvred no matter how hard you try. But an environment aware player will surely kill more, earn more items and come on top.
If you haven’t given yourself a taste of The Last Of Us Factions, here’s challenging you to the greatest conceived multiplayer game of this year. Also, we have a video for you illustrating to you the following levels in the mentioned order: Checkpoint, Lake Side, Bill’s Town, University, High School, Downtown, The Dam.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqeqj9wqNXw]
