It had been 37 days and some hours since I have last taken a trip into the dingy post pandemic multiplayer maps of The Last Of Us: Factions. But thanks to the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 4, my hunger to revisit the post apocalyptic was brewing stronger than ever. Even when the confusing world of GTA Online had me submerged for days, the post apocalyptic was calling out hard. October 15th, 5 days after Rick Grimes and his team of survivors returned to the television, Naughty Dog dropped the bomb. The first DLC pack for The Last Of Us: Factions/Online. Is the 500 bucks (INR) DLC pack really worth the shot? Well, hear me out then.
The changes and updates
Right from the previous patch (1.03) that came along with The Interrogation Mode, certain changes have been done to the rules of the game play, now you can get killed while special executing an opponent. By a nearby shrapnel or if one of his teammates attack you defensively. And the Revive radar is slightly altered to stop allies from wandering off in case you are healing them, to name a few.
I can now see that the mini missions are shown differently on the dashboard, and there are some more perks added on completion of your mini mission. With patch 1.05, the fate of Interrogation matches ending in a tie has been altered to decide a winning team. Also late joiners aren’t deducted a clan day as just to keep their mini mission active and status healthy.
Factions
TLOU Factions has pioneered the art of designing levels from the story for multiplayer mode, and yet keep it as offensive and defensive standalone map. People love Bill’s Town and High School because of the choices that they can make in order to wipe out the opposition without taking a single scratch. Not many people would get to see the depth of all the Factions maps, especially the public enemy – Downtown, and lesser people would find minute brilliances in such intense matches. That’s the reason why every YouTube top comment says that it’s the most underrated online game this year. The scarce ammunition, the lack of super soldier attributes and a strong reason to work as a team makes each game of The Last Of Us Factions stand out as a different experience. There were matches where I was plugging out the heads, there were times when I was the booty for the opponents to be driven into a trap, and there were matches wherein my decision to heal my teammate instead of executing a fallen enemy actually earned us the match.
The DLC
Even though I love the MP more than the SP in the longer run, I have been more eager for the Single Player DLC than the Multiplayer Mode. When the first DLC was dropped, I was blown away to know that Naughty Dog decided to let go of the single player story lovers and credit the game’s imminent future (amidst the insanely heavy final quarter of 2013) on just four new multiplayer maps. Only a strong gut feeling would push a company to take that step.
So what’s so special about the Abandoned Territories DLC Pack? It is a collection of four brand new maps for you to pulverize your opponents in the existing three match modes of The Last Of Us Factions, namely Supply Raid, Survivors and the challenging Interrogation. The four brand new maps not only fall into the main storyline but carry over the same look and feel of being a part of The Last Of Us Factions. The level designing reminds one of the previous maps and are equally challenging while playing in. Let’s introduce the four maps in details:
The Suburbs
The map in which I dominated the most in the DLC, Suburbs is based on the part of town that Joel and Henry discover after coming out into the light, in the single player story. Based during daytime, Suburbs challenge you with excellent vantage points and open windows and doors to intercept. It feels exactly like Lakeside, only smaller in size. There are alleys leading to the backyard of buildings, in case you want to surprise the opponent while your guy is flanking. You can reach right up to the first floor balcony of the houses and snipe some heads while taking cover against a flower pot.
Just like in Lakeside, additional dust mist blow within the map, making your job a bit tougher especially if you’re out on the streets. Every cover that you take is open to enemy crosshair, so judge your cover well. Most of the fights occurred inside one of the houses facing the street, so make sure you use your listening mode as you approach the abandoned house. The item stashes are pretty much out in the open, my advice is, do not go all together. Send someone to cover your back, as I have a special dread against those underground dugouts inside the houses facing the streets (where most of the enemies regularly camp).
The Hometown
This is a beast of a map if you are a lover of the shadows and have forever remained a slave to the likes of High School and Downtown maps on the regular Factions. Hometown is based on Joel and Henry’s city escape from the hunters, from the single player story. And in all proportions looks to be the twin of Downtown. Not many are in favour of Downtown, because of the hugely open spaces and the dark setting that affects player performance to a great extent. And Hometown is just another sucker punch to people who go easy peasy on Factions with greater focus on their mini mission objectives. Item stashes in Hometown are distributed equally around the world like in Checkpoint. Most of the times you will stick to the ground, unless someone climbs to one of the abandoned buildings for better sniping positions.
The level is beautifully drawn; you will witness the burning buildings, the nearby forest taking over the city and a lot of smog blinding you from a possible distraction. In all of my Hometown matches, we’ve moved around as a team, and we have been righteously flanked and killed, just as it would be like in Downtown. It’s ideal to go in sets of two in Hometown, with suppressed guns and a possible Covert Training 3 attached to your loadout. Or else, be prepared to be trampled.
The Bus Depot
This is my favourite map from the DLC, because of my experiences out of it. I’m a fan of Bill’s Town and High School from the original map pack, because those two maps are the perfect blend of going sniping, going sneaky, playing your cat and mouse chase and ultimately standing tall even if your teammates are F.A.I.L. The Bus Depot consists of the Station and a building facing it straight. Play it clever and this map will reward you with loads.
It so happened that my entire team was out of tune with each other and got hunted from one of those catwalks (man I love the catwalks!) Playing it safe to my heart (considering it was the First Round); I managed to draw them away from the Station and into the house. Placing nail bombs around the entrances and crafting a set of Molotov and a smoke bomb, I managed to fool all of them, slay them, one at a time. Finishing the last one inside the smoke I came out on top, defending without a single drop of blood off my body. I know, even I didn’t know I could be this good! Well, all glasses raised to the elevations, covers, shadows and interception points that make Bus Depot the place to show who the Daddy is.
Bookstore
Heard of claustrophobia? Now experience it. Bookstore is all about facing the heat inside the very building. While your team respawns on the left wing of the Bookstore, the enemy will make you yield from the right corner. You can climb out of the windows if the battle’s costing you too much. There are plain cover positions wherein you can place yourself but do nothing especially because while the snipers will flank at you and keep you busy, a creepy crawler will come from behind and drop a Molotov on your entire crew.
Bookstore pushes the gamer off the cliff in his hunt for head, as he realizes that he is not that all-powerful (I take back my Bus Depot glory). It is creepy close quarters, with item stashes majorly all around the ground floor of the building. It’s better to burn out than to fade away, but this choice will definitely cost you much. I’m yet to decode a safe way to dominate the Bookstore, surely the toughest level to survive (if you are playing Survivors).
Verdict
The Last Of Us Factions has been more than fun for me, as it has suddenly changed the course of my mind from GTAO to surviving on the latest 4 maps. Neat presentation, amazing level designing and added perks make your hunger for TLOU Factions stay as fresh as ever. Are you surviving this?
