Naughty Dog’s not half bad at multiplayer modes. When it was announced that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves would be entering the competitive arena, there was outrage among fans of the original outing – after all, this was a series that prided itself on its plot rather than its gunplay. However, the title’s acrobatic action actually impressed, with its vertical arenas building up a sizeable following of fledgling online adventurers. The Last of Us’ underpublicized Factions foray was host to similar scepticism prior to release, but managed to hook those that actually gave it a go. With such a strong single player campaign, however, it’s easy to forget that the feature’s even there – so here’s why you should try it out on the PlayStation 4.
You’re beautiful no matter what they say
Many single player properties fail to effectively make the multiplayer transition because they forget what defines them in the first place. The likes of Tomb Raider and BioShock 2 both shoe horned competitive play on top of their campaigns, and while there was some fun to be derived from both bonus options, they lost the essence of what makes their respective gameplay entertaining. The Last of Us doesn’t do that, and actually manages to repurpose many of the mechanics from the story in interesting ways. For example, you’ll still need to scavenge for materials and craft, while your ammunition will be incredibly limited. This means that you need to play intelligently, carefully building materials on the fly, and exchanging parts that you earn for an extra couple of shots. Most importantly, though, it gives the whole affair a distinctly different feel, which makes a pleasant change from the string of Call of Duty copycats that occupy every other corner of the industry these days.
How many weeks can you keep your crew alive?
It’s not just the gameplay that steps out of the aforementioned first-person juggernaut’s shadow either, but also the progression system. Rather than earn experience points, you’ll instead be gathering together supplies with each match that you play, which is then used to feed your ever-growing crew. This pulls in data from your Facebook profile, meaning that your real-life friends will become the survivors that you’re trying to keep alive. Each match represents a day in the game, and you’ll have a supply quota to attain. Fail to hit it, and your camp will begin to get sick, potentially forcing you to restart your journey. Your ultimate goal is to survive 12 weeks as either a Hunter or a Firefly, which works out to about 84 matches. However, there are other hindrances that’ll challenge you along the way, as you’ll need to deal with attacks to your camp and more, which are represented by separate in-game challenges.
Supplies may be limited, but content certainly ain’t
Considering the scale of The Last of Us’ single player campaign, you could be forgiven for thinking that its multiplayer mode may be a little half-baked, but that’s not the case at all – even if you ignore all of the cosmetic extras on the PlayStation Store. In fact, seeing as this PS4 re-release comes with all of the PlayStation 3 version’s downloadable content, there are an enormous number of maps to learn and weapons to test out. It’s not just the arenas that keep things interesting, though, but also the loadouts. Sticking with the survival theme, you’ll be given a set number of points to fashion your in-game gear from. Every item has a weight, be it a pistol, sub machine gun, or booster. As such, you’ll need to construct the type of setup that suits your playstyle best. However, the balance is maintained by the aforementioned limitations, as there’ll always be weaknesses in your equipment. This gives the game an almost limitless amount of variety, as there are a neverending number of new tactics for you to employ.
Have you tried out Factions before? Do you play as a Hunter or a Firefly? Are you a fan of the multiplayer action, or do you prefer to play the single player campaign? Bring us some tinned food in the comments section below.
Comments 24
I believe it's having issues at the moment online. I spent 25 mins trying to connect to a game last night, it's a shame as what i'v managed to play the past couple of days I really enjoyed
So if I don't have a Facebook profile I can't platinum the game? Not cool!
@Johnnycide You don't have to connect your Facebook profile, haha! It just comes up with random names if you don't.
I never tried The Last of Us' multiplayer the first time around, so I'll have to give it a shot when I pick up Remastered next week.
@get2sammyb Ah right. That's good to know, I was thinking of trying it out but I just plain don't like competitive multiplayer.
Guys, does it makes sense to play multiplayer if I didn't play the story yet? I have to wait with the story, but would love to enjoy the game right away
@KomrathDE Yeah, you can hop right in. You may find some of the controls or systems a bit odd as you won't have learned them in the campaign yet, but I don't think it's particularly difficult to pick up and play.
@get2sammyb yeah thanks
Facebook... what's that? I'm really looking forward to trying it out, I may end up buying it again if I really enjoy it.
I love the multiplayer! If only they could resolve the 5 minute wait to find a session, and fix the netcode. I've been killed behind cover way to often.
@SimonAdebisi lol me too. Does anyone but moms use FB? (honestly wondering; I don't use it because my mom does!) Can't wait til that fad dies out... I didn't know it picked your actual friends, that's endearing
I really like the factions mp. Notwithstanding internet problems, I could play it for hours without getting too frustrated or bored (BF4 ahem!) and there's no real exploits or anything to make you feel cheated
Easily some of the best multiplayer available.
It always feels balanced.
I did enjoy multiplayer on the PS3 version, really tense and calculated matches when playing good teams plus running around in circles to lure people into bomb fields was hilarious.
The Multiplayer is a lot better than I remembered, but that's probably down to the 60fps.
Played one match on PS3 but didn't really feel it. However, I think I didn't give it enough chance. Will try it again on PS4. Perhaps I will like it since it seems to differentiate itself from the usual crappy tacked on MP modes.
Also, UC2 MP was brilliant, particularly the survival modes.
@seeafish The mere mention of UC2 MP means that it's on your mind when thinking about this.
While that's understandable because it's ND, you really should try to dispel any notion that it has any relation at all the UC MP before playing.
I found the multi fits in well with the game... And it's a change of pace From the likes of cod something I enjoy about it.... It took me a few hours to get used to it but once I did u can understand how to play it with positive outcome.... I don't think it's going to a big multi but I think it's going to have a hardcore following
Factions was the main thing keeping me playing my ps3 so I am happy to be playing this on ps4. I am yet to try factions on ps4 as soon as I get that grounded+ trophy I am going straight back to factions naughty dog made a great online this time and I was sceptical before, even after playing and loving online modes on uncharted 2 and 3
@RaymanFan2 will keep that in mind... Or er, out of mind??
I did really enjoy UC2 MP tho, but I'm good at separating experiences
No offense, but nothing is really new in the PS4 remastered version based off the 1st game on PS3. Only thing I noticed was different maps, but I haven't played TLOU PS3 edition for months. So is there any difference besides graphics?
Factions is great.
@Johnnycide You don't need to sign in to facebook. Doing so will only change the names of your survivors. It's a cool aspect. If you don't want to do that you can simply use randomly generated names.
@AD-80 More maps, a new gun, and if you want to try out the DLC guns, this time there's a set class you can use if every dlc weapon. Also 60 fps. Only great thing there are the new maps, which there are around 10 new ones, I think. The 2 DLC's and 2 new maps included for free.
@Quads123 lmao. Case closed. Not that much different, so far the only game that seems worth the ps4 upgrade is GTA V.
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