No game is perfect, but some get pretty darn close. Throughout the past decade, the output of both Naughty Dog and Rockstar Games has embodied some of the best of what gaming has to offer. The developers' most recent titles,Red Dead Redemption 2andThe Last of Us Part 2, were each considered to be some of the best games of their respective years, but both are not without their faults.
Interestingly enough, whereRed Dead Redemption 2excels,The Last of Us 2falters, and vice versa. Playing each of them back to back, the two appear to offset each others' flaws. If there was a way to pick these two games apart and rebuild them as one, the result would likely be nothing short of magnificent thanks to each title getting to flex their strongest muscles, while not having to rely on their weaker ones as much.
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When people think of Rockstar, they tend to think of vibrant open-worlds packed with things to do. However, another great strength of the studio is how it tells its stories, which is done not just through cutscenes, but also through gameplay.
A core part ofRDR2’sstoryis the Van der Linde gang. The crew surrounding protagonist Arthur Morgan matter to him for many different reasons. He’s been riding with the gang since he was a young boy, and as such, he’s learned a lot from them. Arthur considers them family, or at least the closest thing he’s got to one.
RDR2’sstory chronicles the downfall of the Van der Linde gang, which is mostly told through cutscenes. While the gameplay doesn’t have a huge impact on the overall flow of the story, it still complements the tale being told by encouraging players to interact with theVan der Linde gangas much as possible. Whether players are fetching items for Jack, playing poker with Lenny, or going fishing with Javier, each interaction affords players opportunities to see firsthand the close relationship that exists between Arthur and his kin.
Interactions like these not only allow for a deeper understanding ofArthur Morganand the bond he shares with the gang, but they also get the player directly involved with these characters, allowing the stakes throughout the game to feel heavier than ever before. When a character dies, players can reflect on how they interacted with said character while they were alive. Back at camp, their absence can evoke melancholy as the player realizes they can never interact with them again.
Inversely, while Naughty Dog largely succeeds in delivering compelling, emotional narratives, the gameplay never plays too big of a role in them. In the case ofThe Last of Us 2,it’s because the gameplay doesn’t compliment the story. Rather, the two are serving the exact same purpose: communicating how humanity is capable of doing truly awful, violent things to each other. Given the game’s stronger focus on its story, the gameplay feels more like a needless over-explanation of the core idea behind the game. ShouldThe Last of Us Part 3ever see the light of day, it’d be nice to see Naughty Dog make gameplay a little more layered, and take some pointers from Rockstar’s approach to telling stories in games.
The Last Of Us 2’s Structure
An undeniable strength ofThe Last of Us 2’sstoryis that, like much of Naughty Dog’s library, the game is structured incredibly well. It generally moves along at a really tight pace thanks to some linear, yet unrestrictive level design that allows the story to flow smoothly from beat to beat. This lets Naughty Dog time up some carefully calculated firefights, scares, and plot developments that all operate under the assumption that most players will move through the game at similar speeds.
Circling back to Rockstar, structure might be the company’s Achilles Heel, and none of the studio’s games demonstrate this better thanRDR2, which is roughly 60 hours long. The story suffers not only from its length but also from how its missions are designed. WhereasTLOU2is a mostly linear game telling a linear story,RDR2is an open-world game that prides itself on exploration, but still wants to tell a linear story through straightforward missions that hardly offer any opportunities for deviating from the objective at hand.
Rockstar’s ability to create engaging open worldsis unquestionable, but it’s often at odds with the stories the company tries to tell. As much good as there is inRDR2’sstory, there’s also a lot of filler that constitutes tens of hours of the game’s gargantuan length. Imagining a more concise cut ofRDR2that tightens things up a little, while still affording opportunities for optional interactive storytelling sounds like it would be a way more appealing way to experienceRDR2’sstory as opposed to what exists now.
The Attention To Detail
A shared quality between the two games, and a reason why they’re commonly regarded as some of the finest gaming has to offer, is the outstanding attention to detail present throughout each game. Everything about how characters move, talk, emote, and interact with the world around them feels incredibly true to life thanks tomotion-capture technologyand expert performances by actors.
Furthermore, the games also look incredible, boasting some of the finestgraphics seen in video games. It’s hard to know for sure what type of game meshing these two titles would bring about, but one thing is almost certain: It would probably be one pretty game, if not one of the prettiest out there.
RDR2andTLOU2are two highly revered games that don’t necessarily get everything right, but what they do get right is done so well that it makes their faults seem minuscule by comparison. Combining the best qualities of these two titles could give rise to a visually stunning, well-paced game that takes advantage of the medium’s unique quality of interactivity to deliver a thoughtful story that players don’t just watch, but participate in. Alas, perfect games do not exist, but it’s still fun to speculate.
The Last of Us 2is available now on PS4.
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