Shaine Corwin

Not every successful game needs a sequel. This is an easy example of that. It’s hard with so many reviews to make a point that hasn’t already been made a dozen times over, so I’ll instead say this. Dozens of employees were mistreated, underpaid, overworked, and overall suffered for Naughty Dog and (moreso) Neil Druckmann’s disjointed vision of a game. Multiple employees, even higherups in the company, expressed concern to him over the story and the treatment of employees. They were ignored. I really really hope this game serves as a lesson to Naughty Dog and the gaming industry as a whole.

Not bad, but really disappointing honestly. I was always really excited for this game when it was first shown and loved (and still do love) the gameplay and gimmick. But the story that was shoehorned in holds the game back severely. Plus the campaign doesn’t have much content, if you are okay at aiming and persistent you can easily finish it in one sitting. I was interested in the story at first but it was predictable, and would interrupt you between levels. The game kept telling you “it all makes sense in the end” but there’s still so much of this game that’s just killing red dudes because that’s what the gameplay is, with no significant story meaning. It’s written like an episode of Black Mirror with influence from Serial Experiments Lain, but not the good parts of either. And the game makes you think you have a choice but it’s beyond linear, with secrets you can find but nothing more really. I love how this game plays but sadly you aren’t given much time to enjoy that, it’s mostly just replaying the same levels, playing a rather boring endless mode or doing challenges that are really hit or miss. There’s a lot more this game needs but as it stands the story feels disjointed and like it was added after the game was mostly completed, and the game itself has more weird side content that’s supposed to add to the unnecessary artistic story then it does shooting red guys. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the resurgence of classic style FPS games but I really don’t think a game like this needs a story to be compelling and fun. Or maybe I’m just a pessimist or too stupid to understand this games critique of society. Plus the name has no meaning in the lore of the story yet is said a ton and just ends up feeling cheesy. Overall 6.5/10, 6 points because the game is still fun when you get to play it and 0.5 because some of the side content is entertaining (carpet generator standalone game please)