I'm on my 3rd playthrough of this masterpiece and have never appreciated it more, 4 years into a new generation.
The visceral, intense and fucking brutal combat has yet to be even challenged.
4 Years into the gen. Releases from several heavy hitters studios, and no one is coming close?
This games combat is just pure insanity, and with the 4K Remaster, its even easier to appreciate, and harder to deny.
If you think another 3rd person shooter game has better combat, you're simply wrong.
This game fucking nails:
- Insane brutality
- Best hit detection in the medium.
- Best animation in the industry, making the 2 things above even more impressive.
- Incredible sound effects
- Perfect FOV
- Brilliant and aggressive AI
- Small visual details that add to the overall combat experience
Look at this fucking insane hit reaction. I shoot his leg, it falls off realistically, he falls to the ground, I shoot his head off - He gargles.
FUCK!
Another example of absolute god tier hit reaction. It REALLY adds to the combat.
I shoot her leg, she falls, holding that same leg in pain, screaming. I shoot her head with a pistol. Ultra real headshot. You CAN SEE HER TOUNGE as the only remaining identifiable feature when I walk in close.
The camera is super close, making encounters like this way more intense. Again. INSANE hit reaction even in melee combat. Enemies react to
every. single. hit. Ellie wipes the blood off her face mid combat, another enemy appears, beautiful hit reaction when I hit it in its neck and it falls to the ground.
Freaking blood and chunks of flesh falling from the ceiling and walls after I blow someone to bits.
Enemies are aggressive as fuck on higher difficulties. Fluid and beautiful animation just brings it all together.
Small but IMPACTFUL details - The fucking blood splatter colors the rays of light
I have been playing on Grounded mode with no HUD and .. Good lord..
All gameplay shots below. My own screenshots. Dont mind the PS5 image compression, looks better on my OLED.
You hit a mf in the head with a machete, their head splits right where you hit them. Their body slumps, eyes roll back slowly. Not a QTE. Pure raw gameplay
Blood splatter all over your hands, look at the intensity on her face. Yes, this adds to the overall combat experience.
Enemies blow up very fucking nicely,
Blood splatter, fantastic facial animations in combat
Just an untouchable combination of realism, animation, hit reaction, being visceral as fuck, realistic gore, unrivalled intensity, tension, etc.
Its not about the difficulty of stringing some flashy combo together with cookie cutter hit reaction and no substance.
Its about feeling like your character fucking hates the opponent, and anything in their way will get fucking mangled. Feeling like a killing machine, yet a vulnerable one. No other game comes close to putting all of this together, not to mention perfect controls.
At the expense of looking like a psychopath with all this gore, here is a gif of a puppy to end my thread.