The Last of Us: Game of the Year Edition announced

Just when you thought you'd seen and hard the last of The Last of Us, a Game of the Year Edition has been announced for release on the PlayStation 3, and I called it! This follows the release of the Remastered Edition for the PlayStation 4, which included the Left Behind DLC, and various multiplayer maps, along with uprated visuals to aid Sony show-off their new hardware. 

TLoU: GotY re-release will include the same content as the Remastered version, but will no doubt maintain the original game's 'less impressive visuals.' There was actually nothing wrong with looks of the original game, which in part is what lead TLoU being hailed as one of the best games of the previous generation.* had anything wrong with the way it looked from what I've seen.

The only thing putting me off from buying this at this point is the price. Signs point to it selling for the same retail price as a recent release, which in South Africa means paying about R700 for an 18 month old game. A quick look shows that the original release is currently selling for less than R400, depending on the retailer. According the the PlatStation Store; the Left Behind DLC will set you back a further R200-odd, the two multiplayer map-packs bundled together for R190, and the 'Grounded' difficulty mode will cost you another R73.

So yes, the GotY edition collects a whole lot of content at a discounted price, but it's content that is mostly over a year old. I'll wait until the price drops a little more, that is of course assuming that we will even see a physical release of this version of the game in South Africa, as I have yet to come across any copies of the Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition at my local gaming suppliers. 

--

* Currently shares the fourth highest score according to Metacritic, with LittleBigPlanet, Read Dead Redemption, and Portal 2.

Uncharted for PS4 & The Last of Us DLC revealed

Naughty Dog have announced that the Uncharted series will get a PlayStation 4 release, and that The Last of Us will be getting some DLC treatment.

The new instalment in the Uncharted series will be a PS4 exclusive, and so far even the final title hasn't been revealed, let alone the story line of the game. There is a lot of speculation as to whether the new game will continue on from the story of the PS3 trilogy, be a prequel, or reboot the franchise for the new console. Personally, I'm hoping that this will be a new story arc that introduces a new cast of characters, and takes place contemporaneously with the timeline of the original trilogy.

What we do know so far is that the map in the trailer follows the southern African coastline, with the names around South Africa written in Portuguese. Bartolomeu Diaz sailed around South Africa in 1488, while Vasco da Gama repeated this feat in 1497. 

As Île Sainte-Marie, a small island off the eastern coast of Madagascar, is circled on the map, the narrator says, "I'll be there, sifting through the wreckage." Interestingly, the name of the island is abbreviated as 'I. St. Mary,' suggesting English occupation. This may allude to the story of Captain William Kidd, who salvaged all the metal fixtures from his vessel the Adventure Galley, before she was scuttled in 1698.*

The closing line, "You owe me," also hints at story plot that will involve Kidd and his friend, turned nemesis, Robert Culliford. In 1690 Culliford lead a mutiny against Kidd, which saw Kidd losing command of the Blessed William. When the two encountered on another again in 1698 on Île Sainte-Marie, Kidd plotted to capture the pirate's fleet, but ultimately his crew turned against him, joining the ranks of Culliford instead. A double-blow for Kidd, which left him with only 13 members of crew. It is this incident that likely lead to the abandonment of the Adventure Galley.

While I haven't played any of the previous Uncharted games, this could well be a games that will convince me to buy a PlayStation 4 over the Xbox One. At least I can play the trilogy first while waiting for all the bugs to be worked out, and allow for prices to drop. Win-win situation.

The Last of Us will be getting its first single player DLC in the form of Left Behind. I haven't played this game yet either, although it was the first game that I considered pre-ordering. What put me off was all the reviews giving this game 10/ 10 well over a week before it's release date. It just gave me the initial impression that all those were paid for reviews. Several months after release, I'm now torn between buying it on sale, or waiting for the obligatory 'Game of the Year' version that will no doubt be released next year. Either way this is one title I'd like to add to my collection.

I'm not familiar with the original story line, but a description of the DLC states that this story will feature Ellie, and serve as a prequel to the events of the original game. I'm not sure how I feel about prequel DLC, but hopefully this will add to the original story, not detract from it. Since there are no cool history easter eggs in this trailer, that's all I have to say about it. 

--

* There are contradictory accounts of the Adventure Galley's fate, Kidd says that she sank, while a crew member told of her being burnt after scuttling.