So,

Did anyone pick it up last week and is loving it just like me?

Everyting about this game just 'ticks the box' and oozes quality.

I want to play it but then I'd have to buy a PS3, an HD TV and the game.

What do you think is powering my laptop right now? 1000000s of hamsters running wheels? It's just hard to justify spending $510 to play 1 game.

I recommend watching Let's plays on youtube. I remember watching let's plays of Uncharted 3 on a russian gaming magazine dvd and then when I got the game I was disappointed cos it felt like I had already played the game - that's how it is with these modern spectacle games.

Amazing story, ho hum gameplay. Due to the scarcity of ammo, you don't really have all that much freedom in what you can do - so most of the time, the game lets you sneak up on enemies for silent take downs which gets dull very very quickly since there's no real skill here. Enemy AI is absolutely atrocious - their field of vision is non existent and you can easily sneak in plain view without getting spotted.

Basically, very very dumbed down combat.

But ... the story is amazing, the characters brilliant. Bioshock Infinite feels very childish compared to this - I just wish they'd put as much time into the combat :S.

Great idea, thanks. :) One thing I don't get about the commercial is the main character guy says something like you have to give up your morals to survive or some shit like that. Then how come he babysits that little girl? If the answer requires spoilers, please PM them to me.

One thing I found unrealistic about the story, is the lack of rape being mentioned or hinted at except for at the very very end of it. Does anyone honestly think that in a future world like this, a 14 year old girl would be safe from brutal men? Like hell they would - raping is sadly enough common place where there's a lack of law and justice.

If it was a movie, they wouldn't shy away from this subject - it kinda goes to show how games are still afraid to touch upon all areas reality thanks to Fox and their moronic friends who do a witch hunt whenever they can. I'm already surprised they got Ellie to comment on the size of a guy's genitals from a gay porn mag she found (yes, really) so it does seem a bit odd.

To focus on the guy: the intro explains why he protects her. Go watch a Let's Play on Youtube (the long intro is really worth it - it's like a movie in itself because it lasts an hour or so) and you'll understand. It's actually this that makes the story so strong - because the game gives the lead character a strong reason. Something which many games fail to do.

It is one of the finest stories told in this generation of gaming, maybe all of them. But yes it has a few problems.

Naughty Dog immerses the player in a articulately crafted world filled with atmosphere and suspense. Upon entering combat sections players generally prefer stealth, weapons are lethal and death comes easy. But the crux of the issue is that those gun toting enemies that have seemingly endless supplies of munitions, rarely drop ammo at all.

This is somewhat disconcerting especially if you have played the Metro Series, where scavenging is equally important. You don't expect to find a whole magazine of ammunition from a recently departed foe, but you find and expect a couple rounds at least. Needless to say I am greatly disappointed by Naughty Dog's handling of this situation, the world feels broken in that respect. Also New Game Plus could have been handled better as well.

All this being said, it is still a great game I hope everyone who has the opportunity plays it.

Exactly - the story makes the world so believable and then combat starts and you go WTF?

For example: you'll quickly get swamped by enemies which appear out of nowhere. Why would a huge band of 40 people be out exploring like that for starters? It makes no sense. That's very much the case - the game suddenly goes "oh, enemies appear out of nowhere!" and usually very little explanations are given. Since radios are no longer used, it seems very weird how fast everyone knows where you are and how quickly more enemies appear.

Or how about the sniping section where you have to defend Ellie when enemies are running towards them from all sides - cartoon style. Really? Enemies wouldn't take cover when a sniper is obviously taking them out one at a time? The first thing they would do, is head for the sniper.

And don't get me started on two guys talking to each other, you taking out one of them, and the other guy not noticing even if he's just 5 feet away and partially turned towards him and his buddy is gasping and trashing right besides him while you strangle him!

It's stuff like that that really jars with the story. When you have something so near-perfect, the gameplay really has to match it and it doesn't. Without the story it would be a sub-par action game. Everything is simply far too scripted to be really enjoyable.

What's so painful here, is how the game could have given you some more space and made things a lot more fun: placing all sorts of nifty traps against the infected, rigging crap to blow and so on - but instead you throw molotov's which oddly enough don't burn people when they walk through it or nail bombs that magically explode when someone comes near (someone manage to understand that one?)

Traded it back in after playing over 3 hours, got fed up with the lack of combat and all the sneaking around and the randomness of the encounters, I just couldnt get into it at all. If you want a game where you spend half your time crouching and not moving while clickers wander aimlessly around like drunks on st patricks day...actually looking like half the drunks here on paddys day with their orange cauliflower heads, then this is the game for you.

I didnt find them scary, just fecking really annoying and the other guys, coughing and wheezing really grated, I know people love the game, but it just wasnt for me.

Great story, crap game. I really preferred Metro LL over this game.

You get a lot of combat later on - too much for my liking in fact because it takes ages thanks to lots of sneaking around being needed - but yeah, far too much sneaking because of limited ammo.

I've been watching some of this game with lets play videos. So far, story is awesome but the game play doesn't offer much. Like a game, your mother(who has never touched a video game) can play.

I found the stealth mechanics in most video game these days are too predictable and shallow. It's like one button, one kill. The AI isn't dynamic enough with their surrounding, not noticing their buddies were taken down one by one. I also don't like when the enemy spend most of their time turning their back on you, giving away cheap stealth kill.

Even the stealth mechanic in MGS 2 back in PS2 is still untouchable. What i like about MGS 2, taking down your enemy (stealthy or not) doesn't mean you get a free pass to loiter around the area. In fact it would alert the enemy even more. So you have to think very carefully.