I once started a thread asking what was the "Citizen Kane" of PC games. Recently I read a review that said "The Last of Us" is the Citizen Kane of video games. But the review did not do a good job explaining why. What is all the fuss about? What makes the game stand out?

I'm pretty sure every amazing thing it does is in the story and cinematic presentation, not the gameplay. I have only read reviews though, haven't played the game.

If you want a different perspective on it from all the rave reviews, check out quarter to three's review.

Yeah, I read this comparison too. It's a stupid one, mainly because Citizen Kane was not wildly applauded when it was first released. It took 15 years for that to happen.

The question to ask is: Will people keep on praising the Last of Us on 2028? If yes, then perhaps it deserves all that praise. If not, which I suspect is the case, then it was nothing more than a serious case of the Hype Train. (When 2/3 of the pre-release reviews have perfect 10s, you can't help but raise an eyebrow.)

Most of the OMG NOTY DOWG! fans will be alive in 2028 so the answer is yes.

I laugh when action games get lauded for story.

I think video game "journalists" should save these special terms for a very special game. Last of us seems to be a very good game, but it should take some time, to see if after many years, it still would be just as up to date as Citizen Kane.

People are too eager to call some games milestones or classics immediately after release. It makes no sense for me. You need a time perspective to judge that.

You may say The Last of us is "The Road" of videogaming.

If a game should receive real high acclaim it should be available on more platforms than one.

The fact that 67 reviews gave it a score of 80 or higher must mean something. Maybe the game is actually good? Naughty Dog certainly has already proven that they can make great games. I dare to say that Naughty Dog is currently the best first-party studio out there.

I wish "It's the Citizen Kane of..." would die already. It's already 72 years old.

I recall several reviewers also lauding Bioshock Infinite as the "Citizen Kane" of video games, which is why I don't put much stock in such overblown comparisons. I'll make up my own mind when I've played it.

Why? There are hundreds of critically acclaimed games that are exclusive to one platform, even the PC. The game was made by Sony's first-party studio, of course it will be exclusive to their platform. They want to sell consoles.

Heh, a cracked.com article I read the other day started an entry with
"The Big Lebowski is the Citizen Kane of movies"

That made me chuckle

Why can't action games have a nice story?

I'm going to make a wild guess here and say that most of the reviewers who make that comparison haven't actually watched Citizen Kane.