The Last of Us - HBO *Spoilers* See warning in post #1

I don't really think comparisons with TWD are fair or warranted, because the issues with that show extend far beyond one or two things. It became a show that was so padded and bloated, constantly just filling time between mid-season and end-of-season episodes since they were the only episodes something important happened, and just trying to constantly raise the stakes with "This new group of enemies is even more dangerous than the last group" endlessly. It was a show that went on far too long and ran out of steam about 5 seasons before the show actually ended.

The Last of Us will quite possibly only run for 3 seasons by design. They have a framework to work to rather than just trying to spin wheels to drag the show out for more seasons. It's a smaller story rather than ensemble cast constantly introducing new characters.

Sure, the infected are basically zombies, and there'll be a good bit of "escape the zombies" scenes, but I can't imagine TLOU on its worst day being anywhere near as bad as the majority of TWD from Season 6 onwards.

So did Joel.

they had a heavy loader.

Keep watching. You wont be disappointed.

The second game was not divisive. It was universally acclaimed by critics and remains one of the best reviewed games of all time. Personally I thought it was a bit long (a view a good few people shared) but it was still incredible and not divisive at all.

There were a lot of losers who had a problem with Abby being muscular and Ellie's sexuality but those voices aren't even worth listening to.

Metacritic user scores are not worth the digital paper they're written on. They are literally indicative of nothing.

Well the show is definitely recreating the doubts some had when Joel was killed off in the game. Just rolled credits on the remastered version of 2nd game tonight. Still 1 of my all time favourites. Although it does slow up a bit in the final stages the ending makes up for it easily. I'll be watching every Monday for sure. Wouldn't miss an episode.

I watched Episode 1 without recapping Season 1.

I thought Abby was actually Ellie in the future that now had a death wish on Joel, I'd forgotten about the whole Fireflies rescue.

Nice to see the tribute to Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy by her choice of 9 iron for the torture. My mind works differently.

Why was Abby riddled with frostbite one minute then just sets off with the crew after killing Joel, does a good hour of torture raise your core temp.

Somebody compared the infected hoard attack scene to Hardhome, sorry it pales in comparison.

Your 1st question was explained in the show, Jesse told Ellie about a patrol stumbling on a group of infected buried in the snow where the outer layer of frozen infected acted as insulation for a core of still living infected. Abbey is unfortunate enough to awake an even larger group.

As for your 2nd question , spores aren't a thing in the show, They replaced the spores with tendrils as a method of infection. They even poke fun at it in the 1st season where Ellie asks Joel and Tess are spores a thing and they tell her no but explain about the tendrils.

The term divisive here was used in terms of it being "well received or regarded" vs the first game. I'd absolutely agree that it was subject to fair criticism and had issues and controversial elements to it. But the OP was framing it in terms of quality and reception which I would still stand by saying was not that divisive. That doesn't mean it was universally loved but the overwhelming opinion was positive.

Well I'm truly shocked that a video game would have a critical reaction from lads similar to that of Comic Book Store Guy.

I find the majority of games a slog but I didn’t with Last of us 2, I really connected with the story, characters, game world, loved the combat, each to their own I guess.

there no signs of ditches in the first two episodes

The Last of Us 2 is one of the greatest games ever made…….. AND it's a slog!

I loved it, but the criticism of it from me would be that it's too long. There's a very obvious part of the game where the game SHOULD end, or at least feels like it's ending, but it doesn't