Here there comes the latest instalment of our "Imagining MMOs" article series that allows for having a bit of fun as we're virtually picturing a particular imaginary MMO, imaging how it could be like, designing gameplay, visuals, features and everything that comes with it in our mind. Already having imagined a hypothetical Harry Potter MMO as well as a Pokémon MMO, we'd today like to examine the MMO opportunities of a different franchise that is tremendously popular: The Last of Us.
Developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony for PS3 and PS4, this title is an award-winning, story-driven survival horror adventure game and it's absolutely possible that you've already have your own gaming experience with TLOU. Just for those of you who haven't, in this title players will become witnesses of the decline of civilisation after a mutated strain of Cordyceps fungi infected mankind, transforming them to some sort of zombies. The single player title lets players assume the role of the common smuggler Joel who's trying to make it to the end of each single day, finding himself involved in the usual videogame drama of having to save the world by protecting a little girl from all manners of threats, such as cannibals, human hunters, mutated beings and who knows what else. It was due to its memorable characters and story, stunning environment and an atmosphere where you had a steady sense of threat and a general post-apocalyptic feel with the need of being cautious and scavenging for any objects that could be helpful that The Last of Us was such an epic game.
So considering the fact that (often zombie-themed) survival MMOs are mushrooming nowadays, we're indeed a bit surprised that a TLOU MMO isn't in development with any studio, which is what brought us here.
First of all, we should mention that, in order to stay faithful to the single-player title, we would create our TLOU MMO game in the form of an MMO TPS. There was already fun action/ shooting gameplay and a pretty decent 3rd-person perspective with the original game, so why change a winning team? In order to make our game become a success, it would evidently by absolutely essential to harness that awesome steady sense of threat, that stealth factor and that urge to survive come what may to then enhance this combination to adapt it to a multi-player setting.
As regards the main structure of our fictive MMO, we thought of something that differs to some extend in comparison to what players typically get to see in survival MMO games, in H1Z1 or DayZ, for instance, to only name a few popular ones, which thrust players into a massive, seamless open world, leaving them to themselves. While not denying that this is fun for sure, we’re afraid that our game's precious atmosphere could possibly be ruined by the hypothetical option of entire hordes of users roaming the areas. We therefore would opt for something that is somewhat similar to what you might have already seen in case you've ever played Destiny.
Our TLOU MMO would offer three distinct factions for players to side with, originating from the single-player game: Hunters (wicked humans not hesitating to slay anyone entering their territory to claim their stuff for themselves), the United States Armed Forces (the military force controlled by what remained of the US government, which aims at preventing further infection), and Fireflies (rebels who haven’t given up hope for humankind's future). Upon completing a brief general tutorial, which would also act as an introduction to the storyline of our MMO, players would be able to decide for one of those factions and then be transported to a town/ social hub their chosen faction is in control of. In this safe zone, they would find other players, NPCs, shops and helpful services. Then it would be up to them to decide whether to just head off into the unknown in search for water, food and equipment without taking on any mission, which would have them spawn in a random location without any enemy player nearby at that precise moment, or to accept an objective-based or story-related mission from one of the NPCs to set off into one of the extended areas available for exploration. Before heading off, users would even be able to team up in a group if not willing to go on their own.
This is due to the fact that we would only allow a max of five players belonging to the same faction to be in a particular area at any given time. Just picture the following: you're out with a friend to look for some food and a larger backpack perhaps as well. Since other people usually don't dare setting food onto this part of the land, you believe the two of you are on your own, when out of a sudden there's a noise. Pretty convinced it would be any bloater or a clicker, you risk a glance, which reveals an enemy player scavenging for helpful things. It’s an almost certain thing that this person is on their own and could mean easy prey, but what if there's a companion, too? Would you take the risk of ambushing them anyway or would you prefer creeping away? Cool, isn't it? And then imagine running away from a chaser and suddenly finding a player belonging to your own faction willing to help you. The issue is, with more than five members of the same faction within an area (meaning a total of 15 players when taking into account the three factions), you would risk losing the atmosphere and seeing some nasty zerg tactics. Restricting the amount of players from the same faction to five in any given area would be the guarantee for a great ambience where computer-controlled mutants would still matter and for fair player vs. player fights as well (the unluckiest chance ever is that you are on your own being targeted by an entire group of five organised enemies, however then it's still possible to make them lose your tracks in a building or a devastated urban environment full of places to hide).
In addition to the obvious goal of finding something to eat and drink in order to stay alive, players would also focus on fending off enemy players' attacks during regular missions and exploration, scavenging items to craft their weapons, armour and gear, and following the continuously expanding storyline (would you care for a DLC?) through instanced story-based missions (with the absence of enemy players). Sure, you could even imagine PvE only servers, but where would be the fun and the excitement then?
When it comes to customising and advancing your character, we've come to the conclusion to relinquish any class and level-based progression in favour of a skill-based classless system, which would be a blend of those seen in Ultima Online and the Elder Scroll titles, with skills that improve the more they’re used, a skill points total limit and achievable soft caps that would allow players to enhance what they prefer. We're of the opinion that this sort of system would not only be more suited to an MMO like ours in general, but would also help with immersion and allow players to shape their character as they follow their style of play in a more natural way. Do you prefer sneaking around and avoiding combat, quickly scavenging to then hide again and retreat safely? Then simply play this way and you would evolve the respective skills. Or are you rather interested in brawls? Then hit your foes to steadily become a true UFC combatant.
Concerning visuals, the original game was already fine for a PS3 title, however, due to the fact that this is just a fictitious project for fun, there wouldn't be any financial or technological limits for us, meaning that we would aim at nothing less than state-of-the-art visuals while staying true to the original style and visual impact, which was just stunning, only enhancing the technical part of it.
So, what do you think of our The Last of Us MMO Game? Would you play it? Do you have any suggestions? Don't hesitate to let us know your thoughts and ideas leaving a comment here or on our social media pages!
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