Naughty Dog Thought The Last of Us Would Get Poor Reviews

In the latest issue of GameInformer magazine Naughty Dog's creative on The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann, revealed that the studios feared the game would "review poorly".

"The thing when you do a new IP is that you really don't know. You hope for the best and fear for the worst, as cliched as that sounds," he commented.

"It depends on when you asked me during production. If you had asked me a few months out, I would have said that we were going to review poorly and I don't know how it's going to sell. As we got closer to finishing it, it felt like it was coming together.

"I remember going into E3, and I was telling [game director Bruce Straley], 'I don't think it's going to be received well.' I get Uncharted – it's got that summer blockbuster feel. It's the spectacle. Here, it's got this very different, intimate feel to it. There are long stretches where there isn't much action and I don't know how gamers are going to relate to that."

Despite his concerns, Druckmann concentrated on the making the game Naughty Dog wanted to create.

"The thing that Bruce and I always said was, 'Let's make the game we want to play. Let's do a game that isn't out there. It will be the game we want to play, and that's the idea guiding us.' That's all you can really do and hope people will get into it."

Druckmann's gamble paid off and the game now sits as the highest ranked title on Metacritic so far this year with a score of 95. The Last of Us also broke PS3 sales records to become the console's fastest selling new IP.  

Yesterday, Druckmann released concept art of an alternative ending for the game and has said he and Straley will discuss The Last of Us' various other conclusions which were considered by the team during development at a PAX Prime panel. 

Via: Videogamer.