Hands-on: The Last Guy goes to America

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 8th 2008 at 12:00PM }

For those curious about The Last Guy, make sure you read Majed's import impressions. He recommended that players "wait for the release in your region" and I'd have to completely agree. At a recent media preview, we tried the American version of The Last Guy, and discovered a few differences that are sure to please the masses. Firstly, the game takes place in America for us. The first level is rather simple -- a tutorial level set in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. In the level, you'll learn about the various poewr-ups at your disposal: you can gain stamina, or even freeze enemies in their tracks.

Controlling the size of your following crowd is going to be an important part of The Last Guy experience. The larger your crowd, the more abilities you'll have. Your stamina (ability to run) will increase with every 100 people you add to your chain. You'll also be able to break down certain barriers provided you have enough people. However, larger lines are easier to target and enemies can (and will) make quick work on them. Be careful!

A good strategy that worked for us in the game's first three levels is to get as large a chain as comfortable, and then return to the Escape Zone. Players can then zoom around the level collecting smaller groups, keeping an eye out for places which may include VIPs.

Gallery: The Last Guy

Yes, VIPs. You'll usually find them in the most difficult parts of a map. For example, in the Washington DC map we played, the VIP was surrounded by a looping patrol of giant spiders. And boy, are those spiders fast. You're not going to want a very large group, and you'll probably want a few power-ups readied for when you rescue VIPs -- and definitely go for them; they'll add tons of weight to your final score.

The Last Guy may be a relatively simple game, but it does have an incredible amount of charm and we're sure the quest to get a high score will keep people coming back for more. No, the game won't support Trophies, but The Last Guy will be releasing very soon on the PSN -- and will contain 14 levels. Hopefully, SCEA will price this just right to make it an enticing buy. From the looks of things, the charming localization (with intentionally awkward English) works marvelously. Thankfully, it won't be too long until we save the masses.

Tags: joystiqfeatures, the-last-guy