Kotaku: the last guy

How Do You Promote The Last Guy Retail Launch?

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:00:00 MDT

Yes, The Last Guy, you remember that? The PSN game that used real world overhead maps of Tokyo as players tried to save citizens from alien monsters.

Well, the popular PSN game is getting a retail packaged version — on sale today. To mark the occasion, Sony held a food stall inspired demo station in Akihabara, complete with demo companions.

The retail version features all the previously released downloadable stages (19 in total), plus three new stages and three promotional movies — trophies, too! Also included is a ¥500 PlayStation Store credit.

秋葉原の一角にインドテイストの体験ブースが！『The Last Guy（ザ･ラストガイ）』発売記念イベント [Famitsu]

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:00:04 MDT

Now that I'm back form Germany — and freed from having to resort to the Crosswords app on my iPhone — I'm gonna go hogwild this Labor Day weekend. With a slew of digitally distributed games at my disposal, The Last Guy, Castle Crashers and Team Fortress 2 (with Heavy Update!), I'm thumbing my nose at the traditional retail channel. Suck it, channel!

Thanks to my weekend rock, Owen Good, for remembering to do What Are You Playing This Weekend? when I could not be bothered to remember. Please, let us know what you're gaming the bejeezus out of this long holiday weekend (if you are in the U.S. of A) and forgive me for leaving you high and dry last Friday while at Games Convention.

The Last Guy Visits London, Berlin And...Newcastle

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:30:00 MDT

While the Japanese version of The Last Guy was an all-Japan affair, the Western release will be a little more varied with its city selection. We already know that San Francisco will be there for the saving, as well as London, but new screenshots released by Sony today show that Berlin and Washington DC will also be playable, as well as...Newcastle, England. And if you don't believe us, there's a St. James Park screenshot to prove it.

US Version Of The Last Guy Will Kick Off In Frisco

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:20:00 MDT

As we already expected, the various international releases of The Last Guy will feature "appropriate" cities for each region. London for the UK, LA for the US, etc etc. We can add one more city to that list, as following a playthrough of the game, MTV found that the American release of the title will start in San Francisco. Specifically, in Fisherman's Wharf, which will be the game's first level. Never been there myself, but it really brings home how great an idea this is: saving people from some other city might be fun, but saving your own kin (should the game feature your hometown) is funner.

In America, ‘The Last Guy’ Starts In San Francisco [MTV] [Pic]

The Last Guy Promotional Clip Now With English Subtitles!

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:00:00 MDT

An English translated version of the interview with The Last Guy's "developers" speaking Bengali — tongue planted firmly in cheek. The actual developers are Sony's Japan Studio and responsible for the PSP's Work Time Fun. Pretty sure they don't have a goat in their office, either. Well, maybe they do. Who knows.

The Last Guy 'developer interview' translated, story revealed [PS3 Fanboy]

Last Guy Released Globally Later This Month (With Extra Cities)

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:20:00 MDT

Cheap/quick/rad PSN game The Last Guy is already out in Japan, leaving everyone outside of Japan wondering when they'll get their turn. Looks like your patience skills won't be needed for this one, as Sony's Hong Kong site has the game pegged for a global release in "August". It also says the game will ship with "many other famous cities", which we'll just take to mean that the different regional variants will ship with different, more appropriate cities. After all, not like it's hard to come up with a new level.

Tramp through major cities, dodge some zombies and save the world! [SCE Hong Kong]

The Last Guy Review: Run From The Zombie Monsters!!

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:00:00 MDT

You are the chosen one, a zombie straight from the Himalayas, here to save everyone's butts. The Last Guy: Japan Premium is a 314MB PSN title from Sony's Japan Studio. The story is simple: A purple ray hit the Earth, turning everyone who was outside into monsters or zombies. Everyone indoors was spared, and it's your job to move them from the buildings through the narrow streets of Tokyo's Asakusa (thank you Google Earth!), avoiding the monsters and the zombies and moving your group to the Escape Zone where an United Rescue Force airship will pick them up.

So here you go, our Last Guy review:

Loved
Gameplay: The game play is arcadey and is based on several very simple, yet fun mechanics. Players must rescue a certain number people in a certain amount of time. Given that the maps are not completely free-roaming and players cannot cut through anywhere they like, the game does offer a great deal of strategy of how to get from A to B in the least amount of time. What's more, players can increase the speed at which they move, but these speed bursts aren't unlimited. It's also possible to toggle between what could be best described as night vision (though, it's not night), but this allows players to see how many people are in a given building. The neat part is that while using this, it isn't possible to see the zombies and monsters. Toggling back and forth is a simple, yet at times challenging game play mechanic. Oh! There are a bunch of power-ups as well that can turn you invisible or give you more stamina.

The concept: Go around saving people from zombies and monsters? Yes, please! And doing it in real world locals? Brilliant. The level design is great, fresh and surprisingly realistic. (Well, these are real locales...) And we love the *idea* of being able to save people in different cities around the world. Very solid concept.

Music: Sony could've easily pulled out the irritating techno, but didn't. The Last Guy, granted, does feature club music — just not annoying club music.

Hated
Difficulty curve: In the first level, players are given five minutes to rescue 700 people. The next level gives players six minutes to save 800 people. This progressions are both logical and challenging. For the third (and final) level in The Last Guy: Japan Premium, players have seven minutes to save, are you ready, 1,500 people. That. Makes. No. Sense. It's like the developers thought they should spike the difficult curve for the third level because the Japan Premium only has three levels, and they didn't want people to finish the game too quickly. A cop out on the Japan Studio's part, really.

Pricing: The Last Guy: Japan Premium costs ¥500 (US$4.60). Granted, that's not a lot, but considering how The Last Guy: Japan Premium doesn't exactly feel so "premium", has only one map that gets slightly larger and seems like a demo, then it kinda leaves you with mixed feelings. Paying $yen;500 for one map divided into three levels? Eh... Sure, while I loved playing The Last Guy, I wanted more — and as Sony has announced, there will be more! In short, this Japanese version seems more like an experiment to see whether this would get good buzz (it has), and now I feel like a guinea pig (don't like paying for demos!). If Sony plans on charging ¥500 for each Google Earth map it stuff in The Last Guy, this game could get real expensive, real fast.

The Last Guy: Japan Premium has a lot going for it: game play, music and general cool. Very much looking forward to getting the full (and hopefully more robust) game, but not really looking forward to shelling out for it after putting down ¥500 for this version. There's a lot of possibilities for a truly great PSN game here, folks.

The Last Guy: Japan Premium was released July 31st on the Japanese PSN. The 314MB game was developed by Sony's Japan Studio, priced ¥500 and rated the ESRB equivalent of E for Everyone.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

This Custom Last Guy Level Looks Familiar (And Unplayable)

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:30:00 MDT

Yeah, The Last Guy is already out on the PSN in Japan, but for us English-speakers, ehhh, not yet. To help give us a taste of the game, however, Sony have released a flash demo. Of sorts. If you visit the game's official site, you can enter any URL on the net and - after a short wait - have it rendered and playable as a level from the The Last Guy. Our first choice was obvious, and also misguided, as our site design creates a level that is...challenging. You might want to start on Google (or even a 404 error) first, build up your people-saving chops.

The Last Guy

The Last Guy - Zombie Versus Zombies

Mike Fahey — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:40:00 MDT

Over on the Official PlayStation Blog they've posted a new trailer for the upcoming PSN game The Last Guy, and while it's essentially the Japanese trailer Luke posted with English-language titles, they did drop a sizable chunk of game information along with the vid to make up for it. You play The Last Guy, a zombie from the Himalayas who journeys to the major city centers of the earth to save humanity from a plague of 'bad' zombies created when a purple beam from space struck the planet. As The Last Guy you will have special powers to help you save the day, such as heat vision to see where the normal folk are hiding. Thankfully the other zombies don't share the same powers, or the game would be extremely short.

The gameplay consists of the citizens lining up behind you on the way to safe zones, where they can be rescued. If the bad zombies get too close, the citizens scatter and you have to start over again. It's kind of an interesting twist on those worm games from back in the day, where you'd eat fruit or something to grow longer, making you more of a target the bigger you get. Hit the link for more details on a game that Luke and I agree will be a must-buy title for PSN.

The Last Guy Is Here To Rescue You [Official PlayStation Blog]

Last Guy Looks Simple, Sounds Fantastic

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:20:00 MDT

Here's a gameplay trailer for The Last Guy, due on the PSN at the end of the month (least, in Japan). They sure weren't fooling around when they said it was using Google Maps, whose services you use to lead the survivors of a zombie apocalypse to designated "safe zones". The whole thing looks nice and simple (which it will be, since it's going for under $5), but whatever, if that music makes it into the final game, this moves up a spot on our shiny white purchase board from "will buy" to "must buy".

Sony Combines Zombies And... Google Earth

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:00:00 MDT

If it was up to me (and it's not), and I could combine Google Earth with one thing, I would combine it with zombies. Well, that's EXACTLY what upcoming Sony Computer Entertainment title The Last Guy does — it's like they read my brain! Details are scant, but the top-down PS3 game has players use Google Earth to rescue large numbers of people by having them follow you to safe escape zones and avoiding gray matter eating zombies. Sounds like it'll be a PSN game and sounds like it will be totally awesome.

The Last Guy [Official Site]