head to head

Dead Horde cover artvsThe Last of Us Part II cover art

Dead HordevsThe Last of Us Part II

Dead Horde leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); The Last of Us Part II leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION6 /10READS1 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION4 /10
Dead HordeThe Last of Us Part II

Axis by axis

Execution6 vs 6

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads1 vs 1

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance3 vs 2

Dead Horde leans harder on variance: Spawn directions add some unpredictability

Optimization4 vs 5

The Last of Us Part II leans harder on optimization: Crafting economy and encounter route planning

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Dead Horde

full breakdown

The Last of Us Part II