Building comparison
head to head
Saints Row IVvsThe Last of Us
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Saints Row IV
Execution · Practiced Mastery
An open-world romp where the President of the United States gets superpowers inside an alien simulation.
The Last of Us
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Cinematic survival action where scavenged resources and stealth carry you through the apocalypse.
Saints Row IV leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); The Last of Us leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Saints Row IVThe Last of Us
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Saints Row IV
Superpowered movement and shooting are fast but forgiving
The Last of Us
Aim, stealth timing, and scarce-ammo combat
Reads1 vs 1
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Saints Row IV
Simulation enemies run fixed scripts
The Last of Us
Enemy AI searches but follows mappable routines
Variance2 vs 2
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Saints Row IV
Mild spawn and sandbox randomness
The Last of Us
Encounter layouts unknown first time only
Optimization5 vs 5
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Saints Row IV
Power upgrade paths trivialise the simulation once optimised
The Last of Us
Resource crafting and encounter routing
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.