head to head

Star Wars: Dark Forces cover artvsThe Last of Us cover art

Star Wars: Dark ForcesvsThe Last of Us

Star Wars: Dark Forces leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); The Last of Us leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION5 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
Star Wars: Dark ForcesThe Last of Us

Axis by axis

Execution5 vs 5

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 1

The Last of Us leans harder on reads: Enemy AI searches but follows mappable routines

Variance2 vs 2

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization6 vs 5

Star Wars: Dark Forces leans harder on optimization: Level navigation and key-hunting are the real test

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

Star Wars: Dark Forces

full breakdown

The Last of Us