The Last of Us review
It’s so rare for a game to excel at absolutely everything it does, but Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us does exactly that. A moving and intense story, realistic and touching relationships, intense action, poignant soundtrack and beautiful graphics. The Last of Us does it all without stumbling even once. It was the defining game for the Playstation 3, and one of the most important games in a generation.
In the bloated world of zombie and apocalypse games, main characters Joel and Ellie set the game apart. It begins with Joel’s daughter, Sarah, waking to discover that something strange is going on. The house is empty and there’s a breaking news warning on the TV. An eery and uncertain atmosphere is added to by how young Sarah feels alone and scared. Soon her father returns, and flees with Sarah. In the midst of the chaos the ‘infected’ are introduced: people who’ve be affected by a mutant Cordyceps fungus and lose their sense of self and become aggressive creatures. During the escape a forceful and panicked soldier shoots Sarah, who dies in Joel’s arms. This not only showcases how dangerous the infected can be, but also how humanity has been effected and changed too.
20 years pass and the world is very different. The remaining survivors are grouped in heavily policed safe zones with little in the way of rations or decent living conditions. Joel has become much more gruff and closed, but the player is still endeared to him because of what we saw him go through before. In Joel’s attempts to leave his current zone he makes a deal with the leader of the Fireflies (a separate group who provide a sense of hope to all people) to smuggle a girl, Ellie, to their headquarters.
At first both Ellie and Joel are cold to each other, but as the story progresses their bond grows in a truly natural and heartwarming way. This bond is not only formed through the awesome cut scenes, but also from the dialogue within the gameplay. Ellie is an honest character who wants to help Joel, who acts as a father figure in return. Unlike the father-son bond in God of War 4, this relationship is much more sincere and genuine. The incredible graphics help to portray how the earth has changed, but Ellie still manages to pick up on objects from days past, which reveals just how naive she is to how the world used to be, and just how aware Joel is of what’s changed.
The gameplay matches the frantic tone set by the action. There’s a variety of different guns that Joel and Ellie can use, but ammo is sparse, which adds to the drama and makes every shot matter. There’s 3 different types of infected: runners, clickers and the bloated. Each require a different strategy and can be challenging to kill. Around half of the combat though is based around Joel and Ellie fighting other people. Stealth is typically the better option, but it often leads to full out fighting, mainly because the AI is so good. Combat doesn’t just involve the typical cover, shoot, move tactic employed by many shooters, such as the Uncharted franchise. Enemies are clever and will quickly flank you if you stay still, or behind the same cover for too long. Each movement within these moments needs to be calculated and effective or you quickly find yourself with no ammo and challenging enemies to face.
Ellie and Joel aren’t the only stars in the game, there’s a wide range of different NPCs that they meet along the way. Each is well rounded and there’s usually a plot twist including them. Despite this, and everything else that makes The Last of Us so perfect, it’s Joel and Ellie that will make you want to come back to the game, or keep you thinking about it for hours. Rarely have two so well written and compelling characters been written in any form of media, and they’re the main reason that you’ll be hooked by every last second of The Last of Us.