The Last of Us - Playstation 3

    After years of humanity imagining it's own end, it has finally come. Though many expected human extinction to come in the form of bombs, climate change, or some interstellar danger - it was Mother Nature herself that began wiping humans from her earth. Perhaps she finally took her revenge for the raping and wanton destruction of her planet, or perhaps it was just a freak mutation of a plant that was otherwise harmless to humans. Either way, the end of humanity comes in the form of a tiny, microscopic, fungal spore. Who knew something so small could be so destructive? At the beginning of the end, scientists reported that the small spores, once entering a human's body, would directly attack that person's brain. At that point, a parasitic fungus would begin to grow in the cranial cavity - slowly taking over control of the human's body. Once started, the fungal growth cannot be stopped and progresses until its human host no longer behaves or even physically appears the way he or she once did. With no way to stop the transmission of the fungal infection, what few humans are left gather in military-run quarantine areas to live out what few miserable days they might have left with the rest of the world in shambles. Yet, humanity struggles to continue, even in the face of their own extinction.
    The Last of Us is an Action/Adventure game with Survival Horror and Stealth components. The game was created by developer Naughty Dog, and was published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game was released in 2013 on the Playstation 3 only, though the game has since been remastered and released a second time for the Playstation 4.

    In The Last of Us, players take on the role of Joel as he experiences the first few days of the fungal outbreak that would change humanity forever. Many years later, the game picks back up with Joel as he is working as a smuggler within a quarantined city. After a job goes wrong, Joel finds himself given the task to escort a smart-mouthed young girl (Ellie) across the country to make up for lost goods. Reluctantly, Joel takes the girl in tow and heads for the her destination. Along the way, Joel and Ellie struggle through difficult situations, meet other survivors (some helpful, some dangerous), and develop a strong relationship that proves humans will always have something to struggle for as long as they have each other.

The last thing Joel wanted was babysitting duty..good thing Ellie can handle herself!

    I can't really explain the story of The Last of Us in a way that does it justice. The game's overall goal is simple, but the story is truly about the journey and not the destination. The Last of Us starts out strong and keeps pushing you forward throughout the entire game. I never once found myself bored - the game grabs onto you and never lets you go. Joel and Ellie's adventure is extremely varied and interesting, with amazing characters and set pieces. I found that it took me a little while to get into the game, but that once I was in, I was IN. Once I had finished the first fourth of the game, I never wanted it to end!

    The main focus of The Last Of Us is the relationship that develops between Joel and Ellie. Joel is easily in his late 40's in the game, while Ellie is 14. The relationship between them is extremely well done, and shows what I felt was a very unique and unexpected relationship between two people of such different ages than media usually portrays. Joel never takes up the role of Ellie's parent as might be expected. The game (thankfully) never implies any inappropriate romantic feelings between the two which I feel is all too common when a male and female character develop a relationship in games or film. Instead, the two are just themselves. Joel protects Ellie, but Ellie also fights to protect and take care of Joel. The two basically become friends, and equals - something that I found extremely interesting in an age of examining power dynamics and how different media has utilized them.

She has a point...

    The characters in the Last of Us are also extremely well done. Joel starts out as a cold survivalist, but changes and evolves as the game goes on. Joel's first few experiences of the outbreak have left deep scars that he has not been able to face. These scars become evident as he interacts with others in the game, and he begins to make progress on healing. Ellie toughs out some horrible experiences that would make many adults shut down, but continues to persevere. Every now and then there are small hints that Ellie is struggling with her experiences, something that made her character so much more believable to me. Ellie will go from sneaking through a horde of horribly mutated enemies and witnessing some of the worst characteristics of humanity without blinking an eye, to showing childlike wonder at small things throughout the game. I can't say how much i appreciated Ellie's character showing maturity above her age, yet still getting glimpses of things that remind you that she is still a kid. The game's other characters are also well written, but Joel and Ellie are really the stars of the show here.

    Not only is the game's writing exceptionally good, but its voice acting, sound design, and graphic design are also great. The game just feels real. Voices echo naturally when in tight spaces. Light and shadows fall realistically throughout the game's areas. Characters move in ways that just feel right. There is a level of polish here that I've rarely seen in games.

Sometimes Joel wishes this world were a little less real.

    Gameplay in The Last of Us happens from a third-person perspective. Joel can move around, climb on some objects, crouch behind objects, and use various weapons and items. While combat plays a small role in the game, stealth becomes the player's best friend. Luckily Joel also has the ability to listen carefully to his surroundings which highlights any nearby enemies making for easy tracking. Generally, areas in the game are pretty straight-forward. In a few areas there are relatively simple puzzles that must be solved using items in the environment to progress. The one problem I had with this game was with the "listen" ability, however. On the Playstation 3 controller, the ability is mapped to the R2 trigger. Naturally most gamers rest their fingers on the R1 button while holding the controller. I kept having the issue that my finger would slightly slip down onto R2 ever so gently, or the R2 button would graze my leg or something and Joel would drop down into "listening mode". While it may not seem like a big deal, listen mode makes your character crouch down and move extremely slowly. There were many times where I would be running from enemies, or trying to move quickly and the R2 button would trigger and Joel would go from running away to just stopping and dropping where he was. I found this issue quite frustrating. I wondered at first if this was just my controller, so I tried my other one and still had the same issue.

    The Last of Us features lots of enemies. Joel and Ellie will often encounter "infected", or humans in various stages of fungal takeover. Humans early in the transformation process still have eyesight and run at high speeds to physically attack the living. "Clickers", or more fully transformed infected, have no eyesight and rely on echolocation to find their prey. Once a clicker locates a living being, it blindly surges in that direction swiping its arms out to find any unlucky creatures on the way. Unlike the infected in the early stages of growth that only take away some of your health with their attacks, clickers grasp and bite anything they catch, making them especially dangerous as it's a one-hit kill. These two types of infected require different strategies to combat, making rooms with a combination of them and other surprises much more interesting to attempt to conquer. Other humans also work to stop Joel and Ellie from progressing. Human foes are relatively smart - taking cover and attempting to flank the two. Fighting these foes usually felt pretty straight-forward to me though.

He may seem pretty serious, but he's actually a pretty fun-guy. (had to do it)

    The Last of Us teaches you pretty quickly how to play by showing you, which I really appreciated. At first, the game will put you in a situation with a few enemies to teach you how to gunfight. The game then puts you in a situation where you have no weapons and must sneak past a few enemies to learn stealth. Then, finally, the game blows your mind by putting you in a huge room with lots of infected. Having never played before, I attempted to sneak around the room until I was spotted. As soon as I knew I was seen, I started shooting which only let every enemy in the room know exactly where I was. I think I probably died 10 times in that room before I finally realized that I needed to try something different. In this way, The Last of Us teaches you what you need to know for the rest of the game - sneaking past enemies is almost always the best choice, direct engagement with a few enemies is doable though ammo is very scarce, and it's almost always better to simply run if you're spotted.

    There are a variety of weapons for Joel to choose from when it comes down to a straight-up fight. Handguns and long-guns both can be used against enemies, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation at hand. Each of these weapons can be upgraded using spare parts and tools that are found scattered throughout the game's levels. Joel also has a number of tools such as an improvised shiv for quickly and quietly taking down enemies, health packs to heal, and Molotov cocktails for when the fungus really hits the fan. Each of these items can be crafted using the game's simple crafting system. Crafting supplies are found throughout the game and can be used to create each consumable item (other than ammunition). Joel can also upgrade different aspects of his skills by finding and spending bottles of supplements throughout the game. These upgrades can increase his maximum health, reduce the amount of sway Joel experiences when aiming a weapon, or other helpful changes.

Well...crap.

    As I mentioned, it took me a little while to get into The Last of Us. I really struggled to grasp the stealth over combat mechanics of the game. Once I did though, I was in love and didn't want the game to ever end. Luckily, the game lasted me around 16 hours. There are quite a few collectibles hidden throughout the game such as notes that shed some light on the infection or that give various hints as to where stashes of items might be hidden. I didn't attempt to find all of these, though I'd imagine if someone did it would increase the game's length by a few hours at least. I didn't rush through the game though, and would recommend against doing so. Some of the most fun I had was exploring every area thoroughly. There are lots of hidden items and crafting materials tucked away in throughout the game that will make your adventure slightly easier, as well as extra conversations between Joel and Ellie that you would otherwise miss.

    Obviously, the game came out quite a long time before I played it. I had always heard that it was good, but after the first few minutes of playing it I didn't know if I believed the hype. Once I was hooked, however, the game blew my mind with how good it is. I really wouldn't say this if it weren't true, but I really think that The Last of Us is one of the best games I've ever experienced. The game feels like the culmination of a lot of amazing and different ideas in a way that was just perfect. I really can't recommend this game enough. Be sure to check out the original or remastered version of the The Last of Us!

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