“20 years after a pandemic has radically changed known civilization, infected humans run wild and survivors are killing each other for food, weapons – whatever they can get their hands on. Joel, a violent survivor, is hired to smuggle a 14 year-old girl, Ellie, out of an oppressive military quarantine zone, but what starts as a small job soon transforms into a brutal journey across the U.S.”
The Last of Us is a video game developed by Naughty Dog and distributed by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PS3 in 2013. After one year of release it had been the recipient of over 200 “Best Game” awards and became the second best selling game of the year with over 6,000,000 being sold.
The concepts and story behind the game were created by Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley. The Last of Us features voice acting from Ashley Johnson (“Ben 10: Ultimate Alien,” “The Killing”), Troy Baker (“Ultimate Spiderman,” Walking Dead: Survival Instinct), Ashley Scott (“Birds of Prey,” 12 Rounds), Annie Wersching (“General Hospital,” “24”), Nolan North (“Pretty Little Liars,” “Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles”), W. Earl Brown (“Chicago Fire,” “Deadwood”), Jeffrey Pierce (“Cult,” “The Tomorrow People”), Hana Hayes, Robin Atkin Downes (“Beware the Batman,” “Star Wars: Clone Wars”), Nadji Jeter, Merle Dandridge (“All My Children,” “Sons of Anarchy”), Reuben Langdon (“Devil May Cry,” “Power Rangers: Time Force”), Brandon Scott (“Grey’s Anatomy”), and many more.
I’m always a console or two behind because I never buy a new gaming platform without finishing all the good games on the previous one. Recently I switched from a Wii to XBOX360, but upon finding a lack of decent games that were more in my style, I switched over to the PS3. I have to say that the jump in quality from XBOX360 to PS3 is amazing and breathtaking. My Dad was playing Legend of Zelda: Windwaker yesterday and I couldn’t help but notice how primitive it looks in comparison to The Last of Us, which basically looks like you’re watching a movie the entire time. The details are simply the best I’ve ever seen and I heard they’re transitioning this game for the PS4 with better graphics. I don’t even understand how it can get any better. My mind is actually blown thinking about all the hard work that went into designing and shaping this game. All of the backdrops are so colorful, textured, and vibrant; from the streets of survivor ghettos to mansions overgrown with wildlife to snowy mountain tops… The hours upon hours of painstaking detail that was put into this game. I mean, you have free range of your character as long as you stay in that “level,” and you can literally explore every single room. There’s something to knock over, something to find, something to look at, something to just interact with. It’s so expansive. Everyone involved with creating this game needs a couple rounds of applause for their hard work.
Another strong point within The Last of Us is the game’s ability to make you care about the characters. Obviously, Ellie and Joel are the most relatable because they are the most flushed out, have the most backstory explained, and progress the most from beginning to end. You learn things about them that are so minuet, but you remember them and it helps to make them real people in your mind instead of only video game characters. Supporting cast members – Tommy, Tess, Bill, Henry, Marlene – are ever present and drive the plot along, but they’re also fleshed out too. You end up hoping for their survival for different reasons, examples: Tess because she’s a true bad ass female, Bill because he’s a true friend, and Henry because he wants to protect his brother. Yes, at points in the game The Last of Us started feeling like a really long episode of “The Walking Dead,” but the biggest difference is that all the characters are extremely likable in The Last of Us and believe me, you want them to live! It’s rumored that Lionsgate purchased the rights to a Last of Us movie, and I cannot wait to see it so I can further enjoy these characters. Speaking more to the enjoyable, likable characters… The character of Bill is revealed to be gay, and in a backstory of downloadable content Ellie is revealed to be at least bisexual. I never picked up on this for a second in the game. I saw them both as humans, people with real stories, and not video game characters defined by sexual orientation.
The last selling point for me is the level of anxiety inducing stress. A large part of the game is spent battling outside forces with to know weapons and sneak attacking your enemies. One wrong movie can mean your death; and in this game – touching on the depth of detail again – if there’s broken glass on the floor, it cracks under your show, if there’s something light and you walk by it, it falls over, if your by fire, your character coughs. It’s so realistic and it makes it just that much harder to truly outwit your opponent, especially towards the end when you’re in an abandoned ski lodge. The suspense is kept alive by an ever developing line up of villains. First, of course, you have the infected human/zombies that are tough to kill. Then you have “Clickers” which are infected humans who have been ill so long they have sprouted plant like appendages on their heads that you CANNOT touch or you instantly die. Then you come across “Bloaters” which are even more infected than “Clickers” that are twice the size and three times as hard to kill. On top of all of this you have rough survivors who are hunting you every step of the way for vengeance, food, and whatever supplies you have on you. It very much as the same intensity level as Resident Evil where your enemy becomes tougher while you get shorter on ammo. But, it’s way better than all other survivor and zombie games.
…And the soundtrack. I can’t forget to mention the perfect soundtrack!
This game gets 10 out of 10 stars from me. It is the most perfect game you’ll ever play and I recommend it to everyone.
