If I were to sit down and truly imagine what a real life "zombie" apocalypse would be like, I struggle to see how I could come anywhere close to the realism of The Last of Us. Naughty Dogs re-imagining of the typical end of the world trope has changed the way I look at video games as a medium. Not since Telltale Games unbelievable "The Walking Dead" episodic series have I felt such a connection to a video game's characters. Character progression? The Last of Us practically oozes it. A good, emotionally gripping story? One of the best I've ever seen, in any medium. Naughty Dog put so much detail into every inch of The Last of Us, that I have absolutely no problem in saying, The Last of Us is the most well-made video game I've ever played. And it isn't even close. It does so much right, that I don't even know where to begin, but I'll start where The Last Of Us really shines: environmental story-telling.
Everything in this world seems REAL. Existent. Joel and Ellie will have conversations about the simplest things. Walk past a barbecue grill, and Joel will explain to Ellie what they were used for in his day. Or passing an Ice Cream truck, Ellie might ask what it is. See, The Last Of Us takes place 20 years in the future. 2o years after the disease spread. Ellie is 14, and this destroyed desolate world, is the only one she has ever known. Joel was roughly 30 when the infection broke, so he's seen both worlds. He tells Ellie stories of how the world was before. This is all fluidly blended into the games exploration. Run through, and you'll likely miss some of the more touching moments the game has to offer. Naughty Dog not only reflects what a pandemic like this might actually be like, but also shines light on the stupid things we care about in these times. As I look at a poster of a model on the side of a decaying building, Ellie chimes in. "Why is she so skinny? I thought you had lots of food in your day?" "We did, some people just chose not to eat it. Some people liked looking that way." "That's stupid." Ellie intelligently responds. Stand still for a while and Ellie might pull out her joke book to lighten the mood. So many little moments like this make you feel like you really know these characters, and you genuinely share a connection with them. And these characters,.. wow. Naughty Dog has truly set the bar for animation and facial expression in video games. I swear Ellie's eyes are as real as you or mine. Every story sequence is so masterfully acted and crafted, that it's likely better than any movie you'll see this year.
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| The facial expressions alone tell the feelings of each character. |
Graphically, from facial animation to hair and environments, The Last of Us looks like a next generation game. It's baffling the amount of visual detail they were able to squeeze out of an 8 year old console. The Last of Us is nearly flawless in terms of technical glitches, albeit a few rare quips here and there. The environments are rich with history and detail, every abandoned house tells a story. The foliage is especially beautiful, particularly in the areas where nature has retaken ownership. Former parking lots are now covered in grass and trees. A once luxury hotel now has a swamp occupying the lobby. A school building now hosts a group of bandits. I could go on for a very long time. Just know, that so much care has been embedded into this game that it would be a travesty for Naughty Dog to not have their work experienced by everyone.
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| The environments just beg to be explored. |
The story of The Last of Us stands among the greatest ever told in a video game. I honestly cant think of one that tops it, and the only one I can even consider coming close is the afore-mentioned Walking Dead series. If you're reading this, you likely have at least a vague idea of the story, so I won't dive too deep into it (It would be very hard to without spoiling anything anyway), but I'll give a vague outline. The majority of the story focuses on Joel, the protagonist, as he missions to safely transport Ellie, a girl who may well be the answer for everything as she is immune to the infection, to a group of doctors and scientists who believe she may hold the cure. Ellie is kinda thrown on Joel unexpectadly, and because of such, he is at first hesitant and reluctant. Their first few hours together are untrusting and awkward, but as the game progresses they slowly become more comfortable and begin to show small concerns for one another. The character progression from start to finish is absolutely amazing. This is championed by the amazing direction and voice acting. Even small side characters who you'll meet on your journey, are truly believable and unique with their own personalities. I was torn between rushing so I could get to that next story sequence I so craved to see, or to explore every inch in an environment and possibly find something useful or another conversation segment. Your journey will take you from Boston to Utah, across country, on everything from foot, to car, and horseback. You'll pass through several cities, towns, and nature regions along the way.
The mood is dark, there's no denying it. This isn't your typical video game happy story. People will die, people you care about. No one is safe. There is plenty of tragedy, but this is how this reality would be. You fight, or you die. You kill, or be killed. I'll add that I'm not one to get emotionally caught up in ANY medium. The Walking Dead is the only game, movie, etc, to ever make me shed real tears. That was, until I played the Last of Us. I made it through 90 percent of the game before it reached me. Near the end of the game, one simple, yet incredibly moving scene, completely broke me. And it wasn't a sad moment. It was a HAPPY moment. Right after one of the most hurtful moments in the game, after a heart-wrenching sequence, one small "light in the darkness" so to speak, turned me into a little boy. The mood is so bleak, and these characters go through so much, that when this beautiful yet small almost meaningless sequence occurred, I immediately had happy tears flowing down my cheeks. I felt what these characters must have felt, and for that Naughty Dog, I applaud you.
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| Naughty Dog excels in visual story-telling. |
The combat is good. It's not the best I've played, but it works with the realism of the game. I had a blast with the stealth aspects of the combat. There are however, a lot of areas where stealth is basically impossible. Even then, combat works fine, it's fluid, and fun. Finding supplies, you can craft items such as health kits, shivs, bombs, etc. Weapons are also upgradeable through the use of tools and workbenches. I won't talk much about all these mechanics, as it goes pretty deep, and though while enjoyable, to me it was just a way of moving through the story and seeing everything. The difficulty on normal was rather easy, and I only encountered a few areas that I had to replay more than 3 or 4 times. Even dying isn't much of a pain since the game saves every few minutes, and load times after death are rather short.
The main enemies are really broken into 3 categories. Human, infected Humans called "Runners", and fully infected humans called "clickers" as the infection has caused them to go blind and rely on their sensitive hearing. Stand directly in front of a clicker, and they won't see you. Unless you make a noise. Though, if they hear you and charge you, they're one hit kills. This leads to some pretty intense moments in dark buildings and tunnels filled with these clickers as you try to quietly make your way through them. One wrong move, say you step on some broken glass, and you're dead. Still, I was somewhat disappointed that the game never really scared me. Even though this game is really an adventure survival game and not horror, I had heard people claiming it was a horror-survival. There are some very intense moments, for sure, but I was never truly terrified of enemies. But this is a very small gripe that technically isn't even a complaint as the game makes no claim of being a horror game.
If I do have one complaint about The Last of Us, it's that it had to end. Not to say it's a short game, I beat it in about 16 hours, which is amazingly long given the amount of detail throughout. You could probably rush through in 12, but you would miss out on so much of the little things that make this game so great. So play it, take your time, and savor it. You likely won't see another experience like this until the inevitable sequel. And if it's for PS4, we will all probably explode from the sheer awesomeness, because Naughty Dog just made one of the most beautiful looking, well playing, and incredibly acted games of all time on an 8 year old system
I tried to go into this game ignoring the hype ; I've seen the perfect scores from game sites. I wanted to ignore this and play this game and have my own experience and give the game what I felt it deserved, not based on what other people thought because everyone is different. But Naughty Dog has just showed us one more thing : That if you create a masterpiece, even the doubters will have to acknowledge it.
Final Verdict :
- Darrell
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