The Last of Us

“The Last of Us” is an action-adventure survival horror game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. The game stars Joel, a survivor of the pandemic that took mankind by the balls, and Ellie, a fourteen-year-old orphan girl who grew up in the post-apocalyptic world that remains. Circumstances beyond both of their control have forced them together to survive the horrors that wait outside and the worst of humanity that remain alive. Without further ado, let's sink our teeth into “The Last of Us.”

The game plays an awful lot like a movie. I don't mean that the cut-scenes are so long you'll be saving between them, I mean that everything from the acting straight down to the cinematography is like playing an interactive movie. That alone just shows us how far we've come from games like “Pacman” and “Pong.” The last game I can think of with this much depth to it was “Metal Gear Solid,” and that game was about the threat of nuclear warfare, not zombies. Well, infected. Whatever the cool kids are calling them these days.

  Your fac–! No, too easy.

You take control of Joel for the majority of the game, only switching characters in certain parts, like during the opening and when you play as Ellie later on. Otherwise it's mainly just Joel with Ellie and other allies being controlled by the computer. The game is played through a third-person perspective, mixing action, stealth, and survival horror elements to immerse you into the post- apocalyptic setting. Chances are you'll get more crap from the survivors than you will THE ACTUAL INFECTED!

  Oh, I'm sorry, were you eating that guy? I'll leave you to it.

Weapons range from firearms like pistols, revolvers, shotguns, and rifles to, crossbows. There are melee weapons you can pick up along the way, too: bats, pipes, bottles, bricks, and more. Some times you get objects you can throw and make go boom! Ammo is limited and melee objects will eventually break after multiple uses. The survival horror aspect comes into play when you want to save your resources and make each shot count. When all else fails, punch your enemies. I'm serious. I killed a cop with my bare hands on this thing. Cops are dicks in this game.

Some times it's going to be in your best interest to sneak up on enemies and take them out from behind. The circle button will make Joel crouch down so he can hide and holding down R2 will allow you to listen in on nearby enemies and track them so you know where they are. This works on gang members and infected alike. Once you sneak up on an enemy you can strangle them with the square button, or take them hostage and hold them at gunpoint.

There are four stages that come with the infection. Those infected with the first stage are called “Runners.” They still look human, but they're crazed and will attack anyone in sight who isn't infected. You can strangle them like you would any uninfected person. The second stage is “Stalker,” where a nasty fungus is visible growing on their face, covering up one eye. They're equal in strength to a fit human being and can anticipate moves you make.

The third stage of the infected are “Clickers,” the thing you saw two images up. The whole fungus has taken up their face, leaving them blind, but they can still hear you. You can't strangle these things, if they get too close you'll want to stab them in the neck with a knife if you have them. “There's a fungus among us!” has never been so scary. Or rage inducing. The fourth and final stage are “Bloaters.” They take the longest to develop, so they're pretty rare. The fungus has taken over most of their bodies at this point, acting as armor that can protect them against shotguns and hunting rifles, making them a right pain in the ass.

Speaking of items like knives, you can craft them and other items from your inventory screen. By collecting and combining certain items you can make yourself a health kit, a molotov cocktail to set people on fire, and other explosives. Always be able to take the time to look around for things you can use as it can be the key to surviving. Another thing to remember is that crafting, and using a health kit on yourself, all takes place in real time so doing it out in the open is not a good idea.

Just a nice car ride, what could possibly go wrong?

The game is just as much story as it is gameplay, and the choice to have the voice actors also do the motion-caption makes them feel all the more alive. It's easy to see them as real people just struggling to make it day by day in a world gone to hell. This is probably the most realistic post-apocalyptic setting I've seen in a video game, not just in visuals, but with how the people act and behave. Humanity has just as much potential to be the scum of the earth as it does to go above and beyond, and it's all here.

In the beginning, Joel loses someone dear to him not from the infected, but by the military trying to “keep the peace” more or less. This carries on to present day and influences how he reacts with others, mainly when regarding the fourteen-year-old, Ellie. They have very much a father-daughter relationship going on as they spend more time together. Joel becomes protective of her, impressed by her even, and the game doesn't shy away from telling us that such attachments put you on the fast track to being killed.

Ellie is a free-spirited little firecracker that you can't help but fall in love with. The first time you meet her she's swinging a knife at your partner, so she can take care of herself. Ellie has only ever known a post-apocalyptic world, so just seeing her interact with things we see every day, is very sweet and you feel happy for her. Another thing I like about her especially is that the game doesn't make her AI useless. If you're in the middle of a firefight and getting low on ammo she'll pick up some you might have missed nearby and hand it to you. If she's equipped with a brick or something she'll throw it at the guy you're fighting. Considering there are some games out there from the same genre that will give you an NPC who's only good for screaming and making the game harder, this is a very welcome change.

There were times where I felt like I was playing real life on my screen and somehow I'm not bored with it. At the beginning of the game you can explore Joel's whole house at night and it feels like I'm inside a real person's house as all hell breaks loose outside. You ride in the back of a car, trying to get out of the city as the radio plays in the background, and I feel like I'm in a real car driving with family in fear for my life, just looking out the window and freaking out when something scary comes at me. There's a scene later in the game where you're pushing a car to get it to start, while the game throws enemies your way to make it challenging. It still reminds me of all the times I helped my dad push his truck out of the garage while working on it.

When I'm getting beat up or shot at by a survivor, I feel anger and want to beat the living daylights out of them. I don't mean the typical “ragequit” anger that gamers tend to feel when playing a challenging game, I mean genuine anger. And when I do put them out of their misery I feel good. I never experienced that kind of immersion in a game before. At that point it doesn't feel like I'm playing a game at all and it's amazing and scary. It's hard to emulate life, actual life, without coming across as boring, but this game does it to a tee. The addition of infected running around doesn't take you out of it, which is also very hard to do. By the end of my last playthrough I was so exhausted I just had to take a break. Staying alive is hard work but being dead sucks ass.

Cons: N/A

Conclusion: “The Last of Us” further pushes the envelope of what a game can be. If you enjoy survival horror, action, adventure, strong characterization, and great writing in your game, then “The Last of Us” is the game to have. The PlayStation 3 couldn't have asked for a stronger end to a console generation.

ToriJ says: Get it.