The Last of Us

In a gaming world of AAA games, Indie games, MMOs and not much in between, the Last of Us tells an amazing story based in the post-apocalypse U.S.A. The storyline really drives the game forward, and the tale is woven in a sometimes terrifying and exhilarating atmosphere that is both immersive and addicting.

My favorite game of all time before playing this was Final Fantasy 7. This is just given to illustrate to you how often I change the status of games that I call the top one I've ever played.

Last of Us is sheer brilliance and a great undertaking. The atmosphere is breathtaking, the fights and action will leave you on the edge of your seat, and there is just enough in-between to leave you wanting more when this is all said and done (at which time you should go play the multiplayer).

Set 20 years after the fungal-driven apocalypse, Last of Us tells the story of Joel and Ellie - two unlikely companions searching for survival and answers across the United States and the span of about a year.

A lot of review sites gave this a 10/10 or 5/5 - and that's a good thing in this case. A few sites that have a reputation for stirring up dust gave it a sub-perfect score, and for no good reason at all.

I would like to specifically target gamespot, since I can't stand those bas****s. They gave it an 8/10. Now, I might be able to swallow such a nasty pill, if a good reason were given.

They gave 2 reasons to knock 2 full points off. One being the AI. Now, admittedly, the AI is not 100% perfect. However, it isn't all that far from it. A few instances here and there where your companion will either full on get in the way, or make it so that it's impossible to build a full fledged strategy based on your partner's cooperation. So while it's not the greatest AI system in existence, and perhaps not even close, it's really not that bad. I would say about 90% perfect. I could understand a 9.5 or even a 9.0, though I would grudgingly do so at that.

But an 8? There must be some other reason. Their reason? Is, and I quote: "Supporting characters are rarely sympathetic." Are. You. Freaking. Kidding. Me? I'm not sure if the reviewer thought he was playing Hello Kitty Online and just thought it should be filled with more rainbows and plastic or what, but the fact that it had to do with any point of the character's treatment of one another points me to believe that this is just an idiotic plot by gamespot to kick up some dust and get some hits - drawing the ire of upset gamers and filling their sideshow piece "feedbackula" with ammunition.

Unless I'm looking up a game release date (they do seem to keep up with this well), I will no longer be reading articles or even visiting gamespot.

In closing, if you have a Playstation 3 and have not purchased The Last of Us already, you should bump it to the top of your "bucket list", especially before the next system comes out.