An unsettling, realistic look into an post-Apocalyptic future
Running off the massive critical and financial success of the Uncharted series, it seems Naughty Dog were free to do anything they wanted. Looking back on Naughty Dog's history, they always stuck with what they did best, warmhearted, fun-to-play platformers anyone could enjoy. They did that from Crash bandicoot on the PSX, all the way to Uncharted 3 on the PS3. Looking at this trend, it was maybe a little strange, if not awkward, to play something as grim as The Last of Us.
This is Naughty Dog's first take on the Post-Apocalyptic genre, but with a twist. The game doesn't necessarily focus on where or why the virus came from, but it's effect on the human population. In modern day America, Joel, his daughter Sarah, and brother Tommy, are living normal lives, quickly deconstructed by a rampant, mysterious virus, known as the Cordyceps fungal infection. The game starts you off as Sarah to build Joel into more of a secondary character, because for all intents and purposes, his isn't the main character of the story, despite utilizing him for the majority of it. Things turn sour rather quickly as the 3 try to make they're way out of the city. This prologue is brisk, with Sarah being brutally shot to death by a soldier under orders to kill anyone trying to leave the city. It then picks up 20 years later with Joel and his partner, Tess. The two are tasked with "smuggling" an infected teenager named Ellie, to the safe hands of the Fireflies, a resistance group. Ellie's importance lies in the fact the Fireflies believe she could be the sign of a cure, due to her not "turning" even after 2 weeks of being infected.
The Last of Us isn't a fun game in the typical sense of the word. The world you're in has lost it's sense of morality. Every character in the game does what they need to survive, regardless of the consequence. As expected in a post apocalyptic environment, everything is scarce, including basic player items such as weapons, ammunition, medical supplies, and so on. Touching upon this, the game introduces a mechanic called "crafting". You'll come across seemingly useless items, which in bulk, can be used to craft anything from Molotov cocktails to lethal stabbing weapons.
In stark contrast to the Uncharted series, in which Drake leaves hundreds, if not thousands of bodies behind wherever he goes without even thinking twice about it, the Last of Us adds weight and consequence to every kill you make. It accomplishes this by making nearly every encounter avoidable. Glass bottles and bricks lye around everywhere, utilizing them to distract human guards and infected is key to getting out alive. However to balance this, doing so will force you to leave potential supplies behind. It's up to you if you feel trekking the area is worth it. This point is furthered by the fact that killing you're enemies is rather difficult. Humans and infected alike will quickly overwhelm you in great numbers. With a bouncy aiming system, lack of ammo, ect, it's unwise to attack you're enemies all head on, but rather quietly take them out one at a time.
Ellie is not just a useless AI companion, but someone who directly takes part in the action. She will silently kill any unsuspecting enemy if Joel is to get overwhelmed. She will also find you ammo and supplies around the game world. She's also very charismatic. Despite the world she's placed in, Ellie will typically act like the harsh mouthed, joke cracking 14 year old she is. Very much like Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite, she is not just lifeless nuisance. Her antics play a vital role in creating the world of the game.
Seeing how gritty and realistic the action is, you feel as though as you are really Joel in this world. The Last of Us presents itself as a true-to-the-books survival-horror game, actually accomplishing this much better than most of it's contemporaries. Every single action you make has weight to it. Every person or infected you kill, every bullet you fire, every character you meet, leaves an impression on you. The people you encounter are all motion captured to perfection, not to mention the fantastic voice acting across the board. Naughty dog, as always, knows how to make you really care for every person in they're games. The art direction and set pieces, as expected, are gloriously imagined. Every town, city, sewer, subway, forest, and so on, that you come across feels real and alive. Never will you feel that this place the game creates, could never happen in real life.
The game is bound to take a toll on anyone with a pulse. Every event in this 13 hour plus adventure, will leave you emotionally and physically sick. By the end you will want to sit in a dark room with a bottle of Jack, wondering how the hell a video game could make you feel so bad about the things you did during you're time with it. Underneath the main story sits allot of subtext, questioning how important morality really is and the human condition. Other themes include sacrifice, death, companionship, loyalty, and fate.
As expected in such a lengthy game, slip ups are bound to be made by the designers. Several moments in the game force you to stack up the body count, contradicting the usual kill when necessary theme. In these segments you're put into a more Uncharted-feeling, highly cinematic predicament, suddenly given unlimited ammo to dispatch waves of enemies. It could be seen that this was done to break up the typical sneaking playstyle, however these moments of extreme violence seem very out of place with the rest of the game. As you progress through the game you'll come across workbenches with which you can upgrade you're weapons and create holsters in order in carry more weapons with having to manually grab them through sub menu surfing. Another aid you are presented with allows you to upgrade you're physically stats, such as the time it takes to heal yourself, with pills found scattered throughout the game world. While some of these aids will not make you super human, some of the them will make the ending chapters of the game a bit of a walk in the park, breaking the careful dexterity necessary in early chapters. Most other complaints are rather minor in this otherwise superb game.
This game transcends its own genre in every other medium of entertainment. Beautifully combining engaging gameplay with a believable story. The Last of Us is not a fun game to play, and I don't think it is supposed to be. Its supposed to send a message to the player, that not every story has a fairytale ending. People die, whether they deserved to or not, events happen that will just make you feel downright depressed, but it's all apart of the the bigger picture its trying to convey. Sit back and try to let it all sink in, even if it hurts.
