Naughty dog The last of us is a third-person adventure that walks a fine line between survival horror and action. If Naughty Dog sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve played (or at least heard of) the Unexplored series that, like this game, is exclusive to PlayStation.
There’s a lot this game shares with its gun-wielding treasure hunter cousins. Naughty Dog, for the past few years, has been perfecting its art of creating expansive and immersive worlds filled with stunning visuals, clever dialogue, and a compelling story. All of that carries over to The last of us, resulting in a game that (mostly) shines from its opening moments to the end credits.
What makes the game so great? Well, where do I start?
For me, one of the most important aspects of a game is the story. The last of us tells the story of Joel, a middle-aged smuggler living in a world devastated by a devastating infectious mushroom outbreak, and Ellie, a fourteen-year-old girl controlled by AI, whom Joel is tasked with delivering to a band of fighters for military freedom.
The game is decidedly dark, and addresses some of the depths that humanity can sink to in the face of catastrophe. But, the actual maturity of the storytelling means that shocking events and twists are never there just for the sake of commotion. The last of us It has a grown-up story to tell, and while it can occasionally be horrifying to watch the characters rob and kill each other for scraps of food and supplies, it all happens to establish just how desperate this world is.
What Unexplored, there is a very cinematic feel here. Objective, The last of us it also happens to be a game, and it is successful there too.
The combat is handled very well. One of the things I appreciated the most was how limited the supplies were. This is not a run and shoot game. In fact, for most of the game, I checked how much ammo I had for my entire weapon inventory. The game forces you to make smart decisions about how to approach combat.
To make up for the limited ammo, Joel can invent a variety of offensive and defensive tools, including smoke bombs, Molotov cocktails, nail bombs, and pocket knives. Take them and combine them with Joel’s uncanny ability to listen to his surroundings for enemies (almost like sonar) and you have a recipe for intense stealth combat.
On their travels, Joel and Ellie encounter both human enemies and “infected ones”, those humans who have contracted the fungal infection and have been reduced to wild “runners” (who carry and try to do horrible things to you). and “clickers” (people who have been infected for a long time and have fungus growing on their heads). Clickers are where the horror elements really get amplified. Because they are blind, clickers rely on really eerie clicking noise and amplified hearing to detect it. If you move too fast around a clicker, prepare to have your throat bitten in a particularly gory cut scene.
Although enemy AI can be a bit unstable at times, for the most part, baddies were a fun challenge when in combat. In addition, his various companions in the game are well managed. Ellie, in particular, joins the growing ranks of great AI buddies, staying out of the way when necessary and lending a hand when possible.
Honestly, a lot can be said about The last of us, but here there is simply not enough space. If you are a fan of action, stealth or horror, you must not let this game escape you.
Look for a copy at your local Slackers store.
