The end is here, and it’s the sickest, most gut-wrenching, perversely violent hellhole you will ever love.
And I mean: You. Will. Love. It.
Next generation? Honey, forget the PS4/Xbox One war (which the PS4 will win). Next generation, for the time being, is here. And it’s called The Last Of Us.
This is a game that makes the Uncharted franchise look like an alpha test of Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour. The graphics provide more detail than Anthony Weiner on Twitter. Although much of the scenery is grim, it’s impossible not to admire the artistry that went into this epic tale.
And what, exactly, is the tale? Without providing too much in the way of spoilers, it’s a spectacularly bloody joyride through a nearly-apocalyptic future filled with humans who have, quite literally, gone viral. A cordyceps virus has stricken much of humanity, translating them into gruesome and, of course, dangerous things.
On the back of that outbreak, humanity has done what humanity collectively does best when faced with a crisis: something totally stupid. A totalitarian regime has emerged, leading us all to make the observation once made famous by Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Aliens: “I’m not sure which species is worse.”
The protagonist in the story is named Joel. Picture a bearded Bruce Willis type of hardened, cynical, don’t-trust-anyone-with-a-puls e-rate attitude. In a nutshell, he’s not afraid to call someone a “cocksucker”.
The yin to Joel’s yang is a 14-year-old girl named Ellie. Joel is tasked with protecting her for reasons you don’t want to read about here, because that would detract from some of the fun of the game. The interaction and the storyline development between the two adds a satisfying depth to the plot.
Not that the plot, on its own, needed much help. Although it’s a dire vision of Americana future, the overall story is intelligent and riddled with complications that should make most Hollywood producers hang their heads in shame and ask, “Why can’t we make stuff like this?” They probably can, they’re just too lazy.
The game play, in many respects, is a standard third-person shooter. For those two of you who don’t know, a third-person shooter is when you can see your character on the screen, moving about and shooting. A first-person shooter, on the other hand, is when you can just see your hands and forearms on the screen, usually holding a gun.
However, The Last Of Us adds significant variety to the third-person shooter recipe to make it a whole new dish. Much of the combat, for example, is hand-to-hand. As one might expect in this kind of environment, it’s exceptionally violent and gruesome hand-to-hand combat. As some might joke, plenty of heads attempt to damage walls and baseball bats. People who prefer their games bloodier than their steak will not be disappointed here.
There is also a strategic aspect to this game that you won’t find in many other shooters. Joel starts the game off with a few supplies, then collects other things which can be used to “craft” new items to help him during his various combat initiatives. This is where strategy comes into play, as Joel may have to choose between creating an explosive or a health kit. In short: if you’re just a hack-and-slash jackass, then this game might not be your cup of swill.
If you’re a Black Ops 2 fan, then you might be accustomed to running around a mutiplayer, guerrilla-warfare battlefield as fast as you can so that you can get the drop on your enemies. If you try that in The Last Of Us, it is you who will be dropped. Part of the game requires you to maneuver about stealthily so that you can avoid detection. See the note above about being a hack-and-slash jackass.
The Last Of Us is a great swan song for the PlayStation 3. It’s a mind blast of biological danger set against the backdrop of police state tactics and brutality. It’s fabulous romp of teeth-clenching, hair-raising, action sequences coupled with the satisfaction of destroying numerous members of the amoral, post-human remains of biological detritus that would end what’s left of humanity.
It’s not a game. It’s an experience. And it should be yours.
"The Game Music Foundation are today very proud and pleased to announce an additional concert, circling back to the roots of Game Muisic Festival in Poland. On April 28th, 2024, the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw will once again become a place to celebrate the art of video game music, featuring scores from The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II." - The Game Music Foundation.
Najam from eXputer writes "It's time fore a new installment in the series, not another pointless remaster."
They are working on something new. Not to be rude but it is impossibility stupid to think ND next major announcement is going to be a remaster or their next Last of Us entry is going to be another remaster.
I think this is in response to them releasing a remaster for the sequel, a game that didn't need a remaster.
Basically a "why did you put out a remaster no one asked for when you have all there options available"
They remaster is to put out something quick while they are deving new stuff. I don't get how people can be so static.
That was a Remake. I guess they could do that to 2, but man…. They should wait a couple generations so it can look like a major upgrade.
Naughty Dog released The Last of Us Part 2 over 3 years ago, and since then, the only good thing we have received is a TV series.
not complaing tbh, i love the last of us but for me the story is done, i dont need more it. they couldve left it at 1 and i wouldve been happy with it.
i have no interest in playing as abby what so ever or anyone else not named joel or ellie for that matter.
give us a new IP naughty dog, its bloody time, insomniac has snatched your throne as sonys best studio, remind us again how talented you are!!
I'm with you on that. People might not have noticed yet, but Naughty Dog has worked on basically only Uncharted and The Last of Us for almost two decades now. It's pretty much 3/4 of their entire history under Sony, dedicated to those two franchises.
This series should have been put to rest since the first one.. tlou2 was absolutely not needed because the first one was perfect.
Now i how ND wake up and give us something to be excited for
Honestly even if Joel was was still in it, I'm still fine with just not having another game period. Like even after the first game, I was fine with the option of just leaving things as they were, and I feel the same about TLOU2. yeah they're great games but the story would be fine left as it is imo, just takes if a messed up situation in a messed up world
insomniac is only big because they are working on Spider Man. Give that ip to any good studio and they will succeed. So i don't feel that is fair to say for that reason. i would like a part 3 with ellie only, where she is old 40 years old or more and end the story there somehow but there were some rumors of multiple playable characters which makes me not so interested. A new ip is a hard sell, i trust them but at the same time not sure about current ND talent to deliver on that front.
Yea let's just ignore 4 games in 5 years and ratchet and clank.
All absolutely quality quality games, theybdeserve the kudos!!
It did! It’s called The Last of Us Part II and it currently holds the record of the most awarded game of all-time! Highly recommend it!
And yet I could give you a dozen games which didn’t get as many awards but are better.
Even 2020…Ghost of Tsushima gave us not just one great revenge tale but two.
Well that's on you Fox. Most people seems to like it wich the awards are a proof of.
Honestly, TLOU2's story came off as more of a comedy of errors masquerading as a 'serious' game.
Not to mention, despite having all of these awards much of which only existed once, TLOU2, a sequel to a critically acclaimed game, took as much time as Horizon: Zero Dawn, a new IP and a huge gamble for Guerrilla at the time, to hit 10 million sales. Heck, Ghost of Tsushima nearly hit 10 million sales by the 2 year mark and that one was also a new IP.
@CombatEmu
"Heck, Ghost of Tsushima nearly hit 10 million sales by the 2 year mark and that one was also a new IP"
Exactly
And they were only behind TLOU2 by like a million
Put it into perspective
A brand new IP which could have gone either way vs a massive 7 years in the making sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games in the last 10 years.
Yet they only managed a million more...
People are still mad about TLOU2. 😂😂
Great game and I’m prepping for another playthrough. Might have to wait until they release the PS5 version and see how that is
The rumors say it's development wasn't up to par with internal expectations, so it's on ice for a while, but there's been nothing official saying what's happening with it for a while.
We should have gotten some new information once the remake of Part 1 was done.
ND has to have something new to announce, they've been quiet for a while now.
Meanwhile half their dev's are now unemployed... I wouldn't count on anything for quite awhile.
@JackBNimble: The studio had over 400 Staff back in July, about 25 staff have been made redundant, this could very easily be because a game has had a large part of it's development finished and ND are the biggest they've ever been.
Scaling back to focus more and cut the fat isn't a bad thing.
The studio could easily still have close to 400 staff, it's also been 3 years since their last release, it's very likely that they're gearing up to announce their next game and release it within the next year or so.
The multiplayer is crazy. Waaaayyyyyyyy better then Uncharted. Wish MP had more modes tho. I know they will add more, but it sucks that they dont offer more off the bat. I did pre order the season pass tho so I will get all the goods :)
Didnt play the SP that much because of the save bug. I should get back to it ASAP now that its fixed lol
Great Review
I played the game in one sitting yesterday. This game really is as good as everyone is making it seem. I'm glad it's getting the praise it deserves.
Great review, this game is awesome.
awesome review