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Also be warned, spoilers ahead.
Gameplay: The Last of Us is a standard third-person shooter, giving the player an over-the-shoulder perspective for aiming, shooting, lobbing, and so on. Fans of Naughty Dog’s work will recognize similarities to Uncharted, though The Last of Us’s combat is a significant upgrade. Gone are the “sticky walls” for cover and mediocre shooting mechanics that haunts the Uncharted series. In The Last of Us, the shooting is visceral and powerful, but using guns comes at a cost: ammunition and enemy attention. For while guns are the most powerful weapons in The Last of Us (except for perhaps the shiv), the ammo required to fire them comes in short supply. Players must balance the use of their arsenal in accordance with the threat: sometimes you need to pull out the shotgun, but be aware that each shell you use will be gone when a scarier and deadlier skirmish breaks out. That’s why you save your guns for emergencies and try to fight with other weapons whenever possible. You employ pipes, axes, bricks, bottles, and (if necessary) your fists in battle against both humans and Infected. You also scavenge for items such as scissors, alcohol, and bandages as you travel through abandoned homes and enemy camps which you can use to craft useful items from Molotov cocktails to health packs. Yet you’ll always want more of these basic crafting tools, especially considering how numerous your enemies are. This brings us to the final essential element of The Last of Us’s gameplay: stealth. The player can use several stealthy abilities throughout the game, including a sneaking crouch, the ability to listen for enemies no matter where they’re hiding, and several silent takedowns that prevent enemies from discovering your location… provided you aren’t seen. The stealth can seem a bit unfair at times (“I swear that I was not in that soldier’s line of sight!”), but it’s an effective system overall. You’ll absolutely want to take advantage of those stealth skills because running and gunning will attract the attention of all nearby enemies, which is a great way to get you killed. The need for stealth might make you worry about the actions of your constant companion, Ellie, but The Last of Us is not a glorified “escort” mission. Naughty Dog made sure that Ellie is never a burden, allowing you to play the game the way you want even when a comment of hers should get you caught or a stray bullet should get her killed. The real magic of The Last of Us is how they combine these elements. You need to scrimp, scrounge, and save to survive in this brutal world. The gameplay mimics the bleakness of the world itself, a world in which you’re always searching for the next meal or the next victim from whom to take it. It’s a brilliant set of mechanics that work very well together and impeccably compliment the narrative. There were a few times where the controls were a bit clunky, but overall The Last of Us has great gameplay that firmly immerses the player in the game’s post-apocalyptic setting.
Presentation: The Last of Us is a beautiful game. Every desolate and ruined landscape possesses a grim beauty that’s haunting and entrancing at the same time. From gutted cities, thousands of rusting and abandoned cars, and encroaching nature that is consuming the remainder of the former human civilization, each step through The Last of Us’s world is powerful. As a former Boston resident, the depiction of the familiar city in the opening was incredibly unsettling, but in a way that immediately hooked me. While the game’s human enemies are typical “henchmen,” the Infected are a monstrous horde that constantly freaked me out. The fungal theme that scars the landscape and the Infected is just realistic enough to be chilling, and it makes the Clickers (god especially the Clickers) and the Bloaters some of the most fearsome monstrosities I’ve ever seen. Speaking of Clickers, The Last of Us’s sound design is also amazing with sounds ranging from the horrifying clicks of the eponymous monsters, the awful cracks of breaking bones, the echoing boom of the weapons, and the startling terror of human screams (yeah, this game is dark). In the rare moments where the game chooses to abandon its stark realism, the background music is absolutely gorgeous. The main screen track and loading music in particular is good enough to listen to on repeat for a long time.
The Last of Us’s technical beauty comes together perfectly in Joel and Ellie. Both character models are emotive and dynamic, making them a joy to watch through the whole game whether you’re trailing over their shoulders or looking them in the eyes during a cutscene. Their movements, interactions, and facial expressions are what make the dialog, the story, and the overall game work. It’s clear that this technical and narrative achievement would never be possible without the powerful technologies that made Joel and Ellie what they are. Furthermore, the voice actors (who I will get to in a moment) also motion captured for their characters, allowing them to act together in a way that few other games are able to display. They are comprehensively detailed, more so than any other human characters in the story (or most other games), which makes the pair even more real and the story even more engrossing. Then there are their voices. Troy Baker (Joel) and Ashley Johnson (Ellie) put on one of the greatest performances in a video game. Ever. They are perfect, from Joel’s angry speeches to Ellie’s vulgar exclamations in battle. It’s worth playing The Last of Us simply to see how amazing the “in-game actors” can be.
Single Player: I’ve never played a game as powerful as The Last of Us. I was thoroughly engrossed in the game’s mesmerizing world and characters even when the occasional glitch or AI bug reared its ugly head. The Last of Us sets a new standard for writing in video games. It surprised and shocked me from beginning to end, which is difficult to do, especially for games. I became invested in the survival of the protagonists to the point where I unconsciously played the game as if I were Joel or Ellie instead of shaping their actions to my playstyle. Their journey became my journey, their suffering became my suffering. Deaths along the way were painful, joys seldom encountered were palpable, and the fear of the danger around every corner influenced my every step. I found that if I played The Last of Us for a long time I would be extremely tense when I finally stopped, which showed just how gripping the game was. The difficulty of the game itself further increased the tension and stakes of the story. Even on Normal, certain sequences gave me a lot of trouble, but I was rarely frustrated or annoyed at my failures. Instead, it was a mere reminder of how trying Joel and Ellie’s world was and how I needed to be tougher and smarter to survive. The single criticism I’d make about The Last of Us’s single player is that it is simply unrelenting. The scariest moments are very scary and the moments of tranquility just make you afraid of what horror might be coming next. This game, more than any other game I have ever played, grabs you by the throat from moment one and refuses to let go until the bitter (and I mean bitter) end. It’s one of the best games I’ve played in my life.
Multiplayer: While The Last of Us has a multiplayer component, I never played it. Honestly, I never had to. The single player was more than enough for me. If this game had been released without multiplayer, I’d never have noticed. I hope someone else will let me know if I’m missing out on something great.
Fun Factor: Here’s the interesting thing about The Last of Us: I’m not sure if you can call it “fun.” The game inflicts such an emotional beating on its players that it can occasionally be draining to play. Some might find it difficult to enjoy the tragedy roller coaster that is TLoU and wonder why people are praising a game so damaging to its audience. In spite of this, I could not put The Last of Us down. Well, I had to, simply because I sometimes needed a break from its constant calamity, but I always looked forward to playing it again. You will not want to let Joel and Ellie’s story lie because you quickly begin to care for them and their cause. Even if you feel like the game is too much to handle, keep pushing on. This game is much like Schindler’s List: it may be painful to watch, but it’s an incredible experience nonetheless. I don’t know if I’ll ever play The Last of Us again, but I know that it’ll stick in my mind as one of the greatest games of all time. Plus, there are some very satisfying moments where you can melt the Infected or sneak up and take down a battalion of soldiers (read: assholes). The Last of Us isn’t completely devoid of standard gaming fun.
Final Verdict: I’ll make this simple. Don’t miss out on The Last of Us. It’s worth purchasing a PS3 for this game alone (especially as the price decreases post-PS4 release). It’s your loss if you don’t play this ground-breaking game.
You can read this review and many more at the N3rd Dimension.
