Every couple of years, you get those games that define why you should own a platform. Every decade or so you get one that defines the genre and then you get games like The Last of Us, ones that don't come around very often, but when they do they don't just define its platform, that don't just define its genre but define gaming as a whole.
Naughty Dog first became a household name with Crash Bandicoot on the PS1, then came Jak & Daxter on PS2 and the most widely recognised of the lot, Uncharted on PS3; but The Last of Us is what they will be henceforth known for, for its survival mechanics, for its combat sequences and most importantly, its mature and touching storyline.
The year is 2033, 20 years ago a fungal virus spread across the earth killing the majority of the planets population. Survivors have been crammed into 'Quarantine Zones' where strict governmental authorities dictate the lives of the civilians, carrying out daily infection checks and executing the infected and criminals with extreme prejudice.
Joel is a middle aged, healthy citizen of the Boston Quarantine Zone, however he is still in mourning of the death of his only child, Sarah. When he and fellow survivor Tess attack a gangster by the name of Robert for selling off their payment from a smuggling job a member of the rebellion group, The Fireflies, contacts them and asks them for help; in return they will receive the guns Robert sold off and many more. Their task is to smuggle a 14 year old girl by the name of Ellie, who is the only known person to be immune from the virus, out of Boston to pass her on to a group of the Firefly rebels. But when shit hits the fan and the authorities ambush killing Tess in the process Joel & Ellie must make their way across the country to extract the cure from Ellie and end the apocalypse.
The Last of Us' story is the centrepiece, nothing takes priority over it which is why the game is very linear. This is no bad thing of course, not every post apocalyptic game needs to be open world however when things are conveniently how they are, such as there always being a platform for you to grab onto, or always having a ladder in the same room to complete the puzzle with sort of detracts from the atmosphere. The same with going through doors, enemies wont follow you through them and seem as though they de-spawn as soon as you exit the room. But these are minor gripes in favour of a much tighter and highly emotional story.
My biggest problem with TLoU is purely personal and so feel free to dismiss it if you so wish, but I don’t like Ellie as a character as much as the game wants me to like her. I feel that her tough chick dialogue doesn’t bode well with a 14 year old girl who is constantly in need of assistance. It also feels like a lot of unnecessary swear words were dropped in just to make her sound tougher, but in my eyes it just comes off as a bratty teenager. One of the biggest complaints I have heard thus far though is that the supporting cast aren’t as well developed as Ellie and Joel. Though this is true, each supporting character is never with you for more than an hour in a game that lasts around 12. Though they aren’t 'developed' they are used to develop the characters of Joel & Ellie by assisting them in difficult choices or making them realise the error of their ways which is more than enough compensation.
The games pacing is superb, the chapters each get progressively more difficult as you play, each scaling with the intensity of fire-fights, length of stealth sections and complexity of puzzles. The games first third (around 4-5 hours) is relatively slow and used mostly as a tutorial, from then on the game seamlessly picks up the pace and leaves you to your own devices, something more games should incorporate rather than a dedicated tutorial level.
The gameplay in TLoU is pure perfection. The game strikes the perfect balance between stealth, survival and shooter. You have a limited inventory to carry supplies such as bandages and blades to craft items such as makeshift knives and med-kits. You can however carry all 8 weapons the game has to offer at the same time, if you upgrade your character at the workbench, so your precious inventory slots are not affected by how much ammo or weaponry you have. The stealth mechanics rely heavily on sound, human enemies can see you and so can one of the three infected types however enemies are alerted to your position through sound. The other two infected types are blind, so you can freely stand next to them and they wont attack you however they can still hear you and are much tougher to kill compared to the other enemy types in the game. Finally the combat is extremely satisfying. Bullets leave wounds in both yourself and enemies (however they don't damage clothing) and the shooting mechanics feel as though they have been taken straight out of an action RPG, with mechanics that can often be a bit wonky and difficult to get used to at first, but once some skill points (or in this case pills) have been used the mechanics become much more robust, this could be seen as a downside to many players who just want a straight up action game but this does give the feeling of your characters survival progression. Ammo is very rare at the start of the game, encouraging a more stealthy approach to things but with just a couple of hours you'll have enough ammo to be a little less conservative of your bullets, but they still wont last you forever. Melee combat is perhaps my favourite mechanic in the game, it is fast, fun and extremely brutal, often showcasing many of TLoU's darkest moments. You can simply start an all out brawl or use the scenery to your advantage by smashing someone's head into a wall, bashing their skull in with a brick or choke them to death and watch the life drain from their eyes. The Last of Us fully deserves its 18 rating from the very mature storyline down to the extremely violent and graphic combat, though it never feels like its glorifying violence, at times its even hard to watch as you take the life of one of the A.I's because they feel so human.
That last point brings me onto the games presentation. The graphical standard of this game is phenomenal, it may not have Crysis level graphics but this is among the best you will see on the PS3. Light brings beauty to the game whereas darkness brings out the eeriness and all of it in extremely high detail. The slightly odd thing though is that the game doesn’t display at 1080p but instead only 720p, seems like an odd choice for a Playstation exclusive as pretty as this. The other odd choice is that you cannot install the game, though this is no massive annoyance as the game only has one initial loading screen but the frame rate can occasionally drop and the textures in some areas aren’t as nice as in others, something that a mandatory install could have fixed.
The voice acting and body animations are also top of the market. Each voice actor brings in a very believable performance and a very emotional one at that. The body animations make each character feel human, even in gameplay the animation is just as good as that in cutscenes which is something of wonder and really gets across the brutality and humanity the game wants you to feel.
The soundtrack and general audio standard is fantastic, to the point where I sat down and listened to the entire soundtrack after I had finished the game. One of the best audio and visual spectacles available on PS3.
The multiplayer was a worry pre-release. Would it sacrifice the quality of singleplayer and still not deliver much itself. Well worry over, the singleplayer has not been affected by the multiplayer and the multiplayer can easily hold its own in the big leagues. Though there are only two game modes and both are very similar (Team Deathmatch with or without respawns) it is one of the most tactical and heart pounding multiplayer experiences out there and something that really helps the games already good lifespan. You have the ability to rank up, create custom classes and even survivor clans which you must keep stable and protect by winning online games and collecting resources from them games (claimed by getting kills). This really gives you even more incentive to keep playing even more so than the standard ranked multiplayer affair would.
In short, The Last of Us is a masterpiece. It contains one of the best openings to a game I have ever played alongside one of the best endings. A game that every PS3 owner owes themselves to buy, any non PS3 owner owes themselves to buy a PS3 just to get this game. It defines its console, its genres and gaming itself with its amazing and varying gameplay, excellent multiplayer and one of the best stories in gaming this decade. This could be the start of an excellent new franchise for both Sony and Naughty Dog, one that many different groups of gamers can unite and enjoy together. Could this be 2013's Game of the Year? Because it has been the best candidate yet.
The Last of Us: 10/10
+One Of The Best Stories This Decade
+Excellent Gameplay Mechanics
+Great Singleplayer Length
+Awesome Multiplayer
+Outstanding A/V Standard
