By: Robert Murphy
Grab a box of tissues everyone because this one is going to
be a game that tugs at your heart strings and the name of the game is “The Last
of Us.” The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where people do
what they can to get by and survive the world they are surrounded in, the game
features two main characters an older man named Joel, who players control and
Ellie, a young girl who is AI controlled. Now what begins to set The Last of
Us apart from other "end of the world" style survival games is that the main
core of the gameplay focuses on the relationship between Joel and Ellie and how
they survive together. Joel who is gruff and surely man, who has survived this
world and does whatever he can to do so, he does not rejoice in his pairing
with Ellie and does not hide that, the relationship and struggles the two face
however will soon change all that.
The game takes place in 2033 and Joel is trying to survive
another day, doing what he does which is smuggling and trading goods with
whoever will take them and this is where he and Ellie meet. In an early on
mission Joel finds himself making a deal to transport Ellie in exchange for a
large amount of money after a deal of his own initially doesn’t work out. The
two must now travel across what remains of the U.S., a place that has been
taken over by the elements and nature again and all that mankind had built has
crumbled away. The two start out as well as you might expect with Joel being a
sullen older man who would like to see the job over and done with as soon as
possible and Ellie being a young girl who is the epitome of innocence, stuck in
this situation that she most likely would not want to be in. There are levels
of distrust and uncertainty between the two which is to be expected, given their
situation, but the two gain a sort of dysfunctional father and daughter
relationship though their travels where he teaches her what she needs to
survive and shows her a world she’s never seen before. This comes up a lot as
well since Ellie was born in this world she has no idea what things were like before
the outbreak that turned people into ravaging creatures. Ellie will ask you
questions about what the past was like and do other things like look through
stores and marvel at nature and the creatures that are around.
You can already hear the conversation, “I hate you, I want to live with mom.”
Speaking of your surrounding “The Last of Us” comes with a
beautifully designed world if you get the chance to look at it, but the beauty
is often overshadowed by the fact that danger is around every corner. Combat
itself is a tense and on edge experience as the ravenous creators that were
once the human race attack as well as other survivors that are fighting to make
it out in the wasteland and yours and Ellie’s fight for survival becomes a
nerve racking experience for you as you are just a regular guy trying to
survive this world. Now stealth is your friend in “The Last of Us” and you can
obviously move stealthily and take down your enemies but the game also features
a unique system where holding down R2 while crouching lets Joel listen
carefully to his surroundings, giving him the location of enemies around him
and helping him to avoid problems if you want to play that way. Some players
may consider this a bit cheap, but I’d merely call it gamey. This doesn’t
always come in handy though when you pick up partners along the way that want
to go in guns blazing and start shooting anything that moves, this leaves you
sitting there going “WHAT THE F$%K, MAN!” but I guess it can’t be avoided.
Nature taking back what’s her's
Now I feel I must take the time to tell you all about the
infected creatures that you are facing in “The Last of Us,” these creatures
came from mutated humans whose minds were infected by a fungus that corrupted
their minds. The regular mass of these enemies are known as Runners, they
charge at you without a second thought and aren’t afraid of anything you might
throw at them, these creatures will take you down or die trying. These
creatures however aren’t my main fear from the game, they aren’t anything I
haven’t dealt with before, no the real problem I faced in the game came from
the creatures known as Clickers. These are extremely mutated humans who have
lost their sight and they make you never want to sleep again, least not without
a night light and some covers close by to hide underneath. These creatures can
only be killed with a silent shiv strikes or a gun but going in stealthily is
the preferable choice of action since Clickers can kill you instantly once they
get their hands on you and you don’t want that.
Holy frak!!!
Another enjoyable aspect to The Last of Us is the crafting
element to the game, it is a vast wasteland out there and it is just begging to
be explored and scavenged around in and who better to do it that you and Ellie.
As you scavenge around for items you will find just about anything from booze,
sugar and other miscellaneous items that can later be crafted into melee
weapons or healing packs, whatever you might need or think you’ll need to help
you in your travels. This however is a double edged sword as crafting is good
but items you find in the world can only be used once and often times when you
use an item, it’s hard to find another of the same item. So choosing to craft
something or another thing or not craft at all and hold onto the item till
later is always on your mind and makes you think twice before making something
on a whim.
Finally, we come to the multiplayer aspect of the game which
comes in two playable formats, one is known as Survivors and the other is
called Supply Raid and both offer something for whatever your multi-playing
preference is like. Survivors is a pretty straight forward concept where you are
placed in a four on four match and you all use the same skills from the main
game to kill the enemy team before they kill you. Then Supply Raid does
something a little differently where the objective of the game mode is to
slowly chip away at the enemy teams overall life total, which their whole team
shares collectively, which makes you not want to be that guy dying all the time
and acting without thinking first. Multiplayer also comes with a little
something extra as well, your character like many other games is customizable
but he or she is also a leader of a band of
survivors and as you progress and do well in online play your band of
survivors starts to grow. The better you do, the more stuff you collect, the
better and bigger your band of survivors will become, this making for an
interesting little side project that makes the aspect of leveling up in
multiplayer seem worthwhile and not just
for the trophies.
Multiplayer characters
In conclusion, buy this game! Ha-ha, no, but I deeply enjoyed The Last of Us and all that it had to offer for me to experience and play
through. The game brings you into a large and incredibly designed world with so
much to see and do, all the while offering a great story that tugs at your
heart strings from beginning to end. Joel and Ellie are great characters and
make for a unique video game pairing
that games haven’t really done before and I completely loved it from the very
first moment the two meet one another. This all coupled with great combat
mechanics and enjoyable multiplayer, you won’t find yourself regretting the 60
dollars you pay to play The Last of Us.
Good:
-Excellent story
-Ellie and Joel’s unique and dysfunctional relationship is
amazing to watch unfold
-Amazing world to be explored, coupled with stellar graphics
-It’s a survival game like no other
Bad:
-Nothing that I can complain about here folks
Scully Rating: 10 out of 10
