The Last of Us

Release Date: 06.14.13 Platform: PlayStation 3

The Last of Us is the latest game by Naughty Dog. They are known for their amazing games such as the Uncharted and Jak and Daxter series. The Last of Us is another title they can add to that list. The game tells the story of Joel and Ellie and their journey through a post-apocalyptic world in search of a cure for a disease that infected the general populace. Early in the game, the player discovers Ellie seems to be immune to the disease. Joel’s goal is to get her to a group called the Fireflies to study her and find out how and why.

The game is nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster. If the first chapter of the game doesn’t pull at your heartstrings, your heart must be made of ice. The first chapter also sets the tone of the rest of the game. The story is pretty intense at time, taking you to dark places few games bother to venture. Naughty Dog has a talent for making characters you love. Joel and Ellie are endearing and you’ll want the best for them as you play the game. At first Ellie is little more than a job, but a father-daughter relationship grows as the game progresses. The story is one of my favorites. There were twists and turns I didn’t expect and many moments when I literally blurted out, “What the fuck?!?”

The game is beautiful. The levels you go through are works of art. There are 13 chapters all together and each chapter takes place in a different location. The areas have a similar look, but are different enough that you don’t feel like you are in the same level with different dressings over it. Everything is torn down, old and all the building and man-made things are becoming one with nature. I’m a fan of photography of old and abandoned places, so I really liked the style of the game. Sometimes I found myself wandering around just to look at the craftsmanship that went into the level designs. The characters are built just as well. The minute details are what did it for me. The texture of Joel’s hair or the wrinkles on his face. It’s a great looking game.

The controls felt very intuitive. My first play through, I had a bit of trouble with the stealth aspects, but I improved on my Survivor play through. Some of it seemed a bit farfetched. For instance, sometimes you can kill an enemy in plain view of another one, but the other won’t see or notice. However, this didn’t happen often enough to be a bother.

There are a few RPG elements in The Last of Us. Joel can level up abilities. I didn’t find them to have much of an effect on the game play though. Most of them dealt with crafting speeds. The most useful one increased his health. You can also upgrade his guns, though, once again, I didn’t find them to have much of an effect on the game play. I am fond of leveling up characters though, so I enjoyed searching for parts (to upgrade the guns) and supplements (to upgrade Joel).

Crafting is also an important part of the game. You find crafting supplies scattered throughout the levels (the easier the difficulty, the more you’ll find.) These supplies can be combined to make items. This was one of my favorite aspects of the game, as you can shape the way you play the game by the items you use. For instance, I liked using Molotov Cocktails, but someone else might prefer Modified Melee Weapons and/or Nail Bombs. The items you craft definitely alter your approach to battles. I love that there are so many ways to go about getting from one point to another. If you want, you can even avoid fights for the most part. Once I got to my Survivor play through, I opted to focus on a stealthy approach to save time and precious supplies.

As you play through the game, you get Tags. Tags are essential in-game trophies. You get money for acquiring Tags and can use the money to buy content, like T-shirts and backpacks for Joel and Ellie and stills of characters and locations. I really enjoy when unlocking trophies gives you in-game rewards as well.

The game has a lot of replay value because there is so much to do. You can also start a New Game Plus, which allows you to carry over your upgrades into a new game. I ultimately played through the game four times. Once on Normal, once on Survivor, once on Survivor Plus and then one last time on Easy to finish leveling up my guns. Thankfully I only had to play to the 7^th chapter of my Easy play through. There is so much to do along the way. There are Shiv doors you can find and unlock, there are optional conversations to have, and firefly pendants and artifacts hidden throughout the levels to find.

If you are looking for something else to do after you finish the single player story, there is a multiplayer online mode you can try. The online mode is my least favorite aspect of the game. The campaigns seem really long for no apparent reason. There are two campaigns, the Firefly one and the Hunter one. Each campaign is 12 weeks long, with seven days in the week and each match being one day. I’m not sure how many hours I’ve invested, but I’m only on week five day one of my first campaign. I honestly wouldn’t continue playing if it weren’t to get the last two trophies of the game. The online mode carries over the crafting and stealth from the single player mode and none of the controls or anything change. You do get to customize your character a bit. I feel like I might have liked it more if I weren’t forced to play it so much to get the trophies.

Lastly, the game does have some glitches. I have experienced a few myself and others I read about online. One time I was playing and the sound stopped. At first I thought I’d hit mute on my remote, but I didn’t and I hadn’t turned off the sound in-game. It started with the sound being lost during cut scenes, then all the music disappeared. I had to quit the game and start it back up. When I loaded my game, Tess, one of the characters early in the game, was missing her hair. I don’t know what happened to it, but it wasn’t there. Thankfully, those were the only two I had the misfortune of encountering.

Overall, I have enjoyed my time with the game. It is the best game I’ve played this year. The thing that hooked me is the relationship between Joel and Ellie. It really makes the game. If you have a PS3 and haven’t bought this game or played it yet, I don’t know what you are waiting for. Go get your hands on it and play it, you won’t be disappointed.