It all sounds so familiar doesn’t it? Another post-apocalyptic-zombie-virus-horror something something. But this is a survival horror like no other, Naughty Dog made this one. Since the arrival of the PS3 Naughty Dog have been on a triumphant charge to make their name synonymous with the highest quality video games available. It’s almost unbelievable to think that they where once responsible for everyone’s favourite wumpa fruit eating critter.
After about 10 minutes of gameplay it becomes very clear that The Last Of Us is character driven. Forget the connections you felt towards any character in the Uncharted series, or any other game for that matter, in The Last Of Us they are better. The expressions and subtle movements in all the characters faces clearly tell what emotion they are currently experiencing. Eyes are deep and meaningful and you really can gleam insight from paying attention during a scene of dialogue.
For most of your journey you will play as Joel, a rough southern American with a heart of gold. Well, sort of. It’s strangely difficult at times to side with your supposed hero. The Last Of Us is a brutal world where survival is key often at the expense of morality or humanity. And Joel is no stranger to survival. He has an incredibly brutal streak himself and is certainly not scared to get his hands filthy. Various characters will come and go on your journey but it’s a 14 year old girl called Ellie who will accompany you most of the time. Ultimately it’s Ellie who will capture your heart.
The initially reluctant partnership of Ellie and Joel builds up gradually during the course of the game and the interactions between the two are endearing and interesting. The banter the two have as you progress through an area really lets you get to know the characters. Every character in the game is deep and meaningful and attention is given to even the slightest interactions lending weight and meaning to the overall experience. I found myself actively seeking optional conversations to see what Ellie was thinking or feeling. At one point Ellie isn’t feeling her usual plucky self so she becomes quiet and unresponsive to Joel’s attempts to talk to her. It’s deliberate and subtle and The Last Of Us isn’t afraid to take its time.
The incredible motion capture and beautiful visuals allow all this characterization to completely take you in. I found myself caring about Joel and Ellie more than I thought possible for fictitious characters. The voice acting is also second to none. There’s some great voice acting going around these days but The Last Of Us is the best I’ve ever heard. Nothing is overstated and blatantly spelled out to you. It doesn’t patronise and it rewards your intelligence with a deep understanding of your characters. You have to understand what a character is feeling from what they say, their body language and facial expressions. And it’s a joy to see character interactions at work.
Tear yourself away from the talking and the cut scenes and you’ll find the gameplay pretty much divided into three areas. One concentrates on exploration and talking to your companion(s). Another may contain simple puzzles and of course the last must be for action. Don’t get me wrong a big pop-up won’t turn up and tell you which type of section you’re playing. But there are some suggestions as to where your attention should be directed. At first I thought this was a bit of a shame and detracted me slightly from my otherwise immersive experience.
But it quickly becomes clear that this kind of gaming convention exists for a reason. If anything once you’re used to it it allows you to walk through and enjoy the character development sections with a bit of security that you’re not likely to get suddenly lynched and ruin your conversation. It’s a bit of a shame we need conventions like these but games simply wouldn’t work without them. Naughty Dog have done a superbly good job of making it feel fluid and dynamic when transitioning through different sections of gameplay, without loosing the functionality that makes the game playable.
The areas that you fight in are vast. Most of the time I finished a fight and then explored an area to scavenge any items I could find only to discover huge sections I didn’t even know existed. On top of that, whether you’re opponents are infected humans or just some evil bandits that want (or need) to kill you, you will have options. More often than not stealth will be the best approach aided by a nifty little trick where Joel focuses his hearing to show you where your enemies are – much like Agent 47’s intuition. Some people have suggested this is a little cheap. Well for starters it only works if your opponents make a noise (which is cool) and if you don’t want it, try survivor mode, you don’t get it at all. And trust me, it makes a rather big difference.
The checkpoint system is reasonably forgiving so there often isn’t too much to replay if you die but The Last Of Us is true to survival horror. Death doesn’t matter, running out of all your equipment and being left almost defenceless later on in the game is the risk. That’s proper survival horror and The Last Of Us knows it. Admittedly I didn’t really run out of anything on my normal playthrough but the threat was there, and I’ve yet to finish my survival playthrough.
The game is pretty difficult at points. There’s quite a few enemies that can basically insta-kill you if you literally make a single incorrect move. There is a definite sense of vulnerability that never really goes away which is especially heightened given your role as Ellie’s guardian. Taking down enemies is also brutal and horrifying. Even though there is great satisfaction from a job well done you never really feel victorious. The combat feels like two people struggling to survive whilst trying desperately to kill the other person. It keeps the tone gritty and always remains true to itself.
Along with the brilliant voice acting, the footsteps and conversations of the enemies you encounter are also top-notch but are nothing on the sound of the firearms. They are so punchy and loud you almost feel the kick when a gun is fired. There are also some nice codec options allowing you to switch between Dolby Digital and DTS without quitting to the XMB. You can even alter the dynamic range. which is nice.
Going online is really the only disappointment you can find in The Last Of Us. There is an inventive but unnecessary structure to the online play where you build up a group of survivors that then consume food collected from match rewards. In my opinion the online play didn’t need to be here at all. We’ve seen this so many times before, an online mode has to be there! It really doesn’t and it adds nothing to the game. Luckily you can avoid it altogether and get on and enjoy the rest of this amazing game.
Naughty Dog’s attention to detail is incredible. Nothing seems to have been missed and everything looks painstakingly well crafted. There are far, far too many details to mention here but things like when Joel dynamically takes cover and Ellie snugly fits in under the relative safety of his arm. Or blood splatters that appear on surfaces. Or when Ellie reacts to something particularly violent. Even after I finished my first playthrough I started my second straight away and found myself no less impressed with all the little things that make The Last Of Us a masterpiece.
This is a proper survival horror game and another great entry that may yet revive the dying genre. It’s sure of itself and pulls no punches. Naughty Dog know how to tell a great story and they’re not afraid to do it their way. It looks absolutely beautiful and it’s also hands down my favourite game on the PS3. If this doesn’t get Game Of The Year 2013 I will be very surprised. A hearty round of applause and a nice big pat on the back to Naughty Dog for allowing the PS3 this last show of strength before it’s successor takes over the reins. I can’t wait to see what they do next.
The Last Of Us is out now and available only on Playstation 3
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