Apocalypse Wow: The Last of Us
Amidst the battle of the next generation consoles, a new release has arrived to prove to gamers that this generation isn’t going anywhere just yet. The Last of Us took the charts by storm this month, even grossing more than Man of Steel . While it’s true that the price of a game far exceeds that of a cinema ticket it is an outstanding achievement for a PlayStation 3 exclusive nonetheless. Ironically this pinnacle of hope is a survival horror action adventure that takes place within a post-apocalyptic United States after a zombie-like outbreak occurs. The primary story takes place after thirty years of decadence; players inhabit the role of Joel, a survivor who takes it upon himself to escort a fourteen-year girl named Ellie, to a friendly resistance group, called The Fireflies.
With its opening prologue, The Last of Us grips and tosses you into a pit of despair, effectively setting the tone for the remaining fourteen hours of the single player game. It’s clear that developer Naughty Dog has worked tirelessly to create a rich and sombre world. Their previous franchise, the Uncharted series boasted an impressive Indiana Jones style action adventure, and with the development of The Last of Us they’ve traded, for now at least, another sequel for a completely different game dynamic. Although zombie driven, end of the word entertainment seems to be in great supply these days, this game strips the concept to its bare bones and provides a fully realised emotional experience that places it, quite simply, as the best of its genre.
[divider]
Adhering to the limits of the world that it has created is one of Naughty Dog’s main strengths with regards to gameplay. One of the game’s core components is its crafting mechanic, which aids the missions by allowing you to build weapons or medical items with the use of things like rags or scissors that are discarded around many locations. Scavenging for these items can occasionally break the tense immersion with the story but will usually lead you to discover little notes written by survivors and observe the more haunting elements left by the departed. While Uncharted allowed you to go in guns blazing, with The Last of Us you’d be jumping for joy for a mere ten bullets. Instead, you are more likely to succeed by approaching situations with stealth, sometimes the only option for players. Enemies come in various shapes and sizes and which ones you encounter depend primarily on the setting your characters are in.
They range from the military to animals to cannibals, but clearly, the worst of all are the infected. Clickers are the prime source of your worry; they are effectively zombie-like creatures that are blind but can detect your presence using echolocation. You try to nonchalantly run past one of those and it’s bye bye beautiful face. In fact, most of the enemy AI is incredibly ruthless, resulting in much of the melee action being very bloody and brutal. Human enemies reply with a devious “I know what that sounds like”, as soon as the click of an empty gun chamber is heard. I’d be amazed if your heart wasn’t racing every time you’re in combat.
The concept of the game arose from a documentary piece by David Attenborough on the Cordyceps fungus and subsequently a simple question: what if this fungus infected humans on a mass scale? Now it seems The Last of Us boasts a more biologically complex story than most other post-apocalyptic fiction, but in fact the two main influences that stick out the most are Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Alfonso Caurón’s Children of Men. What The Last of Us shares with these two pieces of work and what sets it apart from other survival games is a story that places the relationships between the characters and their struggle for survival in the foreground, leaving the broken world as its backdrop.
Both Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson who voice and mo-cap the game’s lead characters of Joel and Ellie give intense and vibrant performances, with cut scenes a highlight of the meticulous animation and brilliant storytelling. Joel is a veteran survivor, having been through enough to lose hope, but Ellie was born into this world, her actions and her mentality moulded by the constant fear of the infected and the loss of those closest to her. The development of the duo’s personal relationship drives the narrative and epitomises everything right with video gaming writing. Don’t let it fool you; The Last of Us is not just a simple escort mission. Naughty Dog has created a game where less is more and this refined approach helps deliver a gut-wrenching but convincing tale of two lost souls.
In its quieter moments, The Last of Us displays the breath-taking beauty of its world. There are instances where you stop still in your tracks and slowly pan across the screen revealing a vast desolate landscape. As the soft wind blows, Joel and Ellie stare out into the open while you watch in awe; these moments shine as a glimmer of hope in a world covered in darkness.
Two-time Academy Award winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla composes a superb musical score that subtly encapsulates the elements of desperation in the world and the protagonists’ struggle with immorality. When the acoustic guitar rings through the game’s more tender moments, you can’t help but experience a moment of pure catharsis.
In addition to the lengthy single player, which can be replayed in a new ‘game plus mode’ where skill and weapon upgrades are carried over, The Last of Us offers a multiplayer option entitled ‘Factions’, where stealth is key. The multiplayer, although not the highlight of the game, is very well produced and incorporates an elaborate concept of players leading a clan of survivors through the world over twelve weeks. Each match played counts as one day and gives the players opportunities to gather supplies to fuel the clan’s progress and growth. Within ‘Factions’, the two game modes available are ‘Supply Raid’ and ‘Survivors’. In ‘Supply Raid’ each team gets twenty collective lives; they have to fight for supplies by killing each other and whichever team runs out of lives first loses. Alternatively, ‘Survivors’ has no respawning and you simply eliminate everyone else until you are the last player left standing.
The Last of Us brutally takes apart the survival genre and successfully examines the role of social conventions in a post-apocalyptic world through the eyes of its fragmented human characters. The enemies elicit real suspense and fortify the game’s horror; prepare to be shit scared of the infected. With this game, Naughty Dog has created a monumental achievement in the process of storytelling, proving once again that the medium of gaming is to be taken seriously. You might experience plenty of films, books and games this year, but nothing will be as emotionally satisfying as The Last of Us.
[divider]
What do you make of The Last of Us? Let us know! Tweet us @Boargames
Comments