By: Michael Serrata
This current console generation has given us a laundry list of unforgettable titles. We will not soon forget the first time entering the underwater dystopia of Rapture in Bioshock, wandering the Wasteland in Fallout 3 or crossing the border of Mexico in Red Dead Redemption. An undeniable trend this generation seems to have been a focus on providing a compelling alternative to the storytelling found in movies. Video games have long since aimed at providing such experiences; from the early Playstation days where Metal Gear Solid used cinematic cutscenes, fully voiced 3D characters and settings and a full orchestral soundtrack to the more recent examples of Heavy Rain becoming more of an interactive story than a traditional game. Toward the end of this generation we have seen technology finally matching ambition and even surpassing the old goal of emulating movies. It has moved into creating an immersive experience unlike any other form of media. One developer in particular has made great strides in advancing the narrative, Naughty Dog. Arguably the best of Sony's first party studios, their Uncharted series brought together all the pieces of the greatest blockbuster action movies together into a cohesive and awesome affair. With their latest release, The Last of Us, they abandon the summer blockbuster in favor of a more personal sombre experience more akin to reading a book then simply watching a narrative unfold in a movie. The result is an unforgettable emotional journey and one of the finest experiences on any platform.
Story: 10/10
The first 30 minutes of The Last of Us not only sets an expectation for the game's tone, they are some of the most traumatic and gut-wrenching moments in any video game. While I absolutely refuse to spoil one of the game's finest moments, I will say that if you are not emotionally affected and attached to the story by this point you should play the game no more (and please get help.) The rest of the game continues on that sombre and devastating note. The main protagonist in this game is Joel, a hardened and gruff survivor of the horrific Cordyceps virus. The cordyceps virus (based off a terrifyingly real insect afflicting virus) attaches to it's victim via spores which infect the brain and the fungus grows turning them into a grotesque bloodthirsty creature. It has been 20 years since the pandemic hit, laying waste to civilization across America and presumably the world. Society has devolved and now only exists in small pockets across the country as quarantine zones set up by the remains of the Federal government. These zones are tightly regulated by a police state authority. Food is rationed, traveling beyond the walls is forbidden and any suspected infection results in a test which if proven positive concludes with immediate execution to prevent the spread.
Living in this bleak and grim world, along with watching the world fall apart, has turned Joel into a ruthless killer and survivor. Joel is not your typical protagonist in that he is not all that much of a hero or even a good person. Joel is about as far away as you can get on the Nathan Drake spectrum, yet even as despicable a person he is, the story never makes you care or root any less for him. You are tasked with traveling across the country with a young girl named Ellie. Ellie, born after civilization crumbled is still a naive 14 year old girl. She has seen some pretty terrible things for her age but still seems to share many traits with any contemporary girl her age. While at first their relationship begins begrudgingly, the bond formed with this young girl is touchingly real. Your heart will bleed for these characters and the pain they feel on their journey together is shared with the player. While this will no doubt draw comparison with many recent games like The Walking Dead and Bioshock Infinite focusing on a similar relationship between the protagonist and a young girl, The Last of Us seems to surpass even those excellent titles in terms of crafting a believable relationship not only with the protagonist but the player. The game is much like Joel; dark, bleak and brutal. The time spent in the game is challenging to play through and not from a gameplay perspective. This is a statement of the impact the game creates. It is unrelenting in its emotional difficulty and brutality. Each scene seems to be more tragic than the next, yet the pace of the game makes it near impossible to forget or walk away from.
The Last of Us tells one of the most intimate and finely written stories in gaming's history. The narrative unfolds seamlessly through cutscenes and gameplay but also in many unconventional ways as well. There are many contextual moments in the game which trigger conversation between Joel and Ellie along with other characters that advance the narrative by giving further insight and weight to the overall story without pulling the player out of the immersion. The most important part of this game is without a doubt the superbly told story which ironically is the part I must talk least about. Giving too many details will not cheapen the game but will dampen some of the impact. This story has less in common with movies than the Uncharted series and opts to tell a story unique to gaming itself. Instead of being a passive part of the story, this becomes your tale. Instead of offering players arbitrary choices as some recent titles have, it chooses to instead bring you into the story emotionally. Naughty Dog has taken familiar post-apocalyptic tropes and made them fresh through their nuanced approach to storytelling.
Gameplay: 9/10
When I first saw the debut gameplay trailer during E3 2012, I was skeptical as to how the finished product would actually play. Thankfully the game is faithful not only to that demo but to the story itself. While it will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Uncharted, it merely borrows the third person perspective. Gameplay here is more similar to a survival horror game than third person action and shares many aspects with the genre. The gameplay here is an extension of the setting and tone of the story in many ways and is not your typical shooter. Yes, you will have an arsenal of weapons but ammo is scarce and hard to come by on even the easiest difficulty. The emphasis is instead placed on stealth and tactics. You face two primary groups of enemies: The infected and survivors. The infected are separated into three main classes; runners, stalkers and clickers. Each require different tactical approaches. All three classes have deteriorated sight but have enhanced hearing. If you are lucky enough to be playing the game how it is meant to be experienced, you will be alone in the dark with a pair of surround sound headphones or speakers. If this is the case, the first encounter you have with the infected is a terrifying experience and every time you encounter them after becomes even more horrifying. A clicker that catches you off guard or hears you bump into bottles on the ground can kill you with a single bite, ending in a gruesome death. The infected are some of the most fully realized and terrifying monsters in any “horror game.” Equally terrible are the survivors you face against. The A.I. for the human enemies you face can be quite challenging. As you have limited resources you will still have to rely mainly on stealth tactics to proceed in the game. Enemies work together, if one sees you they will quickly coordinate a response and can easily flank you if you are being careless. Enemies are smart and will travel throughout the area in order to catch you off guard. Naughty Dog has created two sets of enemy intelligence that are both interesting and challenging and also force players to change strategies on the fly. Combat is visceral and fluid and each time you pull the trigger, it has weight. You will bash some faces in, gouge some eyes out, burn people alive and see the inside of exploded enemies. Enemies beg you for their life on their knees before you pull the trigger. If this all seems too much, it should. The brutality of the combat cannot be overstated. This is not for the faint of heart and nor should it be. This is an explicitly mature story and requires the brutality to convey the game's message properly. After my play-through, I am not sure if there are any “good people” left in this twisted world and if there are, Joel is not one of them. Unlike Uncharted, here you are given somewhat limited verticality but still gives you a sandbox for multiple approaches to each situation. The stealth mechanics work quite nicely in this game. You have enhanced hearing called listen mode which allows you to see an enemies position based on their sound. Sneaking is responsive and contextual. When Joel approaches to a wall, he flattens against it and can peek out and aim easily. It is surprising to have never seen such simplistic mechanics implemented before as they are very intuitive. Bumping into bottles or boxes can reveal your position and eliminate your upper-hand. One of the few glaring flaws is also an understandable one. Ellie or other companions accompanying you will sometimes walk into the line of sight of an enemy or outright bump into them. With the limitations of the 7 year old system, this can easily be forgiven as the alternative would be companions alerting enemies which would be cumbersome and irritating. While at it's essence the entire game can be considered a long escort mission, it never feels at all like such. Ellie can attack or throw a brick at enemies heads giving you a window to escape or counter attack. Ellie is quite enjoyable to have along this ride and very useful.
While stealth is the obvious method for most situations, gunplay is also handled well. The aiming is realistic, carrying sway and weight for each weapon appropriately yet never becoming cumbersome. You can create weapons on the fly, yet this carries it's own risk as this does not bring you out of the action. This serves to create immediacy through tension and pace and can either save your life or end it. The crafting system is well thought out and implemented. In addition to leveling up the weapons you create through finding field manuals, you can also collect gear which allows you to level each of your weapons. This allows you to cater your character to your specific play-through depending on your favored tactics. A surprise addition to the game was the excellent multiplayer mode. Though I was skeptical at first, skepticism became addiction. The game is simple enough, offering two gameplay modes both variants of deathmatch. Where The Last of Us' multiplayer stands out is in it's execution and meta-game. You choose between two factions, Fireflies and Hunters, and are able to link your game up with your real life social network as you fight for resources and complete objectives to keep friends and family members alive. Your clan will either grow or die off. This offers a new take on the formulaic multiplayer offerings found in most single player centric games. All the mechanics of the single player game remain intact and offer another reason to stay in this grim world
Visuals: 10/10
With Uncharted, Naughty Dog pushed the limits of the Playstation 3 in terms of sheer graphical capabilities. With The Last of Us, they have taken it even further. It is undeniably the best looking game on any current console and one of the most aesthetically pleasing titles on any platform. On the technical end, character models are rendered perfectly. Animation is smooth and lifelike. Cutscene and playable sections are as close to indistinguishable as currently possible. The ravaged and bleak post-apocalyptic America could not be more beautiful. Seeing nature reclaim what civilization has taken is a sight many of us hopefully will not ever see but I'm glad I did. Grass has overgrown the city streets with foliage growing over and into ravaged buildings. Naughty Dog has been known for creating fantastic linear games that force the player along a very specific preordained path to continue the story. In this case, the developers have loosened restrictions a bit offering up more exploration this time. This environmental narrative results in some of the most personal and special moments in the game. You see glimpses of shattered families and heartbreaking looks into the lives of those forced to survive in a cold bloodthirsty world. The homes are littered with stories, from graffiti on the walls to scattered luggage and corpses creating a narrative of those who did not make it to the quarantine zones in time. For example, players have the option of reading a story that spans throughout an entire chapter and into the next. Found in notes scattered and abandoned, you piece together an engaging and heartbreaking story. The areas where you find the notes also play a part in painting the scene. These harrowing moments are completely optional and only for player's who seek them out but are some of the more interesting moments in the game and reward players with a much more personal story. Every area you can explore was lovingly created down to every minute detail. One recurring motif throughout the game is that through all the darkness and disparity lies an inherent beauty often overlooked by those just trying to survive the night; it is a character all its own. Naughty Dog captures the essence of the apocalypse and manages to make it heartbreakingly beautiful.
Audio: 10/10
Along with the visuals, another area that excels is the audio. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker give perhaps the best example of voice acting in recent memory. While it may sound hyperbolic, the performance of the cast must be praised as highly as the well written script. Troy Baker nails the Austin, Texas accent and gives his best performance yet. He nails the role of a hardened yet deeply wounded survivor without ever relying on cliches. Ashley Johnson as Ellie is a show stealer in a game filled with an all star cast. Ellie is a strong girl who doesn't come across as needing protection yet Johnson's performance forces us to care for her so much that we are compelled to protect her anyway. The understated soundtrack perfectly underscores the emotional depth of the game with an almost spaghetti-western feel and is one of my favorite scores this year. Playing this game with a surround sound system is highly recommended in order to achieve the full impact of the game. The sounds during the encounters with the infected terrified me long after I had stopped playing. As you slowly creep through a pitch black room filled with “clickers” and other types of infected, you hear them moan and wail as if their former selves are still raging inside. Every instance of this auditory experience is stellar and rounds out the entire package.
Overall: 10/10
The end of each console generation usually results in developers refining their skills and fully realizing the powers and capabilities of the hardware. This generation is no different and Playstation 3 is given their defining exclusive title. More importantly, we are given perhaps this generation's most consistently perfect title. On paper, Last of Us presents a familiar post apocalyptic setting and father/daughter narrative that has been done countless times on screen and in games especially recently. If all you were to take away from this game was that however, you would be missing the point. The game's strength lies in it's subtlety and execution and achieves something few games have so far, it tells a story that is only possible in gaming. This game is a high-watermark that future titles should be judged against. Naughty Dog have finely tuned their craft to a pinpoint precision and hit all the right notes in this masterpiece.
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