The Last of Us- Review

"After all we've been through. Everything I've done. It can't be for nothing."

Everyone thinks about it at least once in their lifetime, and it's perhaps one of the most frightening thoughts imaginable. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you know, the thought of the world's end is going to go through your head at some point. It's inevitable.

You may even be thinking about that very notion right now. How could modern society/the world end? If the end were to start tonight could you manage to survive? What kind of person would you become if you were to live past all of the destruction? Would you even want to continue living?

It's this intrinsic fascination we have with the apocalypse that many storytellers use as means to analyze us as a species. Postulating over the potentials of what would happen, how people may change, and if it could maybe even be for the best are all ideas that fiction can bring to light. With the advent of videogames, we now have the ability to actively participate in that scenario of a world gone wrong.

The Last of Us is an outstanding game. If you have a Playstation 3, and you want to see what all the fuss is about, find yourself a copy and play it. I know that's brief, but if you want my review in a nutshell, there it is. I know every major media outlet and its brother are saying that, but it's true. This game is simply outstanding. The Last of Us is an emotionally resonating experience that builds the foundations of its agency on memorable set pieces, near pitch perfect pacing, and complex characterization. Even though I could sit here for the next two paragraphs typing out ten dollar words attempting to emphasize how good I think this game is, I won't waste your time like that. It's fundamentally pointless for me to go through the motions of regurgitating media buzz words that you probably have a callous to by now.

Few games available in the market today actually make good on their sometimes lofty promises. The Last of Us is one of those rare occasions where a game not only delivers what everyone is expecting out of it, but surprisingly enough gives even more. While The Last of Us isn't exactly a testament to gaming perfection, I will say that it is one of the most technically impressive games I've seen this generation. After doing two full playthroughs of the game, there are only a small handful of flaws that I can list with any sense of legitimacy.

"Hold on to your morals and die. Or do everything you can to survive."

Twenty years after modern society falls to a sudden fungal infection, Joel lives out his day to day life smuggling contraband from quarantine zones with the aid of his partner Tess. As constant nightmares of his daughter's death haunt him, Joel continues to find ways to survive, even if by morally questionable means. With more people falling victim to the infection, and a war (between the remaining military powers and a rebel group known as the Fireflies) growing more violent, every day feels like a struggle to simply make it to the next morning.

When a shipment of weaponry (that Joel and Tess were going to sell) wrongfully ends up in the hands of the Fireflies, Joel and Tess are given the task of smuggling a young girl (Ellie) out of the city in order to get their guns back. The duo begrudgingly take the job, and a journey that will lead the group over halfway across the wastelands of America begins.

Even though The Last of Us utilizes a fairly common (if not outright cliche') wasteland story setup, it's the characters that really make this game shine above the rest. In this world, no one likes the circumstances of their existence, but they do what they must in order to survive. The rhetoric of what it means to survive is subtle and very consistent, with no one person really having the right answers to a given situation. Oddly enough, even with all of the downtrodden and horrible predicaments, there is a certain life affirming aspect to everything the characters do. Throughout the experience there is a persevering sense of triumph to the human spirit.

All too often in stories like this we find characters who are broken down by the world around them, and we the audience are given a similar mindset of hopelessness that the characters have to endure. While this is still the case in the The Last of Us, it is not in the conventional sense. As the game progresses, and the characters grow, we see that there is an underlying theme that I think some people are actually missing. We humans are physically, mentally, and emotionally resilient; even when facing a situation where all logic dictates that we should just give up. It's this resiliency that is a driving force in The Last of Us. This isn't a game about how the world will totally go to hell if hit the right way; this is a game that assures we humans can survive almost anything as long as we can find reason(s) to keep on going.

None of this would be possible if not for the practically flawless voice acting and motion capture. Troy Baker's performance as main character Joel is equally badass and tragic at the same time. Little ticks and nuances in his performance really bring Joel to life with a raw emotion seldom seen in modern gaming. The conveyance of his deep rooted emotional scars is almost tangible (and even with his broken humanity) his reserve to keep on surviving is admirable and understandable. Annie Wersching tears it up as Tess, and even though her appearances are brief, her actions carry a lot of weight throughout the game. The stand out though is none other than Ashley Johnson's Ellie. It's this character that holds the fundamental emotional core of the experience together, and is also the linchpin to the entire plot. If every other actor in this game is performing at a ten, this girl takes her role up to eleven. Due to the importance of Ellie throughout the game, getting her character right is the most essential part of The Last of Us. Thankfully those geniuses over at Naughty Dog know how to play their cards smart, because Ashley Johnson's work has quickly made Ellie become one of my favorite young adult characters ever. I would like to think there is good reason as to why Ellie is depicted in the foreground of the promotional images, cause she is the true star.            

One of the best wasteland stories told yet!

There is a lot of ground to cover in terms of gameplay, so I'll try to be brief when describing it. The gameplay here is rock solid. In terms of of third person videogames, this stands out as one of the best from this generation. Taking a page out of other Naughty Dog titles (like the Uncharted series) The Last of Us builds itself around third person cover shooter mechanics. I have almost no complaints over how this game handles. It's buttery smooth on practically everything. If a player finds they're on the loosing end of a situation, I feel that it's more than likely due to some failing on the player's part because they're simply not doing something right. It's not the result of the game being unfair or cheap. With tight and responsive controls, it never feels like the player is in a situation that they can't reasonably get out of.

While The Last of Us doesn't exactly tread any new ground in terms of its gameplay, this is a situation where it isn't about what the developers are doing, but more so how they do it. Everything that The Last of Us does has been done before, but this game does it great. The emphasis on stealth mechanics makes for a much different tone from the rest of the Naughty Dog library, and I can honestly say that it makes the game a ton of fun to play around with. The implementation of the crafting system feels ergonomic and very intuitive. There isn't a single item in this game that a player could consider useless. Everything you make has its place in the game, with a distinct and useful trait to helping you progress through all the challenges. With Joel having to scrounge about to make items on the fly, exploration gets a good deal of encouragement. Finding places to hide so you can make weapons creates a fun (if not slightly panicky) race against time at points, but it's in the best way possible. With various enemy types (of varying challenge) the game maintains a fresh/brisk pace from start to finish.

Implementation of ally characters like Tess and Ellie are fun, and really add to a lot of the game's atmosphere. At certain moments in combat, Ellie may call out to Joel to watch out for oncoming attackers from his flank, or she may even aid in the fight altogether. Using just her knife, Ellie will stab an opponent to death, without the player ever having to command her to. Other times Ellie will offer Joel ammo, or even bring him a health pack to help keep him alive during some of the more intense encounters. Much like the character Elizabeth from Bioshock: Infinite, Ellie is probably one of the most useful NPC characters to come along in modern gaming yet.

At about fifteen hours in length you can't go wrong with a full purchase. Replay value is pretty good, with a new game plus unlocking once you beat the game. Sadly you can only do new game plus at the same difficulty as your last game; so it is a bit of a bummer to not be able to carry over your progress to a harder level and test your skills. What will more than likely keep most players coming back is the online mulitplayer. With a good deal of modes to play there always feels like there is something to do online. Lobbies are usually easy to get into, and the community is a fun bunch. Nothing feels out of balance, and the real time crafting system, puts that race against time sensation into full effect. Naughty Dog shows with this title that they know what they're doing when it comes to keeping players in their games.

Tess: one of the coolest characters in the game. 

Of course, nothing in this life is perfect, and neither is The Last of Us. Having gone through two full playthroughs, I can say that there are some minor flubs. First, the AI of the enemy and ally characters can be a tad spotty at times. There are plenty of moments when the enemy AI doesn't recognize an ally character running around the map, but the instant Joel pops out his head, enemies go into kill mode. Other times the enemy AI seems aware of you trying to snipe them, as they constantly move in ways to prevent you from landing a quick and silent headshot. Second, there are numerous times where the graphics glitch ever so slightly, which can sometimes taint the immersion of the experience. A texture not fully loading, the background suddenly turning blue, or the animation falling out of sync with the audio all rear their ugly heads from time to time. Thankfully, none of them are so egregious that they ruin the game, but they are there.

I don't think I need to go into too much detail regarding the graphics. Simply put, this game is gorgeous. In fact, the graphics may be this game's main attraction. With a great deal of inspiration guiding its art design (and the power of the Playstation 3) Naughty Dog renders some of the best looking character models that I've seen. Characters emote and animate with such attention to detail that it almost boggles the mind with how good it is. Moments where a character cries (or is about to cry) look fantastic, with the emotions feeling so real that it almost makes me cry at times. Backgrounds (although somewhat linear in nature) are large, with tons of details hidden about. Seeing writing on building sides, rabbits hopping in the tall grass, and foot prints your character can make in the snow all add to the impressive package that is The Last of Us. With the next generation of console gaming being just around the corner, it's hard for me to imagine those games looking much better than this. The Last of Us stands as a testament to modern gaming graphics.

Music is where The Last of Us also shines its brightest. With composer Gustavo Santaolalla at the helm, the score is fundamentally flawless. If the soundtrack could be better then I don't know how, as this score is one of the best in a game since Metal Gear Solid 4.  It's hard for me to put it into words, but The Last of Us really resonates with me because of the music. A combination of acoustic guitar and tribal percussion makes for a very dissonant sound, but one that always fits the mood of a scene like a glove. Building most of the score around the characters and their emotions makes every cut scene come off as just that much more poignant. Almost all of the tracks are memorable in some way, and every time I listen to the main theme I do get a lump in my throat. In all honesty, I wish more game scores could be as effective as this one is.

Overall there is little for me to complain about when it comes to The Last of Us. It's just a rock solid game. I can't really think of much more to say about it that is good either. As much as I can go on and on about how great of an experience this is, you can't really appreciate this game unless you play it yourself. It's almost like trying to explain to someone what it's like to ride a roller coaster. If you own a Playstation 3, you owe it to yourself to play this game. I highly recommend this game! This is the sort of title that sells systems!

(The Last of Us is a Playstation 3 exclusive. Completion of the initial playthrough was 19 hrs. 11 mins.)

Positive Factors        

• Great story and characters. Emotional experience with thought provoking rhetoric to boot.
• Flawless acting. Everyone brings their A game to the table for this one. Ashley Johnson's Ellie steals the show.
• Tight controls and fun mechanics. One of the best third person shooter games this generation.
• Ally characters are really helpful, with Ellie being one of the coolest NPCs ever.
• Excellent replay value. New game plus and online multiplayer are enough to keep you coming back for more.
• Topnotch graphics. Some of the best character models and animation to date.
• Solid composition. Strong emotional score that compliments the story and characters.

Negative Factors

• AI of enemy and ally characters can be a tad squiffy at times.
• New game plus is only availiable for the level of difficulty you beat it on the first time.
• Graphics sometimes glitch, with an unloaded texture, or out of sync audio.

Final Rating: !!!AWESOMESAUCE!!!