To celebrate the release of The Last Of Us Part 2 on the 19th of June I thought it would be appropriate to visit the original and all of its glory…if you have never heard of this game where the hell have you been?
To put it bluntly ‘The Last Of Us’ is a Action Adventure, Horror Drama beautifully crafted piece of gaming art that is hailed as one of the greatest games, not only of this generation but of the entire gaming generation and it’s hard to argue. Developed by Naughty Dog the people behind the critically acclaimed Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot, also if you read my Uncharted series review you will know that they are masters of their craft and everything they do is difficult to fault.
The Last Of Us however is where Naughty Dog knocks it out of the park and into another only to be waiting to swing it out of that one too. The game is phenomenal and is by far Naughty dog’s best work to date. So let’s break it down on why The Last Of Us is one of gaming’s greatest achievements
Gameplay for The Last Of Us is simple but oh so fun and refined. Joel our protagonist is fueled by hatred and the brutality of the gameplay and what the player is allowed to do shows this. However the player is no superman and is just as easily killed as the enemies he is facing which lets you immerse yourself in the world in a realistic way that makes the player feel vulnerable even on the easier difficulties.The game is played from a 3rd person perspective and requires you to use tactics and stealth to bypass enemies of different varieties in order to survive with your sparse supplies and resources, however on the other hand the game gives you the option to play like a psycho and just run,gun,beat and brutalise anyone that stands in your path yeah it’s a little harder and you may die but boy oh boy is it so much fun. The amount of different play styles this game supports let you play differently throughout playthroughs despite being fairly linear in terms of story and progression. To have this much replayability to single player experiences and keep it fun is hard to do and Naughty Dog pull it off like very little could.
I played the original on the PS3 the only reason i bought one ( i sold it straight afterwards) but i played the Remaster several times on the PS4 and the game even impresses me now but for 2013 the graphics are incredible the attention to detail is insane and the designs of the post apocalyptic world is unmatched everything about this game makes you feel that if this were to happen this is what it would look like. Naughty Dog did some extensive research into crafting this game to make sure that the virus-ridden world looked as close to the real thing as possible and the research pays off as each environment just oozes with atmosphere and detail.I would find myself wandering around just looking details such as missing person posters or remainders of the old world before the virus struck I had no problems with performance or bugs through my many playthroughs the game played at a steady 30fps at 1080p with no noticeable dips even when things got a little hectic.
As mentioned above The replayability of The Last Of Us single player is unmatched but not only does Naughty Dog have a single player experience. It also has a unique multiplayer experience too that doesn’t quite live up to the single player but adds a fun twist on generic multiplayer games and adds hours of fun on to a game that already has a pretty lengthy lifeline.
Now we are taken to our last part of this review of the story. By far the narrative is The Last Of Us’ strongest strengths and oh my god does it deliver. It takes place in a world that has been over run with a mutated strain of Cordyceps and the story is gut punching, heart ripping, a brutal tale of revenge,family and chaos in a world overrun with a threat like no other. Naughty Dog takes the cake with this story, not only is it the best video game stories but one of the best stories period. Not once can i play this campaign without having goosebumps for the entire game. The acting is on point, violence is brutal and the world this story creates is gorgeous. Right from the get go it’s grips you and keeps you until the very last seconds and is still talked about a lot in the gaming industry today with in my opinion the only cliffhanger ending that works in any media
Final Score.
Title:Masterpiece
it makes you question every actions and question the character’s morals with no official definitive answer…but the only answer you definitely know is that The Last Of Us is a Masterpiece.
Head Over Reels 