REVIEW - The Last of Us (2013)

Until now, many people attributed storytelling as sort of an afterthought in gaming, since well, games are all about how hey play, right? You could either have an amazing story and a mediocre game (See Beyond Two Souls) or vice versa (See Final Fantasy X). Sure, there are games like Shadow of the Colossus that have a story that has a real impact on you, but there's never been anything so close to a realistic and satisfying story as today's game.

Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, exclusive to the PlayStation 3.

The Last of Us begins in the year 2013 with Joel and his daughter Sarah. In the middle of the night, something crazy begins happening in their town, with reports of people biting one another and acting extremely out of the ordinary. Joel tries to evacuate the town but in a mix up in military command, the military is forced to shoot any civilians they come across. Joel is saved by his brother Tommy, but Sarah dies from her injuries. Fast forward twenty years later, Joel has become a man with one hell of a beard. He lives in a sectioned off part of an American city due to the infection that has been spreading around, which is what caused people to go loopy in 2013. Joel is a smuggler, who has been making his way around the city with his partner Tess via secret tunnels built by a rebel group known as the Fireflies. One Day, Joel and Tess' guns are stolen from them, so they decide to give the man who took them a visit. He says that he sold them to the Firefly leader. The Firefly leader promises to give their guns back on one condition: Smuggle a 14 year old girl by the name of Ellie to the US West Coast. From here, the journey Joel and Ellie make is one that is simply too good to spoil. It's fantastically written and well paced with a tonne of heart wrenching and difficult moments.

The Last of Us is categorized as an Action/Survival Horror game, and in all fairness, I couldn't agree more. Players familiar with Naughty Dog's other PS3 behemoth, Uncharted should be familiar with the very good and excellent control scheme. What makes the gameplay fun in this game is the Survival aspect. Everything you have in The Last of Us is limited, weapons, ammo, health etc is all limited by what the game gives you. On harder difficulties, you have to make some seriously hard decisions when it comes to upgrading your items. Do you increase the clip size of your handgun or do you sharpen the barrel to make it fire faster? It's all blended in with a unique stealth mechanic. With the R2 trigger held down, Joel's hearing heightens, detecting footprints of nearby enemies. Avoiding combat in this game is almost a necessity. You will get killed "a fuck tonne of lot" if you decide to go in on a clicker guns blazing. The game's difficulty will be a turn off for some sure, but it's well worth it for the plot in the end. Every decision you make could mean life or death in this game, so choose your path carefully.

With the possible exception of 2010's Heavy Rain, I honestly think that The Last of Us is - without a doubt - the best looking video game ever made. It has such a high production value that it's unreal. Everything you walk through, be it just a tuft of grass or a large bush reacts to your movements. Environments look drop dead gorgeous and the character models are probably the best I've seen in any game ever made. The expression and detail on their faces and their body language is only rivaled by the games that Quantic Dream make. It's a marvel and an achievement.

In the sound department, The Last of Us has an extremely depressing soundtrack, but yet that's a good thing. It fits well with the games sense of dread and hopelessness and the need to survive. A lot of the songs are played on the acoustic guitar with another, lower guitar providing the bassline, and it works really well. The voice acting is without a doubt one of the games highlights. I have to say fair play to the actors/actresses for the job they did. The emotion they exude almost seems real and genuine at times.

The Last of Us has often been described as not only the best game ever made, but gamings Citizen Kane moment. A technical and emotional marvel, you'd think that I thought this game was perfect, right? Well, while I do think it's very good, It's a tad over rated. It's an amazing game no doubt, but it didn't become my favourite game ever. I highly recommend you play this game, hell, get a PS3 just to play this game. It's worth it.

Story: 10

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9.8
Sound: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 9.4

FINAL SCORE FOR THE LAST OF US: 9.1/10