LogFAQs > #950883625

#17. The Last of Us (PS3, 2013)
If Uncharted is the summer action-adventure blockbuster, The Last of Us is well, the zombie thriller. I never really had a HUGE interest in zombie movies or media. But I have found it interesting sometimes, specifically when the story is a little more about the human aspect of things, the idea of survival, how relationships are affected in an apocalyptic scenario. Im sure theres more out there that focuses on it than I believe there to be, but for the bit I have been invested in, the storytelling is key. So that for me is basically The Walking Dead and The Last of Us.

The gameplay in TLOU is good, but its the narrative around the gameplay that really shines. The action sequences are your Uncharted style of 3rd person shooting mixed with stealth. As is usual for me, the stealth sections are more fun and interesting, trying to take out infected or those types that will do anything to stay alive silently is more in your favor than engaging. You engage too for your standard Uncharted shootouts, but you may not last as long here, especially against hordes of zombies, and thats because your supplies are low-most of the game, if youre playing on a harder difficulty, is rife with trying to be as conservative as possible with your ammo and supplies, as you really dont get much and need to get creative when you run low or out. The supplies in this game function as parts, and when you get enough parts you can craft tools; med kits, smoke bombs, explosives, molotovs, shivs, etc. And again, this will all be in limited supply so being of wary of this throughout the run is a dynamic in survivor style games that I like. How the gameplay integrates with the story is great. There are a lot of slow narrative sections, where maybe youre just trying to find your way through a collapsed building or whatever, with dialogue and such throughout, where you have some time to slow down and look for parts, and I think the game flows very well between these sections. The Winter section with Ellie is probably the best and most tense and exciting parts of the game.



The multiplayer is a great time as well here, a group-focused deathmatch style, based well around the main game. You craft items and sneak around-its a very slow pace because you are more easy to detect if you are loud and running. You have a listen mode like in the game which is slow to recharge and creates a dynamic of move slow, and stick with your group. I probably dont like it as much as some other Naughty Dog multiplayer games, but its more interesting and methodical.

The story is fantastic. The prologue of this game is very sad (if not a little bit cheaply so, but hey it still works really well), and then BAM 20 years later. Joel is a controversial protagonist. You certainly like him more than a lot of the other people in this game, and he has his morals, but this game still knows what its doing with the theres no good people in an apocalypse kind of storytelling, and handles it well throughout (unlike TLOU2, where the point is CONSTANTLY. HAMMERED. IN.). Youre not really supposed to agree with Joel, but you like him, for the most part, in spite of the fact he does some bad things, which he feels like he has to do. Obviously, he is also a very cold character initially, but the relationship he develops with Ellie feels real and natural over its time. It definitely builds up well, and there is a point where a certain event (right after Ellies fight with that cannibal creepy fucker David, fantastically voice acted by Nolan North btw) basically solidifies their relationship for the last third or so of the game, until the end. Ellie is a great and very likeable character (in this game), again feels very real and her relationship with Joel as well. Both are acted extremely well, maybe my tops for voicing performance in all games on my list. What best represents Ellie is her honesty and earnestness. The fact she stops throughout the journey just to read Joel puns from her joke book are perfectly befitting of her. I love those puns. The other characters you meet on the way too, albeit minor, are well done too.



The ending of this game- I really liked it a lot for being a not perfect ending. Joels decision to save Ellie from the hospital, killing the doctors along the way, as that was the only way to save her life- I think it made perfect sense for his character to do that. Its selfish for sure, and shows how much he came to care for Ellie, like she was his lost daughter, and at the same time is totally disrespectful to her since he knows this is what she wouldve wanted, but cant bring himself to lose her. He knows this too, since he lies to her at the end, and you totally understand why he does it, and why Ellie totally doesnt believe him, but chooses to swallow it anyway. This ending moment is quite emotional, bittersweet, and complex and I liked it ended on that air of resigned acceptance, it put a period on the emotional mood of the game.



I liked TLOU2 as well. I dont want to get too much into it here, but I do want to talk about how it resolves that ending. There was a lot I didnt like in it, mostly the general plot, but the characters and plot progression is good, as well as the small moments are fantastic. The scene referring back to this moment where Joel finally tells Ellie what he did (mostly cuz she finally did find more solid proof), the way their relationship then progressed, her not wanting to forgive him, into that one final Joel post-mortem scene where she wants to do her best to reconcile with Joel even though she can never forgive himits all especially emotional and heartbreaking, and well done. Those few Ellie/Joel scenes were the best parts of TLOU2 for sure.

Anyway, this game is a very well told story, with deep and well-acted characters and great character growth, surrounded by solid and narratively fitting gameplay.



Next up: This is probably objectively the worst game in my top 100. I dont care.

---

~Wigs~ 3-Time Consecutive Fantasy B8 Baseball Champion
2015 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPION NEW YORK METS