As usual I'm a little late to the game (see what I did there?) and we have finally played The Last of Us. I say we because technically it was my roommate who played and I was the witty commentary.
I know the reviews for this game were amazing but I'm always a bit skeptical. That skepticism was misplaced. The game is fantastic. Gritty, real, emotional, and pretty in that gruesome end of the world kind of way.
Source: http://cdn.bgr.com/2014/07/the-last-of-use284a2-remastered_20140727144102.jpg |
If you like your video games heavily story driven then The Last of Us wouldn't be a bad way for you to spend your weekend. I was completely on board with the slow, reluctant relationship between Joel and Ellie. His hesitancy to become the father figure Ellie clearly wanted him to be felt believable and genuine. The game has all of the elements we've all come to expect from a zombie apocalypse game. Post apocalyptic government, shitty people taking advantage of the situation, broken and decrepit cityscapes. But it's done so damn well you don't care that you've seen this type of things a thousand times before. The Last of Us is an example of fantastic game writing.
Source: https://img.game.co.uk/hub/images/TheLastOfUs/TheLastOfUs_Screenshot_PS4_01.jpg |
The game itself just felt good. The transitions between the cut scenes and player control were some of the most seamless I've ever encountered. There were fewer instances where I felt I had to suspend disbelief when it came to actions the characters had to perform. Healing wasn't instant and you couldn't heal in the middle of a fight. The fact that enemies wouldn't react to your followers so long as you were hidden was both fantastic and terrible. It pulled me out of the moment more often than not seeing Ellie run repeatedly in front of an enemy. However, having to worry about the location of a character you're not controlling sounds like a migraine waiting to happen.
Basically, this game is fantastic and you should be playing it if you haven't done so already. Don't want to take my word for it? Then try these reviews. I'm sure they'll do a better job of convincing you that you're wasting your time by Not playing this game.
Best of all? There's a second one rumored to be ready for production.
These are of course just speculation, but it's a good kind of speculation.
Have you played yet? What are your thoughts?