The plot of ''The Last of Us'' is centred around a deadly fungal virus that has ravaged humanity for over twenty years; players are cast in the role of Joel (Played by Troy Baker) who has survived by watching out mainly for himself in the quarantine zone of Boston, but all that changes with the introduction of Ellie (Ashley Johnson) a fourteen year old girl who has spent most of her life with little experience or knowledge of devastated America. Joel reluctantly agrees to smuggle her across the country, all the while having to deal with adversaries of both the infected and human kind along the way. TLoU is Naughty Dog's first realised game world on the PS3 and it serves as a stunning backdrop for perhaps the greatest tale the developer has told in a game. Joel and Ellie meet many characters as they go along their journey and each has their own story to tell, having been impacted severely by the lack of supplies, protection and safety; everyone is either for themselves or only a few selected people in this bleak world and it becomes understandable why these people have resorted to these morals. Yet despite all these characters coming and going the core bond between Joel and Ellie that gradually grows is never once overshadowed one bit, allowing the player to care deeply (as the developer has become so skilled at doing) about both their struggles and fate. Moments both emotional and gritty populate the narrative, keeping the player engaged as the two survive increasingly perilous and dangerous odds; above all else ''The Last of Us'' story once again proves Naughty Dog's talents in storytelling and can more than stand up to the best of narratives be it gaming or movies.
''The Last of Us'' continues the developer's focus into offering a fully-fledged product; the single player campaign is the longest in any Naughty Dog game to date, lasting twelve to fifteen hours. Some aspects of Naughty Dog's previous works remain; namely the linear levels and boosting characters up over ledges but ''The Last of Us'' brings variation to the table as well. The levels are often comprised of different buildings, passageways and rooms all waiting to be scoured for supplies to craft items, supplement pills to boost Joel's durability and in another similarity to Uncharted, several collectables and optional conversations strewn about to further develop the world and its characters. As the player moves through the varied levels (which take place across chapters) they'll come across several often large groups of enemies who need to be dealt with to move on. Simple environmental puzzles also make several appearances; such as when Joel is tasked with finding a plank or ferrying Ellie across deep water. These puzzles provide reprieves from the tension of combat but never overstay their welcome so that it becomes diminished. Of course true to many Naughty Dog games there are several set piece moments sprinkled through the game. Joel and Ellie will sneak under cover of darkness to avoid ruthless military forces, and take on a fully armoured APC among other memorable moments; all of these maintain the tense and gritty tone of the game and never take too much control from the player. The campaign's staying power comes through new game plus; similar to other games Joel's upgrades and collectibles are carried over, allowing players to eventually upgrade to the max.
Players can then go on to multiplayer; a unique slower paced affair that brings the single player structure intact in a battle between up to 8 players. Upon starting ''Factions'' players pick either the hunter or firefly side to stick with over a period of 12 weeks with each online match counting as one day. It's up to the player to not just win matches but collect and salvage parts around the map and from dead opponents to support the clan. Once every week a major event will occur such as an attack from the opposite faction and from this, players must complete challenges within a set time scale to minimise losses from their clan. It's a good system that encourages players to strive for healthy clan members and avoid being wiped out and having to start over. Parts are also important in unlocking new weapons and boosters for custom classes. The class system uses a similar system to that of Call of Duty Black Ops 2 in which players have 10 points to spend on different combinations; be it all weapons or more upgraded boosters a load out can be produced for almost any situation. Teamwork is absolutely essential in Factions multiplayer as is staying hidden; running off alone means that no one can revive the player when they go down. Watching out for each other allows enemies to be felled and looted faster, especially when the ability to mark opponents with the right stick is utilised. Because of the need to be cautious and make use of both the environment and supplies Factions multiplayer carves itself a fine niche and sets itself apart from the endless twitch shooters of today. Only having two modes (Supply Raid and Survivors) is a bit slim but Naughty Dog is sure to add more modes in time.
Coming off of the Uncharted series it may take some time to get into the gameplay of The Last of Us; it's a much slower and more deliberate kind of gameplay, one that Naughty Dog hasn't really tapped into at all, yet somehow it all holds together to create a highly tense and thrilling experience. It's built on four pillars; combat, exploration, crafting and traversal with combat of either the violent or preferably stealth kind taking centre stage. Creeping around in the shadows is a thrill because enemies are always looking for openings; human enemies will attempt to flank Joel if they know his location and will move in if they know Joel has run out of ammo whereas runners (in an early stage of infection) can overwhelm him while the clickers (who have been infected for years and have no eyesight) close in. The latter is highly deadly because it only takes one hit to result in a nasty death scene. It can be unforgiving but this is a rare instance where frustration is alleviated by a good checkpoint system and a sense of realism that permeates the struggles of the characters. The gunplay is less accurate and intuitive than the fast paced twitch shooters around today; this is because Joel is no soldier but a survivor who will never be as skilled at handling firearms. Players have to move very carefully to avoid attracting the attention of infected as their hearing is enhanced and ammo is often scarce. Items must be used wisely as the materials needed to craft them may be missing. Crafting itself is very simple and never pulls the player into a menu; it's all done on the fly, meaning players may find themselves crafting in the heat of battle; with a spanner signal visible players can simply choose an item from the equipment menu and hold X to craft an item which could be making a melee weapon more deadly, a nail bomb or health kit among other items. Both crafting and healing take time however, which enemies could use to flank Joel and move in to attack. All of this creates a much more thoughtful and ingenious combat system that rewards players who avoid detection; it's Naughty Dog's best effort into the genre yet and it has a lot of potential in future games.
The Last of Us looks just as amazing as it plays; in many ways it's technical presentation is even better than the Uncharted trilogy; character models, weather effects and the environments (even though they're devastated cities and towns) look near photo-realistic, the infected look consistently grotesque and every ordinary person has a sort of griminess and dirty look on them, emphasising the impact the disaster has had upon them as if they are wearing their wrongful deeds wherever they go. The voice acting across the board especially from Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson is staggeringly emotive making Joel and Ellie both fully believable. The soundtrack produced by Academy Award winner Gustavo Santoalalla is both tense and subdued to fit the gritty yet tragic nature of the story and it brings even more raw emotion to the story. All told ''The Last of Us'' technical presentation combined with its superb story would be enough to immerse the player on its own terms. There will of course be a few glitches here and there; characters sometimes clip into objects, a melee attack may get stopped by an object but do they impact the overall fun? No, not at all, every game has glitches of some sort but they never break the game so these are easily overlooked.
''The Last of Us'' is easily the most emotional, engaging, thrilling and tense adventure I've ever experienced in gaming; every aspect of the game has been fine-tuned, polished and crafted to serve as Naughty Dog's current greatest masterpiece. It's not perfect; no piece of media can ever be called that; a few glitches and the lack of multiplayer modes may stick out for a small minority but these issues won't ever spoil your enjoyment of what will be remembered as one of the greatest games of this generation.
Rating 10/10
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