When E3 2012 took place, two games made audiences gasp, not only because of their graphics, which were impressive for that generation, but also because they brought innovations to gaming and seemed like tremendous fun. The first was Watch Dogs, with its vast open world and unbelievable image quality; the other, to some people at that point, looked like just another zombie game. Surely everyone already imagined that a new franchise made by the creators of Uncharted would not be merely another simple game using the already worn-out theme of a zombie collapse. All doubts vanished when, at the end of Sony's presentation at that year's show, a real-time demonstration, with a producer playing in front of everyone, showed Joel and Ellie surviving in a setting with an incredible atmosphere. It was a fitting conclusion to the PS3's life cycle, a legacy that showed a developer making use of everything a console could offer at that moment.
The Story That Surprised Us
I remember once reading a critic say that the most important moments of a game are its first twenty minutes, since they will be extremely relevant in getting the player, even involuntarily, to continue playing until the end or indefinitely. The Last of Us may be the game ever made that best embodies this definition. It is impossible, even for those who ignore stories in games, to remain indifferent to what the gameplay, atmosphere and character performances offer amid the inexplicable chaos presented during the prologue.
Warning: minor spoilers, but only from the beginning of the game.
In the opening moments of the gameplay, we see a father whose sole objective is to keep his daughter safe from extremely enraged people who are apparently infected. Unfortunately, after a few moments we see that, despite his attempts, everything was futile and that, incredible as it may seem, the girl's death came not from the teeth of a zombie, but from a member of the army who, even after hearing pleas for mercy, was capable of committing the murder.
The consequences of this act turned Joel into someone who had lost all love and affection for humanity, becoming socially cold and living solely for survival. Twenty years pass, and the small portion of the population still alive lives in quarantine zones scattered around the country. Joel and his “partner” Tess apparently make their living from smuggling and, after a series of events, are given the mission of taking the teenager Ellie to the Fireflies, a rebel group that refuses to follow the authorities' instructions and dreams of restoring society to the way it once was.
After a few events, the characters are captured during the journey and we learn that Ellie is infected but has shown no progression of the symptoms, making her the likely cure for humanity. At the same time, we see Joel and Ellie growing increasingly close, allowing the protagonist to regain his empathy for other people and relearn what he once had and lost twenty years earlier.
Interesting fact: The Cordyceps fungus, responsible for the infestation in The Last of Us, exists in our real world. But don't worry: it does not attack humans, only certain types of insects and other arthropods, even altering their behavior. SCARY.
Interesting fact 2: In 2013, publisher Dark Horse Comics released a four-issue comic series called The Last of Us: American Dreams, which explores Ellie's past in greater detail.
Interesting fact 3: There was a minor controversy involving actress Ellen Page because of her strong resemblance to the character Ellie (even in the name). Despite the comments, Naughty Dog denied the alleged tribute.
Ellen's resemblance to Ellie.
Technical Excellence
In terms of graphics, The Last of Us is among the best-looking games on PS3, standing alongside Beyond: Two Souls in my opinion, with a wealth of detail that contributes to the game's decaying atmosphere. For example, at one point we see a leaning building in the distance as though it were about to collapse; after a few events, we are inside it, feeling that not only the enemies could kill us, but the environment as well. On other occasions, the characters enter the water and, when they come out, we briefly see their clothes wet up to the level at which they were submerged. Incredible. The sound effects, music and voice performances are excellent and could almost do without criticism. The dubbing work was phenomenal, including the Brazilian Portuguese dub, helping to convey the personalities of the interesting protagonists. All the supporting characters were well produced, such as Joel's brother Tommy, Firefly leader Marlene, traveling companions such as Henry and Sam, among others.
Varied in-game weather conditions.
As for the sound effects, they truly received special attention in the game because, besides being excellent, they also have a strong influence on the gameplay, as with the listen ability, which lets us identify the exact position of nearby enemies simply by hearing their footsteps or distinctive breathing. Designer Ricky Cambier, in an interview with the official PlayStation Brazil magazine, described the unusual importance of this feature in The Last of Us: “In a world where a single enemy can kill you, you get scared when you hear that enemy (...). And because these enemies, called clickers, use echolocation to find their way around, they use sound to find you.” The soundtrack was composed mainly by Argentine musician Gustavo Santaolalla, who manages to express perfectly the atmosphere of a devastated world through his musical instruments. We can already see the quality of his work in the trailer for The Last of Us and, for my part, I confess that I am happy Gustavo will be responsible for the music in the upcoming second part.
What Sets The Last of Us Apart?
We had seen other games in the same genre with high technical quality in the past, but the way the narrative was integrated into the gameplay came with a fluidity and level of engagement never seen before. Seriously, players quickly begin to care about Joel and Ellie, genuinely wanting them to achieve their goals. Because the teenager was born after the zombie apocalypse, she knows very little about what people's lives were like before all the destruction around her, which leads her to ask constant questions about when life was more than mere survival. This kind of portrayal, with two characters living together, had already been seen in games such as Ico and BioShock Infinite, but here it was superior. It is interesting to see games such as Resident Evil Revelations 2 use these characteristics: the franchise that influenced the survival genre so much can also be influenced.
The environments are incredibly detailed, with posters for films and bands that were popular around the time the disaster began. The combat, although realistic, retains its focus on enjoyable gameplay, as in the game's only moment when we are hanging upside down and briefly have unlimited ammunition, or when partner characters become immune to enemies in certain situations.
The journey lasts around twenty hours on a first playthrough if we read the files carefully, die a few times and search for collectibles, items and gears. The game itself is quite linear, but that does not get in the way at all, since the adventure is long and its environments are very rich.
Medical kits are present and must be crafted from what we find in the environments, as must other objects. The gears and tools are intended to provide power-ups for weapons when we find the appropriate workbenches over the course of the game. It is also interesting when we combine items, such as tying scissors to a baseball bat to make it stronger.
Combat can involve direct attacks or stealth, depending on the situation or the player's style. Greater caution is advisable against clickers, while I believe a more aggressive tactic is best for defeating runners.
The Last of Us has a multiplayer mode and, although it contributes to the game's longevity, it is not essential to enjoying it. The online mode also has extra challenges.
The Bestiary
Although small, it is quite satisfying. Interestingly, when we open the beautiful art galleries, we see that there were several enemy models not used in the final version. Perhaps they will appear in part 2? We are waiting.
- The Runners: even with minor variations, these enemies are, as the name suggests, very agile and are rarely dangerous when encountered without other types nearby. This is the infected person's first stage after contamination;
- The Clickers: iconic enemies from the game, they are slow but incredibly lethal. Because the parasite settles in the brain and emerges through the victim's eyes, these infected are blind and find us through sound. Their name comes from the noise emitted by their mouths. All fans of The Last of Us know this sound, and it is easily noticed during the gameplay;
Clicker
- The Bloaters: in this final stage of evolution, the infected grow larger and stronger and can attack from a distance; we can say they are a type of boss in the game. Ingeniously, the developer did not reveal the enemy at the very beginning of the adventure, tearing the poster showing the stages of the disease and thereby leaving a mystery. I will do the same.
The poster at the beginning of the game “hides” the image of the bloaters.
- The Humans: it is common in works set in apocalyptic worlds for humans to become violent. After all, if we live with this in our daily lives even within a society with laws and restrictions, imagine a world without imposed limits. Although they are not infected, they are extremely dangerous because they use firearms and have better artificial intelligence.
As I said earlier, despite the small variety of enemies, the combat is high-quality and not repetitive. This is due to the variations in environments, the large quantity of weapons and, above all, combinations of different enemies in the same places, which force us to take varied approaches in order to achieve our objectives.
The DLC The Last of Us: Left Behind was released on February 14, 2014. It tells Ellie's story shortly before the main adventure and is excellent and essential for fans, although we will not discuss it here in the review.
On July 29, 2014, PlayStation 4 received the remastered version of The Last of Us. Without many technical innovations, its main advantage was the inclusion of the Left Behind DLC in the package.
Played on the PlayStation 3 version.
