The Last Of Us Review

A Mix of Everything in Gameplay
At first, many may have thought that The Last of Us is a pure survival horror game. Unfortunately, that’s not what the game is all about. What Naughty Dog did with this game is combine the popular genre this generation had and implemented it in the game. The variety of gameplay The Last of Us has will keep the content fresh from the start to the end. You may have noticed that on the first couple of hours, the game feels more like Uncharted. That’s true but as you go deeper and spend more hours with the game, the gameplay will change into stealth, and survival. Almost every place you go into, you will see a shift in tones.

Those who are skeptical whether or not The Last Of Us will be another shooter game, they are completely wrong. In the 10 to 12 hour gameplay that the game offers, every segment has a different situation and it’s up to you how you tackle it. The A.I. of the enemies are so smart and are aware of your surroundings, it will be a challenge for anyone to get past through them. Would you sneak your way in, would you be like Rambo and take down enemies? These are the kind of things you will be deciding when playing The Last Of Us.

Crafting
Since you are in a setting where there are no shops, no money to buy things, or a supplier that gives you stuff to use, Joel and Ellie will rely on themselves, therefore crafting will be implemented in the game. From health kits to the weapons that Joel and Ellie will use, you must scavenge materials from every inch of the world. Bullets will be limited, health packs will be limited, and pretty much everything you will see in the game feels like you are really on your own and it’s up to you how you make out of it. When it comes to crafting, they are easy to do but what’s hard is scavenging for materials. Blueprints is not something you will have to look for as they are learned automatically.

NOTs

Occasionally predictable gunfights
While the story of The Last of Us may not be predictable to all, as with the Uncharted franchise, sporadically when there is to be a gunfight the level designs give it away. Strategically placed barriers and other cover items do seem somewhat purposely placed and often players will be able to tell when a shoot out is about to happen. It doesn’t especially break the immersion and doesn’t constantly occur but it does slightly draw form the real world feel that is otherwise expertly portrayed.

Graphical Hiccups
To find negative things about the game is extremely hard and it is being rather picky to say there are any issues with the graphics. On the whole the presentation is almost worthy of next generation yet a few things still slip through. Through-out the game, sunlight seems to rightly shine through windows. A couple of times however, for bus or coach windows at the edges of areas, the light seems to be unnatural. There are very few issues but it is small things like this that disrupt immersion. Players will easily overlook these slight blemishes on what is otherwise a stunning title.

Verdict

Naughty Dog were best known for Crash Bandicoot and the Uncharted franchise. Now they will also be remembered for creating one of the best survival horror games ever with The Last of Us. The presentation will blow players away and the story is one of the best you’ll ever encounter. Everything points towards Naughty Dog spending ridiculous amounts of time to get every single detail correct. It is this level of dedication that makes Naughty Dog one of the best game developers ever. The Last of Us is sure to be on its way to win many “Game of the Year” awards.

[Editor’s Note: The Last of Us was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]