The Last of Us (game)
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The Last of Us is a 2013 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment; it was released for the PlayStation 3 on July 29, 2014; a remastered version of the game was later released for the PlayStation 4 on July 29, 2014. A remake, The Last of Us Part I, was released on September 2, 2022, for the PlayStation 5. A television series adaption by HBO was released in 2023.
Background
Naughty Dog initially planned to develop a sequel to Jak 3 after Uncharted 2: Among Thieves by splitting the development team into two; one team would work on Jak 4 while the other would work on Uncharted 3; however, Jak 4 was quickly canceled when fans reacted negatively to early concept art showing a realistic art style. Naughty Dog themselves felt they weren't confident about making a proper Jak game. The Naughty Dog team that was supposed to work on Jak 4 went on to develop The Last of Us instead.
Plot
Twenty years after a mutant fungus turned most of the civilization into cannibalistic monsters and led to the death of his late daughter, Joel does what he needs to survive and work as a smuggler. His latest job requires him to take a teenager named Ellie, immune to the fungus, to a camp outside the quarantine zone. As they journey across the U.S., they realize that the mutants aren't the only threat.
Why It's Not Infected
- The biggest reason the game received universal acclaim is its excellent plot story; after losing a man's daughter, he is a smuggler who is supposed to protect a girl; meanwhile, they make their way across the country in a post-apocalyptic world, eventually forming a father-and-daughter relationship.
- As you progress throughout the game, the bond between Joel and Ellie gets even more comfortable and stronger, and the chemistry between them is heartwarming and entertaining. A notable example is a hilarious quote said by Ellie after she finds an adult magazine to freak Joel out: "Oh. Why are these [pages] all stuck together?"
- Its use of stealth is highly clever for situational purposes; the survivor enemies are more proactive and use firearms, encouraging stealth, while infected enemies often react to sound a lot more and require stealth.
- It has a great take on the post-apocalypse genre by using a fungal of a mutated strain of the Cordyceps as the main culprit instead of some mysterious disease. The spores infect insects, replace the host tissue with their own, and manipulate the host's brain to spread the fungus. This adds to the horror because something like this does exist, and this could happen to humans in real life. The Infected are also not zombies but still-living humans infected by the mutated fungus, unlike zombies, which are reanimated corpses. Six types of Infected, each different depending on how long they've been infected:
- Runners: They are people who recently turned into Infected. They are defined by their intense speed, sluggish attacks, and tendency to attack people in hordes.
- Stalkers: They are people who have been infected for somewhere between two weeks to a year. As their name suggests, they stalk and hide from prey in the dark and attack at opportune moments. Some also latch onto walls and allow the Cordyceps to fester, keeping the host alive until prey walks by, at which point the Stalker breaks free and attacks.
- Clickers: They are people who have been infected for at least one year. The long time elapse has allowed the fungus to spread all over their bodies, blinding them and forcing them to use echolocation to find prey; however, the fungus has granted them enhanced strength and will instantly kill the player if they try to melee attack them with only their bare hands. Shivs and melee weapons are the only melee weapons that work against them.
- Bloaters: They have been infected for several years. The fungus has led them to become slow and blind yet incredibly strong and resilient, with the fungal growth serving as armor plating. Bloaters can also tear fungus from their bodies as spore bombs and throw them at enemies. However, this additional fungal growth makes them vulnerable to fire. Much like the Clickers, they will also instantly kill the player if they get close, and unlike the Clickers, a melee of any kind is impossible.
- Pretty smart AI for allies and enemies as scavengers record reactions for various situations. They can inform the others in their group if Joel is spotted or they find the body of one of their dead comrades, recognize the sound of an empty magazine, and take cover when fired at. They can even come up with strategies to surround and corner you. Also, enemies manage to invert stealth-based gameplay on you: Enemies can hide, leave traps, sneak up behind you, take your gun, and attack you if you're not paying attention. Enemies can even grab you from behind and use you as a human shield, making you an easy target for their allies.
- Ellie also demonstrates this by taking cover on her own, distracting enemies when Joel is in a pinch, attacking an enemy if Joel is struggling with one close by, and when Joel gets hurt by an attack, she asks if he's okay. She'll also notify you if she sees an enemy out of your line of sight. She is also fully capable of taking out enemies on her own when one tries to sneak up on Joel, and she collects ammo for him and gives it to him before, during, or after a fight.
- Scavengers and hunters will start begging for their lives if you're good at killing their members.
- It limits you in terms of ammo and supplies to make it closer to a survival game and encourages you to be more astute with the environment around you, as you can find items for crafting, ammo, or pills (supplements) for upgrades.
- On top of the survival aspect is the crafting system; with the right items, Joel can upgrade melee weapons, craft medical kits, molotovs, nail and smoke bombs, and shivs (the most valuable item as they're used to kill clickers and open certain doors).
- Workbenches are also available in select locations. Here, the player can upgrade certain aspects of their guns by having the right number of parts and tools.
- Supplements allow the player to upgrade any of Joel's six different skills: Maximum health, listen mode distance, crafting speed, healing speed, weapon sway, and shiv master.
- There are many optional conversations that are side conversations that the player can choose to either participate in or ignore. The former can help the player see how the bond between the two characters has grown and can even help the player get to know the characters more.
- The game has five difficulties; each of which can affect the game in many ways. Easy mode makes supplies easy to find and makes the game closer to a cover shooter than a stealth game, which is great for those who want to enjoy the story. There's also Grounded mode (the Hardest difficulty), where you heavily limit the supplies around you, remove your health and ammo hud, and disable Listen mode, which makes it a true survival stealth game.
- Excellent graphics that take full advantage of the PlayStation 3's hardware, making it look closer to the graphical fidelity of the PlayStation 4.
- Awesome soundtrack that adds a dark tone and emotional vibe that is hauntingly relaxing.
- Unlike other games where collectibles are added just to make the game longer, they're here added to expand the game's lore.
- The remastered version has photo mode and plays up to 4K and 60 FPS, with the option to switch to 30 FPS if you want.
- An interesting and compelling multiplayer mode where you grow your own clan while playing normally, with cross-play between the PS3 and PS4 versions (before the shutdown of the PS3 version).
- To point out the ending: While many consider Joel saving Ellie from the surgery might be a selfish move, it shows that Joel was beginning to see the spirit of his late daughter Sarah inside of her and wants to save Ellie instead of developing a cure that wasn't guaranteed to be the solution for the world.
- It leaves the player deciding whether he's done the right thing or not: "If there ever was a chance, would you choose the world over your child?"
- Left Behind is a great DLC piece that shows how Ellie got infected and how Ellie stitched up Joel. The story of Ellie and Riley is a lot more charming and wholesome and is a great change of pace from the main game. Also, you can use the hunters and/or the infected to your advantage to some degree by altering the infected that the hunters are near, making them fight each other.
- The PlayStation 5 version of the game, The Last of Us Part I (or the remake), while rather unnecessary, still takes advantage of the PS5 and improves the graphics and visuals of the game, adding new features such as speedrun mode, which adds a timer to help speedrunners, lots of accessibility options like Part II, and adds many gameplay mechanics from Part II like the weapon upgrades. On top of this, it gives the aforementioned Left Behind DLC for free without needing to pay for it.
- The Platinum trophy for this version is also much easier to get; it removes the difficulty-related and eliminates the new game+ trophies (the trophies for the one on Grounded difficulty do not matter for the Platinum trophy, to say the least).
Bad Qualities
- Some weapons and perks are locked behind a paywall in the multiplayer. This also has a steep learning curve.
- While awesome, it can be rather slow for some people as it takes some time for the action to start, and even then, it can still be slow due to the heavy reliance on stealth.
- Despite the awesome stealth for situational purposes, it can be a bit awkward at times because whenever you try to sneak up on enemies or bypass them by sneaking around them, another enemy will pop up out of nowhere and spot you immediately; listen mode does help warn you though, but it's removed in Survival and Grounded difficulty.
- It has a little bit of a pacing issue when transitioning from one scene to another since gripping scenes will end abruptly.
- There are moments where the framerate drops in certain areas. This was fixed in the PS4 version.
- The multiplayer servers were sadly shut down in 2019; since a few trophies could only be obtained on multiplayer, getting the platinum trophy for this version is impossible.
- Survival mode (second hardest difficulty) is locked and requires you to beat the game to unlock it, while Grounded mode (hardest difficulty) is paid DLC, but if you bought the DLC, you'll have grounded mode unlocked from the start, which is stupid.
- While good, it's rather pointless; it has improved graphics and visuals, but the difference is barely noticeable because the older versions (PS3/PS4) are already awesome. There is no multiplayer because it was removed. It doesn't help that the game costs $70.
- Besides the new stuff like speedrun mode, lots of accessibility options like Part II, and many gameplay mechanics added from Part II like the weapon upgrades, there aren't many differences between the PlayStation 4 and 3 versions, which also contribute to this PlayStation 5 remaster being unnecessary.
Reception
The Last of Us received universal acclaim, earning the rank as the fifth-highest-rated PlayStation 3 game on Metacritic.[1] Reviewers praised the character development, story and subtext, visual and sound design, and depiction of female and LGBT characters. It is considered one of the best seventh-generation video games and has been included among the greatest video games of all time.
The Last of Us Part I received mixed reception following its announcement but received positive reviews upon release, with praise for its graphical enhancements, facial animations, artificial intelligence, and added accessibility, audio, and controller options. The response to its gameplay and level design was mixed, and several critics questioned the necessity of a remake, especially considering its price.
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