Naughty Dog’s most recent game, The Last Of Us, is hands down the game of the year. Launched at the end of June, Sony’s exclusive has been a remarkable hit landing over fifty perfect score on reputable video game review sites along with connecting with all of the fans.
The game follows the two protagonists around, Joel and Ellie as they travel the post apocalyptic world after an infections disease threatens the human race. They are an unlikely band of heroes that were thrust upon one another when Joel, a professional smuggler, helps out a customer by smuggling Ellie, a fourteen year old girl, out of the quarantined military zone.
After a period of warming up to one another they find themselves growing closer and closer. As the story progresses so does Joel and Ellie’s relationship which draws in the player with this fascinating relationship. We watch as this friendship grows and is put through the test with insane plot twists and obstacles.
The world that has been is equally as impressive. You begin in a quarantined zone believed to be somewhere in Boston. After an escape you make your way across the United Stated as you hit places such as Pittsburg on your way to Colorado. The way Ellie interacts with the environment is one of my favorite aspects of the game. As a child who was born during the apocalypse, and seen nothing besides the inside of the militaries quarantined zone, she is amazed at the tinniest of things. She sees nature for the first time and is mesmerized, Joel needs to explain to her what football is, and she even comes across a giraffe. Her ignorance to the outside world is one of her adorable qualities.
The Last of us is truly a spectacle that everyone, gamer or not, should experience. It is a story that is told in one of the most compelling fashions I have ever seen.
Brad Lee