The Last of Us Review

Well Naughty Dog did it again that's for sure! It may not be a "perfect" game but in terms of presentation, gameplay and story, I seriously doubt that there will ever be a game that would top The Last of Us.
I guess what really stood out the most for me is the "feel" or the "experience" that this game delivered. But before anything else, let me tell you a little something about the story.



The protagonist is Joel, a guy who had lost her daughter at the time of the outbreak (and im not going to spoil how he lost her). He's been in a QZ (Quarantine Zone) for a while after the initial outbreak working with a woman named Tess as a smuggler. They somehow manage to sneak in and out of the QZ smuggling food, supplies, medicines, ammunition, weapons and rations cards. Then eventually Joel would meet Ellie, a fourteen year old girl who lost her family and then ends up with a bunch of rebels who are known as the Fireflies and the rollercoaster of a story goes on from there.

Presentation wise, i believe Naughty Dog did a really great job with The Last of Us. The environment seemed really believable and the characters are well presented. You will really feel that the world has really evolved from civilized to post apocalyptic state. You'll see ruins of houses and buildings with ferns growing around the walls. Rooms and ceilings looks all dusty and rotten and you can see scattered papers with hand written notes of people that used to live there that you can read and you'll really feel that the world has been through a lot after the outbreak.

The game is very grueling, long, scary and intense and I wouldn't have it any other way. I played it on hard and i suggest you play it on that difficulty too on your first play through because you will really try hard not to get spotted and heard by the clickers and its really scary when they do see you. Clickers are mutated creatures with mushrooms sprouting all over their heads covering up the whole face and since their faces are completely covered, they don't have eyes to see you but they can hear you. (You wouldn't want to get heard by them trust me!). Also, supplies and resources in this game are very scarce, that you'd really have to think about your strategy on how are you going to tackle a certain area or situation before you go in. You have a choice of either go guns blazing or go in stealthy when you are short of ammo. There is also the "crafting system" where in all those items that you hard earned through scavenging and looting can be made into an improvised bomb or shiv that can also help you in neutralizing threats and gives you another option other than shooting those clickers with your firearms.

The game has minor flaws but it really doesn't affect the experience of the game. I encountered a few bugs in the in-game cutscene where the characters are in a car then they suddenly popped out in front of the windshield! Also, as you are nervously and carefully making your way through a building or a tunnel full of clickers, the AI characters would easily roam around the room hitting the clickers along the way without alarming them.

The Last of Us is an epic game save for a few flaws that isn't really much of an issue. I believe that there's no existing or upcoming game that would really give us the experience that this game delivers and i really recommend you to buy the game and experience it firsthand.