Art is difficult to objectively critique. If
you sit on a new bench and it buckles under your weight and sends you tumbling to the ground
then it’s a bad bench. If you’ve owned a blender for years and years and it still chops up food
like it did on day one that’s a great blender. But how can one go about discerning whether
a work of art whether it be a movie, piece of music, painting, sculpture, or literary
work is definitively good or bad? You can’t. There is no objective measure by which one can
state the quality of these kinds of experiences. So then what’s the point in reviews? Obviously
that’s a hotly debated topic but personally I’d say the job of a reviewer isn’t to
say that their word is law and everyone should agree with their tastes, but rather
to say to whom a certain work might appeal. If they give a rating at the end it can be used
to create a pattern for that particular reviewer to see if your tastes align with theirs and if so, you may find their subjective opinion
useful in addition to their critique. Video games are stuck in a weird middle ground
though. While asking a reviewer to decide on the entertainment value of a certain mechanic
or storyline will always involve some form of subjectivity, there are other things
with a less fluid sense of good and bad. Input delay, graphical glitches, error
codes, they’re all present in games and much more important to the overall experience
than say, a missed note might be in a song. So can I objectively say with one hundred
percent confidence that The Last of Us is one of the greatest games of all time?
Absolutely not, but over the course of the next hour or so I intend to do my damnedest
to convince you that it is because to me, The Last of Us is the pinnacle of what video
games could achieve at its time of release. Incredible storytelling and character
development, beautiful art design with impressive graphical fidelity to back it up, a
subtle score that perfectly accents every scene, engaging gameplay with a bevy of options, and the
ability to tie all of these elements together into a final product that’s so much more than the sum
of these parts- The Last of Us is a masterpiece. I first played the game back in college when
it released and ever since it’s been one of my favorites. It’s an incredibly
moving experience and still has me thinking about how it makes me feel to this day.
I’ll be covering the entirety of The Last of Us, its Left Behind DLC, and touching on the
Factions multiplayer mode in this video, with another video on the second game coming
soon. I’ll only be spoiling the first game in this video, but I will be covering everything in
depth so if you haven’t tried it out for yourself I cannot overstate how much I recommend
doing so before watching this video. This retrospective is also going to be a bit
different than the others as I plan to critique the game sequentially, bringing up different
gameplay elements when they’re most relevant. This just seemed to make the most since given how
intertwined the story and gameplay are in this series. However, I do still think it’s important
to cover the game’s development history first. Development of The Last of Us began
shortly after the release of Uncharted 2, with Naughty Dog’s team splitting up
between the third game and this project, headed by game director Bruce Straley and creative
director Neil Druckmann. Originally conceived as a mix of Ico and Night of the Living Dead, with
the player switching perspectives between a cop and a young girl he’s trying to protect.
The game slowly took form over time, with inspirations from Sin City, Resident
Evil 4, Planet Earth for the infected, and even input from the character actors Troy
Baker and Ashley Johnson. The game was centered around the relationship between Joel and Ellie,
with the main themes being Ellie’s coming of age, how far Joel was willing to go to protect her,
and the overarching mentality that ‘life goes on’. After 2 years, multiple game engines, new
AI techniques, and multiple user interfaces, the game was finally shown off at the Spike Game
Awards in 2011 with a trailer showcasing Joel and Ellie taking out some scavengers before dealing
with infected. It did a good job of setting the tone, but it was with the E3 2012 gameplay
trailer that the hype really got started. Joel and Ellie sneak around an apartment building
taking out various enemies while showcasing features like the melee takedowns, holding enemies
hostage, and stellar graphics for the time. Some have said this trailer is misleading, with
certain aspects like the cinematic grappling to steal weapons, AI hiding behind corners to ambush,
and enemies begging for their lives not present in the final game during dynamic gameplay encounters,
but it’s clear that Naughty Dog likely intended to add these features, but probably either ran out
of time or were unable to achieve them on the PS3, with some of them being included in the sequel,
plus it’s a trailer from alpha, so it gets a pass on having differences from the final product.
The game released a year and a half after its debut on June 14th, 2013. It received
pretty much universal acclaim, ending at a 95 on Metacritic and getting
its fair share of perfect scores as well. The visuals, story, music, character
interactions, performances, and more were lauded by critics and fans alike and it went
on to win a number of awards at various events. From there the game went on to receive a
DLC prequel, a full documentary covering its development, a comic with Dark Horse Comics,
a PS4 remaster, a rumored film adaptation, and a current television adaptation in the
works at HBO. It also inspired future games such as A Plague Tale, God of War 2018,
and even Naughty Dog’s own Uncharted 4. However, with time and future releases, come nit
picks and criticisms. With analyses, critiques, and articles being written for years after the
game’s release calling it out for various reasons. The gameplay isn’t engaging, the scavenging is
too repetitive, the story uses too many cliches, when you give a game this much hype and more
people start to play it with their expectations so high, the flaws and cracks always present
themselves more readily, inevitably leading to the one word that always comes up- overrated.
Obviously you already know how I feel and having played the game through for a third time
now I’d like to give it an in-depth look to show exactly why the game is deserving of
so much praise and take a look at which areas could be improved. So with that, let’s jump in.
Upon booting up the game players are presented with a dark room bathed in sunlight from a dirty
window covered in overgrown foliage. A gentle breeze occasionally blows the curtains (with the
graphics being quite impressive for the time) and it’s all accompanied by the sound of light strings
and a gentle yet foreboding guitar. I have never seen something as simple as a title screen
convey the tone of the game as well as this. I won’t go full english teacher and over-analyze
everything, but I wanted to point out how much attention was paid to even the smallest details.
The options are really robust as well. While the audio, control, and display options are pretty
standard, the game also allows players to modify many aspects of the difficulty settings, with
higher difficulties even taking away options like the x-ray granted from listen mode or removing the
HUD entirely in addition to modifying enemy AI, increasing the rarity of supplies,
lowering player health and more. It’s really obvious that Naughty Dog wanted this
game to be as accessible as possible, even if it is a bit annoying that they don’t explain the
difficulty options when starting a new game. Seeing as how I already beat the game before, I
recorded my playthrough at a variety of difficulty settings, switching between them on the fly
at the start of various encounters. I won’t go into every difference, but later on I’ll
discuss some of the ways Survivor and Grounded difficulty can really switch up the experience.
The game opens on a young girl sleeping on a couch when her dad comes home from work. He’s talking
to his brother Tommy on the phone about possibly losing his job when his daughter wakes up. We
learn their names are Joel and Sarah and she presents him with a watch as a birthday gift,
joking that she paid for it with drug money. He teases her by pretending the watch is broken
and later that night carries her up to bed. I love this cute little interaction because
it perfectly sets up Joel and Sarah’s dynamic. He’s a hard working single father, a jokester,
and is doing his best to make ends meet and she’s understanding of that, caring, and playful.
It’s amazing how much character the writers were able to put into this small intro scene.
Sarah wakes up in the middle of the night and answers the phone to hear her uncle Tommy telling
her to get Joel on the phone before the line dies. There are a few objects for players to interact
with as they make their way to Joel’s room, where a large explosion downtown can be
seen from the window or on the live TV. She makes her way downstairs as Joel bursts
inside, quickly loading his gun before their crazed neighbor breaks in and Joel shoots him
dead. Sarah’s horrified, but Joel gets her to head outside where Tommy’s waiting for them. They
make their way out of town, trying to make sense of the situation with the player able to move
Sarah around the car to see the various bits of destruction around the environment. Infected
running around, a burning barn, and even a family looking for help that Joel convinces Tommy to
ignore. It all sets the chaotic scene very well and really emphasizes the feeling of helplessness
playing the role of a little kid in the backseat, a feeling I’m sure many can relate to.
Traffic blocks their way out of the city and some infected descend on the trapped cars.
Tommy attempts to go around, but they get t-boned by a truck as the screen goes black. We wake
up in Joel’s perspective, kicking out a window before being saved from an infected by Tommy and
picking up an injured Sarah to run from the hoard. The group reaches a bar where Tommy holds a
door shut to allow Joel and Sarah to escape. They soon come upon a soldier and
while Joel thinks they’re saved, well… This is the most incredible opening to a video
game I’ve ever experienced. The instantly charming characters, ridiculously fast pace, and
heartbreaking tragedy all combine to essentially be the gaming equivalent of the prologue to
Pixar’s Up. There isn’t a lot to do gameplay-wise, but it does give players a chance to learn
the very basics of movement before hopping in. Most importantly, this introduction gives
players two very important pieces of information- the reason Joel puts up so many walls and
doesn’t trust others and the tone going forward. As the opening credits roll, we’re
given snippets of radio broadcasts detailing major events during the outbreak.
The virus spreading quickly around the world, the US government starting a program
called FEDRA to impose martial law, and a resistance group called the
fireflies opposing their tyranny. Cut to 20 years later. Joel’s visibly older,
gizzled, and woken up by a knock at the door. His friend Tess comes in with a wound saying
she got jumped by thugs sent by a guy named Robert before beating them up. It turns out
Joel’s become a weapons smuggler living in the Boston quarantine zone over the past two
decades, trading guns for ration vouchers, and Robert stole some of those guns.
He agrees to go with Tess to hunt Robert down and as we follow her out of the apartment we see the
dystopian nightmare that is the FEDRA QZ. Anyone suspected of being infected is executed in the
street, rations are sparse, the city’s completely run down, and different areas are closed off
without a special reason to travel between them. Tess gives Joel a pass to get to Robert’s
zone, but just as they’re about to reach the gate a truck is blown up in a firefly attack,
forcing the two to use a secret underground passageway to get through. On their way they
learn from others that Marlene, the leader of the fireflies, is also hunting Robert.
They soon encounter some spores and a man with a broken gas mask trapped under some rubble,
begging to be put down before becoming infected. It’s a brutal way to get the player to test out
the shooting mechanics, but an effective and understandable one while also explaining that
these spores are what caused the infection. Up next is the first encounter with infected.
They’re crazed, hyper-aggressive people with just enough humanity to be pitiable, but
disfigured enough to be terrifying. The game tries to get players to grab one from behind in
order to strangle it and have a stealth section, but the prompt never showed up for me so Joel
just kinda gave the guy a hug before letting him go and starting a boxing match. Kind
of annoying, but I checked a playthrough on YouTube and the prompt does normally show
up so I’m betting it was just a small glitch. Melee combat has a lot of upsides and downsides.
As a plus it saves ammo and looks really cool, with some brutal finishers that sometimes
even take the environment into account. On the downside it makes noise that alerts
other enemies and leaves you vulnerable to being swarmed. It’s always good when a game can balance
out pros and cons like this, even if the combat can be a bit clunky with some hits going through
characters instead of connecting as you’d expect. Eventually they reach the
black market where Tess pays for information on Robert’s whereabouts
before encountering a few of his men. One threatens her so she kills him,
initiating our first fire fight of the game. It’s pretty standard- showing how a partner can
cover for you when fighting, providing clear, useful hiding spots, and only having two
enemies, so it makes for a solid tutorial. Although I did notice one problem that
tends to pop up every now and again. See the game has a slight aim assist that
sends the player’s aiming reticle towards a target if they’re looking at them before
aiming. It’s a common feature in console third-person shooters to compensate for the lack
of precision that would be present with a mouse. Unfortunately it can occasionally cause the player
to focus on the wrong target if two are near one another. It’s a rare problem that can mostly be
avoided when the player becomes more familiar with the controls, but it did end up causing me
to get a little disoriented every now and again. They find more of Robert’s men, but this time
the game encourages stealth as opposed to combat. It also lets the player know that they can drag
grappled opponents for a bit before strangling them. It can be really helpful, but there
was no reason to use that technique here. I mean two of these guys just continue their
casual conversation while staring at a wall, practically begging to be strangled like a
repressed catholic girl on her wedding night so I’ll just talk about hostages later.
The game also introduces the shiv and melee weapon mechanics. Shivs are single-use items
that can be crafted from collected materials and used to instantly kill enemies and avoid the
slow strangling animation while pipes, bats, and wooden planks found around the environment can
be used in melee combat to speed up the process of killing nearby enemies. Each of them has a
limited number of uses and while I do question how lead pipes or axes lose their ability to be
used as an effective weapon, it keeps the combat engaging and tense without ever becoming annoying
since melee combat is usually a last resort. The next two areas are where The Last of Us
introduces its bread and butter of encounters- open areas with guards patrolling that need to be
taken out and maneuvered around, with a failure of stealth causing a fire fight to break out.
The best thing this game has going for it is that stealth and combat are equally enjoyable. The
shooting mechanics are fantastic and satisfying, especially when the headshot marker pops up
on the reticle and a motherfucker just… drops. On the other hand the stealth is just as
fun. Hiding from enemies is nerve-racking and constantly engaging, forcing players to
make tough decisions on the fly. And there’s nothing better in this game than taking out
a room full of guards without getting caught, with the excellent sound design coming in
clutch by warning the player with a low hum when they’ve almost been spotted while
also being freaky enough to build tension. More importantly the transition between the
two gameplay styles is where everything comes together. Resources are scarce, so the proposition
of a shootout is threatening and since enemies are so aggressive, it makes getting caught this
balls to the wall moment where you instantly start shooting the place up or bash a guy’s head
in with a wooden plank before finding cover and either retreating until enemies go back to their
rounds or popping out to give them a taste of lead. A perfectly balanced back and forth that
only gets more engaging with different scenarios and an expanded arsenal in the future.
After passing through the docks the two reach Robert who fires at them before running
away. There’s a quick chase sequence showing off the ability to jump over obstacles and
smash through doors before they catch up and Tess holds him at gunpoint. He says that he
sold their guns to the fireflies, but offers to go with them to take out the remaining rebels
and get them back before Tess shoots him dead. She and Joel discuss how they’re going to convince
the fireflies to give them their guns back when an injured Marlene shows up out of the
shadows. She refuses to return their guns, but says she’ll offer them as payment along
with more if they agree to a smuggling job. They agree and follow Marlene to a rooftop where
we see fireflies blowing up a building. Afterwards we have another encounter with FEDRA soldiers
where I actually used the hostage ability. After sneaking up on someone or beating them down, Joel
can grab an enemy to use as a shield until they break free, allowing him to take out his pistol
and shoot as you see here. In those last ditch effort moments it can be a great way to take out a
few enemies before finding cover for the shootout. Marlene leads the smugglers to their package-
a young girl named Ellie, who needs to get to the state capitol building. They’re hesitant,
but agree to have Joel look after Ellie while Marlene takes Tess to look at the guns. On
their way to the safe room Ellie tries to start a conversation, but Joel’s closed off. We
learn that she’s 14 and her parents are dead, with her finding Marlene by luck. They
reach the shelter and Joel falls asleep. That night, he wakes up from a nightmare and
Ellie expresses her fascination with leaving the quarantine zone for the first time.
Tess enters and says they’re good to go, with Marlene on the road to recovery. After
a jaunt through some more secret tunnels, the group is ambushed by soldiers who use a
device to check if they’re infected, but just as they’re about to check Ellie she stabs one in the
knee, allowing the adults to take them both out. Ellie’s clearly unnerved by this, thinking that
they were just going to capture the soldiers or knock them out. I love this because it really
shows how Ellie is between those innocent years of childhood and adolescence, but the stabbing is
indicative of her growing up in such a harsh world at the military boarding school. It’s little lines
like this that really cement this game’s character development as some of the best in the industry.
Joel and Tess discover that Ellie’s scan came back as positive for infection, but just before
they turn on her she reveals that she’s immune. She shows her infection and says it’s three
weeks old, far longer than the maximum two day incubation period. They don’t have time
to waste as soldiers swarm the area following the distress call from the attackers and we’re
dropped into a gorge and tasked with avoiding their line of sight by sticking to the shadows.
This is a good time to bring up the game’s listen mode. By holding R1, Joel can focus on
listening to the area around him and figure out enemy positions through walls. During this
section it can be really useful because it allows the player to see when a soldier might
be turning their head before moving their light. This mechanic is really cool for a ton of
reasons. It allows for more creativity in stealth, prevents players from being surprised by
an enemy they couldn’t have seen coming, speeds up the pace of stealth sections, and
is just a genuinely clever way to portray one of the character’s senses that a player
can’t actually experience for themselves. But while it’s incredibly useful on a
technical level, it doesn’t always make sense. Like in this section, why am I able to see the
soldiers’ heads turn in listen mode when they don’t shift position? Why am I able to see a
full outline of the characters through walls including the weapon they’re carrying? It’s
not like it’s a huge detriment to immersion, but the game may have been better off with simple
footsteps or a more general blob shape instead of revealing the entire character silhouette.
It’s listening after all, not x-ray vision. There’s also only one enemy in the game
that has any effect on the listen mode, which is a little disappointing. Maybe if
enemies disappeared through particularly thick walls or when walking on sand it might
have been a more fleshed out idea, although I’m nitpicking at this point. It’s still a cool
inclusion, but could’ve been expanded a bit more. When they escape the soldiers Ellie reveals
that she’s being delivered to the fireflies to be studied in their efforts to find a cure for
the infection. Joel refuses to buy into the idea, wanting to turn back, but Tess says she plans
to finish the mission and presses onward. As they continue the next sequence of events
is a fantastic way to introduce one of the most important and unique enemies in the series-
the clicker. A five-stage set of encounters gives the player everything they need to know about
this new and threatening enemy going forward. First, the group encounters a dead clicker on the
ground and Tess explains that they’re blind, but use echolocation to see. Next, Joel opens a door
and gets jumped by one before Tess shoots it dead. Soon after the player gets put into
a few rooms with individual clickers, allowing them to experiment with
stealth and combat however they like. They’re an interesting enemy, requiring a
shiv to stealth kill and being able to hear even crawling players if they move too fast. They
also can’t be punched in combat since getting in their range without a specific skill results in
instant death. It makes them priority targets for stealth, but also some of the most difficult
enemies to get rid of, it’s genius design. So we get a description in safety, then
a few button prompts during an attack, a real encounter to top things off so
the player has all the tools they need to understand clickers as a whole, but then
they’re forced into two more encounters that ensure they know what they’re doing
before being allowed to progress. The first combines clickers with a bunch of
runners. This is the one two punch of the series, since the blind clickers ensure players can’t move
too quickly without being noticed and require a shiv to dispose of, but the runners are able
to spot them if they take too long to get to a good hiding spot in exchange for being able to
be strangled. Plus the player can’t just distract all the clickers with a single bottle throw since
the runners may turn around after and see them. It’s a deadly combo that puts all of
the player’s stealth skills to the test. And finally we get to level five. Players
are dropped into a dark garage absolutely swarming with clickers. This is easily the most
difficult challenge players have to face thus far, since alerting even a single clicker
can send a massive swarm after them. It’s dark, tense, and difficult- the perfect
way to wrap up this enemy’s welcome party. Along the way I also found a door that required
a shiv to open, making future decisions to kill or dodge the clickers altogether much more
difficult since you may want to save your shivs for these special doors, which leads right into
the crafting system. Over the course of the game, Joel will find new items that can be crafted
using materials scattered around the environment. And while these items can be crafted at any
time, the game doesn’t pause while doing so, adding a risk reward element to the crafting menu.
It also makes the shiv ingredients and the shivs themselves much more important given that they
can be used to upgrade a melee weapon later on, or create a shiv that can be used to
either kill a clicker or unlock the door. It makes players think twice about stealth
killing that clicker when a secret room full of goodies could be right around the corner.
Around this time players will also learn to craft med kits and molotov cocktails, which use the same
ingredients as one another and lead to the classic dilemma of offense vs defense. A health kit can be
extremely useful when fighting human enemies that attack from a distance, but throwing a distraction
into a room full of infected and blasting them with a fire bomb is a fantastic way to minimize
resource waste and extremely satisfying to pull off. In fact, most ingredients can be used
to craft items useful in either stealth or combat, meaning supplies are always useful
regardless of a player’s preferred playstyle. I’ve heard some complaints that the combat in this
game is shallow, but I couldn’t disagree more. The mechanics are simple, but the options
presented between resource collection, crafting, stealth, combat, and strategy along
with player input and creativity lead to one of the most varied combat systems at the time
that still holds up incredibly well to this day. That said, there is a more valid complaint
that searching through cabinets is boring when many of them turn up empty. The game
encourages players to either dispose of all enemies in an area before casually
walking around to find collectibles or avoid them entirely. And while the stealth
is still fun, if they had put more effort into forcing players to find supplies while
avoiding enemies or thrown in a few more casual conversations while scavenging it probably
would have slightly alleviated this issue. After the clicker introduction there’s this
area I really want to point out. Tess and Ellie run to the right while you’re following, but
there’s this obvious open door just to the left. Naturally nearly every player is going to want to
run in to look for supplies, but instead they get a massive surprise when three runners just so
happen to launch into an attack upon entering. There’s no warning, and experienced players
should be able to get by them without trouble, but this is the THIRD time I’ve gotten jumped
by these fuckers since this building is just so unassuming. It’s a naturally occuring,
well-deserved jump scare that ensures new players will always be on their toes going forward and
I will need a change of pants before moving on. After they escape from another hoard,
we find a workbench in the garage. Whenever these are encountered Joel can use the
various mysterious “parts” found around the game world to upgrade weapons, with some requiring
special tools to create. Things like clip capacity, fire rate, power, and even adding
a scope to your rifle can all be done here, but the supplies are limited so players are
forced to choose which is most important to them and which apply to their playstyle the most.
Overall I like this in theory and at the time it was pretty great, but it does feel a bit dated by
today’s standards. There are just so many possible upgrades and ammo for certain weapons is really
rare. I found plenty of handgun and revolver bullets lying around, but gas for the flamethrower
and arrows for the bow were ridiculously sparse. I feel bad for players who upgraded those
weapons only to never be able to use them. I also think locking certain upgrades
behind special tools was unnecessary since the most powerful ones tend to cost a lot
of parts anyway, so it seems kind of pointless. At the very least, most upgrades are significant
enough to feel impactful. Going from headshots being a necessity to being able to unload a
clip into a stubborn clicker is a great feeling. After, Joel is separated from the girls and is
forced to make his way through a few floors of infected before finding Tess being attacked.
She shakes off the runner and they head into the next room to take out a massive incoming
horde. I’m not particularly keen on these horde segments since it completely relies on
the player’s ability to aim and kind of sucks all the variety out of the combat, but they
do at least provide a decent change of pace. With the infected taken care of, the
gang finally reaches the roof and Joel has a bit of a moment with Ellie during her
first real view of the city outside the QZ, but an exhausted Tess is in a real hurry all of
a sudden. Unfortunately when they finally reach the capitol building they find all of the firefly
escorts dead. Joel sees this as a reason to end the mission and head back, but Tess refuses
to accept that Ellie won’t lead to a cure, revealing that she’s been infected.
Joel and Ellie are distraught, but there’s no time for grief. She begs Joel
to take Ellie to his brother Tommy’s place, since he might be able to get her to the fireflies
being a former member himself. She then tells them to run as FEDRA forces swarm the building and she
holds them off and I just need to pause for a sec. What amazing character writing. You want a strong
female character in your story? Tess is one of the best examples I’ve ever seen. She’s strong,
but not superhuman. She’s tough, but empathetic. Not only does she act of her own volition, but
for the most part, Joel acts like her sidekick. Letting her do the talking and negotiating
while he just kinda goes along with it. Plus, while a potential romantic relationship
may have been suggested at some point, there’s no definitive proof and even if
there was Tess isn’t the type of character to be defined by such a thing. The reason she’s
the epitome of a strong female representation isn’t because they took a male character and
just swapped his gender or because she’s all about girl power and proving she’s just as good
as the boys, but rather because the writers focused on making a great character first, whose
gender doesn’t define her, but is a part of her. Not only does this explain her recent
exhaustion and desperate need to hurry along, but it’s also heartbreaking hearing
Joel’s typically stoic demeanor instantly break down when he sees the wound,
especially when combined with hearing Tess’s final screams through the closed door
when she’s gunned down by the soldiers. A tragic end to a stellar character.
Joel fights his way out of the building and heads down into a spore-filled subway
tunnel, finally accepting Ellie’s immunity as real when she effortlessly breathes
the spores without the use of a gas mask. They escape the tunnel by having Joel carry
Ellie across the water on a wooden palette since she can’t swim and they make it outside.
Ellie tries to talk about what happened, but Joel gets mad and lays down ground rules- do
as he says, don’t mention her immunity to anyone, and do not talk about Tess. It’s rough to see
how these two very different characters try to get through their grief, with Joel ignoring it
and pressing on while Ellie wants to discuss and come to terms with it, making for an
interesting character dynamic due to their different world views. Joel plans to take her to
his friend Bill’s place in Lincoln to get a car. Cut to the duo arriving just outside the town.
I pick up an upgraded melee weapon and learn how to improve them in the crafting menu. When
a weapon is upgraded, it’s able to take out most enemies in a single swing for a certain number
of uses before going back to a standard weapon. It’s a good alternative to shivs for
players who prefer combat to stealth. Ellie’s amazed by the natural environment, having
never known anything besides the urban quarantine zone. Joel explains that Bill’s the only person
living here and he keeps the entire area clear, having traded with him in the past resulting
in Bill owing him a few favors in return. Taking a turn down one of the alleys has a clicker
run straight into one of Bill’s exploding wire traps that litter the path forward and can then
be either avoided, blown up with a weapon, or used defensively when attacked. It’s a neat
gimmick and doesn’t overstay its welcome, so for the most part it acts as a
great way to add variety to traversal. There’s also this odd door that sounds like some
infected are banging on it, but when opened it just leads to an empty stairwell with infected
upstairs. Just a strangely artificial way to call attention to the door in a game where those kinds
of signals are otherwise pretty well integrated and avoid breaking immersion as much as possible.
Joel is then tasked with grabbing a wooden plank and carrying it around to use as a platform across
some buildings, so I think it’s time I mention one of the biggest complaints levied against this
game- the overabundance of traversal obstacles. Every once in a while players will be tasked with
retrieving a ladder, plank, or some other kind of random object necessary to continue on their merry
way. These are slow, boring segments that don’t add much if anything to the overall experience.
Sometimes there will be a minor puzzle element, but in general these just serve to waste time.
I get that it’s probably a way to hide the game loading the next location, but I think a
small piece of dialogue at these points would’ve worked just as well without requiring
a bunch of boring traversal if that’s the case. Either way it can be kind of annoying
(especially on repeat playthroughs), but it’s not really a major issue since most
of these segments act as some down time between combat encounters and don’t last all that long.
This is also where Joel finds the bow, a useful weapon in stealth encounters as a silent one-hit
kill on basic enemies and being able to take out others with a headshot. As mentioned before arrows
are ridiculously rare and usually break after hitting an enemy, so while it’s a useful tool I do
wish there were more opportunities to utilize it. Speaking of combat encounters, as they make their
way through the town Joel gets caught up in Bill’s rope trap and it leads to a super fun and creative
set piece- hanging upside down from the rope and having to ward off infected as they descend upon
both Joel and Ellie as she tries to cut him down. It’s tense, frantic, and unforgettably unique.
When she finally gets him down, Bill comes in to save him before the group is forced to run from
the horde. Once they’re safe, he shows his true paranoid colors and handcuffs Ellie, causing her
to attack him. Their dynamic is really funny, with Ellie refusing to accept any of Bill’s bullshit
and him disregarding her as a whiny brat. Some of their interactions are just downright hilarious.
Joel tries to convince him to find them a car, and while Bill immediately refuses, he actually
gets convinced surprisingly easily when Joel says that doing so will make them
even. They plan to reach a military truck that crashed in a town a little while back,
but head to Bill’s hideout first to gear up. On the way there’s a training manual Joel can
pick up. Finding these throughout the game grants various power ups to Joel’s abilities whether it
be an increase in the molotov’s damage radius, getting multiple uses out of shivs, or
increasing the effectiveness of health kits. Nothing game-changing, but
they’re always useful when found. They’re usually plopped right into mandatory paths
so they don’t usually feel like collectables, but some are well hidden or tucked inside a
locked door or safe. It’s a bit more rewarding to get them this way, but as a standard way
to give players upgrades over time it’s fine. The other major upgrades in the game
come from pill bottles. By finding pill supplements around the environment, Joel can
upgrade his skills like listen mode distance, max health, and weapon sway among others and these
are some of the most useful tools in the game. They’re all incredibly helpful and pills
are always a welcome find when exploring. The group reaches Bill’s basement
where he and Joel discuss the plan while Bill tells him about his
former partner who left a while back, clearly hurting Bill despite his tough guy act. He
warns Joel not to get too attached to Ellie before handing him a shotgun (one of the best tools in
the game for getting rid of powerful enemies up close) and a nail bomb which is great for taking
out big groups of enemies in a single blow. Nail bombs also won’t explode until an enemy
walks by them, allowing them to be picked up if left undetonated. This is a slight nitpick, but
it is hard to believe that all of these scavenged materials can be used to make a motion-sensitive
bomb that magically doesn’t harm the user. Maybe it’s just me, but the bombs are fun and useful so
it’s a minor issue at most. Ellie asks for a gun, but Joel refuses despite her objections.
I then head over to the work bench and craft a weapon holster, which is a great reason to
talk about the weapon selection in this game. All equipment is selected by using the D-pad
to navigate horizontal and vertical menus. It’s actually a pretty unique system that I
personally haven’t seen copied in any game since. Guns are always horizontal, with long guns
on the left and handguns on the right, but in order to switch to a different gun in that
size, you’ll need to spend extra time looking through your backpack in a vulnerable state,
something that can be partially alleviated by crafting a holster that gives each gun type a new
slot to utilize without resorting to the backpack. Throwables like nail bombs and molotovs are on the
vertical axis with the health kits, giving them pretty easy access. It’s nothing groundbreaking,
but it does keep the action tense, force players to think about their weapon choices, and provide
a sleek and simple way to choose weapons that I’m really surprised hasn’t become more widely used.
The group heads towards the truck and encounters more clickers, prompting me to use a brick
to attract them before nabbing a bunch with a molotov. Bricks and bottles can be found
around the environment just about anywhere and can be used to distract enemies, stun enemies
with a quick throw allowing for a one-hit kill, or even as a melee weapon if equipped.
Although I do wonder why bricks and bottles are the only distraction throwables in the game.
A little more variety could have helped especially since the only difference between the two
is bricks being better for melee attacks. Maybe if bottles were required for crafting
molotovs or created a louder noise that attracts enemies from further away, or if they simply
added a few more options for visual variety it would’ve fleshed out the mechanic a bit
more, but it works well for its intended purpose and fits perfectly into the gameplay loop
so overall I’d say it’s a great inclusion. There’s a horde attack just outside the school
where the truck crashed, but once they get inside they find that the truck’s battery’s already
been stolen. They decide to sneak through the school to get away, but this only leads them to
the most powerful enemy in the game- the bloater. This absolute unit is the toughest of all the
infected, able to throw spore bombs that leave poison gas in the air and dishing out instant
death within melee range. They’re susceptible to fire and nail bombs, but when combined with other
infected that rush the player as they try to dodge spore clouds it’s a serious threat. This first
bloater is tougher than others encountered later, and after a few runners bust in to help
it out Joel’s able to take it down. And can I just talk about how well the infected
are designed for a sec? Looking at the concept art the team really threw everything at the
wall before settling on these monstrosities. Fungus was such a perfect choice, growing in
dark, damp areas, expanding through the use of gaseous spores, and being so incredibly
varied in its appearances and functions. It gave the team plenty of leeway
and each stage of the infection is both impressively disturbing and
horrifying to imagine going through, due in large part to their inspiration being
the brain-devouring Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis, a fungus that infects the minds of ants and
even controls their behavior until they die. Stellar visual design and a fantastically
unique take on the classic zombie. The group escapes the school and reaches the
safety of an abandoned home. Joel and Bill begin to argue, but stop when they encounter the
hanging body of Bill’s former partner Frank. He got bit while heading out of the town and Bill’s
clearly hurt by the loss despite his angry quips. They learn that Frank was the one who took
the battery, finding it in a car in the garage before deciding to push the car while
Ellie starts it up from the driver’s seat. She misses the clutch on the first attempt and
as the guys push the truck to a position to try again, they’re forced to fight off incoming
waves of infected. Ellie eventually gets the car started and Bill chastises her for
her failure before Joel interrupts, showing that he’s getting more attached. They drop
him off and he says that Joel’s gonna die because of his connection to Ellie, but Joel just says
he’s sorry for Bill’s loss before parting ways. On the drive away Ellie reveals that she
stole some of Bill’s stuff including a CD, a comic, and some gay porn. This is really telling
because Bill being gay doesn’t really change much, but it does cause players to consider how
their perception of him and his parter changes on a second playthrough. For 2013 it
was subtle, but welcome LGBT representation, but more importantly it actually adds a
lot to how you might view his character, going from a bitter old man who
couldn’t care less about others to a man pissed off at the world because
the only person he cared about in his life left him and wound up dead who closes himself
off so he doesn’t have to feel that pain again. Of course, things can’t go too well for
too long as the duo makes their way to Pittsburgh where their path is blocked by a
road full of abandoned cars. Joel is wary, but decides to drive around only to see a man
in the middle of the road limping and begging for help. He immediately tells Ellie to buckle up
before speeding up and ramming through as the man pulls out a gun and fires at them and a crowd
of attackers pop out of the surrounding area. They even toss a bus down a hill causing Joel
to crash the car. Both of them get pulled out by the attackers before fighting them off in a
shootout. He and Ellie escape to a room full of chopped up bodies and Joel finds some smoke
bombs lying around. Honestly, these might be the least useful items in the entire game.
They’re grenades that can stun enemies and create a smoke cloud into which enemies won’t shoot
and won’t be able to see. Even clickers can’t hear into the smoke for some reason. Still, while
getting away from a gunfight is nice in theory, the player still has to get to the smoke to be
safe and it alerts all of the enemies nearby to your location. Plus when sneaking around it
requires close combat to be useful since Joel can’t see through it to shoot either. It’s
not a bad addition, just a pointless one. There are a few more encounters and one in a book
shop is particularly difficult due to the sheer number of enemies present. Unfortunately it also
shows off one of the rare flaws of this game’s stealth where it really shows its age- alerting
enemies. This is one of those games where alerting one enemy causes just about every enemy in the
same zip code to come running towards the fight. They do tend to come in waves to
avoid a completely unfair scenario, but it’s still pretty frustrating when a bop
on the head or being a second too late to grapple someone from behind cover sends an
army directly to your location. It’s not a major flaw and is pretty typical of games from
this time period, being especially rare when fights are avoided or the enemy group is too
small to really make a significant difference, but in hindsight it’s probably
this game’s biggest annoyance. After another quick trip on a palette the two
get into a hotel where I try to move a ladder to get some items, but Ellie followed me up so
I had to wait a few minutes for her to get down before the game would allow me to progress. It did
allow me to find a safe, which I was able to open with a code I found on a collectible upstairs.
It’s odd that they’d add in the safe when just putting the collectibles in a hidden room would
have worked just as well or maybe allowing players to blow it open with an explosive, but I got
a lot of cool supplies so I’m not complaining. They eventually get to the upper floors of
the hotel, where we play through the scene from the E3 gameplay trailer. There are a few
differences, but honestly, outside of scripted sequences in the trailer that are more dramatized
than misleading, I’ve got to commend Naughty Dog for really nailing the feeling that preview gave-
not just here, but throughout the entire game. Although there was one point that kinda
broke the game’s immersion for me. I already mentioned how alerting one enemy
instantly alerts everyone else in the encounter, but systematically bouncing back and forth to
take these guys out as they pop into the room one at a time makes the entire encounter feel
mechanical and artificial. It’s fine when luring infected through a door since they’re mindless
monsters, but this just comes off as comical. That said there’s also a grounded and sobering
story moment where they come across a person who died of suicide and Ellie remarks that
they took the easy way out before Joel tells her that it’s not that easy. It’s really sad
because hearing this we know that Joel likely tried at one point or at least considered
the idea, likely after the loss of Sarah. Just another one of those small touches
that really adds to the character. Eventually they get to an elevator where Ellie
safely gets across before it collapses and sends Joel to a flooded basement. Here we get a Resident
Evil-style sequence where the player is tasked with exploring this underground area to find a
key card and start up a generator before being swarmed by enemies and needing to escape.
It’s tense, intimidating, and pretty fun, even if I did accidentally trap the bloater
in this little cage before heading out. Joel heads upstairs and takes out a few more
hunters, but when he tries to climb up a ladder, he’s attacked and held underwater. Just as he’s
about to drown Ellie bursts in and saves him by shooting the assailant dead. And look, I know
Joel’s been harsh towards Ellie this whole time, but this sequence goes a little too far to
the point where it’s almost out of character. Not only does he refuse to thank Ellie for her
help, he actively insults her by saying he was more worried that she’d shoot him by mistake.
Like dude, the girl just took a human life for the first time to save your ass. She’s clearly
upset about the situation and just wants someone to tell her that she did what she had to to
comfort her about the decision. It makes for a sweet moment later on, but right now it just
comes off as Joel being pointlessly cruel, made even more dissonant by his relatively chill
attitude in the dynamic interactions right after. Speaking of which, they leave the hotel to find
some hunters down below. Joel leaves Ellie with the rifle, telling her to look out for him if he
gets caught. And just before he hops down he tells her that she didn’t have a choice to make her feel
a little better and while the analysis part of my brain wants to point out how artificial this is
thanks to the scene from earlier, it’s performed and executed so well that I have to admit
that it was still really sweet and endearing. The encounter isn’t too tough, with Ellie
giving some help after the enemies are alerted, it’s not too bad if you stay within her line of
sight. It is weird that Joel still has access to his rifle since I think the lack of access to
it may have made the encounter more interesting, but still fun. When its done Joel finally
gives Ellie a gun to defend herself. With that, Ellie becomes an active
participant in combat from now on. She can stab enemies to death, get them off you in
a grapple, and take a few shots with her handgun. It’s cool, even if she does get a
little overzealous now and again. The way this game handles companions is really
cool. When it was first announced, I remember seeing a lot of comments worried that it’d be a
long, tedious escort mission for the entire run, but much to the contrary. Allies can take
damage in a fight, but it’s exceedingly rare. Aside from that they’re a massive help and
never get caught during stealth either, plus they grant ammo and items every once in a
while. It does occasionally break immersion when your partner runs right by an enemy without being
noticed, but aside from that they’re a welcome addition that even adds to the story by making
you miss their help when they’re not around. As the two make their way around Ellie reveals
that she grew up in a military prep school, which is another one of those tidbits that expands on
her character and the kind of world they live in where orphaned children are raised to be soldiers.
The next encounter has the duo trying to take out a few guards while avoiding getting shot
by a gun-mounted military truck outside. The truck itself is kind of annoyingly
clairvoyant, but I respect that with most of the arsenal now available the team’s still throwing
out new ideas to keep combat fresh and engaging. They reach a high rise apartment where Joel gets
attacked before being held up by a kid with a gun. Ellie stops them all from getting into a fight
and the two introduce themselves as Henry and Sam, two brothers who’ve been trapped here by
the hunters. Joel and Ellie agree to join them at a hideout to discuss
their plan to escape the city. On the way, Sam tries to take a toy from a store
before Henry stops him, saying they only take what they need to survive. It’s an interesting
philosophy on how to act in the post-apocalypse, but more importantly it shows that Henry
cares about their survival above all else. There’s also some dialogue with the characters
getting to know each other, something I haven’t mentioned yet. Much like in the Uncharted
games, the characters will occasionally start conversations while exploring. It feels natural
and prevents the artificiality from characters only speaking to one another in cutscenes present
in other games. It’s neat, although it is a bit distracting when the two characters are far
apart so you can’t hear what one says and Joel responds with a normal speaking voice. Still,
a good way to introduce characters naturally. At the base, Henry explains that they’re
looking for the fireflies, revealing that the rest of his crew planned to meet at a
radio tower nearby before going to find them. Joel explains that he’s looking for the fireflies
too and they discuss a plan to get past the guards at night and reach the tower. Sam and Ellie get
to know one another and start a cute friendship. That night the group moves forward
with the plan. They dodge some guards, but when they’re climbing up a ladder to
escape from an armed vehicle it breaks as Joel’s about to climb, leaving
him separated from the other three. Henry takes Sam and leaves him behind,
but Ellie jumps down and the two escape. They get to a bar where a polite group of hunters
lines up at the door to get shotgunned one by one and upon leaving they’re forced to run from
the truck until finally reaching the bridge, getting cornered when they realize it’s been
destroyed. Joel desperately tries to think of a plan to save Ellie, even offering to
use himself as a distraction, but Ellie decides to jump into the water below, knowing
that he’ll have to follow to keep her afloat. He manages to get to her, but just as they embrace
they plow into a rock and Joel gets knocked out. He wakes up on a beach with Ellie, Henry, and Sam,
instantly threatening Henry before Ellie tells him that he’s the one who saved them. They reach a
sewer full of various noise traps. They never get used in gameplay which is disappointing, but
they work as a framing device for the encounters. As they make their way through, Sam and
Joel get stuck together when a door suddenly shuts behind them, with Ellie and Henry
forced to run from a horde of clickers. In here we find a couple of clickers along
with some of the scariest enemies in the game- stalkers. They’re really rare, only appearing
twice in the game, but they’re essentially runners that can hide their presence from Joel’s
listen mode, use complex tactics when approaching a target, and are extremely easy to alert.
It’s a shame they don’t show up more often, but they switch up the flow of stealth
in a really cool way when they’re around. I also found the shorty down here, a handgun that
shoots shotgun rounds and I’ve gotta say while this is pretty useful it does kind of drive home
how samey some of the weapons are. The revolver and pistol are nearly identical in use, with only
minor differences, the shorty is just a handheld shotgun, and the diablo found later on is just a
rifle with more power. Having the extra weapons is nice, but the lack of unique mechanics or use
cases between them is a touch underwhelming. Eventually they find Ellie and Henry and the
adults are forced to fend off a horde while the kids get a door open. From here they reach a
suburb on the way to the tower. The kids discuss pre-apocalypse life like it’s a myth and play
some darts. It’s cool to see these characters acting like real 14 year old kids, just relaxing
in the relative safety of these abandoned homes. Of course, that was never gonna last long and the
group soon encounters a sniper. Joel’s forced to sneak around his line of sight, taking out some
enemies before getting to the man himself and taking his place, which starts a novel mission
where you have to snipe random hunters as they burst from the surrounding area before they
kill your friends. Then some infected come out from the bushes and even manage to tackle
Sam and Henry before you save them. It’s weird that all of these enemies attack from behind
since the group just came from that direction, but it’s a cool sequence with a lot of tension.
They finally reach the radio tower where Joel and Henry start to bond. Ellie goes to check on
Sam who’s clearly stressed and taking inventory. He asks Ellie why she isn’t scared of anything
and while she says she’s scared of being alone, Sam’s terrified of becoming infected, thinking
that they may still have some semblance of their humanity, but are unable to control themselves.
They discuss the afterlife and she gives him the toy from the store that she took after his
conversation with Henry. When she leaves he knocks it over in frustration and we see
that he’s been infected with a claw mark. The next morning Ellie goes to wake him
up, but he’s already turned and despite Henry stopping Joel, he winds up killing
Sam himself. He’s destroyed by this, clearly unravelling and pointing the gun
at Joel while blaming him for Sam’s death before turning the gun on
himself and pulling the trigger. This fucking broke me. I mean, even knowing that
Sam was a goner I had no idea that Henry would kill himself in grief. I’ve seen a lot of scenes
like this in zombie films, but I’ve never seen one executed quite this well, plus it’s entirely
believable given what we know about his character. An excellently handled, tragic end to their story.
Cut to fall, Ellie and Joel reach Jackson County, Wyoming. They’ve clearly bonded, as shown from
their dialogue, which makes sense given that this trip should take a few months on foot, but Joel’s
determined to avoid the subject of Henry and Sam, still preferring to forget and move on instead
of work through the issue. He mentions that he and Tommy burnt some bridges a while back, but
he’s hopeful that they’ll be able to get along. They reach the gate to a hydroelectric power
plant, but they’re held up by the people inside. Luckily Tommy comes out and gives Joel
a big hug, introducing him to Maria, his wife and leader of Jackson County. They
get invited in for food and readily accept. Tommy explains that they’re getting the
generator turned on so they can supply the town with renewable energy and he and Joel
go to see the crew attempt to turn it on, something they’ve failed at a few times in the
past. When they get there he tries to give Joel a picture of Sarah, but Joel, sticking
to that philosophy of moving on instead of confronting the past, refuses the gift.
Tommy explains Jackson’s safety measures, the plant is brought back to life, and Joel
asks Tommy to finish the mission for him. Tommy declines violently, saying it would
be wrong to leave his wife and happy life for that kind of job, but the two don’t have
much time to argue before the base is attacked. Here I found a new kind of melee weapon- the
hatchet. Hatchets and machetes are unique in this game in that they’re able to instantly
kill enemies with a single hit without upgrades. Super useful and satisfying to use. It was kind
of annoying when a guy did a 360 no-scope to fire at me, but taking him out with the newly acquired
El Diablo handgun that I mentioned earlier more than made up for it.
They shoot their way through the plant and reach Maria and Ellie, with Tommy
trying to explain the job to Maria soon after. She’s pissed at Joel, but they all find out that
Ellie stole a horse and ran away. Tommy and Joel hop onto some horses and head out to find her.
Riding on horseback takes some getting used to with slightly stiff controls, but it works well
enough and it’s pretty fun while it lasts. Plus the casual riding time gives players a chance to
take in the beautiful graphics. Sure, by today’s standards they’re a little dated, but in 2013
this was easily one of the best looking games ever made. The animations may be a bit stiff at times
and there’s an odd visual glitch here and there, but overall the lighting, textures, and character
models along with the fantastic art direction and environmental design still allow this
game’s visuals to hold up to this day. Not only that, but it also gives way to some
of the best character acting in games to date. The facial animations convey so much emotion
in the cutscenes and while there’s definitely a stark difference between the graphics
in a cutscene and those during gameplay, the movement animations are also really smooth
without feeling slow, tedious, or unresponsive. So yeah, realistic graphics will almost always look
old after a certain amount of time has passed, and there are the occasional hitches here and
there like getting stuck or stopping in front of an obstacle instead of vaulting, I don’t
think this is a game whose visual style is appealing enough to stand up to the test of time.
After the brothers get attacked and fight their way to Ellie, they find her in an abandoned
house. She ran away out of anger thinking Joel wanted to abandon her, but he refuses
to admit that it’s out of fear of losing her. She tries to bring up Sarah, having been
told by Maria, but, well, just watch: The facial animations, the voice acting and
motion capture by Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, the musical score backing it all up, it’s
just a perfect blend of melodrama without the slightest hint of cheesiness or going over
the top. Two of the most realistically written characters in any medium, brought to life
masterfully. This level of game design is exactly why the Last of Us was so revered at its
time and why its looked at as a classic today. The house gets ambushed and after fighting off the
hunters and Joel looks guilt ridden on the ride to Jackson. He asks Tommy about the fireflies and
who tells him that they’re at the University of Eastern Colorado, prompting Joel to get Ellie on
his horse and send Tommy on his way to the town. It’s a great character building moment for
Joel, who’s finally confronted his fear of loss and when the ability to turn down all of
that risk for a safe and happy life in Jackson sits right in front of him, he chooses to
selflessly continue on his journey for her sake, Tommy’s sake, and possibly even his own sake.
Hard cut some time later and the two arrive at the school where Joel’s explaining football to Ellie
who, like any sane person, considers the rules really strange. We ride horseback and walk around
the school while the two have some idle chit chat. They’ve clearly bonded during the trip, being
more open with each other and discussing things like how Ellie would have wanted to be
an astronaut in the pre-infection world and Joel wanted to be a singer.
Along the way, Joel grabs his final weapon- a flamethrower, and we take out some infected to
access a generator and move on. The flamethrower is pretty cool, but the ammo is severely limited,
meaning it’s best saved for bloaters or maybe large hordes. It’s pretty niche, but I’d be lying
if I said it wasn’t supremely satisfying to use. The school appears to be abandoned and swarming
with infected, prompting Ellie to worry that the fireflies may have left. They make it inside the
school, get a quick jump scare from some monkeys, and I find a recording that explains
that the monkeys were infected and when one of the scientists let it out of
its cage, they infected the school in turn. These little notes are something I haven’t covered
yet. As you explore, there are three major types of non-gameplay-based collectibles scattered
around the world- Firefly Pendants, Comic Books, and Artifacts. The pendants are just like dog tags
for fireflies to identify themselves, so it’s not clear why Joel collects them. The comics are from
a series that Ellie likes, so while it’s a cute character quirk that Joel collects them for her,
it would’ve been cool if players could read them. Speaking of which the final collectibles are
artifacts hidden around the world. These can be items, notes, or recordings. They give a
decent bit of worldbuilding and are often pretty entertaining, plus Joel usually has something
to say in response to the context of each note. All of the collectibles are purely there to
act as side goals and rewards for exploration. It’s not my kind of thing, but I could see finding
them being a fun challenge in repeat playthroughs, plus finding these, along with
completing other various objectives, grants players a special currency to unlock
new skins and bonuses in the pause menu. The pair find a dead scientist holding a recording
that explains how the other fireflies evacuated to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, but
as they plan to leave and follow up on this trail, the school is swarmed by hunters. As they make
their escape, Joel’s tackled off a balcony and impaled on a loose piece of metal. From there, he
struggles to make it out of the school, with Ellie doing the majority of the shooting. They reach the
horse and escape, but Joel eventually passes out on the road as Ellie begs him to stay with her.
The game skips to winter where we get a big surprise and begin to play as Ellie. She hunts a
deer, but as she’s about to collect her prize she finds it being watched over by a couple of men.
She’s immediately like a little Joel- disarming them, holding them up and refusing to accept
any of their apparent kindness as genuine. One man, David, asks if they can trade her
anything for the meat and she asks for penicillin. He sends the other guy, James, to retrieve the
medicine while he and Ellie wait for his return. The two go into a small cabin, but despite David’s
attempts at conversation, Ellie remains cold. Suddenly, a clicker walks into the building
and David uses a hidden handgun to kill it. He and Ellie then fight off a massive flood
of infected running at their location and trying to get through the boarded up windows.
They run away and Ellie sneaks through some clickers to reach another cabin where
the two are attacked by another horde, this time ending with a bloater. It’s one
of the most challenging parts of the game, mostly due to the lack of cover and options,
being all about positioning and aim. With the infected taken care of, they return to
the original cabin where David reveals that the men at the school were from his group and looking
for food, with only a few returning telling stories about a crazy man and little girl who
slaughtered the lot of them. Before she can act, David tells James to lower the gun behind
her, and despite James’s objections, he gives Ellie the medicine while offering her
a place to stay with his group. Ellie returns to Joel, applies the medicine, and goes to sleep. She
wakes up later to noises outside, realizing that David’s men tracked her back to this location.
She leaves, heading out on her horse to drive away the hunters, with some of them shouting
that David said not to kill her before they start to defy his orders. She makes her way
to their cabin, taking out enemies along the way before finally reaching the door and
getting found and captured by David himself. This is one of the chapters where I turned
the difficulty up to Survivor so now’s as good a time as any to bring it up. As I said
before, survivor and grounded difficulty remove the player’s ability to use listen
mode. During combat enemies are supposed to be more aggressive and do double damage, but
honestly I hardly noticed a difference between the various difficulty modes when in actual
combat. The major difference is with stealth. The lack of a listen mode completely shifts
player perspective and tactics on how they approach the game. You can’t see if an enemy is
coming around a corner, so you have to be careful, but you also can’t see if you’re being flanked,
forcing the player to be assertive as well. It’s a really cool take on difficulty modes and if you’re
someone who’s played this game before I highly recommend giving it a shot on survivor or grounded
difficulty for a really different experience. Plus with weapons and supplies being more rare,
I was less inclined to engage enemies in combat, which is why the game also allows you to avoid
encounters altogether. While opportunities like this are a bit rare, it’s absolutely possible to
sneak around opponents entirely without taking them out, which is especially helpful as Ellie
since her stabbing animation somehow alerts all of the guards in a way Joel’s never did.
She wakes up in a cage and finds David preparing human bodies to be eaten, which gives
his earlier statement about his men going to the school to look for food all new meaning, while
also explaining why they blindly shot at Joel and Ellie on sight. He gives Ellie some deer
and lectures her on how their desperation for survival makes their cannibalism acceptable. He
continues to be nice to her, but then reveals why as he starts to flirt, prompting Ellie to
break his fingers in an indescribably satisfying moment. She tells him her name as a warning, but
he threatens to eat her before leaving the room. It’s amazing how much this makes sense. David
being a pedophile tracks with his overly friendly demeanor, trying to get Ellie away from
Joel, and trying his hardest to get to know her. Later on we even overhear some of his men
talking about her being David’s “new toy”. It’s horrifying, but makes perfect sense and if
this world full of hunters and infected wasn’t scary enough already this was definitely
when I was at my most worried for Ellie. From here we cut back to Joel as he wakes up,
still walking somewhat slow from his injuries. We take out a few guys and eventually capture
two of them leading to an incredibly brutal scene where Joel puts them in two different parts
of the room and asks them for Ellie’s location, saying that he’s going to ask them both separately
and if the answers don’t match up he’ll make them regret it. It’s a really smart technique for
getting accurate information and when done he kills them both before heading out.
Ellie’s woken up in her cage and dragged onto the counter to be cleaved, but tells
David she’s infected and can’t be used for food before grabbing the knife and running
away. From here it’s an escape mission, getting away from David’s men by sneaking around
in this snow storm. Ellie plays similarly to Joel, but her arsenal is much more limited and her knife
has infinite uses. Though it is kind of strange that they had the foresight to remove Joel’s skill
enhancements since she didn’t take the pills, but all of her weapons still have
the upgrades made at the workbenches despite picking them up off of dead bodies.
She goes through a restaurant where David finds her yet again and begins to hunt her down in a
boss fight after accidentally starting a fire. As someone who’s played the game before it wasn’t
too difficult, but to anyone playing the game for the first time it’s incredibly tense. There’s
broken glass everywhere, something that’s normally rare in the game, but is able to give away the
player’s position when stepped on. Plus no matter the difficulty mode, David has the ability to
hide from listen mode when he sneaks around, a scary proposition for those playing on
Hard or lower. The fight requires players to either sneak up on or stun David 3
times before having Ellie knife him. One of the most impressive aspects
of the encounter is its versatility. No matter where you are when you get to David
the game has an in-game cutscene that dynamically adjusts to match the obstacles nearby. It’s those
little touches that add so much believability to the events taking place. Eventually the two get
into a skirmish that leaves them both knocked out. We cut back to Joel and fight our way through a
few encounters before finding Ellie’s backpack, a room full of dead bodies, and finally, the
burning restaurant. Inside, Ellie wakes up (in a different location than where she got
knocked out so fuck me for praising the dynamic cutscenes I guess) and David begins to
kick her from above. He gets on top of her and holds her down as she reaches for his machete.
So those of you who haven’t played the game might be expecting the typical finale where David
gets rid of the knife and is just about to rape Ellie when Joel bursts in and saves her,
but instead we get one of the most badass and satisfying endings possible- Ellie reaches
the knife and just obliterates David’s face, just in time for Joel to enter and
embrace her to let her know she’s alright. Now look, just because a game subverted story
expectations doesn’t mean it’s good. Just because Ellie was almost raped and managed to fend off her
attacker doesn’t automatically make this a quote unquote “good” representation of an assault
victim, especially since scenarios like this don’t usually end this well for the victims. In
fact, while I personally see it as empowering I’m sure some others might see it as roundabout
victim blaming, saying that those who don’t resist as hard as Ellie or manage to fend off their
attackers simply weren’t trying hard enough. I can’t say for sure, as I’m not an expert on
the topic and even if I was, I’m sure there’d be plenty of room for debate on the subject.
However, what I’ll absolutely stand by is that the moment that follows is one of the most
impressive character building scenes ever crafted. This whole time Ellie’s been brave, determined,
defiant, and strong, but after Joel reaches her she just breaks. She’s still just a fourteen year
old kid, one who’s been forced to take care of Joel, kill numerous people, and just faced the
very real possibility of being raped, murdered, and eaten. She’s not some hardened killer
willing to do anything to survive like Joel, she’s just been acting like one for both of
their sakes, so when she knows that he’s there to comfort her she finally lets her facade slip
away and it’s heartbreaking as she begins to cry. The game cuts forward to spring, with Ellie
and Joel being near the hospital at long last. Ellie’s a little distant, but Joel tries to
reach out, promising to give her swimming lessons and teach her guitar when they return from the
trip. She runs off ahead after spotting something, eventually coming to what is probably
the most well-known scene in the game. The two find giraffes wandering the
grounds and even get to pet one. They reach the rooftop and watch them walk
away and just relax for a little while. It’s not mind-blowing, but this little reprieve
from all the darkness is certainly welcome, especially considering what’s to come.
Joel asks Ellie if she wants to turn back, perhaps knowing there’s a possibility
that creating the vaccine could kill her, perhaps just worried that the fireflies will
want to separate them, but Ellie says that they can’t because their journey can’t be for
nothing. As they press further into the Salt Lake City quarantine zone, we can actively
see how much stronger their bond has become with Ellie asking Joel about Sarah and consoling
him for his loss, and him actually confronting his own sadness and thanking her. She even gives
him Tommy’s picture that she stole from Maria. There’s one final encounter with
infected in a tunnel under a bridge, but it’s honestly not that tough despite the litany
of clickers, runners, and even a few bloaters. In fact the biggest issue I had was when I
hopped over a railing and died from a glitch trapping me between a palette and the wall.
Afterwards, they try to jump across a bus, but it collapses and fills with water. Ellie even
hops on, risking drowning once again to save Joel. He then saves her, but they encounter soldiers
who knock him out while he’s performing CPR. Joel wakes up inside the hospital. Marlene is
in the room, saying she travelled there with a large group, losing most along the way.
She says they saved Ellie and congratulates him on getting her to the facility, but then
says that the operation to create the vaccine will kill her. They argue over the ethics
and who would be hurt more by Ellie’s death, but Joel doesn’t have a choice with the soldiers
preventing him from stopping the procedure. Marlene leaves to check on the preparations, but
Joel soon sees his backpack while being escorted and manages to kill his escort after learning
Ellie’s location. This leads into the final sequence in the game- a no-holds-barred,
tough as nails mission to reach the top floor of the hospital and stop the operation.
This section is difficult, but manageable, and even gives the player a machine gun to use if
they choose to take one off of the dead fireflies. A great way to wrap things up, with Joel
reaching the operating room just in time, killing the surgeon, and making a
mad dash to the elevator to escape. He finds Marlene in the parking garage, who
tells him that Ellie’s better off dying in a world as cruel as theirs, pleading with Joel
to turn back before the game instantly cuts to later on with Joel driving the car away as Ellie
wakes up. She asks what happened and Joel tells her that the fireflies actually managed to find
dozens of immune people, but nothing ever worked out so they stopped looking for a cure. Cut back
to the garage and Joel kills Marlene, remarking that she’d come after Ellie if left alive.
There’s a final epilogue scene where Joel and Ellie arrive back at Jackson County. They hike
towards their destination, with Joel remarking that he thinks Ellie and Sarah would have been
good friends. At this point, he’s pretty much become her surrogate father. Ellie stops him and
admits that she wasn’t alone when she was bit, but was with her friend Riley who she watched
turn. She’s frustrated, having hoped that their journey would lead to a cure, stopping anyone
from feeling that kind of loss again like she had with Sam, Tess, and Riley. She demands
that he swear to her that everything he said about the fireflies was true. He does and she
responds with a simple, “Okay”. Roll credits. There’s a lot to unpack here. First off, I
consider this one of the greatest endings to any media I’ve personally seen. It cements
the theme of the game, completes the story arc of our main character, and leaves off
on a tone that’s simultaneously ambiguous and satisfying. Every decision made makes sense
for the characters, every moment is captivating, and it perfectly tows the line between feeling
like a badass and feeling like a monster. Let’s start with this: I’ve heard a lot of people
say that this is when Joel becomes the villain, killing a bunch of people to save one little girl,
completely eliminating the chance for a vaccine in the future, but that’s simply not the case.
To start, Ellie’s immunity is likely genetic, meaning they’d be better off letting her
live, have children, and then do the operation later when they can. It’ll take longer, but
that way they’re more likely to have other potential subjects and they aren’t killing
a young girl without asking for her consent. That small bit of logic aside, there was
no guarantee that the operation would have resulted in a cure or a vaccine. Yes,
Ellie was their best chance at the time, but it’s entirely possible that there are
plenty of other immune people out in the world. Plus who’s to say that this lead surgeon isn’t
like the engineers from the Jackson County power plant? Saying that this will absolutely work and
treating it like a sure thing while potentially missing something or just being too optimistic?
Of course, none of this is to say that what Joel did was right, only that the question of right and
wrong is entirely morally gray. Personally I think the most ethical thing to do would have been to
ask Ellie with Joel in the room. I think we can all agree that she’d have instantly agreed to the
operation and giving Joel a chance to say goodbye may have made all the difference. It’s one of
those situations where no one was in the right, even if taking an utilitarian approach
clearly puts Joel in the role of the villain. Secondly, the epilogue. We know Ellie is
suspicious of the situation and to her, the entire story is a tragedy. The two of them went
across the entire country, with people like Tess, Henry, and Sam dying in ways that might
not have happened if not for her and Joel, and it was all for nothing. Not only were
there other immune people, but all of the people she knew who were infected are what drove
her the entire way, all for the hope that such a thing wouldn’t happen to anyone else, only
for all hope to be lost at the very end. When she asks Joel to swear on his word at the end
it’s the final step in getting over her denial. She desperately wants to believe that her immunity
means something, that there’s some other hope for a vaccine, and that she can make a difference,
but it’s also possible that a part of her wants to believe Joel- that she can go on living a normal
life without the weight of an infection-free world bearing down on her shoulders. She’s looking
to Joel to absolutely confirm in her mind that this situation was out of her control
and she can move on without survivor’s guilt. She turns to the one person she trusts more than
anyone else in the world and he lies to her face without giving it a second thought. Her “Okay” at
the end leaves us wondering whether she believed him or not because she herself probably wasn’t
entirely sure. It’s tragic, but hopeful at the same time. And if you ask me, it’s the perfect
ending to one of the greatest games ever made. And that’s where the story of The Last of Us
wraps up, but of course there’s more to discuss. For one, players can replay the game in new game
plus, starting off with all of their unlocks like skills and weapon upgrades. Plus, as they make
their way through the game they can accomplish various goals to unlock things like concept art,
gameplay filters, and various costumes in the bonuses menu. It’s neat, and a solid reward
for accomplishing these little challenges. There’s also the Factions multiplayer mode.
Now look, I know this mode has its fans, but I just don’t see it. Don’t get me wrong,
it can be pretty fun playing as either a firefly or hunter and achieving various goals
to win different matches, but in reality it’s just a typical competitive third-person shooter
with the addition of listen mode and crafting, and while being able to find materials around
the map to craft weapons is certainly unique and something I’d welcome in other games, I personally
think the listen mode lessens the experience. See, while going around the map, players
have the ability to use their listen mode to see anyone else that moves, with it being
restricted by a meter that depletes as it’s used and restores over time. The issue is that it
basically turns the matches into a guessing game, moving up and hoping your opponents aren’t
listening for your movement at that very moment. If it had been a perk for a specific
loadout I think it would have been fine, with some players acting as scouts and
being able to warn their teammates, but as it stands I think it makes many matches
more about luck than skill or strategy. There are 3 game modes- Supply
Raid, which is like team deathmatch, Survivors, which is just search and destroy, and
Interrogation, which is similar to Call of Duty’s kill confirmed mode where players need to get
to a downed enemy and interrogate them before scoring any points to unlock the location
of a lockbox that must then be opened up. The first two modes are pretty standard, but
Interrogation is unique and while I appreciate the attempt, the inclusion of listen mode makes
the experience an exercise in frustration. Since lock boxes are inside the enemy base,
they only need two players to stay behind and protect it since they can see when enemies
are approaching, which also allows them to interrogate you in return. It’s all fine,
but there’s nothing here that would really keep me playing for more than an hour or two.
Of course, it’s something that could definitely be refined in the second game when it
eventually drops its multiplayer mode, but as far as this game goes, it’s pretty old
and definitely lacking in players and eventually the servers will be shut down, making this entire
part of the video pointless so I’ll just say it’s a welcome addition to the game, but not really
something that vastly adds to the experience. Lastly, the Left Behind DLC. This is a prequel and
mid-quel simultaneously covering the events with Ellie and Riley before the game and Ellie’s
efforts in caring for Joel after his injury at the college. It’s only a few hours long, so
I’ll just go through nice and quick. If you’re wondering if it’s worth playing, I’d say so, just
don’t go in expecting a three hour masterpiece. The story begins at the last scene after the
school with Ellie getting Joel out of the building and begging him to wake up after falling off their
horse. We cut to a dorm room where Ellie’s friend Riley wakes her up. There’s some expository
dialogue where Ellie asks Riley why she’s there after having freaked out at her before abandoning
the school and Riley reveals that she left to hunt a firefly before being introduced to Marlene
and joining their ranks. She convinces Ellie to get dressed and come with her to talk.
Cut back to future Ellie searching through drawers in a mall for medical supplies she can
use to stitch Joel’s wound. When she doesn’t find anything she promises him that she’ll
return with supplies before leaving the store, closing the metal door, and heading
out, prompting a title drop. She padlocks the door shut and begins to explore
the abandoned mall. There’s some moments of stealth and a funny scene where she begs a clicker
not to come to life as she grabs a key off its body. She encounters a living clicker soon after,
with her only weapon being a handgun with no ammo and the bricks or bottles found lying around along
with her trusty knife. The pharmacy didn’t have any supplies, but she spots a crashed military
helicopter and decides to inspect it for a med kit. After a bit more exploration, she hops
over a railing and we go back to the past. The two girls have some cute bonding
moments around a mall in the QZ. Ellie’s slow to forgive Riley for
leaving, but tries to be understanding. She even alludes to Riley being her only friend
at the academy, which further amplifies our understanding of Riley’s importance to her
as well as the pain she felt when she left. They explore for a while, trying on masks
and joking around in a halloween store, having a race to be the first to destroy
all of the windows on a car with bricks, and eventually reaching their destination- a
power switch. Riley says that the military turned off power to different parts of the city, but by
flipping this breaker they can bring power back to the mall. They turn the power on and just before
heading out, Ellie forgives Riley for leaving and Riley apologizes for her words beforehand.
Cut back to future Ellie, who makes her way through flooded hallways and eventually finds
a generator. She tries to get some gas for it, but this causes a horde of stalkers to come
after her. With supplies and weaponry being extremely limited, this fight is really
tense, but once it’s done she’s able to make her way across some support beams and avoid
an electrified floor below before having a couple of stealth encounters with infected and eventually
reaching the helicopter and finding a med kit. We cut back to the past where Ellie and
Riley continue their journey through the now-powered up mall. They ride a carousel
together, take pictures in the picture booth, and despite the arcade machines being broken,
Riley describes the game to Ellie as she closes her eyes and mimics playing it. It’s really
cute and goes to showcase a little bit of that childlike imagination and hope that Ellie still
has inside her, with the game’s UI showcasing what Ellie imagines the game to be like.
Unfortunately Riley explains that she brought Ellie to the mall to tell her that the
fireflies plan to send her to another base, so she won’t be able to see her again for a while.
And Ellie can’t join the fireflies because of a promise Marlene made to her parents. They’re both
clearly hurt, with Ellie knowing that Riley’s passion is to help the fireflies, but not wanting
to lose her, callously telling her to leave. Riley runs off and Ellie gives
chase and when she catches up, Riley explains that she did all of this and
risked her life just to see Ellie before she left, revealing that she got water guns for the two to
play with, something Ellie’s always wanted. Ellie agrees to have a fight and then discuss after.
There’s a quick shootout with the squirt guns before the two decide to have a game of search and
destroy. It’s honestly really tough and I lost, but afterwards Ellie accepts Riley’s decision
and despite not wanting to lose her best friend, she tells Riley she if she wants to she should
go. Riley goes over to a speaker system and hooks up a walkman to play some music and
as the two dance on the display counter, Riley removes her firefly pendant having realized
that she’d rather be with Ellie than join them and we get the big moment- Ellie gives Riley a kiss.
Now, I’m not going to say this automatically gives Ellie a whole new dynamic as a character. In
fact, I’d say the opposite- it changes nothing about her character aside from maybe making her
relationship with Riley a little more tragic and giving some new context to their previous
interactions, but I’d say that’s just as good as any other kind of representation. Much
like with Bill, the team have a gay character in a time where that was incredibly rare, and
they made her an excellently written character whose entire personality wasn’t about their
sexual orientation. In other words it’s not really something to commend Naughty Dog for, but it makes
for a cute relationship between the characters. Just then the store gets swarmed by a group
of runners and before the girls begin to run we cut back to modern day. Ellie escapes from
the teetering helicopter and encounters some straggling hunters and more infected.
It’s actually really cool because with a well-placed brick you can set the two groups
against each other, lowering their numbers. It’s easily the most memorable gameplay mechanic
out of this DLC. She encounters a few more hunters in large numbers, with one attempting to bust
the lock and reach Joel. This puts the entire encounter on a time limit, which is a great way
to shake things up. Part way through the sequence, more infected swarm the place and with their help,
Ellie eventually reaches Joel with the supplies. We cut back to Ellie and Riley as they run from
the horde. Just as they’re about to escape, a ladder breaks and Riley jumps
down to protect Ellie from a runner. She then gets attacked before Ellie saves her
and the two realize they’ve both been infected. There’s a quick cut back to future Ellie
as she prepares to stitch up Joel’s wound, then we switch back as the girls discuss their
options, either suicide or waiting until they turn together. They agree to spend their final
moments together as we get a montage of Ellie fixing up Joel and dragging him out of
the mall from the horse and the credits roll. Now compared to the main game the DLC isn’t much
to write home about. Riley and Ellie have a cute relationship and it does fill a gap in the
main story, but given that we already knew the ending of both parts, the story lacked a bit
of that tension present in the main game. The new backstory for Ellie is neat and even explains some
of her survivor’s guilt since Riley probably would have been fine if Ellie hadn’t fallen from the
ladder. As I said earlier it’s worth playing and I like the characters and some of the new mechanics,
but it doesn’t really stand out in its own right. But with that my analysis of The Last of Us
comes to an end. As stated in the beginning, I can’t objectively say this game
is one of the best games ever made. It has some dated elements, combat encounters
that feel less natural and more obligatory, really cliche story beats, and some bugs and
glitches that occasionally combine with slightly clunky mechanics to make things more frustrating
than they need to be. Most of these are either minor nitpicks or extremely rare occurrences,
but they are genuine criticisms of the game. No game is perfect, but I do genuinely
think this is one title that damn near anyone who’s interested in video games
should play. Nearly every fault I just listed is completely buried under everything
that the game does right. And above all else I’ll always hold it up as a prime example of why
video games should be treated as works of art. Story-wise, this is a game about
relationships. It’s a game that asks the player a simple question: how far are
you willing to go for the people that you love? Yes, the framing of the story is cliche,
especially for the time it was released, but what it does within that framework is
completely original and masterfully executed. It builds these characters so well over the course
of its runtime that many have been debating what they’d do in Joel’s position ever since. It’s a
game that stays with you and manages to be fun, engaging, consistently impressive
and surprising throughout. And while the story is definitely the part of
the game that most people tend to focus on, I think many forget how much fun the game is to
play and how well that gameplay manages to both enhance the story being told and be fun
in its own right. The two form a symbiotic relationship and build upon one another to
make both integral to the game’s success. The back and forth of combat and stealth is
emphasized by the back and forth of story and gameplay. It feels like anything can happen
at any time, but the game does a fantastic job of making players forget about the tension
with the casual conversations in between, preventing players from growing numb to it over
time while combining additional story details with downtime, which is a brilliant way to ensure the
game is always engaging, which is why to me, The Last of Us is a classic, an absolute masterpiece,
and one of my favorite games ever made. And with that I’d like to thank you all for
watching. I really hope you enjoyed the video and I’d love to hear your take on what I’ve
said and your opinion on this new sequential retrospective style in the comments down below.
I’ll be covering The Last of Us Part 2 in my next video in a few weeks so be sure to keep an eye out
for that. Trust me, I have a lot to say on what is easily the most controversial game released
in years. That said, be sure to subscribe to see more videos, thanks again for watching and
I hope you all have a mighty nifty day today!
Ooh this looks neat. I'll be sure to check it out tomorrow, as I'm going to bed rn