The Last of Us is the best video game ever made in the last 20 years.
There, I said it! I was going to write “arguably the best video game ever made” but screw that! It’s not arguable, it is!!! 😅
Here’s why.
The Story
If you’ve played it, or have seen the HBO adaptation, you might think the story is about zombies and survival. It’s not. OK then, you might think it’s about this guy Joel who is a grizzled survivor and who needs to find redemption through… It’s not that either. Alright, let me think, you say… Is it about how nature takes back the world that humans have been destroying for the past… No, not that either.
I’ll tell you what it’s really about: it’s about love lost and found again. About human relationships, the people we love and care about and how we would do anything at all to protect them. We would even put the whole of humanity in peril for a single person we love. In short, it’s a poignant, excellently written, impeccably told story about what it means to be human.
The subtlety in the storytelling is unparalleled. That scene where Joel looks at Ellie and then at his watch, which was a gift from his dead daughter, speaks volumes without uttering a single word. The realisation that Bill has lost the love of his life without patching up the last fight they had is also told superbly and subtly through gameplay instead of dialogue.
There are cinematic moments in the game, some grand, others very understated, that will stay with you forever. This is something most storytelling media struggle with, to see it so well done in a video game is a true epiphany.
Neil Druckmann, writer and director is a master at this. And this is more astonishing when you consider that it was his first time directing.
Characters
The Last of Us was the first game that ever made me actually care about the characters in it. These aren’t your stereotypical trope game clichés, these are three-dimensional characters, real people almost, with needs and problems and aspirations and flaws like you and I. Joel is not your typical hero, nor your typical anti-hero either, he’s a person. You can not only see why he has become the ruthless person he is but also how he transforms into something else, something more human as he shares experiences with Ellie who is also not a typical anything but the best-crafted female protagonist in a video game ever.
Secondary characters are amazing and three-dimensional as well. Naughty Dog could have been lazy and focused only on the Joel and Ellie arc, leaving the secondary characters as stereotypical fillers but they didn’t. Tess is an amazing character and I wish Naughty Dog made a whole game featuring her. She’s not likeable, not sympathetic or even empathic to anyone around her, she’s a tough as nails, unsentimental survivor, a scary character! Yet you can’t help identify with her in some way, root for her all the time and be devastated when she dies in the game. Bill is another incredibly funny and complex character, made all the more likeable by his animosity toward Ellie.
David, a character Ellie encounters late in the game is so well-crafted you can’t help empathise with him in some way, and the bastard is fucking cannibal! That’s how good the writing and storytelling is.
Music
The game’s score by Gustavo Santaolalla not only fits the game’s tone perfectly but also elevates every situation it’s used in. The audio in general does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes and creating tension. To this day, when I hear those damn clickers it still sends a chill down my spine and makes my scrotum want to crawl and hide under the bed. But it’s Santoalla’s music that stays with you long after the credits have rolled. I can’t remember a poignant soundtrack in a video game before. Hell I can’t even mention a film that has such a good score.
Gameplay
Of course all this would be merely anecdotal in a game without a strong gameplay, and The Last of Us has that in spades. I hate stealth games but this one not only made me want to be stealthy it actually made me enjoy it, something I always thought impossible. The well balanced scavenging and crafting is expertly counterpointed with the exploration and explosive encounters with the myriad bad actors in the game. Some of whom are way too human for comfort.
Exploration is another well-realised mechanic in the game. Not only is it beautiful and rewarding to explore but it is enjoyable, never feels like a time-wasting filler chore (looking at you Ubisoft!) and offers some of the best set pieces in the game.
Tech
What can I say about the technical achievements in this game that hasn’t already been written about to exhaustion? I’ll limit myself to say that this is the best looking and more performant game ever created for the PS3. But it’s not only that, it’s how its myriad systems fit together, the animations and transitions are so well handled you don’t even notice when there are zero-frame transitions (usually in melee fights), a big no-no in animation but something that actually works perfectly in practice in the game. The UI and crafting and inventory system was iterated over and over again until it felt as natural as it could when using a joystick.
The level design is also meticulously crafted so that the player can enjoy every minute of this crazy ride, highs and lows and handled with loving detail always respecting the player.
Conclusion
The Last of Us is a triumph of the sum of its parts. But each of these parts is a small wonder in itself, leading to a superbly crafted, incredibly told masterpiece.
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