The Last of Us, a game that I didn't think much of when it was first revealed. In fact, I didn't find it very interesting. However, last month I got a Playstation 4 with The Last of Us Remastered. Now, that I have beaten the game, it’s time to tell you my thoughts on the game.
Story
Now, I will make it no secret that I have no care for zombie apocalypse storylines (i.e. Resident Evil, Walking Dead, Dead Island). That is basically what the premise of Last of Us, which automatically makes it a cliché. That and the fact that there is a character who happens to be immune to the virus. However, I will say that I found the whole zombie origin to be more realistic and original than some stupid manufactured serum or whatever. Instead, it’s a fungus based off the real life Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, but the game’s fungus exhibits more aggressive symptoms. However, the characters are amongst the best that I have seen in video gaming. They are very realistic, and their dialogue is very well done. The best parts of the story are when it reaches a point of tragedy, or a point of humor. These parts make you care more about the characters, and thankfully, they aren't utterly shoehorned in. Now, the graphics help to further encapsulates the game’s post-apocalyptic world.
Graphics
The Last of Us Remastered is a beautiful game, with some of the best textures and models I have ever seen in a video game. I mean there is so much detail to be seen in this game, from the beautifully rendered structures to the excellently made particles. These, along with the use of very well done lighting with the flora really sells this is a post-apocalyptic scenario. Not to mention the facial animations and lip syncing make the characters seem even more realistic. These great animations help the player to feel more the characters, which increases the emotional depth of the game. The visuals are beautiful, and so is the audio.
Sound
Now, The Last of Us doesn't have much ambient music, but when it does play, it is beautifully filled with feelings of sorrow to help convey the emotions of the characters, especially Joel and Ellie. Speaking of, the voice acting is excellent with an incredible performance by both Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. And I didn't even recognize that Joel was played by Troy Baker until I started really listening to his voice. In fact, all of the voice actors do a top-notch job performing their roles in order to sell a character driven story. Now, the audio is incredible, the gameplay is just as incredible.
Gameplay
The Last of Us is a survival horror game, and the most survival game that I played in a long time. Supplies are limited, so you need to do the best to survive without compromising too much of your own supplies. In fact, instead of going for an all out shooting with the human enemies I went for a more stealthy approach. Although, you can go for a melee combat a la Uncharted with breakable melee weapons. Even when facing down the infected, it is best to go with the stealth approach. Now, your character in the vein of Assassin’s Creed can activate an ability that lets them know the locations of nearby enemies. However, this isn’t some supernatural ability, it’s just your character hearing, though presentation of this is almost like that of Assassin’s Creed’s Eagle Eye. The game gains a gray filter, sound is muffled, and characters have this glow, although it’s only white. However, as I said before, this ability is listening, so an enemy’s position is more clear the more noise they make. Speaking of noise, your character also makes noise, even when crouching apparently, which makes you want to extra careful around certain type of infected. However, you can also throw something to distract the enemy’s attention away from their current position. Now, you can sneak up behind them and either strangle them or stab them with a shiv (if you have one). However, the enemy A.I. falls for the classic stealth maneuver of going around the corner repeatedly. Now, your characters can be upgraded to make the game less difficult.
In the environment you can find components that can be used to craft items, upgrade weapons, and upgrade yourself. These components are fairly limited, which makes you want to save anything crafted. In fact, I spent a lot of the time with only half health because I wanted to save my medkits. Now, crafting, upgrading weapons, and upgrading yourself all require their own components for which you need to create them. The Crafting components, all depends on the item you wish to craft. These items include such things as medkits, explosives, shivs, and melee upgrades. Upgrading weapons require parts, tools, and the use of a workbench. Now, at the workbench you can upgrade your weapons, whose upgrades are different depending on the weapon, and upgrade your holsters to hold more weapons. In the case of weapons, certain upgrades have a tool level prerequisite, but the tool level is actually just the number of tools you've collected. Now, upgrading yourself requires the use of supplements, which are the rarest of them all, so choose wisely what you want to upgrade. These upgrades include more health, better hearing, and speed of either crafting or healing. There also these training manuals that can found that will improve the effectiveness your items, such as making the shiv more durable. All of these upgrades are important in improving your chances of survival, especially when dealing with your partner.
For the most part your partner is used to help you climb up stuff, and aids you in combat. However, they are brain damaged in combat situations. Seriously, there were times that I’d be in trouble and they’d help, but other times they would do nothing to help me.
The Last of Us Remastered is the best survival game that I played in a long time. However, while the characters are incredible, the storyline in itself is overused by the majority of the survival horror genre. The survival gameplay is excellent, but the A.I. can be wonky. However, you spend most of your time walking around and gathering supplies. So if you’re looking for an action packed game, this game isn't for you. But, if you’re looking for a better survival game, then this is the game for you. |
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