The Last of Us - Hands On

Officially announced in 2011, during the Spike Video Game Awards, The Last of Us has succeeded in provoking the attention of gamers all around the world thanks to its cinematic style and charismatic characters.

Developed by Naughty Dog exclusively for Sony PlayStation 3, The Last of Us has been presented as a dynamic adventure with a strong emphasis on survival in a hostile environment. The lucky owners of God of War: Ascension were just able to try before anyone else a short playable demo of this game. As one of them, I’ll try to help you discover what The Last of Us really is.

 

The impact with graphics is very positive. The excellent work done by Naughty Dog on Uncharted seems to be confirmed here, although instead of desert plains and sunny environments, here you have to deal with a dark and rainy city somewhere in the USA. Although this is a demo, we must highlight that the work on polygonal models and animations seems very promising so far. The sound is among the best I’ve ever heard and the acting of the characters is very convincing, although of course for a complete judgment we’ll have to wait for the final release. I noticed a few imperfections with lighting and shadows, which I hope will be fixed.

For the uninitiated, The Last of Us is set in a near future in which humanity has been decimated by a deadly virus that spreads through a lethal fungus called Cordyceps. These fungi first transform humans  into “Runners”, lethal killers that are as silent as quick to strike. In a second stage, the Runners become “Clickers”, creatures blinded by fungi that grow on the face and around the body. They are unable to see, relying to a hearing “sonar system” instead, similar to that of bats. This makes them more predictable of the Runners, but they are definitely the most lethal if they can actually pick you up.

 

The demo of The Last of Us is set in a suburban level and puts us in the role of Joel, a cynical survivor who is supposed to escort Ellie, a wise teen-ager, through the adventure. The level begins in the middle of a thunderstorm and also introduces a third traveling companion of Joel: Tess. After a few minutes of exploration, the group is warned by a sinister sound. The path of the survivors is then interrupted by a chasm that has formed in the city, so they are forced to make a detour: they must venture into a skyscraper in ruins that could collapse at any moment.

Joel does not have time to set out in more than a couple of rooms, where he finds the first corpse of what appears to be a policeman, fell victim of the infected. Along the way, the group led by Joel runs into a pack of Runners supported by a pair of Clickers and the last task of the player before the end of the demo is to neutralize all threats to allow Tess and Ellie to continue safely.

 

The feeling of this demo is  similar to that experienced when playing Uncharted, with appropriate differences. The  “survival” element seems to take more than one cue from games such as Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Dead Island, I Am Alive and the recent Tomb Raider.

The project developed by Naughty Dog might very well bring a breath of fresh air in the industry, borrowing heavily from the “survival” trend of this generation whilst offering a more personal, more cinematic and overall impressive take on it.

The gameplay is very “physical”, the feeling of being alongside Joel, Ellie and Tess is strong. The fights with the Runners and Clickers are very convincing. The tension and horror when dealing with such terrifying enemies are extremely well portrayed. It’s still too early to issue verdicts on the game, but judging by the (very short) demo  I can say that The Last of Us promises to be a great game.

It would not hurt, however, if the environment was a bit more “alive” or interactive, because this demo shows that - similarly to Heavy Rain, to name one - so much beauty often results in  poor interaction with the environment, which seemed very static with the exception of the famous “scripted events” that can take us by surprise the first time we play, but from the second run become all too predictable.  I would also like to point out that I hoped something more for the artificial intelligence, as the enemies in the demo are very predictable and easily neutralized, once you understand their “role”.

 

Soon, on June 14th, The Last of Us will reach the general public. My hope (and that of many fans) is that the final version of the game is a bit different and more varied from what’s in the demo. The premises for a great survival horror game are all there, but the risk of offering a product that is too linear and predictable is just around the corner.