Naughty Dog On Why The Last of Us Needed Combat

The Last of Us has been by far the most celebrated game released in 2013, and rightfully so. Even the mighty and great Grand Theft Auto V wasn’t able to compete, at least in terms of praise from critics: The Last of Us won over 200 GOTY Awards, it recently won the DICE Awards in multiple categories (including Game of the Year) and is poised to win again at the BAFTA ceremony next month.

One of the most discussed topics on this groundbreaking game has revolved around combat. A few critics asked themselves if The Last of Us wouldn’t have been even better without combat, but Neil Druckmann, Creative Director and Writer at Naughty Dog for The Last of Us (previously Lead Designer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves), begs to differ. In an interview with Engadget, he admitted that they thought about making the DLC (titled Left Behind and out this week) with very limited or no combat, but eventually they decided against it; here’s why.

What if there was no combat at all in this additional chapter? And we feel like we would lose something that’s really integral to The Last of Us, which is that contrast. The giraffe sequence works because of all the horrible things you’ve done and experienced in the Winter section. Otherwise I think the giraffe sequence would feel pretty flat without the surrounding bits to it. The ending works well because, as Joel, you’ve done really horrible things in that hospital. Maybe we could argue about the number of encounters, or how many enemies should’ve been in the hospital, but we definitely feel strong that there should’ve been a fight, a kind of murdering spree to get to Ellie, because that says something about Joel and what he would do to save someone he loves. Because ultimately that’s what those arcs of the character were: how far they were willing to go to save someone they really care for

I couldn’t possibly agree more with Druckmann. Clearly, The Last of Us wouldn’t have had the same impact in terms of storyline and characters without the drama of combat and fighting, and I’m glad they went this way; also, there are no hordes of enemies in the game and the visceral combat fits perfectly with the overall mood.

I can easily agree with the sentiment that games should generally be less focused on combat and shooting than they have been so far, but The Last of Us certainly isn’t the right game to point the finger at. There aren’t any more fights than necessary, really, and each one contributes greatly to the pace of the story and the evolution of characters. What’s your stance on this, dear readers?