The Last Of Us Review
Price:
£40.00
Platform: Playstation 3 (Exclusive)
Rating: PEGI 18
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment.
Engine: In-House, Havok
This
masterpiece is an apocalyptic 3rd person shooter, Stealth action
game of the survival horror genre.
The
conventions of the genre is that it is dark there is some sort of threat; there
are guns and lots of survival horror elements. Which the last of us meets and
succeeds.
This is by
far one of the best games of this genre and of this generation. This has one of
the most engaging campaigns I have ever played. That emotionally torments you
throughout the duration of the game putting you in some difficult situation
requiring you to think carefully about your options and touching on some
sensitive moral issues. Making this game very unique and one the best of its
genre.
An airborne
fungal virus is spread throughout America (this is based on Cordyceps). Where fungus
grows out of the victims head and causes them to go blind, meaning they use sensitive
hearing to navigate. This gives them a zombie like features as they scream and
make clicking noises, which adds to the horror element of the game.
Our story
takes places through the eyes of Joel who is a smuggler with his partner Tess
who is asked to transport a young child across the country. This drives you through
some difficult situations as you travel through apocalyptic America viewing the
monstrosities that have happened to various people through this fictional world
and your own fair share of ‘bad luck’. Which puts you in some seriously
difficult situations.
Well as this
is based in apocalyptic America you need to be wary of your surrounding and
especially the people that you meet. As real monsters in this story are humans.
This affects your approach to everything and everyone giving you little to no
sympathy or trust with anyone.
The story
connects with the target audience as this is a thrilling masterpiece of a game
would be a brilliant experience for anyone (over the age of 18 obviously). The
story is the main appeal of this game; even though its gameplay is unique and
handles excellently with a very intense multiplayer this game main appeal is
still its gripping storyline.
The game
runs on the In-house engine. However it uses the Havok engine.
The main
production process for most of the games animation is motion capture.
Skeleton - Motion capture
Animated
skeleton – Render
Environmental
Design – Animate it, render
The last of
us features a crafting system, which you use in game where you can use items
you have scavenged to craft objects. Such as a scissors and tape can be used to
craft a shiv. This is a unique feature.
At times you
can pick up objects and throw them at other objects or at enemy AI. This will
require a certain level of programming and physic mechanics. This will be used
to enhance survival gameplay, as hurling a brick at someone’s face is not your
first port of call.
The main
protagonist of the Last of Us is Joel and his deep and complex story. As a
character he is troubled and experienced as he has lived through the outbreak
and has little to no trust or sympathy for anyone.
Ellie is the
outgoing 14 year old that is the light of the relationship between are main
protagonists. She has only ever known life after the outbreak and throughout
the game questions many of social norms as she is disconnected from the world. Whereas
Joel is lamenting the old world. They are pretty much polar opposites.
This game
does not follow the survival horror character conventions. The characters are
very human in the last of us. They fit the world that is created and this is
not your regular survival horror game.
The
characters in this game are like no other. The attachment you grow towards
these characters is unreal, as a player this broke me within the first 10
minutes. As I said before this game emotion torments you with what happens to
these characters and the relationship you develop with you.
As this is
of the survival horror genre your biggest risk is death and therefore you must
survive. My utilizing your equipment and surrounding to the best of your
ability and getting from point A to B successfully. This can be a challenge
especially towards the very end.
You spend a
lot of your time out of combat and exploring this engages you as they use real
locations such as Pittsburgh and there are a lot of optional conversation you
can take part in my pressing triangle. Which you will find out more about the
characters and the world you are in. Which engages the player. Also when you
are in combat it is very tense and there is no way you wouldn’t be engaged.
Survival.
You must survive. The whole point of the game is to transport Ellie across the
country and if you die you have failed in your mission so you need to survive.
Later in the game survival comes more apparent as the situation gets
significantly harder.
The gameplay
of the game either is out of combat, in combat or a puzzle. But this is not
apparent when playing the game the transition from section to section is very
smooth.
The target
audience is anyone who is a fan of games by Naughty Dog (why I bought it),
anybody who is a fan of the survival horror genre or of the 3rd
person genre.
Another game
that is of a similar style is the other masterpiece Resident Evil 4, which you
could argue The last of us, takes inspiration from. In comparison it is more of
a battle against monster rather than horror against humans and the infected.
The horror elements of Resident Evil 4 are truly terrifying and I would have to
say Resident Evil is superior in horror.
However there is no other game that can compare to The Last Of us
heart-wrenching story. Graphically the Last of us is superior but that is an
unfair comparison as Resident Evil 4 is a Playstation 2 game not a Playstation
3 game.
The last of
us is exclusive to the Playstation 3, as it is made by naughty dog that only
make games for Playstation, as Sony owns them.
It would
make no difference whether the game is on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or PC. But as
Sony owns Naughty dog the game is exclusive to Playstation 3.
Overall if I
had to assign one word to this game it would be masterpiece, as this game if
nothing else is definitely a masterpiece that should be played by all and I cannot
recommend enough. This title should be on the shelf of every person who would
consider themselves a gamer. Unfortunately this only applies to those on
Playstation 3 as it is exclusive to it.
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