Today saw the re-release of a game called “The Last Of Us” on PS4, with the sub title ‘Remastered’ along with it. This game was originally released last year on PS3 towards the end of June and received incredible critical acclaim from the start. It soon became apparent that this game was something special from the first week of it’s release, with the gaming community going crazy with discussion. It came to my attention through one of my subscribed channels on youtube and I decided I may as well give it a look.
One episode of gameplay and I was hooked. In fact, I ended up watching the whole game online within a week. I’ll repeat that, I WATCHED the whole game, as in someone else’s play through. The Last Of Us is so compelling, I didn’t even mind the fact that I wasn’t in control and that it almost felt like I was watching a prolonged film. It was just sensational.
As you can imagine I was more than thrilled when developers ‘Naughty Dog’ announced the game was coming to PS4, this time boosted up to 1080p and now running at 60fps instead of the 30fps it was on PS3. I pre-ordered the game a while back and it arrived yesterday (a day early) in the post.
The main storyline of the game is centred around a character named ‘Joel’, a 50 something man who has been broken by his past. The game is set 20 years after a global pandemic, where a fungal ‘Cordyceps’ virus broke out and infected most of the world’s population. Now all survivors have to live in quarantined zones that are run by (what’s left of) the military. The beginning of the game shows just how brutal life has become and it seems like nothing will change. The story really kicks in when ‘Joel’ meets a teenage girl named ‘Ellie’, who seems to hold the key behind finding a cure for the virus. The game sees the duo travel across the country, in a gruelling survival task against the ‘runners’ and ‘clickers’ who have been infected for many years. The storyline is emotionally involving and once the end of the game comes around, you feel a sense of loss, as you know your time with the two characters has ended.
Yesterday was a mentally and emotionally draining day, but worth every second. I’ve not completed the game, but it’s most certainly on it’s way. I know that most non-gamers will just shrug this off as another thing they’ll never be interested in, but I’m trying to push this game onto absolutely everyone I know. I cannot stop talking about it!
The front cover of the game boasts ‘Over 200 Game Of The Year Awards’ and man, it deserves every single one. The visuals, gameplay, characters, voice acting and soundtrack are phenomenal and the balance of everything seems to fit perfectly. The recent news of the game being made into a film doesn’t come as a shock to me. The game itself feels like you’re playing through a film and it will look fantastic on the big screen. It’s also a good sign that the game director Neil Druckman will be largely involved in the project, hopefully he will do it justice! With rumours of actress ‘Maisie Williams’ being in talks for taking on the role of ‘Ellie’, I’m sure a lot of Game OF Thrones fan will soon latch onto the game as well.
To wrap up, I love this game. It’s stolen a little piece of my heart that I never thought a video game would and I couldn’t be happier about it! Check out this video showing the first part of gameplay on youtube, it’s worth a watch.
Rebecca Broughton 