The Last Of Us (PS3)

The Last of UsOne of the most anticipated games of 2013, from one of the most critically acclaimed studios, "Naughty Dog." Does it live up to the hype?The storyIt is the near future and the world has been decimated by a zombie apocalypse, sound familiar? Well Naughty Dog has cleverly avoided going for the traditional zombie in favour of a different kind of zombie. Naughty Dog has taken their inspiration from a David Attenborough documentary about a fungus parasite that attaches itself to the brain of ants and forces them to march upwards to be eaten by birds. The ant can be seen to be struggling against this fate, but in the end, his fate is sealed. The idea of a fungus interested the team very much and so, we get a different take on the zombie genre. Joel and Ellie are the main protagonists in this title and Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie to another quarantine zone. He is a black market merchant and as such is well suited to the task. Ellie is a girl who was born after the apocalypse happened and has known nothing else other than hardship. You start off in Boston, a quarantine zone controlled by what is left of the military and is a semi refuge for humans wanting to escape the horrors that await them in the wasteland. I say semi refuge as the infected are still a threat, especially in cities where there are plenty of humans to prey upon.The GraphicsNature has started to reclaim what man has taken away and this is beautifully realised on screen. Buildings are toppled over, plants and greenery have overtaken most of the city and has given real meaning to the term "urban jungle." The lighting in this game is superb and places look suitably eerie and desolated. From abandoned schools, to the untouched beauty of the countryside and destroyed cities, your eyes will be treated to one gorgeous environment after another. The absence of light in the subway sections are equally effective and create extra tension as your flashlight is the only light source. The game is up to standard with the uncharted series and it looks gorgeous, it creates a believable world and is a joy to explore. Once an infected is killed, if they are left to sit there long enough, the fungi that infects them starts to attach itself to the surrounding walls and floor. This means that it perpetuates the infection even after the infected individual finally dies. You can see the fungus spreading out on the wall behind the individual leading to more spores. This level of graphical fidelity has not been achieved thus far on consoles, but with the achingly beautiful visual feast on display here, it is hard not to marvel.The GameplayEllie is a great companion to have along and Naughty Dog follow a similar tactic that Bioshock Infinite incorporated. This could have been a dull, drawn out escort mission if the AI partner wasn't smart. However, both games avoid this by making her useful to you. Ellie will get you out of some tough situations like aiding you if someone gets the better of you in a fight. There is nothing I hate more in games than AI partner's showing up for what they really are, AI. If your partner does something stupid or does not react to something affecting or glitches out, it pulls me out of the experience. Thankfully this was not a problem The Last of Us suffers from. As I mentioned before, the fungus that infects humans controls their brains. They are not dead, but still alive and aware to some degree of what they are doing. Just like in the Attenborough documentary, the zombies can be seen to be struggling to not run at you, fighting against the urge to charge you, shambling awkwardly at first. However, in the end they will sprint at you and try to kill you. This was fascinating to me and as I feel the zombie genre has been well trodden as of late, this is a refreshing take. The game plays similarly to the Uncharted series, but this is to be expected as they are from the same developer. Pleasantly though, this feels distinctly its own game as there are many changes. Whilst Uncharted was a bit of run and gun action, this is the polar opposite and survival horror elements pervade the gameplay. Each enemy is a challenge to overcome, bullets are scarce so you must construct close up melee weapons. You may go through an abandoned hotel start off with 4 bullets and find maybe a bullet or two. However, if you take the run and gun approach, you will be out of ammo before you get through the place. The emphasis is clearly on realism and survival which I applaud as there are too many games these days that are just all about the action. Going against human scavengers is one thing, but going against the infected is another. There are two types of infected, one type called "runners" who have some vision remaining and still look remotely human. These hunt in packs and swarm you with numbers. The clickers are something to be truly feared as the infection has had time to truly take hold and the fungus bursts out of their bodies turning them into a living breathing fungus. They look twisted and alien with mushroom like heads, they cannot see and so use echolocation to locate their prey. Just one clicker is enough to send everyone in the area into a state of panic and for good reason. The clicking sound of their echolocation is eerie and everyone hits the floor trying to avoid detection. This creates tense gameplay that is rarely experienced in gaming. I was going through an abandoned metro station, armed only with 3 bullets, a knife and a petrol bomb. I snuck past the first few runners who were shambling aimlessly in the centre and killed a straggler who was in my way silently. After avoiding several more runners as I did not want them to make noise and draw the whole group down upon me, I heard the distinctive sound of a clicker. Immediately I stopped and located the beast, trying to find an alternate route past the brute. As there were no options I had to go through him to get to the exit, only problem being he was facing my direction and if I made any attempt to rush him, I would be discovered. One bite from this guy and you die, so I shot him in the face, or tried to as his movements were erratic. I missed, which meant that he would be coming after me, along with the rest of the horde. I shot him again and this time he fell, but I was immediately confronted with the rest of the horde, I threw a petrol bomb at them causing them to disperse and only the stragglers were after me. I barely escaped out of there alive and that is the beauty of this game, the way it makes you feel.ConclusionIn conclusion then, even though the post apocalyptic and zombie genres have been over used in the film and game industry of late, this game does more than enough to make the player experience new and fresh. This is a story driven game and makes you care about the protagonists. The world is beautifully realised and everything right down to the minute detail is done right. There are great story driven moments and great moments of tension from stealthily taking out enemies as well as infected. This is the whole package, a very well thought out title and is not to be missed by fans of either Naughty Dog or post apocalyptic games. The game caused quite a stir back in 2011 when a teaser was released and an even bigger one at E3 when a demo was shown. Needless to say the hype was hard to live up to, but this is one of those rare occasions where it does.10/10+ Perfectly executed story+ Jaw dropping graphics+ Tense action+ Makes you feel like a survivalist+ Non stop thrill ride

I've seen the question asked as to whether `The Last of Us' is the greatest game of all time. I can see why some may have this opinion, as without doubt, it certainly deserves to be up there amongst other true classics. It is also, by far, the best game exclusive to the Playstation 3. The PS3 has always suffered against the Xbox 360 in regard to exclusive titles. Despite the best efforts of the `Uncharted' series, the PS3 had nothing that could compare even with the `Gears of War' titles, let alone the juggernaut that is the `Halo' franchise. This is a game to rival the very best the Xbox has to offer.When it is done this well, it does not matter that the set-up of the game is hardly original. The bulk of the story is set 20 years after a global pandemic has wiped out most of the human race. The closest cultural reference is probably `The Road' (both the film and the book), with nature well on the way to clawing back the land lost to mankind. The few remaining survivors live in quarantine zones under strict military authority or exist as feral scavengers in the countryside. It is in the Boston quarantine zone that our main protagonist, Joel, scrapes a living as a smuggler. Resisting the military authority is a revolutionary group known as the `Fireflies'. It is this group that tasks Joel (for reasons that would be a spoiler) with escorting Ellie, a teenaged girl, to a Firefly outpost across the city. Things start to go wrong from the start and Joel and Ellie end up having to cross most of the continental US. As they journey from city to city they have to combat various types of `Infected', from the recently infected `28 Days Later' like `Runners' to the truly terrifying `Clickers', blind but deadly infected in the latter stages of infection. If one of these grabs you, it is instant death. In addition to these foes there is also the pursuing military and later, feral gangs who kill and rob any passing survivors. As you never quite have enough bullets, most of the time you have to rely on stealth to sneak past enemies or grab them from behind to stealth kill them. There are various items that Joel can scavenge and craft into useful items such as health kits and homemade bombs. Like ammo however, these are in short supply and often force you to make difficult decisions such as do you use the alcohol and cloth to make a first aid kit or a Molotov cocktail? There are the standard range of weapons to be discovered, including the now compulsory bow and arrow. This is a surprisingly useful weapon, being both silent and having re-useable ammo (I can see why `The Walking Dead's' Darryl favours his crossbow so much!). Joel can improve the weapons at the workbenches you come across, increasing the reload speed or clip capacity for example. Finally there are pills found lying about that can be used to improve Joels' stats or give him additional skills. As with the parts needed to improve the weapons there are no way near enough to max out all the various categories so choose wisely.This is by far one of the scariest games ever made, the noise the clickers make sends chills down your spine and a section in a pitch dark flooded subway station will live with me for a while. It is a true `Survival Horror' in the mould of the original `Resident Evil'. As you progress in the game, the initial frosty relationship between the pair soon develops as Joel begins to open up. Keen gamer Graham Linehan, the writer of `Father Ted' and the `IT Crowd' has often bemoaned the terrible quality of video game writing but this is a criticism that cannot be levelled at TLOU. The story is superb and is backed up by excellent voice acting, especially by the two leads. This really helps you develop a strong bond with both characters. The graphics really push the old PS3 to its limit with crumbling city blocks and snowbound forests equally beautiful. Special mention must also go to the sound, especially the haunting score and little features like subtle musical cues when you are about to be spotted.There is a certain irony in that, finally in its twilight with the PS4 and Xbox One just a few months away, there is a real reason to buy the PS3. If you own a PS3 you owe it to yourself to get this game. If you don't then then retailers are likely to heavily discount them once the PS4 has been launched, trust me, it is worth buying one just for this game. Grand Theft Auto 5 is going to have to be pretty special to stop this winning game of the year.