The Last Of Us review

Over the last couple of years we’ve seen a running theme of people surviving after some kind of virus or zombie outbreak. In fact, the theme’s been around for hundreds of years but suddenly it’s making resurgence like never before. The Last of Us begins with tragic events that lead to the companionship struck between a 14 year old girl called Ellie and an older guy called Joel who both have their reasons for travelling the countryside in search of safety, shelter and salvation.

This being one of the games released in the twilight years of the PS3, and developed by acclaimed studio Naughty Dog, responsible for the recent Uncharted series, you’d expect The Last of Us to look good and it passes here with flying colours. Environments are suitably atmospheric, characters have real emotion shown in their faces and it’s all held together by some of the best voice acting you’ll hear in a game. The characters are in fact so convincing that you really care about the personal journey they take and get to see how they grow and develop as the game progresses.

If you’re expecting Uncharted with a different look, think again. This game isn’t so much fun to play as harrowing and tense. You will use cover but you’ll spend some of the time just trying to hide from enemies and avoid combat all together - especially when confronted by the Clickers; blind infected who track you with sound and kill you instantly if you don’t get the jump on them with a knife first. Other enemies include Runners who sprint towards you in a rage and of course humans, who provide some tactical AI to fight against as they try to flank you, and can also get up close and personal if they manage to sneak up behind you.

As well as the combat and exploration, there’s also a light RPG element to the game, where you can collect items to upgrade your abilities and weapons. It’s nothing complex but does add another element to the progression of the characters.

Where The Last of Us excels though, is in its superb pacing. You may go a long while without an encounter which makes it all the more chilling when a monster appears out of nowhere. Action-packed scenes also make an appearance so you can let off some steam and try out some of the larger weapons at hand.

The only thing that lets the game down slightly is the puzzle solving, which mainly consists of finding planks and ladders to move, climb and cross gaps with, or palettes to use as a raft for Ellie. There’s also the occasional piece of clipping and the game did freeze on me a few times resulting in a console reset but this could be down to the PS3 not quite coping with what’s being thrown at it.

I highly recommend The Last of Us. It’s one of the last true greats before the PS4 arrives so it gets a blockbusting 9 out of 10.

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Related: The Last of Us preview, Uncharted series, The Last Of Us review on Youtube