As you all know, Naughty Dog’s, The Last Of Us is getting brought to the small screen @ HBO with Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin & The Last Of Us writer/co-director Neil Druckmann
I have been thinking to myself over the last couple of days “I am in a really good position to try and write an article about the upcoming game adaptation of The Last Of Us”.
Why?…
Because unlike every other human being on the planet, I only just recently played and completed the first game. I have always been an Xbox man but hated I couldn’t play the PS3 exclusives. And, working with movies and games my whole life, it was heartbreaking hearing all of the reviews and not being able to do something about it. Anyways, fast-forward 7-years and I finally get a PS4. It was more than worth the wait.
The Last Of Us (remastered) was the first thing I downloaded. As soon, and I mean straight after finishing the first game, The Last Of Us Part 2 was released. It was like it was meant to be. I was in total gamer heaven. I was immensely submerged in this dark and violent zombie epic.
So, What’s It About?
The story follows two main characters, Joel and Ellie. Joel loses his daughter, Sarah during a struggle while trying to escape the new zombie virus. Sarah was Joel’s life & soul. The loss of his only daughter has hit him hard.
Fast-forward 20-years and Joel is still a broken man with no love left in the world for anyone. That changes when he comes into contact with young Ellie. One of Joel’s old smuggling partner’s is trying to get her to a research facility run by a gang called the “Fireflies”.
Ellie is a 14-year-old girl that was born during the outbreak. She only knows of the “old world” by hearing stories or looking at the apocalyptic wasteland and ruins that people used to call home.
The set design in The Last Of Us is jaw-dropping. Seeing America as an apocalyptic wasteland was both breathtaking and scary. If you think of the ruins in I am Legend (not a very good film) you will be on the same track, only this is on a much larger apocalyptic scale.
Joel soon finds out that Ellie was bitten, but unlike every other person on the planet, she never turned, she had zero side-effects…she is immune!. Full transformation from the moment of you’re bitten takes two days, Ellie was bitten over three weeks ago.
Joel then makes a promise to his old smuggling friend that he will help transport Ellie across the United States and get her to a research facility and hopefully find a cure.
The Last Of Us is already a series, you just get to control the characters. You get totally lost in the story, it’s every bit as good as the gameplay. You will read every note, look for every clue, search for supplies and sigh a sense of relief when you find one bullet in a drawer. It is without a doubt the most captivating horror game there is. The perfect mix of horrifying interactive gameplay and cinematic storytelling.
THE VIRUS
The virus is what sets the last of Us apart from the rest of the zombie films or series’ out there. I am sure a lot of you reading this will know of the video that circulated a while back. It was from BBC’s, Planet Earth and showed the Cordyceps fungi which took control of ants’ motor functions, killed them and new fungi grew out of their bodies. This unique type of infection was then used as inspiration for The Last Of Us…only it has spread to humans. In the Planet Earth video, you can also hear Attenborough talk about “spoors” which is also a huge cause of transmission in The Last Of Us. If you ain’t wearing a mask, and you come into contact with spoors, you’re fucked. You might as well just shoot yourself in the head.