Is The Last of Us Really That Good?

Welcome to a new segment I’m doing called Is >insert game< Really That Good/Bad? (Lots of variables…) Where I will be looking at games that have already been reviewed by dozens (if not hundreds) of people, and widely accepted as good or bad. The first game to be a part of this segment, if you haven’t guessed already, is The Last of Us.

Now, this isn’t exactly a “review”, that was done by Kiri a few weeks ago. This is sort of a…”Re-review”. My fellow BG staffer gave this game a ten out of ten on PS4, as did most people (We also ran a review of the PS3 version lsat year that faired… a little worse -ed). In fact, this game won Game of The Year 2013 from many a website (Not this site, as again… that review from last year. -ed). Is it full deserving of this title? Short answer? Yes. Long answer is as follows:

Being the obvious trendsetter that I am, I wanted to break away from the droves of people foaming at the mouth over how good The Last of Us is. In short, I decided I wanted to dislike the game before even playing. I actually managed to put off playing it since its release date all the way to a week before today. And even then, the only reason I decided to do it was to get some friends to stop nagging me to try it.

I’m very sorry that I waited as long as I did to play The Last of Us. While I will be completely honest and say there were some places where the gameplay got a little samey, I must admit however, that the sound of the shotgun, the revolver, and the blood effects made each fight feel satisfying enough to keep going.

Obviously, this being a zombie apocalypse, there are quite a few shambling horrors running around. Now, let’s stop for a moment to examine a zombie from The Last of Us (also known as a Clicker), and compare it to any other zombie from any other game. I have not seen another zombie that is as terrifying to look at than a Clicker. In the games industry nowadays, we gamers look at zombies like ants, they’re annoying, they flock in the dozens and hundreds, but not too many people really freak out when they see them. However, if zombies are ants, then Clickers are Black Widows. I’m not joking, these things will haunt your dreams.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Clickers is unlike most grunts and guttural growls from typical zombies, Clickers… click. They are blind, so they use sonar. Emitting a clicking sound to detect movement. The sound is possibly one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever heard.

I’m not going to go in depth about the story but I will list the important details: there was a zombie virus and due to some things that happened immediately after the catastrophic event, Joel is a complete jerk. He takes an offer on a job to escort a young girl named Ellie, due to a great payment someone offered him. Joel’s sister-in-law goes with him and Ellie to the drop off point, where certain events immediately compromise the mission which then lead into the main events of The Last of Us.

While I just made the game sound rather simple, I can assure you, it isn’t. The Last of Us is an engaging roller coaster of emotions. I laughed, cried, and screamed with frustration throughout and it is truly one of the most heartfelt games I have ever played. To me the meaning was “How far will you go for someone you care about?” Watching the character development and seeing the story take place is the main draw to The Last of Us. Being able to witness Joel and Ellie form a father-daughter-like bond is one of the greatest things I have ever done in a videogame. Specifically toward the end, there is a very emotional scene (relax, I’m not going to spoil anything) during which I cried like a little girl.

The Last of Us will be burned into my mind into the distant future, and has earned itself a spot on my top five games of all time list. The Last of Us is a must play. I rented this from the local rental store, and I will be buying it sometime soon. If you have a PS3 or PS4, play it. If you don’t, find a friend who owns one and borrow it from them. I will not be forgetting my emotional journey with Joel and Ellie anytime soon, if ever. So in answer to the question “Is The Last of Us really that good?” is a resounding Yes.

The Last of Us is just as good as everyone says, and even better.