So, needless to say it was only going to be a matter of time before one of us chose to grace Naughty Dog’s award winning The Last Of Us Remastered with a review; so here goes. It is without a doubt the best game ever to come to the PlayStation world. So, let’s start at the beginning! Campaign: Set fifteen years after a deadly disease that leaves infected running around as blood thirsty thugs, players take on the role of Joel, middle-aged and lonely he has only his friend/lover Tess for company. In an occupied safe zone, players are watched over by the careful but violent eye of the police, who keep infected out of the safe zone and brutally execute anyone who is soon infected. Joel and Tess make ends meat by trading illegal goods, until one day they are given a job too far. To smuggle a little girl half way across the country. Her name is Ellie. Oh, and she may have the cure to save the world. No pressure Joel. From sneaking past some very annoying Clickers to bludgeoning common infected out of your way to having a stand off against a group of hunters (a group of pissed of individuals who believe in self survival and shoot first ask questions lately). Oh, by the way can I just highlight the graphics? Beautiful!
Okay, but that’s not all for the single-player. If you finish the tear jerking campaign then you can play it again either on a harder difficulty or try your hand at Grounded Mode. This is the hardest difficulty and eliminates the HUD, you won’t know how much health you have left so you’ll have to judge you health by Joel’s stance. The key thing to notice in the campaign is the amount of detail, for example if you have a normal bust up on the stairs Joel will throw your opponent down the stairs; likewise Joel will interact with his environment to vanquish a foe. For trophies and completionists, there’s an entire arsenal of trophies to earn! From finding all collectibles in the campaign to listening to Ellie tell all jokes throughout the campaign. Naughty Dog really have thought of everything for this one! Usually a campaign can be limited by not having the option to split-screen or brave the campaign with players from online; but the campaign and plot is so brilliant that people will be happy just to watch events unfold. On PlayStation broadcasts you’ll always find at least a few dedicated to The Last Of US.
Multiplayer:
Okay, so you may have heard since the last update that the multiplayer takes the actual muffins to try and find a game. This is true but Naughty Dog have identified the problem and are working to fix this before the weekend is over. But if not you are welcome to join me on the streets of Naughty Dog HQ with your pitchfork ready. Players can choose to play as Hunters or Fireflies one hell bent on survival the other on finding a cure. Players will become addicted due to protecting their faction, you’ll start with a group of survivors that you have to keep healthy by finding supplies in online matches. These survivors can become sick and die or wander off and die or starve and die; so your faction depends on how well you play online. Every so often an event will appear such as a hostage situation which will allow you to earn more survivors for you faction. There are only three matches to choose from though, typical team deathmatch type games, the most interesting one is Interrogations. Players have to down enemy players to interrogate them and find the location of a safe; once the location is known they have to find this safe and break into it to win the match; and a pat on the back from their survivors back at camp. Likewise for the enemy team. The gameplay is excellent and fun, but some weapons are overpowered and it can feel as you’re in a game where you will loose continuously or win continuously; if you leave it’s doubtful you’ll find another game. So either play something else or grit your teeth and pray for a miracle.
Left Behind DLC:
This DLC focusses on Ellie half way through the main storyline while she is on her own for a little while, with flashbacks to how she became the way she was and who she *cough left behind. Get it? There’s only the campaign and again trophies are apparent and similar to the main campaign, the only real difference is during the flashabacks mini games occur such as an arcade game and an epic and maybe erotic water gun fight. (You be the judge of that). As always Naughty Dog have delievered, if they can sort out the online issues then The Last Of Us would be the perfect game.
Already have it? Let us know what you think!