So after a two week break I’m back with my first AAA review. Today I will be talking about The Last of Us.

For those of you who live under a rock or intentionally avoid game release news, The Last of Us is a new game from Naughty Dog, the company who brought us the Uncharted series. For lack of a better genre I’ve been referring to it as survival horror, but there’s a lot to the game. The game takes place in the US, 20 years after a catastrophic disease outbreak which has forced the government to setup military enforced quarantine zones around the country.

The Last of Us does a great job in getting you emotionally invested right from the beginning with having you control Sarah, Joel’s daughter, as she is pulled from a sound sleep by a phone call from her clearly panicked uncle. Sarah wanders the house, unable to find her father, growing increasingly more anxious as she witnesses distant explosions that cut short a news report on the TV her dad left on, and then when a squad of police cars goes flying by. The atmosphere of the whole situation is captured fantastically in everything from Sarah’s body language to the increasing panic in her voice as she calls out for her father. The entire introductory chapter takes roughly 30 minutes and does a completely phenomenal job of setting up Joel’s character.

Flash forward 20 years and we are met with the real meat of the game. Joel and his partner Tess head out on a hunt to find an old business associate of theirs that owes them some product, but crossing the section checkpoints in the quarantine zone is not always simple. After some exposition and basic tutorial work you run into your first bit of stealth. It becomes immediately clear that outright combat is not only undesirable, but nearly outright foolish as you are faced with soldiers who are much better equipped and have greater numbers than you.

The introduction of the other main character, Ellie, is when we start to really see the true shine of what is already shaping up to be a great game. Ellie is 14 and has known nothing but the quarantine zones her whole life, and now she must be taken from them. The true wonders, and dangers, of the world outside the wall are all new to her. The character growth shown, both by Joe and by Ellie, is rarely seen a video game. Without spoiling too much, Ellie’s hunt during Winter is probably one of the single most powerful pieces of character development I have personally ever experienced in a game. The story telling sequences, which are done with both cutscenes and gameplay, easily run the spectrum from gut-wrenching to heart warming. The Last of Us has no qualms about exploring exactly how dark the human psyche can get, but does a brilliant job of juxtaposing it next to gleaming moments of hope.

This game also hits every mark on the mechanics side as well. The pacing is smooth, with many sections where you are not actually in danger, but you always know it’s lurking just around the corner. The stealth areas are tense, nearly heart-pounding in some parts, and the combat is hectic and visceral. After a few sections of open combat I quickly decided that I never wanted to do it again. Fighting is brutal, and while it is rewarding to complete a combat  encounter successfully, it is hard to take enjoyment in it, especially once you start fighting other survivors.

There is also a multiplayer mode that seems to be generic death match style gameplay. It has an additional meta game associated with it, where you provide resources to your camp based on your performance in the match, which is interesting, if not entirely compelling. Overall the multiplayer is a nice touch, but feels somewhat out of spirit with the rest of the game as a whole.

I can without a single reservation recommend this game. For most people it will offer a couple of weeks enjoyment, or you may end up like me, riveted to your Playstation every evening for 4 days while you plow through it, emotionally tied to Joel and Ellie’s successes and challenges.