Developer: Naughty Dog
Release Year: 2020
I played The Last of Us. And then some time later I purchased The Last of Us Part II. But I sat on it. Because, when it comes down to it, I’m not really a gamer. Or, rather, I’m not a person with enough personal time to be one. Also, I’m just not that good at them. But that’s never stopped me. I got decent at NHL ’94 on my Sega Genesis, but there was always someone better. But then HBO announced they were making a The Last of Us television series. I didn’t think about the fact they’d split the series up, with season one spanning the narrative of the first game and season two presumably the second. But, after watching the excellent series, I was finally ready to take the leap and see where Part II went.
And the moment I spun it up, I was right back in it. The world, the music, the dialog. It’s all very distinct and clearly cinematic in a way that in retrospect makes perfect sense to make into a TV show. And part of this is the nature of the game and its ability to both feel like a video game, but also not feel too much like a video game. Coming off the open world nature of Red Dead Redemption II, I was happy to be back in a controlled narrative. A game that gave me direction and momentum. But didn’t, in general, count on me finding that one little brick you have to step on, or ledge you have to track down in order to move ahead. I did get stuck a couple times wondering where to go next, but in general I found my way out of situations after using Ellie to crawl, run, jump and generally take out soldiers and infecteds in droves. But in realistic balance compared to some other games. And, of course, the music of Pearl Jam. Because Eddie is everywhere,
I don’t know how not to spoil what goes in in the plot without just saying that you end up playing this game predominantly with Ellie — Joel’s former protege and substitute daughter from The Last of Us. But, weirdly, you also play as Abby, Ellie’s nemesis and the **spoiler alert** murderer of Joel. The game doesn’t give you the choice of who you control, of course, as the narrative gives you this both-sides look into the survival in this end-of-days environment. At first it’s a little jarring switching to play with yet a third character in Abby. And especially after we’re led to believe she’s just a vicious murderer. But the game does a good job of leading you to the conclusion that she’s just another soul trying to make her way in this violent and brutal apocalypse. I could have done without the relatively graphic sex scene (and, no, you don’t control her actions during this cut scene) but otherwise she’s an interesting and complex character. Even to the point where it makes you question if, in fact, Ellie is the bad guy in this world. I think this flip-flop will translate pretty easily to the series, as we’re used to revolving perspectives in our modern TV programs.
The female-centric bent to the game’s narrative is certainly an interesting one. Not because you’re basically murdering the hell out of people with a female character, but the relationships both between Ellie and her girlfriend, Dina, and between the protagonist / antagonists, Ellie and Abby. If it was gendered in a different way it would just feel not quite right. From a gameplay standpoint, I didn’t get a sense there was a whole lot of difference between playing with Joel and playing with Ellie and Abby. I mean guns are the great equalizer, but I was kind of waiting to notice some limitations and/or non-limitations fighting with a small, 95-pound young woman versus a much older, much larger man. And Abby, who is also young, but has arms that any bodybuilder would be proud to flash. Maybe they took this into consideration, but I didn’t really notice much in the way of speed, strength, ability to squeeze into small spaces, etc. But it’s a gameplay, a weight and functionality, that I’m used to. The balance feels good. The action makes sense. There are other games where it’s sometimes hard to keep three-dimensional perspective in a two-dimensional space. But this game never lost me.
Look, I don’t know what to say about this game that hasn’t been said. There are less mushroom zombies in this one than the first installment. Probably because they realize humans are more interesting than brainless monsters. And the game is relatively short. I’m not great at video games, as I mentioned, but I got through this one faster than I expected. I’m not sad about it. I’m just saying that people who are really good at these things may find themselves wanting more. I have no clue if there will be a third installment of The Last of Us, but I’ll definitely be on the list to buy it. Even if I don’t want to shell out the cash for a Playstation 6. In the meantime, the trailer for the second season of the show looks pretty damn awesome.