[no spoilers guaranteed]
Not very long ago, I was pondering on how will be my experience with Naughty Dog’s latest The Last Of Us. Having seen so many trailers, gamer previews and heard so much, it was way too hard to conceal my anticipation around Naughty Dog’s new born baby. Well, technically I got lucky last March only, but I had to wait till yesterday to actually sense the pride of being lucky via a not so lucky God Of War: Ascension. Honestly, I’m fascinated with things that can crawl up to me in complete darkness, trying to eat me or possess me. Even though I haven’t met a ghost, zombie or a survivor myself, yet I’ve stayed a low profile horror fan since ages. Games like Dead Space (excluding Dead Space 3 for obvious reasons), F.E.A.R, Resident Evil and Doom have kept me going since the day I discovered I can game. Turning old is a bad thing, because most of your fascination with the dark, gloomy and horrifying dies along with it. Until you come across a minor demo of a title that you know is going to change your life forever.
The scenario
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W01L70IGBgE]
The Last Of Us did hit the world last night, along with me, and I have been just thinking, what the hell was that! It was an experience that I knew was waiting to blow me off. Most of the story of The Last Of Us has been depicted in trailers and articles, you know that there’s Joel, the Gerard Butler looking parasite hunter; Ellie, the girl who’s the John Connor of this story, and for the first time in the demo we are introduced to Tess. Origin: Unknown. Together they are trying to reach one Capital building in the downtown of a strange city, now partially run by Mother Nature. For a reason, you know that is USA, by the looks of it.
They find their path obstructed by a deep gap and so the trio try to find a detour to the destination by cutting through another building. And that is where The Last Of Us officially unfolds in the demo.
The gameplay
Coming right after the epic Uncharted series, Naughty Dog has maintained the same rhythmic button coordination as the former. I was missing Nate Drake badly though, hope they come up with a random character DLC, even Sully would do! Jokes apart, The Last Of Us has a more detailed weapon and skill upgrade system. While you can do all sorts of acrobat and treasure hunting with Nate, with Joel you will be the Da Vinci of a plague ridden city. Your satchel can store upto endless things that you find on your way. The demo did allow me to craft one or two of the things, a health pack were one of them. I could see you could craft a Molotov too, in case you wanted to save the bottle for latter usage and not by instantly throwing at the enemy to distract it. The character movement is the same as any good third person game, including Uncharted. The crosshair also acts the same way as it would in Uncharted.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcmkEpA31tE]
But what blew me away in the 25-30 minute demo was the number of times the developers wanted to test my senses in complete blindness. Equipped with a simple searchlight, you will have to depend on your ears more than your eyes while playing The Last Of Us. This game wants you to listen to every drop, every hush and every click. Else you are entering your doom. Like always, stealth will save you. Scavenging is more important than collecting treasures in Uncharted, because each spare part you find will upgrade your existing weapon. But grow too jealous, go too deep into a building, and rest assured you are heading for some big trouble. After all, The Last Of Us is here to entertain you by scaring you.
The enemy
The infection that has been officially approved by the creators to be some sort of vengeful fungus is making humans turn into monsters in The Last Of Us. Their heads are split up like mushroom men, or like the T1000 when he was shot by Arnold in the end of Terminator 2. Like I previously said, there are levels of this infection. The first level infected are known to the commoners as Runners. These are half men half monsters, who still have a sense of morality attached. They look more towards the human line and are easier to fight off.
- Clickers and runners, y’know
The second level infected are called the Clickers. Their name has the etymology in the clicking sound that they make. Their body is still humanlike, but the movement isn’t. Their face is all ripped apart and resemble a fungus. The fungus has overgrown on their face, blocking their eyes and eyesight. However, they have excellent ears and use echo in the form of sonar and smell to sense presence.
Each infected have their distinctive sounds. The runner sounds almost like a human moaning in agony, while the Clicker is a warp crying in buzzing squeals.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf_YghVrFlg]
While the combat seems easy while dealing with one enemy, dealing with multiple seem like a tough task. That’s why the developers introduced the Left Trigger button in order to flee, something similar to what you’d do in Skyrim. You can hit and run during escapes, resulting in deadlier blows. There are tons of weapons to use in The Last Of Us. Bricks, guns, baseball bats and crowbars. Aiming at any part of the infected’s body apart from the head will result in slowing it down. Shoot it on its damn head to kill it, just like you would in Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare.
The visual and sound effects
The most mindblowing feature about Naughty Dog creations (apart from its Hollywood like storytelling capacity) is its skill to execute fine visual effects along with a proper soundtrack. The demo of The Last Of Us rolls out with Santaolalla playing his orchestra, it’s haunting, riveting and at the same time movie like. The music completely shuts out during major gameplay, letting you focus more on the squeaks and creaks.
Visually, The Last Of Us is on the same plank as Uncharted 2 and 3. Portraying a destroyed human civilization needs balls. It has taken on the likes of Crysis 3 and Resistance series to show the beauty in destruction. The demo is set up against the backdrop of a rainy night. And rain is a specialty of Naughty Dog, if you ask me. The rain effect is comparable to the minutely weather detailed Red Dead Redemption or the pirate level in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The level design in the demo isn’t commendable, just okay, but I assume this is because there’s more to follow. The UI again Unchartedly simple and sleek. The visuals aren’t over the top; they guide you to important points within the level. The infected’s head is crazily detailed and that’s one of the reasons why I’d let them kill myself for a number of times.
The verdict
A demo is anything but the real deal, having said this I’m pretty sure my annoying habit of tipping this game as the next GOTY will remain sky high until I beat the game myself. The developers didn’t waste brain cells in parts that were unnecessary, they improvised with their best title Uncharted and made it look scarier and more eluding. On the contrary, there is not point comparing The Last Of Us to Uncharted, since because both are new and fresh with all that they have to offer. The demo didn’t tell me much about the story, the one that I somehow know more from watching the trailers. All in all, I’d say well played Naughty Dog.
This isn’t necessarily the demo that you awaited, but surely the one that you deserved, for now.
