The Last of Us

For the game, see other pages that may have a similar name.

Template:Infobox video game

“

Could you be... The Last of Us? ―The Last of Us tagline.

”

The Last of Us is a third-person survival horror action video game created exclusively for PlayStation 3 but also available for the PlayStation 4. The game was developed by a portion of the employees at Naughty Dog, while the other half of the company went to develop Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception; established for the purpose of creating new intellectual property as well as continuing the Uncharted series simultaneously.

Set in the post-apocalyptic United States, the game tells the story of survivors Joel and Ellie as they work together to survive their westward journey across what remains of the country to find a possible cure for the modern fungal plague that has nearly decimated the entire human race.

On May 15, 2013, The Last of Us had "gone gold", meaning all development of the game had been completed and mass manufacturing had begun. The Last of Us was scheduled to be released on May 7, 2013, but was pushed back to six weeks. The game was released on June 14, 2013 in all countries except Japan where it was released on June 20, 2013.

On March 26, 2014, according to an interview with a Turkish Sony representative, Sercan Sulun, a PlayStation 4 version of the game will be released in Summer 2014. This version of The Last of Us will come "with enhanced graphics", and as a physical and digital copy. The port will apparently also include the DLC, Left Behind. The Playstation 4 version was released on August 1, 2014.

Plot

Backstory and Setting

The Last of Us takes place in the year 2033, twenty years after a fungal-based, brain-altering pandemic has spread and infected nearly 60% of the world's population (possibly even more). Since the outbreak, the world has gone into a state of panic and frenzy as officials try to fix and keep the situation under control. When the World Health Organization's attempts to procure a vaccine fail, the United States government does away with the bureaucrats in power and the establishment of the American government. The country is turned into a police state under the control of homeland security and the military, and cities across the nation are placed under martial law one by one. Survivors of the pandemic are assigned to designated quarantine zones that are supposed to separate them from the infected and keep them safe.

Sometime within the twenty years leading up to the main events of the game, an anti-government militia group calling themselves the Fireflies is established, and their main goal is to find and produce a vaccine for the Cordyceps Brain Infection, while staging attacks on quarantine zones as an act of defiance, as they view the military as tyrants.

Characters

Main article: Characters

• Joel (Troy Baker) - The main character and protagonist of the game. Joel is a brutal survivor of the Cordyceps Brain Infection; taking residence in the Boston Quarantine Zone. He operates as a black market smuggler, dealing in contraband, taking numerous de-humanizing jobs over the years to survive in this new post-pandemic world. Unfortunately for him, he is thrust into the middle of the nightmare that the world has become, when he is asked by a dying friend to look after Ellie. Throughout the game, Joel slowly develops an unbreakable bond with Ellie and a desire to once again open up his emotions that he had for so many years suppressed.

• Ellie (Ashley Johnson) - The secondary main character and deuteragonist of the game. Ellie is a brave fourteen-year-old girl that has grown up in this harsh world and it is all she has ever known. Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps Brain Infection and because of this, the Fireflies, an anti-government organization, seek to reverse engineer a cure through her. She and Joel travel across the post-pandemic United States to reach the Fireflies. She helps the player through the game in many ways, lending a hand in combat and assisting through areas of the game that would otherwise be inaccessible. She frequently expresses curiosity about the remnants of a world that no longer exists.

• Tess (Annie Wersching) - Tess is Joel's 'partner-in-crime'. They operate in the black market of a city under martial law and have earned a reputation for their ruthless behavior. She and Joel have a trust that runs deep and the two seem to have a strong sexual tension in moments of the game. Tess goes with Joel to drop off Ellie to the Fireflies at the capitol building in Boston, in exchange for getting back the guns that were stolen from them. Against all odds, the trio make it to the capitol building only to find that the Fireflies are dead, and Tess has been bitten by an Infected. She buys Joel and Ellie some time to flee while she holds off some soldiers, though makes him promise her that he will get Ellie to his brother's before they escape.

• Bill (W. Earl Brown) - A paranoid survivor who appears early in the game and helps Joel and Ellie. Bill takes refuge in a town that he has completely booby trapped. He seems to be a bit eccentric, perhaps deranged, but offers to aid Joel and Ellie in finding a car. He regularly gets into arguments with Ellie and at one point even threatens to attack her. Once he provides the player a car, he is not seen again.

• Marlene (Merle Dandridge) - The leader of the Fireflies, Ellie's surrogate parent and one of the main antagonists of The Last of Us. She blackmails Tess and Joel into taking Ellie to the Fireflies at the Capitol building in Boston. To Marlene, every unethical action she takes can be justified because of her pursuit to save humanity from the infection. She is absent for most of the game and only reappears at the end, where she is the final antagonist.

• Tommy (Jeffrey Pierce) - Joel's brother and a former Firefly. The game starts with Tommy helping Joel and Sarah maneuver through the chaotic crowds of both civilians and infected. Tommy and Joel reunite later within the game and he reluctantly agrees to help his brother, establishing one of Joel and Ellie's reasons for coming to the University of Eastern Colorado. He is married to Maria.

• David (Nolan North) - A middle-age survivor and leader of a Cannibals group who appears later in the game and asks for help from Ellie. David is a very manipulative person, seeking to win people over with his superficial mild-mannered appearance, and attempting to convince Ellie to join him. He finally reveals his true nature to Ellie and even attempts to kill her outright, sending a bunch of his men to chase after her several times throughout the winter section of the game. To David, everything that has happened was for a reason; he believes faith brought him and Ellie to together, and that their encounter was meant to be. He has a very profound effect on Ellie throughout the rest of the game.

• Henry (Brandon Scott) - An adept survivor, who, with his brother Sam, help the player during the semi-middle part of the game. He and Joel go through some rough patches, but in the end begin to warm up to each other. However, he commits suicide after having to kill his infected brother.

• Sam (Nadji Jeter) - Henry's younger brother and fellow companion. Upon meeting, he and Ellie get along almost instantly and continue their easygoing relationship throughout the parts where he is in the game. She is the last person Sam talks to before he turns into an infected. He is killed by his brother, who soon afterwards commits suicide because of his guilty conscience.

• Sarah (Hana Hayes) - Joel's daughter. She is killed at the start of the game when a soldier opens fire on both her and Joel.

Plot summary

Prologue

Joel's final moments with Sarah.

The game begins in 2013 by introducing Joel, a single father living in Austin, Texas, with his 12-year-old daughter Sarah. On the night of his birthday, a sudden outbreak of a cordyceps-like infection originating from an unknown fungus rapidly spreads throughout the United States. As Joel and Sarah meet up with his brother Tommy, they attempt to flee the area. Joel and Sarah are briefly separated from Tommy, as the latter keeps the infected at bay. Joel and Sarah continue to flee, and they encounter a lone soldier who is ordered to kill them. The soldier reluctantly opens fire on them. When he is about to execute Joel, he is shot in the head by Tommy. Joel survives the attack without a scratch, but Sarah was hit and dies in Joel's arms.

Summer

Following the prologue, the game cuts to the Summer of 2033. Joel is now a smuggler in a bleak, post-apocalyptic society in the Boston quarantine zone with his partner and friend Tess, where they frequently sneak out of the city illegally to sell and trade with other survivors.

The two set out to look for a local arms dealer named Robert, who had stolen guns from them, after he purportedly sent his men to kill Tess. When they find him, he confesses that he had sold the guns because he owed them to the Fireflies. Angered by this revelation, Tess shoots Robert twice in the head, and the two decide to look for the Fireflies and explain what happened to retrieve their merchandise. Shortly after, they encounter Marlene, the head of the Fireflies, and she tells them that she will part with the guns and double the payment if they agree to smuggle something for her.

Joel and Tess meet Ellie for the first time.

At the safehouse Marlene takes them to, it is revealed that they will be smuggling a young girl by the name of Ellie. Tess and Joel split up, with Tess following Marlene back to her camp to confirm that she has their payment, and Joel escorting Ellie back to their own safehouse to wait for Tess.

When Tess returns, the three of them set off for the drop-off point that other Fireflies will be waiting at to receive Ellie. Before they get far, however, two patrolling military members ambush them and they are subject to a scan for CBI. Before they get a look at Ellie's scan reading, she stabs the soldier with her switchblade, and Joel and Tess quickly kill both of them. It is then revealed that Ellie is infected, but Ellie claims that her bite is three weeks old, which is a unique condition as most people turn within two days of being exposed to the fungus. Although still skeptical, the three escape together as backup arrives, and flee underground as soldiers pursue them.

Once the soldiers lose track of them, Ellie explains that Marlene believes what happened to her may be the key to

Tess shows Joel her bite.

finding a cure. Joel is reluctant, but Tess believes there may be some truth to what she is saying, and urges him to consider finishing the drop off. The three fight their way through numerous infected to the Capitol building, only to find that the Fireflies that were supposed to meet them are already dead. Joel declares they tried and failed, and proposes they return home, but Tess reveals that she had been bitten on the way to the building, and begs Joel to bring Ellie to Tommy, as he used to be part of Marlene's group and may have an idea of how to bring her to the Fireflies. Tess stays behind alone to cover them against the approaching soldiers, as Joel flees with Ellie.

Joel's initial idea is to visit an acquaintance that owes him a favor and procure a working car from him, which would make their trip to Tommy's a lot easier and quicker. Their ride is cut short, however, as they are ambushed and attacked by a group of hunters in Pittsburgh, forcing them to abandon the pick-up truck and escape on foot. Within the hunter's city, they meet a pair of brothers named Sam and Henry who are also trying to escape, and they agree to work together.

As they leave the city, the hunters continue to pursue them on the Humvee, chasing Joel and Ellie to the edge of a broken bridge. They jump off to escape, but Joel is knocked unconscious. He then wakes up on the shore of a beach, where they are reunited with Sam and Henry. Soon, they find an entrance to a sewer, and navigate through it to reach a suburban neighborhood. Up in the suburbs, they are attacked by another group of hunters; Joel manages to take them out, but the noise from the firearms attract hordes of infected, causing the group to escape and flee from the suburbs.

Henry points his gun at Joel after his brother's death.

Once they reached the radio tower, they spend the night indoors and wake up well rested. Ellie decides to find Sam for breakfast, only to discover that he had been bitten in their latest encounter with the infected, and had turned overnight. He attacks Ellie, and in the struggle and confusion that followed, Henry shoots Sam. Henry, in a state of anger and grief, first places blame on Joel and points his gun at him, but changes his mind and shoots himself instead.

Fall

Joel and Ellie continue their journey to find Tommy. As with the death of Tess, Ellie is not allowed to bring up

Tommy giving Joel a hug.

Henry or Sam in front of Joel. The two discuss Joel's relationship with his brother, which he admits is not ideal, and they soon reach a closed gate guarded by several armed people. As the woman interrogates Joel and Ellie, Tommy recognizes Joel and open the gates for him. He introduces the woman as his wife Maria, and they all head inside.

Inside, Maria brings Ellie to get some food, and Tommy gives Joel a tour of the power plant. Once they are alone, Joel tells Tommy about Ellie and her unique condition. He refuses to help, and the two begin to quarrel but their argument is cut short as a pack of bandits show up and attack their settlement. Joel and Tommy fight their way back to Maria and Ellie, and upon seeing his brother's apparent love for Ellie, Tommy makes up his mind and decides to help deliver Ellie to the Fireflies. He discusses this with Maria, who is evidently distraught and against their plan. Ellie listens in on the conversation, and picks up that Joel is going to be handing her off to Tommy. Upset by this, she steals a horse and takes off into the woods alone.

When Joel and Tommy learn of Ellie's disappearance, they each grab a horse and look for her together. After handling a few more bandits, they finally find her in an abandoned ranch house, where Ellie accuses Joel of planning to leave her with Tommy, and that he wanted to get rid of her the whole time. He argues that she would be safer with Tommy, and Ellie brings up Sarah, which greatly upsets Joel and prompts him to say "you're not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain't your dad". Before Ellie can respond, Tommy bursts into the room and tells

Joel and Ellie say goodbye to Tommy.

them that bandits are in the house with them.

They fight their way out of the ranch, and start to head back to the dam on horseback. Joel thinks back to his argument with Ellie, and in a change of heart, he announces that he has decided to continue the journey with Ellie himself. He tells her to return the horse she took, and the two ride off together as they part ways with Tommy.

Together, they head for the University of Eastern Colorado, as Tommy told them the Fireflies' lab is located there. As they search the school buildings for the lab, it becomes increasingly

Joel impaled on a metal beam.

obvious that the school had been abandoned for quite some time. When they finally find a recorder that tells them of the current whereabouts of the Fireflies, they are spotted by another group of survivors that start to shoot at them. As Joel and Ellie try to escape from the school grounds, Joel is attacked and pushed over a railing by a man. They fall, and Joel is impaled onto a metal beam on the ground below. Ellie shoots Joel's attacker, and helps him escape to their horse outside. She helps him get on, and they ride away from the school together. A while later, Ellie looks back and declares that they're safe for now, but Joel is still severely wounded and bleeding, and unable to hold on any longer, he falls off the horse, leaving Ellie panicked and unsure of what to do.

Winter

Ellie aims her bow at David and James as they approach her.

Ellie is out hunting in the snow by herself. She shoots a rabbit with an arrow before noticing a stag in the distance; she leaves the rabbit with Callus and follows it quietly. She manages to shoot it twice, following the blood trail to an abandoned shack, where the stag finally succumbed to its wounds. She is then approached by David and James, who offer to trade supplies with her in exchange for the deer. Ellie frantically asks them for some antibiotics, and James leaves to retrieve it as David stays with her. David attempts to befriend Ellie, but she is skeptical of his seemingly good nature, and refuses to reveal any information about herself. Before long, they hear infected approaching. They then work together to fight them off.

When they are safe from the infected again, David reveals that the group of men who attacked her and Joel at the university were part of his group. Sensing that she is in trouble, Ellie reaches for her weapon, but finds that she is outnumbered, as James had returned with the antibiotics. David tells James to let her go, and Ellie flees with Callus back to the garage of an abandoned house, where a very ill and still wounded Joel is resting. She gives him the antibiotics, and falls asleep next to him. When she wakes up, she discovers that David's group had tracked her down, and she has no choice but to leave Joel behind as she attempts to draw them away from him. She takes off on Callus, who is shot shortly after the men give chase. Ellie escapes on foot and avoids them for the most part, but David catches up to her himself, and knocks her unconscious.

Ellie wakes up in a cage, and the first thing she sees is James butchering a human body. David approaches her

Ellie imprisoned at the resort.

and once again attempts to get on her good side, claiming that he can convince the others to keep her alive. Ellie still does not trust him, and breaks his finger in an attempt to grab the keys to the cage from him. Finally out of patience and temper, David leaves the room and darkly threatens to have her cut up into "little pieces".

Meanwhile, Joel finally comes to in the garage, and notices Ellie is missing. He frantically looks for her, killing the rest of the men that had tracked Ellie back to the house. He captures two and tortures them until they give up the location of the resort David had taken Ellie, then kills both of them and set out looking for her.

Back at the resort, James roughly wakes Ellie up, and hauls her up to the butcher table with David. Ellie bites David in the struggle, and in an attempt to throw them off guard, Ellie reveals that she is infected. As James and David stand shocked, she grabs the butcher knife from them and buries it into James' neck, narrowly escaping as David shoots at her. As she navigates around the resort and tries to find a way out, she soon ends up in a restaurant, where David has her trapped. The restaurant catches on fire as Ellie sneaks around the restaurant, trying to stab David with her switchblade before he catches her. They fight for a while, but are both knocked unconscious in the struggle.

Outside, Joel has finally arrived at the resort, and is scouring the area looking for her. He soon notices the

Ellie weeps in Joel's arms.

burning restaurant and attempts to head inside to investigate.

Inside the restaurant, Ellie regains consciousness first, and spots David's machete under a bench. As she attempts to retrieve it, David wakes up also. He kicks her several times and pins her to the ground, not knowing the machete is still within her reach. As he attacks her, Ellie grabs a hold of the machete and violently hacks David to death with it. Joel finally makes his way into the building and takes the weapon from her, then holds Ellie and comforts her as she sobs.

Spring

On April 28, 2034, Joel spots the Saint Mary's Hospital mentioned in the Firefly's recorder and points it out to Ellie, who seems distracted and a little distant. They make their way through a highway of abandoned cars and soon reach a decaying train station. Joel boosts Ellie up onto a platform; she drops a ladder for him, but sees something in the distance and hurries off without waiting for him. Confused and worried, Joel follows suit as quickly as he could, and soon discovers that a group of giraffes had roamed into the deserted city, one of which was grazing on the vegetation that had grown around the decaying building they were standing in.

Ellie pets a giraffe.

The two take turns petting the giraffe, then lean over the balcony to marvel at the sight of the herd. As they turn to exit the building, Joel realizes they have the option to simply leave all they set out to do behind, and return to Tommy's dam to live out a simpler life. He brings this up to her, but Ellie, determined to reach the hospital and see their mission through, insists that everything they've done up to this point "can't be for nothing," and sets off ahead of him with determination.

Soon, they reach an area set up with medical tents. Joel recalls that shortly after the outbreak, he ended up in a similar location and witnessed broken families everywhere. For the first time, Ellie brings up Sarah without angering Joel, and she offers him a photo of him and his daughter that she secretly took while visiting Tommy's dam. Joel finally accepts that no matter how hard you try, you can't escape your past, and thanks Ellie for it.

They make their way into an underground tunnel, much of which has been flooded and infested with the infected. They help each other through the debris, but soon reach an area with a loose platform. Joel falls off and into a broken down bus, where he becomes trapped. As Ellie breaks through a bus window to try and get him out, she is knocked into the water. Joel escapes through the window and drags Ellie out of the water, who is now unconscious. As he frantically tries to resuscitate her, two Firefly patrolmen approach them and train their weapons on Joel, ordering him to put his hands in the air. He ignores them in his state of panic, and is knocked out by one of the Fireflies.

Joel wakes up in a hospital bed with Marlene by his side. She welcomes him to the Fireflies, and reassures him that they have rescued Ellie as well. When he asks to see her, she reveals that they are already preparing her for surgery - a

Marlene explains to Joel what procuring the vaccine means for Ellie.

surgical process to remove the mutated infection within her, and reverse engineer a vaccine from it. The truth dawns on Joel as he points out that the infection grows all over the brain, meaning Ellie will have to die in order for them to successfully extract it. He demands that they find someone else for it, but the Firefly member in the room knocks him to the ground. Marlene justifies that there is no other option for them, and orders Ethan to march him out. As he is escorted out at gunpoint, Joel spots his backpack and belongings on a counter, and attacks Ethan. He learns that Ellie is located in an operating room on the top floor before killing him, and quickly retrieves his things to save her. The gunshots alert and attract the attention of other Fireflies, and they soon discover Joel has escaped and is on the loose.

Joel fights his way to the operating room alone, where a surgeon and his two assistants stand around a heavily drugged Ellie. They back away as Joel approaches, but the doctor attempts to stop him from taking Ellie and is killed as a result. Joel removes the still unconscious Ellie from the operating table, and carries her out of the room as Fireflies close in on him. He manages to reach the elevator just in time, and heads down to the underground parking lot, where he is stopped by Marlene. With her gun trained on Joel, she makes a final attempt to change his mind, reasoning that Ellie would rather die for the vaccine than escape with him. As she lowers her guard and tells him that he can still do the right thing, the scene cuts away to Joel driving away, seemingly alone.

Joel drives away with Ellie in the backseat.

Joel drives in silence for some time, then a bit of stirring can be heard in the background as Ellie is seen waking up in the backseat. She asks him what happened, and Joel lies to her as he recalls the events that transpired in the parking lot; he had shot Marlene to prevent her from coming after Ellie, but tells her that the Fireflies have already stopped looking for a cure, and that she is not the only human immune to CBI. Ellie turns away silently in disappointment, and Joel apologizes as he continues to drive back to Tommy's dam.

Epilogue

"Swear to me."

Back in Jackson County, Joel is looking under the hood of their vehicle, and a still dejected Ellie lightly traces her infected bite wound as she thinks about their trip to the Fireflies' lab. Joel declares that they will be walking from this point, and the two continue to make their way to Tommy's settlement on foot. On the way there, Ellie stops Joel and confronts him about his version of events that transpired earlier. She expresses her survivor's guilt, mentioning all of their friends who have died and succumbed to CBI, and wonders if she could have done more to end the pandemic. She asks Joel to swear to her that everything he told her about the Fireflies is true, and he does. With a look of doubt on her face, she accepts his answer.

Gameplay

Combat

The Last of Us is a third-person shooter where the player's means of offense are a range of weapons; both projectile and melee; the lethality of weapons is very high, as in reality. Players take control of Joel, with Ellie being an AI for most of the game, however the player switches characters in the later parts of the game. Stealth is crucial, crouching behind objects and navigating through environments quietly will help get the drop on an enemy. A feature the developers call "dynamic stealth" allows for many different types of strategies and techniques that the player can use at any given time as they approach a new situation, to which enemies will react differently.

Weapons

Main article: Weapons

There are a variety of weapons that can be found throughout The Last of Us. There are seven weapon groups: long guns, pistols, ranged, melee, explosives, and throwable objects.

Chapters

The storyline is told in a linear fashion. The game takes place over a substantial part of an entire year. There are four arcs in the game, each played out over the four seasons of the year, with all arcs consisting of a set of chapters. Each seasonal-arc begins with an unknown amount of time passing since the previous concluded, bringing drastic changes, including change in scenery, Joel and Ellie's relationship and the pairs' attire; worn to appropriately match the weather conditions of the current season. The only chapter of the game not to be featured in a seasonal-arc is the prologue, which takes place 20 years before the events of the game.

Exploration and items

Players explore environments between objectives and engage in non-combat oriented actions. Exploration can yield conversations between the characters, either automatic or optional. The conversation usually involve Joel and Ellie discussing their current status, Ellie asking about the surrounding environment, and making jokes, etc. There are a total of 37 optional conversations that the player can partake in with Ellie (or Joel, if controlling Ellie) in The Last Of Us. To trigger conversations, the player will usually need to linger in an area or look at a certain object for some time; pressing the triangle button will initiate the conversation. Listening to all 37 conversations will earn the player the "I Want to Talk About It" silver trophy. After listening to a conversation it will be saved immediately, and there will be no need to reach the next checkpoint.

Items can be collected throughout different environments, put in the backpack, and viewed/utilized later.

In The Last of Us, resources are limited and parts of the gameplay will revolve around scavenging for new items in environment. The items are objects that Joel and Ellie can utilize to further their survival, combat enemies, replenish their health, and store things in. Items falls into one of the following categories: ammunition, binding, alcohol, blade, sugar and explosives. Usually, these items can be found by entering buildings and searching through cabinets and drawers. Different sorts of items also can be crafted into a single weapon, as in the case of the Molotov Cocktail.

Artificial intelligence

Naughty Dog has also stressed the amount of realism and believability that they seek to heavily attribute to the game's AI; in which they will show emotion and vulnerability by getting angry when a friend dies, warning each other of danger, and becoming frightened when they've lost the upper hand. This structured AI system is a dynamic, adaptable blueprint also known/referred to as the "Balance of Power", in which the overall scenario and the advantages that come with it changes depending on which opposing group can prove to be the stronger, better-equipped one. Throughout their journey, Joel and Ellie will fight both different factions of humans/survivors and infected enemies, as well as meet allies that don't have as much incentive to harm them. You can also utilize stealth to get around unaware enemies, distract them with various AI partners you meet on your journey, and use any number of tactics to fight your enemies, depending on important parameters like how well-equipped your foes are, what kind of weapons they have on them, and the like.

Factions

Main article: Factions

The Last of Us includes an online portion called Factions. It allows players to build up a clan, play different gamemodes, make classes and much more.

Development

On December 10, 2011, Sony unveiled The Last of Us, their new PlayStation 3 exclusive from Uncharted developer Naughty Dog; the premise of the game was stated to be "a character driven tale about a modern plague decimating mankind."

After the 2011 VGAs previewed the world premiere of The Last of Us, the following day, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells posted on the PlayStation Blog new The Last of Us details. Wells confirmed Naughty Dog veterans Neil Druckmann (creative director) and Bruce Straley (game director) were leading the project, and promised to discuss "how we've been working as a two team studio".

According to an article in USA Today, back in 2008, Neil Druckmann had an idea for a graphic novel about a father-daughter zombie tale. He and game director Bruce Straley saw the ophiocordyceps unilateralis segment from the BBC/Discovery channel series Planet Earth, in which then turned into a major source of inspiration for The Last of Us's primary plot. Both were working on Uncharted 2 at the time. After the development of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves finished, some team members of Naughty Dog moved on to The Last of Us while the others moved on to start on Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. The game was worked on in secrecy for over two years.

Concept art of Joel and Ellie.

The main characters, Joel and Ellie, were originally going to be father and daughter, but Neil stated the reason this was scrapped was because then "it wouldn't have anywhere to go." He also stated that at that point "he'd be willing to anything for his daughter, because that is what any dad would do for his daughter." Making Ellie introduced to Joel would give both Joel and the player the same relationship to Ellie and thus enable it to expand from there; because the developers were emphasizing personality and characters, there was also the idea that Ellie should be male.

Inspirations

Inspirations for The Last of Us include:

• BBC's Planet Earth
• The Coen Brothers film adaptations of Cormac McCarthy and Charles Portis' novels:
  • No Country For Old Men
  • True Grit
• The Road (Novel and film)
• Earth Abides (1949), George R. Stewart (a classic post-apocalyptic novel whose main character, Isherwood "Ish" Williams, establishes a community of pandemic survivors)
• Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead
• Children Of Men (film)
• 28 Days Later
• The Day of the Triffids (film)
• I Am Legend (Novel and 2007 film)
• City of Thieves
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (specifically "Chapter 17: Mountaineering" and the levels featuring Tenzin)
• The Stand (novel)

Marketing

Gameplay and trailers

Before the Video Game Awards, Sony showed two teaser trailers: one from the BBC/Discovery Documentary Planet Earth, displaying an ant dying from a deadly fungus, and the other one showing past events of protests, riots, and other glimpses of chaos while a man narrates, talking about how all of the mundane things in life he took for granted were now gone, suggesting that the game was going to be post-apocalyptic.

At the Video Game Awards, when Sony unveiled the new game, a gameplay trailer was attached to the announcement:

The opening scene is of lush greenery displayed outside of an open window as its curtains catch a light breeze entering a room. The scene then pans out further into the room, where a body is lying lifelessly on a bed, bleeding out onto the floor. A teenage girl can be seen running across the horrific display, rummaging through the rest of the ruined building for supplies. After hearing a conflict upstairs, she investigates to find two men fighting one another. After one of the men is killed, the other is found to be the girl's associate, Joel. He then tells her to investigate the body for anything of use, to which she then finds some ammunition. Before she can finish collecting them though, several human-like creatures invade the building and the girl's name is discovered to be Ellie, as her middle-aged acquaintance calls her name and takes her by the hand as they hide behind a wall for cover; however, one of them can be heard coming close to their position, and, after drawing his pistol, the man is attacked by one of them at arm's length. While he is struggling with the creature, Ellie stabs it in the back repeatedly with her switchblade, giving the man the opportunity to shoot the creature in the head, killing it. The two then hastily leave the building, where it is shown that the entire city is in a dilapidated state, with entire city blocks covered in vegetation.

At E3 2012 was the first publicly released gameplay demo for The Last of Us. It introduced a combat scenario to the audience, showing firsthand the tools of the trade Joel and Ellie must use to attempt to defend themselves from a small group of bandits, known as the 'hunters'. At PAX 2012, an extended version of the previous publicly shown demo at E3 was released. It is about sixteen full minutes in length and revealed several new features and character interaction that weren't present in the original. The game was brought to San Diego Comic-Con International 2012 in a teaser reel, entitled "Bill's Safe House Cinematic". This cutscene preview involves Joel and Ellie fleeing to the safe house of a somewhat friendly survivor named Bill.

The first television spot for the game aired shown during commercial break of The Walking Dead season 3 finale episode. Shortly afterwards, a longer Red Band version of the first television spot was released online. This trailer featured a few new cutscene snippets - most notably one in which Ellie has a short conversation with a boy her age.

The Last of Us original soundtrack

Main article: The Last of Us Original Soundtrack

The Last of Us Original Soundtrack was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla and was released on June 11, 2013. It features editing montages of a portion of the music heard in-game.

Other

Main article: The Last of Us: American Dreams

Retail Editions

Edition	Blu-ray disc	Art Book	Statue	Mini comic	Steelbook Case	Mini Art Book	Sights and sounds DLC	Survival DLC	American Dreams (Variant Cover)	Little Big Planet Sackboy Skin	Controller Skin	Poster	Canvas Wrap Case	Limited Edition Postcard Set	Limited Edition T-Shirt & Umbrella	Available In	ND Sticker Sheet
Standard	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	With Pre-order	With Pre-order from GameStop	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	All Regions	Yes
Post-Pandemic	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Region 1 (GameStop)	Yes
Collector's Edition	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Region 3 Exclusive	Yes
Survival	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Region 1 (USA/Canada)	Yes
Ellie	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Ellie	Ellie	Ellie	Yes	No	No	Europe (GAME)	One Sticker
Joel	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Joel	Joel	Joel	Yes	No	No	Europe (Amazon)	One Sticker

Downloadable content

The Sights and Sounds Pack which is included in all special editions, and pre-ordered standard editions includes:

• Official Game Soundtrack
• PS3 Dynamic Theme
• PSN Avatars: Winter Joel and Ellie

The Survival Pack Which is included in all special editions except for the Survival Edition, and standard editions pre-ordered from Gamestop includes:

• Multiplayer Bonuses:
  • Bonus XP
  • Melee Booster
  • In Game Currency
  • Customizable Character Items
• Bonus Joel and Ellie skins available once a play-through of the single-player is completed

A season pass has been released to give buyers access to future downloadable content (1 single-player and 2 multiplayer packs) at a discounted price. Purchasing the season pass also gives early access to single-player upgrades:

• Increased crafting speed
• Faster healing
• Increased 9mm reload speed
• Increased Hunting Rifle clip capacity

A 90 minute making of Documentary called Grounded is also included.

Release and reception

Review Scores
Publications
Computer and Video Games	10/10
Edge	10/10
Electronic Gaming Monthly Now	9.5
Eurogamer	10/10
Game Informer	9.5/10
GameTrailers	9.8
IGN	10/10
Official PlayStation Magazine (UK)	10/10
GameSpot	8/10
Destructoid	10/10
GiantBomb	5/5
Joystiq	5/5
Machinima Gaming Daily	10/10
Telegraph	5/5
Polygon	7.5
Guardian	5/5
Toronto Sun	4/5
Aggregates
Metacritic	95
GameRankings	95.04%

On release, The Last of Us became one of the biggest video game launches of 2013, selling over 1.3 million units in its first week and 3.4 million copies worldwide in three weeks, thus making it the fastest-selling PlayStation 3 game of 2013. The title received largely positive reviews from critics, who praised the writing, atmosphere, art direction, and character development among other things. During the E3 2012 showing, The Last of Us received multiple accolades from numerous critics. The Game Critics Awards gave the game five awards: Best in Show, Best Original Game, Best Console Game, and Best Action/Adventure Game, and a Special Commendation for Sound.

On aggregate review GameRankings and Metacritic, the game holds scores of 95.04% and 95 out of 100 respectively. IGN gave the game a 10 out of 10 and stated it to be the PlayStation 3's best exclusive, whilst Eurogamer, Edge Magazine, The Telegraph, and Empire also gave the game 10s, with a total of 84 perfect scores out of 136 from over 50 gaming publications.

In contrast, albeit equally positive, Polygon.com’s Philip Kollar was more critical of the game’s mechanics, citing that the game tended to turn to the tried-and-true shooting mechanics and forced players enemy encounters that weren’t supported by the game’s reserved gameplay and emphasis on limited resources. He also notes that collision problems with the A.I companions break immersion of the game’s environment alongside the questionable character motivations of the protagonist, Joel.

Similarly, Gamespot.com’s Tom Mc Shea notes that A.I. flubs concerning the nature of the enemies failing to notice loud noises or companions, dead bodies standing out in the open during stealth segments broke the immersion alongside loading checkpoints that ended confrontations. Both, however, praised the multiplayer’s use of the game’s thematics, violence and refined gameplay mechanics. Fan uproar towards the Polygon.com review was followed by a response by Neil Druckmann.

The success of The Last Of Us.

In an interview with VentureBeat in August 2013, Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley said how they were taken aback by the unexpected fan reaction to The Last of Us' handling of the female roles inside of the game; as some criticism enunciated that these characters fell into a trope for female stereotypes in video games. "I think we did an extraordinary job of creating strong characters--men, women, black, white, gay, straight. We're just trying to create completely fleshed-out characters", said Straley.

"Yet somehow we were used as a soapbox or something for people to stand on and say that there are still problems with the industry." Druckmann added that the gaming industry may be approaching a sort of "sexism valley." "There have been a lot of articles pointing to the positive aspects of the women and other characters. I think that there's a little bit of a sexism valley, for lack of a better term, like the uncanny valley," Druckmann said. "The more progress we make, the more those problems stand out. I get that people are going to want to pick things apart."

This validated Druckmann's comments from December of 2012, when he said there is a misconception that games with girls or women on the cover will sell fewer copies than those with males and how Naughty Dog was even asked to push Ellie to the back of the game's cover art, he said, and the company refused.

Awards

The Last of Us has garnered 62 major gaming awards out of a total of 89 nominations. The game has received nods in a variety of categories, including Action & Adventure, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Multiplayer, Music and Story, with stars Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson also up for honors for their performances.

The game currently has several awards pending for two award shows; ten nominations for the British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA) and five for the 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards.

Trivia

• This game was originally a new Jak and Daxter game, but it was cancelled and formed into The Last of Us.
• The game was first teased on November 29, 2011 with a billboard in Times Square, mentioning "a PS3 exclusive you won't believe".
• Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception has an in-game reference to the aforementioned trailer during the opening chapter in the Pelican Inn with the newspaper headline "Scientists are still struggling to understand deadly fungus".
• An interview with Eurogamer revealed that the game was supposed to be announced at E3 2011, but Naughty Dog had decided to reveal it at VGA 2011 instead
• Sony registered the domain for The Last of Us 2 and 3, hinting the possibility of sequels.
• If attempted in real life, Joel and Ellie would have traveled over 3,400 miles (5,400 kms) from the start of the game in Boston, to the end of the game in Jackson.

Gallery

Screenshots

In-game screenshot

In-game screenshot

Concept art

Concept art of a quarantine zone in Boston, Massachusetts

Artwork of Joel and Ellie laughing by a fire.

Miscellanea

March cover of Game Informer

Videos

The Last of Us' New Multiplayer Mode Interrogation

New Interrogation Multiplayer Mode

The Last of Us - Its Them or Us Trailer

'It's Them or Us' trailer

The Last of Us - 'Extended Demo Gameplay @ E3 2012' TRUE-HD QUALITY

Extended E3 gameplay demo

The Last of Us Neil Druckmann Interview

Neil Druckmann interview

PlayStation Conversation The Last of Us Hands-on

Hands-on preview

Video:The Last of Us VGA 2011 Trailer

VGA 2011 reveal trailer

Video:The Last of Us - The Truck Ambush Trailer

Truck Ambush cutscene preview

Video:The Last of Us E3 2012 Gameplay

E3 Gameplay demo

Video:The Last of Us - Bill's Safe House Cinematic

Bill's safehouse cinematic

Video:The Last of Us - Story Trailer

Story trailer

Video:The Last of Us - 'The Infected Gameplay' TRUE-HD QUALITY

The Infected gameplay

The Last of Us - Left Behind DLC Reveal Trailer Video

Left Behind DLC trailer

References

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