Fancy review 1: The Last of Us: when a game becomes a work of art (one of my favourite games)

The Last Of Us: When a Game becomes a work of Art

You know you always here in the modern day era that the concept of Video games could never be seen as an art form, but that couldn't be farther from the truth and may I say is a bit of a daft thing to say in the modern era of entertainment. Ever since the concept of electronic entertainment became more of a household thing all the way back in the 70's it has come a long way of the days of playing as a singular rectangle hitting a tiny little dot or of a man trying to save his lady from a giant ape to the likes of bringing us into a whole new world of magic and fantasy from mystical villages or town to the farthest reaches of outer space and so much more. So when it comes to the meaning of when a Video Game is seen as a form of Art there is one that I can think of that a lot of people would point to and that is The Last Of Us.

Art in the Land of Lost Hope

The Last of Us is a game that was Developed by the Company known as Naughty Dog that were known for such series as Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and The Uncharted Series. The game was released all the way back in 2013 (blimey it feels like so long ago) and was a sudden change of what came before of the company. Gone were the days of Cartoon Marsupials running through jungles to stop a mad scientist with a big forehead, or the world of people with big pointy ears, strange chemicals known as eco and talking ottsels, it was known about treasure hunting or surviving in a post apocalyptic world. This latter is the main setting of the game where the world has been avenged by a strange Cordyceps fungal virus that scientist have no idea how it becomes dangerous. 

The story follows a man known as Joel (played by Troy Baker (met the chap myself such a nice fellow)) a father of a teenage girl who has been through the dangerous virus apocalypse since the very beginning but in the process loses her through all the chaos. Fast Forward 20 years into the future and Joel has become this begrudging man and smuggler who has survived his fair share of dangerous situation and is survived with the help of a mysterious rebellion group known as the Fireflies. 

Through this group Joel is given a task to smuggle a 14 year old girl across a post-Apocolyptic United States. This girl is Ellie (played by Ashley Johnson) an orphaned girl born during the Apocalypse who was "cared" for by the Fireflies for basically all her life and has never known life before the infection but has a secret gift (will get to more on that sometime later, don't you worry chaps). Working together where at first they may resent each other, they would grow a bond as they cross the United States in search of safety, survival and maybe even a cure to everything.

When I said that Ellie has a "special gift", we learn within the first hour of the game that Ellie is immune to the Infected, as prior to meeting Joel she was bitten by one of them but hasn't changed into one of them. There is more to this but as I said I will talk about this Later chaps, so don't you worry.

Endure and Survive

So the game is structured into an action-adventure survival horror that is in a third person person perspective so there is a lot to discuss in this, so let's not dilly dally, shall we. I would break it down to section: the gameplay, what you will dealing with, the world and visuals and other story, character and important points as well.

So as I said it is a third person action-adventure survival horror game that pits you as a simple survivor in a large and dangerous world. The gameplay is very reminiscent of their Uncharted Games and throughout the game you will travelling through creepy abandoned town and cities, decrypted buildings, deep and dense forests and even through dark and murky sewers as you learn to survive against everything that could kill you. You won't be doing this empty handed as along the way you will come across weapons and ammunition from pieces of wood and glass bottles to firearms and even bows and arrows. But why would you need these for? Well you will need them to defend yourself against other survivors and even from the dangerous creatures that walk among the land.

So in this world you will come across four different types of enemies in this game. First off you have the smugglers. These are the normal survivors who have lasted this long who are just like you, looking for ways to survive and will kill anyone who gets in their way. These are the only enemy that will use weapons like you to make sure that you will be soon lying in a grave, so make sure that you are prepped with weapons that turn the tables in your favour.

Now I did say that this was a world that was destroyed by an fungal Apocalypse, so lets talk about the enemies the characters call "The Infected" (which consist of three stages of infection). Stage one infected is known as "runners" these are a group of infected who may have just recently been attacked and have turned into mindless zombie-like creatures that will charge you when they see you and won't stop until they sink their teeth into you flesh. They will often appear in groups and will swarm in any direction so make sure that you have a handy melee weapon or a powerful weapon to make sure that they are done for good.

Now stage 2 infected is when you really need to strategise about how to tackle these ones. These ones are known simply as Clicker's and let me tell you would be absolutely Barmy if you ran head first into this thing, because if you do then you can kiss your arse goodbye. These are one hit kill infected but they also have a bit of an advantage. These creatures are blind due to the excessive amounts of the Cordyceps grown on their face. However they would hunt more through the use of sound and their goosebump inducing screech that will give you the collywobbles. So in best case scenario that you better be light on your toes if you want to survive these these and a very sharp weapon to put in their neck. To be honest, if I saw one of these things in real life I would be a truly daft cow and completely barmy to go up against one.

And lastly is the Stage 3 Infected which are known as Bloaters. These are like the Clickers but 10 times worse. These are giant monstrosities that are the equivalent to a giant walking Mushroom. Get too close to this and you would be ripped to pieces *snap* like that. There is no chance of using any melee weapons against this, you'll need to bring the firepower to kill these things so you don't become a bundle of mush on the ground.

A world of beauty, beyond the virus.

Now, allow me to divert you away from the dangers you'll encounter to what you will be experiencing during the down time and calming periods and get to have a look around. When I first played this game all those years ago, I was absolutely Gobsmacked by the visuals and the world that this team has created. I was in awe by the use of the light of the sun shining through the trees of a forest, the nerve inducing fear of what lies behind a heavy fog of a harsh snowstorm up in a mountainous forest and town region, the broken road and flora that has broken through the gravel of abandoned towns, to even the dense and cluttered building filled with blocked off stairways, ransacked cabinets and decaying bodies to emphasise the panic that these people were experiencing trying to escape from the virus that was causing a pandemic. All of this truly helped put your in the main characters position of trying to survive in this world. 

Other Story and Characters

lastly I will talk about the last bits of extra stuff because at this point I have Chin wagged long enough. It's not just gonna be Joel and Ellie against the world, as they will come across a host of other characters on their Journey including Tess, Joel's Smuggling Partner, Tommy, Joel's younger Brother who has survived with him through the Apocalypse, Bill, a Doomsday Prepper Fanatic that has an act for outlandish infected traps, Henry and Sam (I was shocked to learn that name as well) two brothers that are in some way similar to our main two protagonists, Marlene, the leader of the fireflies and many more of the characters. One of these characters that you will meet in a added story expansion known as Left Behind is Riley, Ellie's best friend and possible love interest. Through this story we learn of how Ellie was bitten by the infected and what brought her to Joel as well as taking place during the main game that adds as much heart as the main story.

A heartfelt song in a dying world

 

So I shall wrap this up in a nice little bow with how this game has affected me and why I love this game so and why I think this proves that this game is a true form of art. This game makes the use of a perfect blend of an phenomenal story that really is the bee's knees, cracking gameplay and gobsmackingly beautiful visuals that come together to create this masterpiece. I shall also let you in on a little secret, that this is one of the games that truly made me cry like a baby, I was enveloped with emotions just from the gut punch of the opening 10 minutes and from many more pieces from this game (from the soundtrack, the surroundings, certain cutscene and from events in the game (including the Left Behind Expansion) ). All In all if you haven't played this game I would highly recommend this game to anyone as it is a true work of art. Well also because of this happening in a few months or weeks which I am beyond excited for.

Also I sort of want to get her arm tattoo

Well That enough Chin Wagging for me, I've got a cup of tea with my name on it calling me. So I shall see you soon.

Cheerio my good people!