The last of Us

he Last of Us is an upcoming third-person survival/action video game developed by Naughty Dog centered around a modern plague decimating mankind. Nature encroaches upon civilization, forcing remaining survivors to kill for food, weapons, and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their westward journey across what remains of the United States. The game will be "more realistic and cinematic" than other games Naughty Dog has developed and will be released on May 7th, 2013Contents

DevelopmentEdit

According to 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 cordyceps fungus 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 has been in development for over two years.

AnnouncementEdit
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.

VGA 2011Edit
The game was officially unveiled at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards with a new, in-engine trailer. 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.
PlayStation BlogEdit

Shortly after the unveiling, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells posted this on the PlayStation Blog:
"The Last of Us is a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character driven tale about a modern plague decimating mankind. Nature encroaches upon civilization, forcing remaining survivors to kill for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.
The announcement also confirmed that the new project is being headed by studio game director Bruce Straley and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves director Neil Druckmann.
Pre-ReleaseEdit

The following media has been revealed during the time after announcement and before release:
Truck Ambush Cutscene Preview - Joel and Ellie drive around Pittsburgh and encounter a trap that results in the two being ambushed by several vicious survivors.

E3 Gameplay Demo - A seven minute demo of the first gameplay footage of The Last of Us. Joel and Ellie enter a hotel en route to a bridge on the outskirts of Pittsburgh only to encounter ruthless hunters.
Bill's Safe House Cinematic - Shown at Comic-Con 2012, this cutscene preview involves Joel and Ellie fleeing to the safe house of a somewhat friendly survivor named Bill.

PAX Gameplay Demo - An extended version of the previous, publicly shown demo at E3, about 16 full minutes in length and revealing several new features and character interaction that weren't present in the original.

VGA 2012 Story Teaser Trailer - A 30 second long teaser in which Joel brandishes a bloody machete to a hunter chained to a radiator saying "We don't have to do this, you know that right?"

VGA 2012 Story Trailer - A trailer featuring various dialogues between many different characters that further explain the game's storyline. It was shown at VGA 2012, one year after the announcement trailer's first showing.

PlotEdit

The Last of Us begins in a Boston quarantine zone twenty years after the initial plague, where 14-year-old orphan Ellie lives in a boarding house. Joel, in his forties at the time, is recruited to sneak her out for an unknown reason. Evidently, things take a turn for the worse, and the military apparently finds out about their escape and begins pursuit. While Joel normally would have left Ellie and fled for his life, he had promised a dying friend to take care of her, and after a nearby safe haven fails to work out, their trek west across the United States to escape the law enforcement begins to unfold. Along the way, the duo must overcome countless hostiles, ranging from infected enemies to hunters and other enemy survivors. The game takes place over the course of one year.[citation needed]
LocationsEdit
Boston
Pittsburgh
GameplayEdit
The gameplay will be "less linear" than the Uncharted series, even though it will not be open-world. Instead "the exploration will be more important and will have enough weight in the gameplay."[5] As of February 4th, it has been revealed that some events pertaining to The Last of Us will take place in Boston, Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

CombatEdit
The combat in the The Last of Us will be very realistic and strategical. Resources are limited and the lethality of weapons is very high, as in reality. You can't only hide behind cover and wait for your health to regenerate like in Uncharted; rather, "health packs" must be applied to repair damage to Joel or Ellie's health. There will be both guns and melee combat, as well as breakable weapons such as planks and bricks. Part of the gameplay will revolve around scavenging for new items.
Artificial IntelligenceEdit

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 a reason 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.[9]
ItemsEdit

Items are in The Last of Us. Items are objects that Joel and Ellie can utilize to further their survival, combat enemies, replenish their health, and store things in. The groups that items fall under include ammunition, battery, binding, alcohol, blade, sugar, explosive, and canister. All of these item groups contain items that Joel and Ellie can scavenge for, like revolver ammunition, or craft out of simple items, as in the case of the Molotov Cocktail.
OnlineEdit

It is confirmed The Last of Us will include an online portion. Straley said in GameInformer's March issue, "We're going to have some sort of online component... we definitely know it's going to be awesome."[10] It has been confirmed, through pre-oder bonuses, that The Last of Us will include multiplayer.
Pre-release receptionEdit
The Last of Us has received a highly positive acclaim after it was announced on December 10, 2011 during the Spike TV Video Game Awards. Many reviewers praised the game for its script, visuals, and graphics.
During the E3 2012 showing, The Last of Us has recieved multiple awards from many critics, including the Game Critics Awards which gave the game five awards.