A few days ago, a sequel to Naughty Dog’s hit game of 2013, "The Last of Us," was revealed. Back when then game first launched, Naughty Dog claimed they wouldn’t make a sequel, leaving it as a one hit wonder. Many fans are happy that their favorite game is coming back, but I wish Naughty Dog would have would have left it alone. That game is one of those rare gems you can’t duplicate. It’s a game that creates memories and brings out the emotions in people from ideal chit chat to heart breaking dialog and well performed music that adds to the environment. This game should have won game of the year hands down. The beginning and ending are two of my most favorite parts of this masterpiece.
I remember my first time playing it. I don’t think anyone can forget the opening to this game. Seeing Joel and his daughter, 12-year-old Sarah, just joking at each other while they talk and she gives him a birthday present. It was his watch; she had it fixed for him. But everything just kicks into gear once that cutscene is over. I remember playing as Sarah and getting in the truck with Joel and his brother, Tommy, getting in a car crash, and then running for your life as you carry Sarah in your arms. It didn’t take long for things to go from bad to worse. The sigh of relief from the cutscene soon becomes a panicked gasp. You see the army man talk to his commander, hearing the sad tone of his voice as he accepts his orders, and shoots at Joel and Sarah. Joel avoids the gunfire as he drops to the floor and Sarah falls out of his arms. Everything was so quick; the game just started 10 minutes ago, and Joel was facing imminent death as the soldier points his gun at him. Just in the nick of time, Tommy shoots the man in the head and saves Joel. But then there’s squeal of pain. It was Sarah. She was shot in the chest, and everything just stops as he holds his crying daughter in his arms. Suddenly, you stop hearing her crying. As Joel holds her lifeless body, you see a broken man. I felt every moment of that scene. Not many games have such a powerful prologue.
Twenty years have passed since that incident and the title "The Last of Us" appears in bold white letters. You continue the game as Joel in a post apocalyptic world, as you help escort a 14-year-old girl named Ellie from Boston to Salt Lake City. Ellie has the cure to the infection, and he needs to deliver her to a group known as the Fireflies and their leader Marlene. Joel finds out that they can reverse engineer a vaccine to the infection but at the cost of Ellie’s life. After losing his daughter and going through hell with Ellie, Joel refuses this and has to find her and take her back by force. As the game came to an end, there’s just so much emotion in the final moments. The ending mirrors the opening, as Joel carries Ellie’s unconscious body to a car and drives away from the vicinity. He tells her that there were other people like her and that the Fireflies have just given up. Joel takes them back to Tommy’s small city, and the final cutscene happens. Ellie tells him of the people that have died for her to make it here and it’s obvious that she suspects that Joel is lying. He tells her that it wasn’t her fault as he fiddles with his broken watch. She asks him to swear to her that everything that he said about the Fireflies is true. As he looks at her, he tells her, “I swear.” Ellie replies with, “OK.” The title appears again but this this time it's aged and worn out kind of like a reflection of Joel. Soon after, you’re greeted with an amazing acoustic song called "The Path (A New Beginning)" for the end credits.
A lot of fans hate that Joel lied to Ellie, and it’s clear that even when she says “OK,” she knew he was still lying. I, on the other hand, think that Joel did the right thing. The world they live in is a terrible place. People killing and looting dead bodies of children and adults. You have the military that are holding out on rations, so groups like that rise up and overthrow them. There’s the cannibals that have been harassing Joel and Ellie for weeks at a time during the winter, and then their leader tried to keep Ellie as a sex slave. And those were just the areas that they passed through. The world wasn’t ready for a vaccine, and even if they had a vaccine, that wouldn’t stop a clicker from eating you, and how would the Fireflies deliver the cure? There was just too much working against them, and Joel couldn’t lose the closest thing he has to a daughter. The Last of Us is a great video game, that feels like a movie due to the great voice acting, music and nice 1080p and 60fsp visuals that were way ahead of the Playstation3’s time.
