Seems funny that as we always look to a new gaming system, there is always that one game near the end of a current cycle that can still manage to surprise us.  God of War was one game that came to mind but beyond that, in a summer where there is a new anticipation for new consoles and also this being a time when few games are released, The Last of Us proves that this console cycle still has a bit of life in it yet.

To do a quick recap, a deadly mysterious plague destroys civilization as we know it making humans into walking plague infested zombies a’la 28 Days.

Joel and his daughter and a family friend try to escape in the frenzy and are met by death and destruction.

Fast forward 20 years later. Joel lives in a heavily policed quarantine zone and with the help of his friend Tess smuggles supplies to other survivors.  Eventually they cross paths with Ellie who may be the key to many mysteries surrounding the game and it’s your job to find out what it is.

While a fairly linear game, you do have many choices of how you get to various points of the game.  This is not a run and gun type game nor do you want to get into protracted shootouts with the enemy.  This is a game that makes you think smart and use patience as you try to make it through.  All of your tools and items must be conservesd and your flashlight is also  your best friend in a lot of places. I would say it has a lot of elements from tried and true tropes such as The Walking Dead and the way the game is rendered through the cutscenes makes you feel almost as if you are playing through a TV show.

The settings are tense and the game does very little handholding getting you across the wasteland and at that, situations can change in a heartbeat. Having seen other efforts from Naughty Dog which of course includes the Uncharted series, I was really in anticipation of this game so it did not disappoint.

This game is gritty and violent.  It’s sad and realistic. The game conveys mostly from what i have seen froma lot of well told post apocalyptic stories of what people will do to the other to survive and its very well told here.

Graphically, it’s a great game as well and when it gets dark, it makes the hair on my arms stand because you never know what’s going to pop out.   the controls may take a little getting used to but once you have it down it’s easy to work with.

if you have no other games on you rplate this summer, you need to play this as this is probably one of the last big most talked about games this year before the arrival of the PS4.  You won’t be disappointed.

5 out of 5 stars