Old Man Game Corner LAST OF US

OLD MAN GAME REVIEW CORNER

The Last of Us

WOW! Come a little late to the party SCOTT?? Yeah, well I am super late to this Last of Us party, but it was worth the wait. Last of Us was released in 2014 and with it being only $5 on PS4, I decided to give it a whirl. Amazing, just amazing. The game has been a non-stop thrill ride thus far. My only complaint is that I don't really have that ON THE MOMENT chance to discuss with others about the game. That camaraderie you get when a great game first comes out is lost on me, but alas, that's fine. 

The graphics are blowing my mind even being 4 years old. Not the details as such, even though those are great, but the acting. Maybe I should say the acting is blowing my mind. The script and the way the characters just drift off or naturally and unnaturally converse. The dialog between Joel and a survivor and his brother that he meets was so real that the eventual shock of events really affected me more than most games would. 

FEAR. This is a game that Resident Evil series should emulate. Your ammo is so low that you desperately clamor to get every scrap of metal, bullets, arrows and meds. This game is all about being silent....but I have failed at that so many times. The time to reload is one of the most tense moments in any game I've ever had. Desperation to find that shell and load it....so intense. Even the very beginning of the game with lead into the future was shocking. There was a basement battle that cost me nearly all my ammo and I was down to fighting with toothpicks. 

The enemies for a game are extremely limited and it doesn't matter. You really don't need anymore then what's there. Clickers and Runners. Simple and terrifying. I recall watching a Blue Planet once and they had this documentary on ants. During this episode you see a plant, the Cordyceps infect an ant and start to mutate it and take over it's mind and body. Eventually it forces the ant to climb to the highest branch and mutates into a full cordyceps. The other ants ignore it and eventually shun it as they know it is not one of them anymore. This plant is the cause of the apocalypse in Last of Us. A great idea lifted from nature and modified to create great monsters. Love it. 

This is a game that should be a movie and shouldn't be at the same time. It couldn't be a movie and not lose so much. At best, I would make this a short tv series. Netflix would do wonders for something like this. The script is so easily translatable, pop in special effects and you got yourself a possible great series. Still wouldn't give me as great a thrill though as I am LIVING this nightmare by playing the game. 

I bought this along with Horizon Dawn, which seems to be a great game also, but it has not drawn my attention like Last of Us has. I want to know more about Dawn, but it will have to wait as I am too busy fending off horrible plant people.