I absolutely loved Last of Us I, one of my favorite games in the last 10 years. I enjoyed the gameplay but the story was amazing. There are scenes that were so visceral and breathtaking that I was totally immersed in the story.
Today Last of Us II launches, but I want to talk about Last of Us I and convince you that you have to play this game.
Last of Us is a story of a broken survivor on a mission to escort a child through a zombie-infested wasteland. The story hits you in the feels before you even grab your controller and never really lets up.
What really blew me away about this game is how well Naughty Dog (the developers behind Uncharted) made you feel attached to the main characters. At the time the graphics were amazing for the PlayStation 4, but that's not what really did it.
As you play through the game (which should take you 15-30 hours) you become more and more emotionally attached to the protagonists. The character development and arc for these characters would put Hollywood to shame.
I later bought the remastered edition cheap and it made some improvements in the game since I originally played it. I highly recommend checking out the trailer below. Remember this game is over 7 years old at this point.
From what I have read, Last of Us II will take at least 25 hours to beat as much as around 35 hours if you try to complete everything. Games these days struggle to reach even 10 hours of unique content. I will bet every hour of that will be some of the most rewarding gaming you have ever had.
I play a lot of games, but I am a big fan of games that deliver a story rather than just mindless killing. I also am a big fan of games that reward stealth and planning over brute force. This game delivers on both of these in spades.
You will not be disappointed!
I know I didn't talk much about what you do in the game or the gameplay, I really don't want to spoil the game for you. I will say the gameplay is fantastic, you can run and gun through the game but you will have a far better experience if you play on hard difficulty and take advantage of stealth. The game will be far more challenging, but exponentially more rewarding.
Resources in the game are tight, especially on hard so even if you use stealth you are going to have to minimize your resource usage and avoid taking on large fights head-on. While you have your typical weapons found in a survival game, you will be required to find items to improve your character's abilities and equipment.
There are some scenes I found the stealth way very difficult and other scenes where stealth although slower was far more effective. In these games, I tend to have a no-kill policy, I avoid all lethal attacks and resort to only stealth and non-lethal disables. This requires you to be hyper-aware of your surroundings and plan your moves carefully.
I was really hoping Last of Us II would take advantage of the new Playstation 5 enhancements but no such luck.
Last of Us I & II are a PlayStation exclusive.
All screenshots are from the Last of Us I & II PlayStation game.
