The Last of Us

***The Last of Us*** is a third person survival horror action-adventure video game made by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It released for the PlayStation 3 on June 14, 2013 and a version of the game with updated graphics called _The Last of Us: Remastered_ was released for the PlayStation 4 on July 29, 2014. This version also has a downloadable content called ***Left Behind***. The story is about two people named Joel and Ellie trying to survive different dangers.

## Story

In 2013, there is an outbreak of a mutated Cordyceps fungus, which ruins the United States and the rest of the world. The fungus transforms its human hosts into aggressive, zombie-like creatures called the Infected. In the suburbs of Austin, Texas, a man named Joel escapes the city with his brother Tommy and daughter Sarah. However, just as they escape, Sarah is shot by a soldier and dies in Joel's arms.

Twenty years later, society has fallen apart because of the infection. Survivors live in quarantine zones, independent settlements, and nomadic groups, leaving buildings and homes deserted. Joel now works as a smuggler with his partner Tess in the quarantine zone in Boston, Massachusetts. They hunt down Robert, a black-market dealer, to recover a stolen weapons cache. Upon finding Robert, he tells Joel and Tess that he sold the weapons to a militia called the Fireflies, who are opposing the authorities. Tess then kills him.

The leader of the Fireflies, Marlene, arrives. She then promises to double Joel and Tess's weapons in return for smuggling a teenage girl named Ellie to Fireflies hiding in the Massachusetts State House, which is located outside of the quarantine zone. As the night comes, Joel, Tess, and Ellie sneak out of the quarantine zone but are caught by a government patrol, which they defeat. It is here they learn that Ellie is infected, but she says she is immune because she became infected three weeks ago, while signs a person is infected take two days to appear. The three continue to head to their destination, fighting many infected along the way. When they arrive to the State House, they find that the Fireflies there have been killed. Tess reveals she has been bitten by an Infected, but sacrifices herself so Joel and Ellie could escape from soldiers. Joel decides to find Tommy, a former Firefly, in the hope that he can find the remaining Fireflies.

Joel and Ellie seek the help of Bill, a smuggler and survivalist who owes Joel a favor. Through Bill, they are able to get a car. Joel and Ellie then head to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they are then attacked by bandits who destroy their car. Getting through the city, they meet two brothers named Henry and Sam, and the four escape the city. During the escape, Sam is bitten by an Infected, but keeps it hidden. Sam then transforms into an Infected, tries to attack Ellie, and is then shot by his brother Henry, only for him to take his own life afterwards.

Later, in the fall, Joel and Ellie finally find Tommy in Jackson, Wyoming. Here, Tommy had built a settlement near a hydroelectric dam with his wife Maria. Joel decides to give Ellie with Tommy, but she finds out about this and talks to him about Sarah, which makes Joel change his mind and lets her stay with him. Tommy tells the two that the Fireflies are at the University of Eastern Colorado. When they arrive, there is nobody at the university, for the Fireflies have moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. However, when they try to leave, bandits attack the two, and Joel is badly hurt in the escape.

During the winter, Ellie and Joel take shelter in the mountains. Joel is still wounded and is close to death, while Ellie take care of him. While looking for food, she meets David and James, two scavengers who offer medicine for food. David reveals the men that Joel and Ellie had killed at the university were part of his group, making her hostile against him. Later, she keeps David's men away from Joel, but is captured by them, where she is imprisoned. David offers to let her join his group, but she refuses and escapes, killing James. Joel, in the meanwhile, recovers from his injuries and looks for Ellie. However, she is trapped by David in a burning restaurant. David is then killed by Ellie with a machete just as Joel finds her, calming her before they escape.

Joel and Ellie finally arrive in Salt Lake City in the spring. While heading to the hospital where the Fireflies are, Ellie nearly drowns, and the two are captured by a Firefly soldier. Now in the hospital, Marlene tells Joel that Ellie is being prepared for surgery in the hope of getting a vaccine for the infection. However, since the infected part of Ellie's brain will needed to be removed, Ellie will die in the operation. Not wanting Ellie to die, Joel makes his way to the operating room, kills the head surgeon and escapes with Ellie. Just as he reaches the parking garage, Marlene stops him, but Joel kills her in order to prevent the Fireflies from following them. They drive back to Tommy's place, where Ellie awakens in the car. Joel tells Ellie the Fireflies had found people like her, in that they were immune, but did not create a cure and gave up. Just before they enter the settlement, Ellie reveals to Joel her survivor's guilt and asks Joel if what he told her was true, which he tells her it is.

## Reception

The game got great reception, getting over 120 awards and receiving the title of 2013's game of the year. IGN rated the game 10 out of 10, along with many other national game raters, that all rated the game highest any game has ever received. During the first week, the game sold over 3.4 million copies, second only to Grand Theft Auto in sales records.
The Last of Us is the most awarded game of all time, winning over 200 game of the year awards. This game has applauded by the critics and took over than 50 complete numbers and the average of the numbers is 95 from 100.

## Gameplay

***The Last of Us*** is a third-person perspective game. The first characters of the game are Joel and Ellie. For most of the game, players control Joel, and Ellie is controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. Players also control Ellie and Sarah in a few parts of the game. In this game you can use different guns and other things which you find in the environment like knives to kill your enemies.

## Multiplayer

The game includes a multiplayer side, where the player can choose to be a Hunter or a Firefly, with the objective of completing twelve weeks (84 days/games) on each side. It comes with multiple different modes and maps.

### Modes

- Supply Raid: A team game, where the objective is to eliminate all twenty people on the opposite team. The first side to complete that objective wins.
- Survivors: A game mode where each team has four players that have only one life each, making players use strategy and stealth to win over their opponents.
- Interrogation: In this game, the objective is to interrogate the enemy team, by killing the enemy players, and then walking over to their bodies and getting information about the location of their lock box, before they die. Once all the interrogations are complete, the team then can locate the opposing teams lockbox and open it, thus winning the game.

### Maps

- Lakeside
- Bill's Town
- Downtown
- Checkpoint
- University
- Highschool

## References

- www.IGN/The_Last_of_Us/review.com
- www.NaughtyDog.com
- www.GameInformer/The_Last_of_Us.com

## Infobox (vg)

- **image**: The Last of Us logo.svg
- **developer**: Naughty Dog
- **publisher**: Sony Computer Entertainment
- **designer**: Jacob Minkoff
- **writer**: Neil Druckmann
- **composer**: Gustavo Santaolalla
- **platforms**: PlayStation 3
- **genre**: Action-adventure game, Action-adventure, survival horror
- **modes**: Single-player video game, Single-player, Multiplayer video game, multiplayer