As with practically any game, The Last of Us allows the player to eventually set up something of a comfortable routine. They know the way the enemy operates and can figure out ways to defeat or evade them. Of course, if there is one thing Naughty Dog did brilliantly with The Last of Us, it was pulling the rug out from under the players feet just when they had started to get comfortable. After trekking through a school and eventually emerging in a gymnasium, a cutscene introduces one of the most fearsome enemies the player will face during the course of the game The Bloater. What follows is an amazing boss battle in which the player must simultaneously avoid the poisonous spores being hurled by this abomination while attempting to kill it, all while contending with the various other infected that are attacking. To make matters worse the Bloater can also instantly kill the player if it gets too close. The panic this situation creates is an enormous shock to the system for any gamer that had gotten to comfortable with the games mechanics and the relief after the Bloater finally topples is palpable. Of course it wouldnt be the last time the player encounters the fiend and, arguably, it isnt even the most memorable.
Lee Price is a writer for 411mania.com and Starburst Magazine, which is published in the UK. He is currently working as a freelance writer. He hopes to one day fund his addiction to video games by writing about video games, and he maintains a sporadically updated blog at leesrandombulls*it.wordpress.com