10 Reasons The Last Of Us Is STILL The Best Video Game Of All Time
6. Minimal Approach To Action
Naughty Dog's pedigree (excuse the pun) in frantic action-filled single player goodness comes to a head in 2011's Uncharted 3. Like the game that came before it, the jaw-dropping set-pieces that plagued review videos and trailers rivalled that of any Bruce Willis or Jason Statham action flick. Despite the success of this, Naughty Dog's approach to action with the Last of Us was rather more selective.
Action is present in The Last of Us's single player campaign, yet its sparing use means there's far more time for character development, world-building and story telling. When the story does get prickly, it manages to create sequences of action that never deviate from the game's otherwise dulcet tone, no matter how much the situation may demand it.
The setting of a zombie apocalypse is ripe for excessive excitement, but The Last of Us stubbornly maintains its realistic take on the pandemic making each action set-piece all the more tense.
Where Uncharted is an excellent homage to action movies of days gone by, The Last of Us is more akin to a tense thriller where action is used in places to elevate the plot, but never outstays its welcome.