10 Video Games That Messed With The Player
3. The Last of Us
How far should a person go to protect their loved ones? Like Spec Ops: The Line, 2013’s The Last of Us sought to tackle some darker subject matter. Throughout the game, protagonists Joel and Ellie fight multiple people infected with the Cordyceps virus as they attempt to get Ellie to the Fireflies, a militia group wanting to utilise her immunity to the infection in the search for a cure.
After the Fireflies get hold of Ellie and contain her within St Mary’s hospital, it becomes apparent that she will be killed in order for her to be used in the making of said cure, something that Joel is quite keen to avoid. Storming into the operating room at the end of the game, players have to kill the main surgeon, but can optionally kill the remaining unarmed surgeons in the room before carrying an unconscious Ellie away.
Regardless of your decision here, the bloodshed is made far worse by the revelation that Joel lies to Ellie later about the events that take place in the hospital, suggesting that the Fireflies weren’t able to make a cure and stopped trying. The lie reinforces the unease that the player is made to feel about the events leading up to that moment, some of which can be made worse by the player’s own freedom of choice.