At this point Naughty Dog's take on the zombie-genre needs no introduction, so wide is its recognition as one of the best games of all time that you might have guessed its position this high on any Greatest Game or Playstation-centric list. Still that's all for good reason, with scriptwriters Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley framing the standard survivalist tropes and narrative beats of a zombie horror around two individuals, all with the express purpose of asking the player what the importance of humanity is within a world devoid of it. It's not just the narrative or gorgeous graphics that elevate this above the rest though - naturally every follicle of hair on character Joel's face does look perfectly rendered - instead the brutality of every combat encounter turns into a real life-or-death situation. The moment you're struck by the need to reload and are staring down the barrel of an enemy's gun or an encroaching Clicker about to tear your face off, partner Ellie leaping into action to save the day (of her own accord, all in-game) is something that'll stick with you, and that's discounting the unbelievably powerful moments that pepper certain points in the story too. For that perfect mix of refined gameplay, a totally new take on how to deliver a plot twist, a cut-to-black ending with more balls than 99% of what's on the silver screen and two of the best written characters in years, Naughty Dog's latest is both their and Sony's greatest achievement yet. What other first-party titles would you recommend across the PS3, PSP and PS4? Let us know in the comments, and join the Facebook page for more!
