The moment everything seemed to change; Naughty Dogs greatest work (and possibly the best theyll ever do, as the pressure to re-deliver on a games success is always a hard one, but hey look at Uncharted 2) is one thats still being discussed to this day. Perfectly tying together the best of filmic sensibilities (immersion within a world through exquisite direction, balanced and relatable character-portrayals and some phenomenal acting) with a game that plays perfectly, putting you in some incredibly intense situations surrounded by enemy combatants where you must have your wits about you to survive, The Last of Us came of nowhere and dominated everything. Playing as Joel, a father in a post-apocalyptic wasteland of Boston thats been ravaged by an as-yet unknown virus, humanity has been essentially wiped out with the remaining citizens being rounded up into small camps under military control. Sufficed to say the story is less about throwing as many infected creatures at you as possible and more about that of Joel and Ellie a girl hes asked to take care of on a journey outside the walls of his camp, taking them far away to many other locations. Naturally what emerges when playing all of this out is a beautifully scripted tale of two completely different people very slowly bonding over time, all set against a backdrop of utter bleakness and despair. Its a tale of initial loss and the finding of the last few threads of humanity to hold onto, and if youre yet to play it for some reason, well lets just say the ending has some King Kong-sized balls on it, with a final shot that not even Hollywoods greatest would ever attempt in the way this game does.
