The Last Of Us Episode 1 Review - 9 Ups & 1 Down

1. Down - An overwhelming experience for new viewers

the last of us hbo
HBO

HBO's unbelievable dedication to Naughty Dog's source material was a nostalgia tinged experience for diehard fans of the video game. With that being said, uninitiated viewers could be forgiven for feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of new names and concepts being thrust at them.

While fans of the games will be intimately familiar with who the anarchistic Fireflies and the oppressive FEDRA are in Neil Druckmann's universe, many new audience members were likely left scratching their heads just trying to figure out how to spell "cordyceps".

That's not to say that events were too fast paced for the plot to sufficiently sink in, but even with the episode's extended runtime, taking in every minute aspect of such an expansive universe posed a difficult task for anybody unfamiliar with the plot.

It could also be argued that much of the stunning visual language that Druckmann and Mazin invested huge amounts of effort in - more on that later - sailed over the heads of audience members who haven't played the games.

Whilst die hard fans of the franchise were likely hopping with excitement as several sequences unfolded in a shot-for-shot depiction of the original, the significance and impact of these loving callbacks was likely wasted upon large swathes of the new audience.

The Last Of Us: You'll Never 100% This Quiz

The Last of Us Joel Ellie
Naughty Dog

1. How Many Years After The Outbreak Does The Main Game Take Place?

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Law graduate with a newly rediscovered passion for writing, mad about film, television, gaming and MMA. Can usually be found having some delightful manner of violence being inflicted upon him or playing with his golden retriever.