1. The Story
If there's one thing I can say about the story it's that it's not new. It's clichéd, rather dull at parts and at some points rather repetitive. There are four main parts of the story though that had me shaking my head in wonderment, the death of Joel's daughter, the death of Henry and Sam, the capture of Ellie by the raiders and the ending. Whilst I found the death of Joel's daughter surprising, especially as she was killed by the military rather than the infected, it was an un-needed part of the story. Why introduce an character if you're suddenly going to kill them off in the next few minutes? Did perhaps George Martin get some of his terrible writing into the script by chance? Is it supposed to shock us perhaps and make us feel some sympathy for Joel? This perhaps would have worked if the game wasn't set 20 years later. It seems as if Naughty Dog wrote the script for the game then realised that they hadn't included any form of introduction or explanation about the infection (still waiting on this) and quickly threw a few things together. It would have made more sense to have his daughter survive only to die a few years or few weeks before he met Ellie rather than make Joel wait two decades. This would have explained at least why he was hesitant to help Ellie at first before warming to her. Joel's daughter though wasn't the worst of the deaths that Naughty Dog threw at us, no no no. Halfway through the game you meet Henry and Sam, two brother trying to flee from the raiders who decide to help you escape as well. Their mistrust is understandable and when they abandon you at the bridge I bore them no ill will. When they save Ellie and Joel from the river and you travel through the tunnels and town with them, you begin to see a bond form between the two groups. Naughty Dog however realises that the story is getting rather stale, and in true Game of Thrones style decides to kill off some characters to keep the audience interested. My anger isn't at the fact that I liked the characters but rather at how cheaply done it was. I've seen it countless times it films and games, albeit through my fingers as I mutter a mantra to calm myself down. The party escapes danger by the skin of their teeth and when they're all heading off to sleep or rest it is revealed that one of the members has been infected or has been bitten. When they all wake up the next morning he's already turned (or he turned during the night) and they have to kill him before the closest person to him or her becomes all hysterical. I've seen it in zombie blockbusters and cheap c-rated movies; it's over-used.
What amazed the most about Ellie's capture wasn't the fact she stumbled into the raiders and they caught her but that the leader knew exactly who she was but still played around with her at first before revealing himself in some grandiose manner. Whilst I did think Joel was dead, this doesn't cover how poorly Naughty Dog introduced the leader of the raiders. There's a stand-off but then the infected attack so they help each other out before he tells her who he really is? Come on, who writes clichéd rubbish like this these days? There were so many better ways the game could have introduced David to us but I guess the developers wanted us to experience game-play through Ellie's eyes for a while so that we'd rush towards them with words of praise claiming how innovative and new their game is. My main issues with the story though is the ending, I get that Joel cares about Ellie in the end and is very protective over her but where on earth does Ellie's suspicion come from. Through-out the game she followed the majority of his order and it was obvious that he trusted her. She was unconscious before the Fireflies popped up and saved them both and she remained so through-out their time in the hospital. Why did she not raise any concern when she woke up? Why did she wait for weeks until they'd returned to Tommy's town to voice her concern? It wasn't even the fact that she asked the question it was more the tone of her voice and the way she was acting as they climbed the cliff. I know people are going to say this is perfect for an ending as it leaves the player to make up their own opinions and views, but personally I find it to be cheap story-telling. Can't think of a way to keep the audience happy? Then don't make an ending, let the audience make their own! There were many other parts of the story that I found rather bland an un-interesting, but these are the 4 that really struck out for me. Granted, the vast majority of you will probably disagree with me and these three points, but I found the story and characters weren't enough to keep me entertained nor did they justify the price I paid for the game. I'm sure Naughty Dog put a lot of effort and work into this game, but I feel they were given good reviews purely because of the hype and because of their success with the Uncharted series. I may have completed the game all the way through and not just thrown it away, but it didn't leave me with that tingling sadness that a few other games have left me with, a tingling sadness that the story was over and I'd never see the characters again. At the end of the day though it wasn't a necessarily bad game on the whole, it was at best rather average. That is apart from the soundtrack, dear lord that was amazing.