The Last of Us is the swan song. Review

Naughty Dog studio has released an add-on for the game called The Last of Us: Left Behind, which can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store.
The story taking place in this game is divided into 2 narrative lines.

The first is dedicated to the relationship between Ellie and her friend Riley. They didn't see each other for 45 days after Riley ran away from school. And so she returned and the girls went to an abandoned shopping center to have fun and have fun. During the journey, Riley reveals that she joined the Cicadas, to whom Marlene led her, and that today she must go to them forever and go to another city. On this basis, they begin to quarrel and take offense at each other.
Chronologically, these events take place several weeks before the plot of the first chapter of The Last of Us.
Here the player is essentially given the opportunity to live one of the most important days in Ellie's life. There are no weapons or shooting here. Just carefree fun with a friend.

The second one describes the events that happened in game The Last of Us. More precisely, the time period between Joel's injury and the moment when Ellie hunts deer in winter and meets David. Joel was in dire need of medicine and we are given the opportunity to get them while playing as Ellie. At the same time, along the way you encounter many enemies of various types, both infected and people.
In the original game, David mentions that he sent his people out in search of food, and that not all of them returned. Most of them were killed by some crazy guy with a teenage girl. It is in this addition to the game that the most of this confrontation between Joel and Ellie and the cannibals.

Both plots intertwine as you progress, taking the player from one time to another. From a carefree life in a military school into an atmosphere of survival among a huge number of enemies, both human and infected.
Neil Druckman emphasized in one of his interviews that he wanted to play on this contrast. When Ellie at the beginning appears before us as an innocent girl, and after just a month she has to quickly grow up and live in conditions in which not many people manage to stay alive.
It also becomes clear why Ellie becomes so attached to Joel and is ready to sacrifice herself to save him. She has already lost her friend and it hurts her to imagine that another person with whom life brought her together could die and leave her alone.

In the story of Ellie and Riley, we live through many moments that were touched upon in The Last of Us itself. For example, when Ellie and Joel found a slot machine, Ellie said that she heard about a game in which the main character Angel Knives fought an enemy. In Left Behind we see how it really was. That in fact the machine was broken and everything that happened was Ellie’s imagination, and Riley was only voicing a fictitious plot.
And of course the most important moment when Ellie and Riley were bitten by the infected and what happened after that. How the girlfriends accepted this difficult fact that they would soon become infected and what solutions they could take from this.

As for the gameplay, it essentially has not changed. Although an interesting opportunity has been added to collide people and the infected. This makes it much easier to get through some moments of the game while watching them kill each other.
This functionality was supposed to be included in the main game, but there was little time left before release and the studio decided to abandon it completely.

The Last of Us: Left Behind is played quickly, in one breath, and at the same time restores many of the gaps in the plot of the main game. It's nice to meet your favorite characters again and live with them, albeit small, but very important stages their lives.

Music

The music in the game is still incredible. Gustavo Santaolalla wrote additional tracks especially for Left Behind. At some moments you don’t want to press buttons on the gamepad, but simply immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the game, which is created in particular thanks to the atmospheric soundtracks.
Once again the sound of the guitar penetrates to the depths of the soul. The overall harmony of the compositions changed in the chapters with Ellie and Riley, becoming lighter, more naive and subtler. On the one hand, there is a constant feeling of lightness and calmness, but at the same time the expectation of some important events. All this makes you worry and rejoice at the same time.

Video

There aren't many videos based on The Last of Us: Left Behind. But after watching at least one, you immediately want to go to the PlayStation Store and download this add-on to again be in the shoes of the main characters of the game and help them get to their goal.

Original trailer

New trailer version

Walkthrough

For those who do not want to buy Left Behind for some reason, we can advise you to watch the full walkthrough of the game. It takes so much time compared to the main game, but you will see everything that the main characters of the game, especially Ellie, experienced.
You can also watch these videos for those who find it difficult to complete any of the stages of the game.

First part

Game tested on PlayStation 3

Starting an introduction in the case of The Last of Us is quite difficult - you don’t want to use banal phrases and hackneyed expressions like “This is real art!” or “A project that will become a great classic,” but you also need to do something with your own enthusiasm. Still, the developers, using the usual set of tools, were finally able to bring a number of well-known ideas and mechanics to almost perfect implementation. Roughly speaking, we don’t see anything fundamentally new here - cinematic production, exciting action, excellent characters and a gorgeously detailed world. We have encountered all this in one form or another more than once or five times. Another thing is that such a high level of execution and organic combination of different aspects are no more common than snow on the equator; in this generation of consoles, we can only remember BioShock Infinite and Batman: Arkham City.

But the most important thing is that Naughty Dog managed to demonstrate a self-contained story without compromising the gameplay: the narrative is closely intertwined with the gameplay in a single seamless fabric. It’s also worth noting that after The Last of Us, it is absolutely impossible to take other performance games seriously - for example, The Walking Dead or Heavy Rain, in which there is too little of the actual game itself.

⇡ Another story about zombies

A mushroom zombie apocalypse has occurred in the world of The Last of Us: due to particularly harmful spores, people began to turn into rather unpleasant monsters. At the first stage of mutation, humanoids are somewhat reminiscent of the undead from the films “28 Days Later” and “Dawn of the Dead” - they are stupid, but they run quickly and bite fatally. In particularly advanced cases, they lose the remnants of their human appearance along with their vision and become covered with ugly growths. The epidemic, of course, has acquired global features, and the remnants of survivors huddle in quarantine zones and other relatively safe places in the ruins of civilization. Elsewhere there is official power; Along with them there is also the rebel organization “Cicadas” ( This is how localizers translated fireflies. — approx. ed. ).

Two decades after the end of the world, Joel and Tes, smugglers from Boston, receive an unusual task - to deliver a 14-year-old girl, Ellie, to the cicadas. As it turns out later, the teenager has a rare (perhaps even unique) immunity to fungal spores. From a plot point of view, the game - for obvious reasons - is similar to the films "The Road" and "Children of Men": this is also a story with a three-act structure about a long and dangerous path through a destroyed world. However, someone here may also see analogies with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and with “Journey to the West” itself.

With all this, the sequence of events in The Last of Us itself plays a secondary role, and the few scenario twists in a linear story are, in general, predictable. Except perhaps for the finale - but more on that below. Much more important here is the presentation itself, the dialogues and the characters. Joel, Ellie and their periodic companions behave as naturally as one can imagine in such conditions. All of them are absolutely cinematic (or TV series) characters with adequately described motivations, backgrounds and behavioral characteristics; Games such detail and authenticity are not typical, except perhaps for representatives of the role-playing genre.

Particular emphasis is placed on the relationships between the protagonists. The stern and practical Joel, who has his own personal long-standing drama, before our eyes becomes a caring father for the girl, ready to make any sacrifice for her. And if the development of his personal qualities follows a fairly obvious route, then watching a teenage girl is much more interesting - thanks to her sincerity, unpredictability and childish curiosity, the player himself will soon be able to feel affection for his companion. To others important aspect it turns out that the partner Ellie is also practical, just like Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite, at the right moment can literally save Joel’s skin: for example, he distracts enemies with noise, shoots accurately and skillfully handles a knife.

The formula is simple, but damn effective: a charming character who provides real help in difficult situations. And how can one not succumb to empathy?

The only major issue with the story part is the lack of any interactivity in the story. No, of course, no one is demanding that The Last of Us pretend to be The Walking Dead with all the noticeable conventions of the latter, but offering at least some illusion of choice in certain episodes (in the same ending, after all) is something Naughty Dog could well do do. There is some kind of fundamental mistake here - games differ from films in that they allow the implementation of a non-linear mode of action; give the player the opportunity to influence the development of events not only by accurate shooting, but also by conscious decisions.

Therefore, the final chapter may disappoint some. The epilogue within the entire story is generally logical and corresponds to the laws of the genre, but perhaps the player would have acted in the place of the hero otherwise? It’s as if we are presented with a complex moral dilemma, and then the scriptwriters make a controversial choice for us - in games we still want more imaginary freedom of action.

⇡ War of the Survivors

The Last of Us is somewhat reminiscent of a deliberately slow Uncharted - the same periodic shooting from behind cover, adjusted for the high vulnerability of the hero and some enemies, the same exploration of locations and excellent stealth (if not the best, then at least the most reliable in recent years ).

No one forces you to go through levels exclusively secretly or, conversely, to engage in open battle - in this regard, the game provides such a valuable choice and the opportunity to independently manage limited resources. Yes - cartridges are always in short supply here (although there are plenty of types of weapons); bits, sticks and pipes tend to quickly wear out from flattening the heads of enemies; health is not automatically restored, and a tired hand trembles treacherously when shooting.

At the same time, it’s still impossible not to enjoy the shootings - unlike Uncharted or Gears of War with their “arcade” rules, TLoU has truly complex and realistic action. From a direct hit, Joel falls and slowly rises within a couple of seconds, leaving himself vulnerable to repeated shots; there is blood, severed limbs - in general, a completely natural model of damage for all participants in battles. At the same time, people are not awarded superpowers to jump over five-meter chasms and remain invulnerable while running from cover to cover - everything here is leisurely and natural, and you can die at the hands of any enemy.

The level layout itself allows you to think through your tactics - even after starting a noisy massacre, the hero can always try to hide and then strangle the enemies prowling the corridors. Hand-to-hand combat and stealth assassinations are, of course, heavily scripted, but there are so many programming options that each skirmish feels unique. In addition, context also plays a role - Joel can finish off some bandit, say, by hitting him on a doorframe or bedside table.

In stealth, gaming conventions are minimized, although the characters were awarded supersensitive hearing (which, in addition, can also be upgraded). When you press one of the “Shift” buttons, you can literally see the sources of noise through the walls - stomping bandits or hobbling zombies. The enemy can be distracted by throwing a brick or bottle, and then killed from behind; the main thing is that his friends don’t notice anything. With zombies it’s a little more difficult, since one type of infected sees everything perfectly, the other hears the slightest rustle. Some levels are almost like puzzles - you need to get to the far door, choosing the safest route and killing only when necessary.

You might think that there are not many types of enemies here - only two and a half types of zombies (“fat men” appear as bosses only a few times throughout the game) and variously armed gopniks. But in fact, this is more than enough - situations are constantly changing, and enemies with a pistol or sniper rifle provide a fundamental difference in terms of passing tactics.

The only complaint is about artificial intelligence. To be honest, since Uncharted 3, Naughty Dog's AI has somehow given up; Perhaps the matter is in the adequate behavior of Ellie, on whom the “mental” resources of the PS3 are spent. The enemies run along strange trajectories, constantly exposing their backs, and do not know how to use their numerical advantage, completely idiotically dying in a group in one doorway. The partner, however, also “fires” stealth, running on her haunches right in front of the guards’ noses, but here the developers have simplified everyone’s life and made the girl almost invisible: after all, non-player characters should really not interfere in the first place.

And finally, research. Firstly, the levels are beautifully stylized, you want to look closely at them: interior details, empty streets, crooked floors of collapsed skyscrapers, rural wastelands. Secondly, there are spare parts lying around somewhere to improve weapons and backpack, as well as enhance the character’s abilities. All this should not be ignored - it is vitally important that you always have a larger arsenal at hand, and that the character himself holds the gun more tightly and does not miss due to recoil.

Multiplayer continues the ideas of the single player game. The user is offered one of the parties to the local conflict - “cicadas” or bandits; factions sort things out in two team match modes (with and without revival after death). In total, you need to hold out for 12 weeks - that is, 12 battles, during which the size of the gang increases. Upgrades and modifications have been carried over from the campaign; It is also possible to connect friends from Facebook - in general, a good (but no more) dessert for the plot part.

⇡ The last one

The Last of Us is already being compared to BioShock Infinite - after all, these are the two strongest games recent years, and in both, the personality of the partner plays an important role. Ken Levine's creation probably makes a stronger impression - a story about a city in the clouds should inherently surprise, and its ending completely takes the gray matter out of your head. The Last of Us, on the other hand, relies on realism and the almost everyday aspects of the characters' survival - Naughty Dog plays on other emotions and provides, in fact, a slightly different kind of special pleasure.

But TLoU can be safely recommended to all people who, for some reason, are indifferent to video games, but love, say, films and TV series. This is an excellent entry point into a new world of entertainment - curiosity and observation of the plot will definitely develop into a desire to play all this.

In addition, this is an excellent reason to buy a PlayStation 3, if you haven’t already done so - at the end of the generation, prices are no longer high, and such an indecent amount of cool games have been released that you can only regret the transience of time: for some reason there are only 24 hours. And The Last of Us is one of the main pearls among other outstanding projects of the last six or seven years.

Advantages:

• a great combination of stealth and action;
• a story worthy of a great movie or TV series;
• seamless integration of gameplay into the narrative;
• realistic animation and facial expressions of characters;
• chic design of a dying world;
• characters that are interesting to watch;
• Ellie's behavior.

Flaws:

• imperfect artificial intelligence.

Graphic arts	The most beautiful game on PS3: the best character design in the genre (especially in motion) and a meticulously assembled world.	10
Sound	Unobtrusive orchestral compositions and excellent scoring; The Russian dubbing, by the way, didn’t disappoint either.	10
Single player game	An unprecedented length for modern action films - about 15 hours of a great story about people and everything that happens to us in difficult situations.	10
Group game	Two competitive modes - a local variation of the team death match. Apparently, something else will be added in future DLC.	8
General impression	Just look at the rating on the right.	10

In this section of our website we have collected all the main characters of The Last of Us.
Joel and Ellie are present here - the main characters of the game.
Next comes, one might say, family and loved ones. This is Sarah, Tommy and Tess.
Then Joel and Ellie's travel companions across the game's expanses. Here you will find Bill, who helped me get a car. Maria, who turned out to be Tommy's wife. Henry and Sam, together with whom our heroes were able to get out of the city and go on a further search for the Cicadas.
And of course antiheroes. Marlene, David and Robert are here.

Having completed the game for the first time, it is impossible to notice all the subtleties of the script and reveal all the facets of the characters. With each new playthrough, the player makes new discoveries, notices something he has not seen before.
But not everything can be seen with your own eyes. There are subtleties that are revealed to us only thanks to the explanations of the game developers. Therefore, reading the characteristics of the characters will be interesting both for those who have not yet completed the game and want to learn something about its heroes, and for those who want to expand their knowledge about the game and reveal previously unknown plot twists.

Here you will not find a detailed retelling of the events of the game; this information is already abundant on the Internet. Our descriptions contain the most interesting, basic information. Moreover, it is supported by screenshots from the game, art works and photographs of actors and actresses.

Naughty Dog , under the aegis ofSony , PlayStation 3 produces games of exceptional quality throughout its lifecycle. The fact is thatwill continue the tradition, no one seems to have doubted. But that everything will work out So...no, we didn't expect that.

You can disagree with Darwin's theory of evolution, you can find flaws in it, look for counterarguments, but completely deny the influence natural selection our existence is unreasonable. This life is not at all like a piece of sugar held out in the palm of your hand. Every moment of happiness has to be fought for. Every step leading to a dream needs to be climbed, like Mount Everest. Not everyone can pass Jacob's ladder, which symbolically connects Earth and Heaven. Joel , main character game, by the will of fate stands at its very bottom. Where you wouldn’t want your enemy to be: among the ruins of civilization, desperate people and cave instincts unleashed.

The first fifteen minutes of the game. But it’s better, of course, to see them live.

We first see Joel with his family, on his birthday, in front of the TV, in a rare moment of relaxation. " You're never home, but you're still the best dad in the world. How do you do it?"- written in the greeting card. An ordinary person, an ordinary father - who was unlucky. Like all other ordinary fathers. The end of the world made him tougher, more straightforward and indifferent to others. Will he find peace again? To see this, you will have to go through his entire journey with him.

1:4. “Clan goes, and clan comes, but the land remains forever.”

In the world of The Last of Us, all survivors remember that fateful day when the first infected people swept through the streets in a maddening wave. The developers tried to ensure that this event was deposited in the player’s subcortex, hiding as a dark shadow among the memories. In its aggressiveness, suddenness and pressure, the beginning of the “end” is not inferior in form and quality of presentation to older examples from cinema and literature. "Dawn of the Dead" Zack Snyder , "Mobile" Stephen King , "World War Z" Max Brooks , "I'm a legend" Francis Lawrence ... Now a game version of the collapse of civilization has appeared, which can be placed on the same shelf with them, and those who come after will have to keep “alignment with...”.

Locations, characters, dialogues, gameplay... let's not be afraid of this word - they are fascinating.

What awaits this torn world twenty years later? How do the survivors live? What do they fight for and what do they dream about? IN " Some of us“(under this name the game was released in the CIS) there are no answers to global questions, as, indeed, there are no questions themselves. Only history, personal and human. It is simple in terms of motivation, but complex in its essence.

This Long Walk begins rather sluggishly for Joel, now a seasoned smuggler. The first plot twists are easy to predict, but once Joel is left alone with Ellie , a girl whom he, by chance, has to protect, as history begins to expand along with the world. By the end, the player has vast experience and memories of a variety of things and places: from cramped corridors to horseback riding through the forests of America. Every corner of the world is thoroughly drawn. The crackling of branches underfoot, timid animals, insects running away from the circle of flashlight light... Inexorable nature is taking its toll. Her green hands take away empty houses and roads from confused humanity. And only the quarantine zones still seem inhabited - disgusting, dirty, similar to the caves of primitive people.

2:17. “I began to hate life; everything under the sun seemed evil to me. Everything is empty, everything is a pursuit of the wind.”

6:12. “Who knows what is best for a person in the days of his empty life, sliding like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?”

And the characters are real, living people without a shadow of heroism, outside the conventions of the genre, outside the established types. Everyone we meet brings their own experiences to the story. Everyone has their own Road. And it is not at all a fact that they will all reach the end.

Even ordinary dummy soldiers, guards of order in the quarantine zone, come to life if you get closer. The first time you do it, you'll get a butt bump and a warning to keep your distance. In the second - a bullet to the head.

From the very beginning they make it clear to us that the jokes were left in another episode, along with Nathan Drake. Excellent technical implementation makes what is happening even more real. The bar in depicting the world and characters has been raised so high that the next generation of games will have a hard time. All that remains is to find fault with the little things. Why doesn't Ellie cover her face with her hand when the flashlight is pointed at her? Why doesn't Joel shiver or cough after swimming in ice water?

THIS IS ALREADY A TRADITION: The localization of games in our country is increasingly raising questions. The Last of Us is not without substitution of concepts, technical flaws and other annoying little things. The translation turned out to be quite free, but in some places the original message is lost. The Fireflies, a political resistance group, became the Cicadas, and the motto, “In the Dark, Walk to the Light,” changed to “In the Silence, Follow the Voice.” And Ellie, who saw live fireflies for the first time, is forced to call them cicadas. Some phrases are translated out of context. For example, Joel, while climbing on a horse, says to Ellie, “Run,” instead of “move.” Add to this the diary texts that break off mid-sentence and a strange bug due to which characters speaking Russian stop opening their mouths...

Take the children away!

The game's story is divided into seasons: summer, autumn, winter and spring. And if for the aged Joel this is really the path to spring and some kind of spiritual rebirth, then for young Ellie the path is rather the opposite. The cruelty of a collapsed civilization will forever change her attitude towards life. There is no place in this world for the joys of childhood. The open, almost carefree perception of the girl is eventually replaced by embittered determination, detachment, a cold gaze and the need to survive on an equal basis with adults.

7:20. “There is no righteous person on earth who does only good and sins not at all.”

Violence in The Last of Us is disgusting but subtle, almost theatrical. It's not as provocative as in the movies Dario Argento , not as hypnotizing as "Cigarette Burn" John Carpenter , but not the usual enticing sign, like in the series or now half-forgotten. The cruelty in the game is frightening primarily because of its documentary nature. This is especially true for character death scenes. Rest assured, in The Last of Us dying is almost physically unpleasant, to the point of shaking in the knees. And although the death scenes end at the most repulsive moments, sometimes you have to put the gamepad down and take a “smoke break” to collect your thoughts.

4:2. "I realized that the better who have already died than to those who are still alive."	4:3. “And it is best for him who has not yet been born and has not seen the evil deeds that are happening under the sun.”

The fight against infected people and simple thugs becomes depressing and routine. Joel is by no means a righteous man, and when choosing between murder and a peaceful solution to the conflict, he will choose the first. Because in the world created by Naughty Dog, this is the optimal and most effective method. Kill or be killed - there is no third option. This behavior is more than justified and is even supported by animal passion, akin to the courage that was felt in the actions of the hero of the film “Oldboy” or the nameless man in “The Man from Nowhere”. Each blow is perceived as an act of justice, as a way to put a maddened world in its place. And if you think that the story of The Last of Us along with the heroes will make you any better than you were before, you are deeply mistaken. Here in cruelty there is neither heroism nor high goal. She just is.

Survive!

The debut gameplay video created a real sensation. After it, I went deep underground, pulled out the Ethernet cable and turned off the phone so as not to hear or see anything related to the game until the release. Even then it was clear that unnecessary information would either weaken the experience of the game or unreasonably raise expectations.

As it turns out, the shares of shooter, stealth and survival are approximately comparable here. Only less attention has been paid to pre-planning and saving supplies than we would like. On normal difficulty and with reasonable use, pistol cartridges first run out only towards the end of the game, and this is because opponents are armed with more powerful guns and there is simply nowhere to get bullets for an old pistol. In terms of the need to save ammunition, Ubisoft is much stricter.

Live by gathering

3:18. “And I said to myself: as for people, God tests them to show them that they are animals.”

In difficult situations, you can make a first aid kit, a Molotov cocktail and bombs from scraps at hand, one throw of which can put a spectacular end to a shootout. Be sure to pick up everything that comes to hand; sooner or later, every scrap of fabric will be used. Sometimes these rags, belts and alcohol are even more in short supply than cartridges.

We'll have to hunt for weapon parts, too. medicinal herbs and drugs. The former are needed to improve the characteristics of the weapon, the latter will be useful for Joel to develop his hidden capabilities. Both are sorely lacking. The most useful thing a player can do is to make a holster for a second pistol and a long-barreled weapon, so that in the midst of battle they do not throw their backpack on the floor in search of an urgently needed shotgun. And in the development branch, the skill of wielding melee weapons and increasing the maximum health reserve will come in handy. Everything else will come later, because you still won’t be able to do more in one playthrough. Upgrading and modifying weapons in The Last of Us moves at a snail's pace, so you have to choose carefully.

3:19. “The same thing happens to people as to animals: both die, and both have the same breath, and man is no better than animals, for everything is empty.”

All opponents react exclusively to Joel's actions. And this is, perhaps, the main stick in the wheels that prevents us from perceiving the local stealth at the proper level. Imagine that there are three other people with you. You sneak past the infected, trying to avoid sudden movements, and at that moment the elephantine stomp of your comrades is heard behind you. It would seem that it’s time to throw up your weapons and prepare for the inevitable clash. But no. But as soon as you speed up your pace a little, the surroundings will tremble with the wild screams of hungry creatures and the flock will rush at you.

The same applies to running between covers. One day I decided to go around from the rear of two marauders standing in the doorway. He climbed out the window, crept up from behind... and then Ellie jumped right between them on all fours. Panic?! Screams?! Shots?! Nothing like this. The whistle of a flying Molotov cocktail, the death throes and again - silence.

On the other hand, ask yourself whether you need restrictions imposed by behavior artificial intelligence? Ask your teammates to stay in one room while you clear another? Hardly. All efforts to develop the atmosphere would have gone down the drain. Fortunately, the embarrassments described above do not happen often, and at least you feel that everything is under control. Everything is in the hands of the player.

IT IS IMPORTANT: Playing The Last of Us with extraneous sounds is like trying to sleep while listening to a mosquito squeak. Until you eliminate all annoying sources of noise, you cannot concentrate. So you have to batten down the windows, draw the curtains and, if desired, cover the walls with soundproofing mats. The sound in the game is amazing. Silence will eventually become your main companion. While sneaking, Joel can listen to his surroundings, and if there are enemies nearby, they will light up. This way you can easily scan rooms behind walls and corridors around corners. It has almost no effect on the atmosphere, but it gives a colossal advantage over the enemy.

Mutants behave most appropriately. There are only a few types of them (they differ in appearance), but each has its own function, each requires a special approach. Screaming, rushing in crowds, not knowing the fear of weapons, they will bite you to death in a few seconds, and there will be almost no chance of escaping from their clutches. Some even kill instantly, you just need to be at arm's length from them. Natural animals.

People copy this behavior to some extent. If you inadvertently catch the eye or unsuccessfully attack a lone enemy, all his comrades within earshot will come running like cunning jackals and encircle you. And then a thoughtful positional action game begins. Falling into the trap of a savage waiting around the corner, as shown in the gameplay video a year ago, is a piece of cake. Meanwhile, Ellie helps in every possible way: she shouts “Joel, on the right!” when a thug with an ax in his hands rushes at you, throws bricks at opponents and, if something happens, can even plunge a knife into the throat of the enemy who grabbed you.

But the move of taking a hostage works on the principle of a human shield, and nothing more. The marauders simply stop shooting and circle around you like vultures. In I Am Alive, a similar technique was of a diplomatic nature; in The Last of Us, it is just a way to extend one’s life in a firefight.

5:10. “If they fall, one will lift the other. What if he falls alone and there’s no one to pick him up?”	5:12. “And if someone overcomes one, two will be able to resist, and the triple thread will not break soon.”

In contrast, in The Last of Us there is no obvious bias towards one or another style of play. Everyone is their own director, and there cannot be a favorite style here. Either you lure out enemies one by one, go around from behind, stick a knife in the neck, then you hide behind cover, run from room to room, dodging Molotov cocktails, and shoot from a rifle, keeping an eye on your ammunition. And then, when the cartridges run out, you hide, bandage your wounds, pick up a pipe with a blade glued to the end and go out into desperate hand-to-hand combat.

The entire mechanics of collisions rests on the competent alternation of stealth mode and combat. In The Last of Us during your life really have to fight. Sometimes - throwing his chest at the embrasure in despair, sometimes - throwing empty bottles at his opponents in order to gain at least a few seconds of respite.

At the same time, the camera, which is often the subject of complaints in games, works impeccably. The skirmishes behind your back will seem cinematic to the viewer, but you will know that all this is far from a movie.

9:4. “But all living people have hope: a living dog is better than a dead lion!”

The Last of Us always stays connected to the player. And even in the intervals between battles he does not lose this thread. The characters are constantly talking to each other, every moment of your life in this post-apocalyptic, harsh world will be remembered for something. If someone before the start of the game said: “Motor!” - that cherished “Cut” would have sounded only during the final credits.

Unite!

[] The devil is not as terrible as he is painted. Even players who are far from online battles will certainly try out multiplayer.[]

There are games, like or, whose existence is justified by multiplayer alone. But there's not much you can say about The Last of Us' multiplayer.

The online mode of The Last of Us largely copies the online battles from, only with an even smaller set of modes and innovations tailored to the surroundings. It should be considered more as an independent and not entirely necessary appendage, rather than as a full-fledged element of the mechanism. This is exciting, good entertainment that works on the classic principles of online shooters.

Of greatest interest is the “Survival” mode, in which killed players are revived only in a new round. No timed revivals - only two teams and tough positional competition up to four wins. Due to the absence of the Playstation Store in the European segment, this is a very good alternative. Among the innovations, we can note boxes with resources located at key points, from which Molotov cocktails, first aid kits and other useful items are made right on the battlefield. Here we can draw analogies with the well-known “capture the flag”, only here, by visiting important points, you only get a material advantage.

1:9. “What has been is what will be...”	1:9. “...what happened will happen, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

The idea of ​​creating and caring for your own community could be the most important element of an online game if it weren't so casual. Your “Clan” is a set of blue dots floating in a circle, corresponding to the number of people in the group, and constant messages that the ephemeral Mia Martin is collecting wood for the fire, and William Vaughn is skinning a raccoon. If you connect to your Facebook account, your friends will be collecting firewood and skinning a raccoon.

There are a huge number of characters in the universe of The Last of Us, some of them are intermediate, others are the focus of all attention. The most important personalities are written in this article with short biography. The material is recommended for familiarization to all fans of the game.

Central hero

Among The characters In Last of Us, the most significant role is given to Joel. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, this man tried his best to earn money and raise his daughter Sarah. During the first escape mission, the daughter is killed and the father fails to save her. This mental trauma greatly affected him. The hero began to live on the reservation, making money by smuggling items. His character is dominated by cruelty. He began to survive and look for benefits for himself everywhere; moral issues for Joel faded into the background. That is until he is given an order to transport a girl named Ellie. A powerful emotional connection is formed between them, which develops along with the plot story. During the games, users will fully get to know the man from all sides; the developers tried to reveal him as much as possible.

Cute girl

In 2019, a second heroine named Ellie was born, she is Joel's companion in the main game The Last of Us. The characters in this universe have experienced a lot, and even a young fourteen-year-old girl has had her share of misfortune. She was the only one who was found to be immune to a disease called cordyceps cerebral infection, which left humanity on the brink of destruction. Her mother Anna died, the girl was sent to be raised by Marlene. Life turned out differently, and Ellie only met her future teacher after she was thirteen. The game's add-ons and flashbacks show events related to Ellie's friend Riley, as well as an introduction to the Cicada organization. The girl is not devoid of kindness, but she managed to survive emotional turmoil and upbringing in a military school. The heroine always tries to find in environment something beautiful. At the same time, she has a harsh perception of people’s actions, and she is characterized by realism. In one of the add-ons, Ellie becomes a playable character.

Family bonds

Among the characters in The Last of Us, Tommy's younger brother plays an important role. He lived in the same city with Joel. During the infection, they tried to escape; Tommy managed to shoot a soldier while attacking his brother and Sarah. The niece could not be saved, and therefore the relatives survived alone. They reached Boston, but the man began to have nightmares. The brothers went through a lot in the process of survival, they emotional condition has deteriorated greatly. Joel tried to support him, but he decided to listen to Marlene and join the Cicadas. Tommy's expectations were not met, and he left the organization. He could no longer stay in Boston; after a quarrel with Joel, Tommy heads to Wyoming. The man remains in Jackson County and joins the local community. Together, they develop a life at an abandoned hydroelectric power station. Tommy marries Maria and begins a quiet life. In 2033, the brothers meet again in the story. They have forgiven past grievances, and Tommy agrees to help Joel in his mission.

Important partnership

After settling in on the Boston reservation, Joel meets Tess. IN passing The In Last of Us, especially in the first missions, women will play an important role. The woman is 35 years old and has a tough character. Tess has been doing business in the criminal world for quite some time. Thanks to her connections, she manages to stay afloat and engage in smuggling. Joel is perfect for her as a partner, because he plays the role of a rude male power, taking advantage of women's contracts. The couple's first teamwork is shown at the moment of collecting a debt from Robert. The dealer decided to kill Tess, but instead the guys kill his guards and get to him. After this, the main storyline begins to develop, Marlene appears and offers to deliver the goods. They are Ellie, a girl with immunity from worldwide infection. Tess decides to help her friend, and Joel, after convincing his partner, takes the girl to the Capitol building. Representatives of the Cicadas were supposed to pick her up there, but everything happened differently. According to the plot, Tess will meet again when approaching the initial goal.

Leader of the Cicadas

In The Last of Us 2, some characters should be familiar to players, but the developers are keeping this secret until the official release. It is certain that the main antagonist named Marlin will not appear in the sequel. The woman heads the organization "Cicadas", which is trying to fight against the totalitarian regime on human reservations. She is a leader, but not very successful. The moments with ordering weapons from Robert, as well as depression after the death of Ellie’s interception group in the Capitol, cast doubt on the choice of the head of the organization. Marlene used to be involved with Tommy, but Joel's brother lost trust in her. Despite her shortcomings, she kept her promise to Anna and tried to take care of Ellie with all her might. The girl showed loyalty to the teacher when she tried to protect her from Joel and Tess with a knife in her hands. According to the plot, Marlin meets the main protagonist at the very end. It is then that a dramatic confrontation ensues, in which the fate of the controversial leader of the Cicadas is decided.

Other antagonists

It is worth noting that The Last of Us places high demands on the player. It is difficult to survive in a confrontation with other armed people and infected people. This is confirmed by the moment with the addition, when David and James meet Ellie. The first is the leader of the cannibal community. They hunt people and use their meat to satisfy their own hunger. Joel and his partner had a clash with them at the university, and Ellie will have to fight once again when the main protagonist of the game is wounded. She was looking for antibiotics and encountered men. Another on-screen antagonist is Ethan. The Cicada soldier appears towards the end in the flood scene. Then he ordered to raise his hands, but Joel dared to disobey, for which he was stunned by the butt. Ethan appears in the last scene in the hospital. He shows himself to be a cruel man, ready to do anything to carry out Marlene's orders. The character does not disdain threats of various kinds and loves to demonstrate his superiority.

Other personalities

The Russian voice acting of characters in The Last of Us is done at the highest level, and this can be heard in the example of Bill. This man lives in Lincoln with constant paranoia and mental illness. He was Joel and Tess's smuggling partner. His clear advantage is his high technological skills. He is able to repair a device that has long been out of order. The main characters come to him in Lincoln, but he is not happy to meet him. They disrupted his calm pace of life and brought with them a crowd of infected creatures, and therefore his reaction was as aggressive as possible. In the universe of The Last of Us, the characters in the game are not clearly good or evil. They all have their own motivation. For example, Sam is still too young to understand all the difficulties of surviving in the vastness of the infected world. He and his brother Henry move to the Cicada group in the west to join the organization. Sam managed to make friends with Ellie. He and his brother spent some time in the company of Joel and his companion.

Girls in the story

Many players are interested in The Last of Us on PC system requirements. You don’t have to look for them, because the project was released exclusively for the PS 3 console and was later transferred to PS 4. Personal computers remained deprived of attention. In the plot of the game, it should be noted that Sarah is Joel’s only daughter. She appeared only in the prologue, but greatly influenced the future life of the protagonist. The child was positive, kind and open. She demonstrated self-confidence and love for her father. Another girl named Maria also plays a role in the plot. She is Tommy's wife, and Joel meets her after arriving at the abandoned hydroelectric power station. She used to help her father manage the settlement. Maria is a strong-willed woman with her own way of looking at things. She does not hesitate to express her objections to her husband and opposes his decisions. Maria is trained to survive in the new world and instantly attracts attention.