Why The Last of Us is a Masterpiece of the Interactive Medium
By Gary Alexander Stott
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Back in 2012, at the height of zombie mania, Naughty Dog unveiled a new game, exclusive to PS3. Set amidst the ruins of a post-apocalyptic America, it would tell the story of two survivors as they travelled on a journey, fighting off the victims of a mysterious infection along the way. At the time, I remember feeling absolutely no hype for this game, and that never changed. The zombie craze was winding down, and I felt that Sony had jumped on the bandwagon too late. This game was destined to flop. Having somehow missed the big gameplay reveal at E3, I went so far as to actually predict that it would fail.
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200 Game of the Year awards later, I've still never lived this down. Furthermore, my opinion of The Last of Us has changed radically. I would go so far as to call it my favourite game. But The Last of Us is not simply a great game; in my opinion, it's a masterpiece of the interactive medium. I'm clearly not alone in this view, either.
What, then, makes The Last of Us so compelling? Why should gamers take an interest in this game? Why should non-gamers take an interest? Let me explain... |
If we're going to talk about The Last of Us, we're going to talk about two things, primarily. Narrative, and gameplay.
From a narrative perspective, The Last of Us is perhaps the most grounded story ever told in games. While the premise is generic popular fiction, the focus is entirely on the characters of Joel and Ellie and how they develop over the course of the game. That's not an exaggeration, that is literally the case. The tone, performances and writing are all steeped in maturity. This was the biggest surprise for me, coming into this game. Naughty Dog, who had spent most of their PS3 years working on the larger-than-life Uncharted franchise, had taken an interesting new direction. This felt fresh and original, like we'd never seen it before. Frankly, I'm not sure if we ever have seen it before in gaming, but I hope we'll see more in the future.
From a narrative perspective, The Last of Us is perhaps the most grounded story ever told in games. While the premise is generic popular fiction, the focus is entirely on the characters of Joel and Ellie and how they develop over the course of the game. That's not an exaggeration, that is literally the case. The tone, performances and writing are all steeped in maturity. This was the biggest surprise for me, coming into this game. Naughty Dog, who had spent most of their PS3 years working on the larger-than-life Uncharted franchise, had taken an interesting new direction. This felt fresh and original, like we'd never seen it before. Frankly, I'm not sure if we ever have seen it before in gaming, but I hope we'll see more in the future.
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What's great about The Last of Us' narrative is that it's full of artistic merit. It's certainly not the first game to be written or designed this way, but it just may be the most significant example to date. The ending, in particular, has generated discussion since the game was released. Moreover, the story is full of symbolism. Joel's broken watch, for instance, representing his lost past and the fact that he has never been able to move on. Another character holds a toy robot as he ponders philosophically over the consciousness of zombies. This is the finest, deepest writing yet seen in triple-A gaming. Furthermore, the story takes turns which are expressed through gameplay - a feature unique to the interactive medium. When the game wants us to feel distant and disconnected from a character we have grown close to, it physically shifts our viewpoint to another character. When it wants us to feel conflicted, it forces us to do things we don't want to do. For all of its cinematic presentation, The Last of Us is so compelling because it knows it's a game, and it takes full advantage of the medium.
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And of course, The Last of Us has incredibly well-written characters (both male and female) that are easy to become attached to. Rarely does a gaming narrative manage to achieve such emotional heights as this game does. Within the first 20 minutes, there's a good chance you'll be tearing up. You'll be moved, at the very least.
And if that's not enough to convince you of the strength of the game's writing, how many other games writers have been asked to discuss their work on a talk show usually reserved for literature? How many other games actors have been called back to perform their scenes on stage? This is a whole new phenomenon, and it's exciting to see. |
Now, gameplay.
I've already discussed how interactivity is used at key moments to make us feel something within the narrative, but now it's time to focus on the core gameplay. Combat in The Last of Us is stealth-oriented, but almost inevitably turns sloppy. Ammo is sparse, and things can get brutal all too quickly. What's great about this system is that it really puts the player into the mindset of the character, especially on the higher difficulties. Sneaking around is tense. Head-on combat is messy and violent, and you never feel like you have everything you need to get the job done. Scavenging for supplies becomes as much a necessity for the player as it does for Joel and Ellie. There's a constant feeling of desperation.
I've already discussed how interactivity is used at key moments to make us feel something within the narrative, but now it's time to focus on the core gameplay. Combat in The Last of Us is stealth-oriented, but almost inevitably turns sloppy. Ammo is sparse, and things can get brutal all too quickly. What's great about this system is that it really puts the player into the mindset of the character, especially on the higher difficulties. Sneaking around is tense. Head-on combat is messy and violent, and you never feel like you have everything you need to get the job done. Scavenging for supplies becomes as much a necessity for the player as it does for Joel and Ellie. There's a constant feeling of desperation.
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A former LucasArts employee once famously coined the term 'ludonarrative dissonance' in discussing certain elements of Bioshock. In essence, it refers to a disparity between gameplay and narrative. In Bioshock, the gameplay is about selfishness, where as the narrative is about selflessness. Naughty Dog themselves have been the subject of attention as gamers have discussed the amount of people Nathan Drake kills in the Uncharted franchise, which seems at odds with who he is as a character. The Last of Us is interesting in this regard because its gameplay is believable in relation to its narrative. Joel, having survived 20 years in a post-apocalyptic world, has grown accustomed to performing desperate and often immoral actions in order to stay alive. The gameplay reflects this; he knows what he's doing far better than most of the remaining dregs of humanity. While his final kill count might require some suspension of disbelief, his actions in the gameplay are not at odds with who he is in the narrative.
Thus, both narrative and gameplay in a The Last of Us do interesting things. Rather than feeling like two separate components, they are simply two sides to an artistic whole.
My focus in this article has been on narrative and gameplay, but these aren't the only impressive factors in The Last of Us. Art direction and music are also key elements of the game, and much of its beauty is to be found within their domains. What it comes down to at the end, however, is that there has simply never been a game like this before, and there may not be for some time to come. In the meantime, we owe it to the medium to give The Last of Us as much exposure as possible. The game has well and truly earned it.
My focus in this article has been on narrative and gameplay, but these aren't the only impressive factors in The Last of Us. Art direction and music are also key elements of the game, and much of its beauty is to be found within their domains. What it comes down to at the end, however, is that there has simply never been a game like this before, and there may not be for some time to come. In the meantime, we owe it to the medium to give The Last of Us as much exposure as possible. The game has well and truly earned it.
