The Last of Us

Playing the latest game “The Last of Us” was a draining experience. Before the release of the game, I already know what kind of premises the developer Naughty Dog wanted to tread. I have always appreciated and admired Naughty Dog’s work in the video game industry. They are some of the few who wouldn’t want to compromise quality for mass or repetitive production. So when I first heard that they were working on a new IP (intellectual property) I was excited. However, with more information about their latest game “The Last of Us” coming out, I was kind of worry about the game. Or maybe I should I say I was worried about whether I could handle the game.

While I have no gripe against violent video games, I have never felt like I have the need to play them if I don’t want to. I don’t mind violence on fictional entities like zombies and weird monsters that put mankind in jeopardy. I don’t mind taking actions against real baddies in video games either. However, I do not like to play video games that apply violence on other for the fun factor. That is why I never really got into the whole “Grand Theft Auto”, “Saint Row” or “Manhunt” franchises. I just do not believe that one should just run over other people for fun in video games or hunt someone down for fun in video games just because you could. And with the advance of technology, the degree of violence exhibited in video has become more and more graphic. The splashing of blood from your victims has become more realistic.  Also the ways you could torture or dispose of your victims have become more and more “innovative”.

For “The Last of Us” my issue was not with the violence. Sure there is violence in the game. It is about an apocalyptic world caused by a fungal virus so there are zombie-like mutants running around attacking you. I have no problem dealing with them. But what I felt exhausting about was the story and certain decisions you have to make to proceed with the game. Certainly in the past, we can already make decisions and change the storylines in video games and it was fun and interesting because you feel you are in control of the situation. But with “The Last of Us” sometimes moral decisions are required because you are not in control of the situation, and the decisions are about your own survival in this hostile apocalyptic landscape. I still couldn’t get over that at the beginning, in a tutorial way you have to perform certain action against you will to just move on.  Also the game would not shy away to keep reminding you that it is about survival. That is not just about getting ammos for your weapons and such but about how you could out smart other survivors in its world.

I am not complaining about the gameplay or the story itself, it is just that I was torn during the playthrough because I did not feel relaxing and enjoying the game as much. Sure I pushed forward because I did want to know the story and I must say “The Last of Us” has one of the most well told stories in video games and Naughty Dog did raise the benchmark for story telling in this interactive media.  But the question still remains – do I want to exhaust myself playing this game while for me playing games is a means to relax and enjoy my leisure time? I have never felt that torn about a game before “The Last of Us” and this game actually did it.

I have to congratulate Naughty Dog for putting out such a piece of engaging work, but I personally do not know whether I could go through another game as such. I liked the “Uncharted” series, also by Naughty Dog, and I had huge admiration in what they were trying to achieve. I just do not know if they put out another game similar to “The Last of Us” whether I would want to go through that ordeal again. Surely I am always looking out for great gaming experience, but how much would I like to put myself through one moral decision after another as interactive as those in “The Last of Us” is another question. Maybe I just sound like a cry baby because after all they are just polygons on the TV. But “The Last of Us” did make me look at video games in a different light.

I do want to move on from candy games such as “Final Fantasy” or Mario, but how well I am prepared for such engaging and exhausting experience, I do not know. Maybe I should in the meantime check out the new “Animal Crossing” so that I could wind down by talking to Hambo and other town folks before coming back to another session of “The Last of Us”.