Warning. The following downloadable content review for The Last Of Us may contain spoilers for the full campaign. If you have not played TLOU yet, continue at your own risk..Actually, no, go and play it you silly goose. It’s amazing.
That’s right warning foreword, a The Last Of Us is an amazing game. In my game of the year columns for 2013, I believe I said it was “the most important game of the generation”. I don’t usually say this, but I’m not wrong. Naughty Dog achieved astounding things in video game storytelling. In Left Behind, Naughty Dog do not revolutionise again, they reaffirm the fact that they are the best in the industry today.
Left Behind tells two stories at the same time. One part fills a gap in the main The Last Of Us story, showing us how Ellie finds medicine for Joel after he is gravely wounded. The other, tells of how Ellie, along with her best friend Riley, get bitten. Both tales not only add to the depth of the post apocalypse by following the cliché American two girls at the mall setting, but also how far Ellie as come since meeting Joel – or how much he has messed her up. The 2-3 hours is paced expertly well, jumping between moments of action and high tension before switching to moments of hilarity and charm. Even when you are not pushing forward through dialogue, clickers or bandits, you can spend a large amount of time just walking around, taking in all the small details that make this world so special.
As the story stops, starts and stops again, as you switch between the parts of Ellie’s life, you also switch between the gameplay styles that you remember The Last Of Us. Throughout the main campaign you spent your time going between lengthy spells of action and character building drama. In the short novella that is Left Behind, Naughty Dogs have achieved the same, but to a more intense effect. The interplay between between the Riley and Ellie is unlike anything in The Last Of Us – or any other game for that matter. As you walk about the mall, messing around, you’ll will feel like a child again. Pure joy in simple actions. I can’t… or won’t say more through fear of ruining the impact of the finale of that story thread. That fact you know what is coming, only makes every moment worse.
Then, when you finish with one heart warming scene, you are thrust into chases with clickers, hunted by bandits and feeling a mixture of awful and awesome at the same time. This time round, the focus is more on pitting the enemy humans against the infected, something which is very fun to play with. Even though the combat, in some moments, feels forced upon the player, it is still a blast to revisit the combat mechanics from the main campaign.
Ellie has always been the main thrust of The Last Of Us. She is the emotional pull and the story catalyst at the same time. Jumping between her two stories, especially without Joel in the picture, lets us see how she hold her own, how much of her has changed and how much as stayed the same.
Left Behind adds barely anything to The Last Of Us. It serves more as a reminder of how good the original game is. Question is…should you pay just over ten pounds for a remember? You should. Despite not doing anything new with the ebb and flow of the original, Left Behind is something beautiful and definitely affecting. You won’t play anything like it anytime soon.
This review is based on a retail copy of The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC developed by Naughty Dog, published by Sony Computer Entertainment.
- Emotional Short Story
- Excellent Gameplay
- If Only There Were More