For the first article of this series, I conducted a survey to determine college students’ favorite video games. Afterwards, the most popular answers given were Pokémon, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing. The Last of Us (tLoU) was mentioned three times amongst the fifteen students that were surveyed. While this is not as many times as the first games, The Last of Us continues to stand out amongst the rest. Released on the PlayStation 3 in 2013, it is cited as one of the best video games of all time. This action-adventure video game is also the third best-selling PlayStation game of all time, as of earlier this year. The Last of Us received a remastered version to the PlayStation 4 in 2014.
Why does this game stand out to college students?
The Last of Us begins with a smuggler named Joel, tasked with escorting a teenager named Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. Players must fight, kill, or avoid hostile creatures known as the Infected “using firearms and improvised weapons,” as described on the game’s Wikipedia article. These zombie-like monsters were once human but became hosts to a mutant Cordyceps fungus that eventually decimated civilization. Players mainly control Joel; however, towards the end of The Last of Us, Ellie becomes a playable character. Throughout the story of the game, a strong father-daughter bond between Joel and Ellie is forged. Their relationship was the central focus during the development of the game.
The Last of Us is described as “a stunning achievement in storytelling” and “a must-play, genre-defining survival game” by critics from sources like IGN and Game Informer. Almost half of the college students point out in the survey responses that their favorite video games have “well-developed” or “engaging” stories. Most also state that “good graphics” and “flexible gameplay” influence their opinion on video games. Based on multiple reviews, The Last of Us is shown to have all of these qualities. The positive public response and consistently high ratings of the game displays the game’s success. The Last of Us also won multiple Game of the Year awards from award ceremonies and gaming publications alike.
The Last of Us: Remastered Reviews from OpenCritic
The Last of Us: Remastered Critic Review from IGN
The Last of Us Critic Review from PC Magazine
The Last of Us Critic Review from Game Informer
Additional and Upcoming Content
The Last of Us had been so well-received, a DLC for the base game was released in 2015 called The Last of Us: Left Behind. This downloadable expansion featured Ellie’s perspective on events during and preceding the first game. It was highly reviewed and praised for its depiction of LGBTQ characters, notably Ellie and her best friend, Riley. The DLC won various awards and nominations, much like the base game. Then after years of audience anticipation, a sequel to original game, The Last of Us: Part II, was released in June of 2020. The game originally received a flood negative criticism after gameplay and story content was incompletely leaked. However, following its official release, The Last of Us: Part II became another best-selling PlayStation game. It also holds the record for most Game of the Year rewards to date.
After two years in development, The Last of Us is expected to get a PlayStation 5 remake in the near future. An HBO series is also in the works, announced in March of 2020. Currently, there is no official release date for either of these media titles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maggie Spring
Student Author - Spring 2021
