Orange Observations: The Last of Us Part I

“I struggled for a long time with survivin’. No matter what, you keep findin’ somethin’ to fight for.” -Joel Miller

 

                I’ve always had a tough time deciding my favorite thing given a list of things that I like. There are always things I like about one thing to then only realize how much I like something else in another thing after some thought. That doesn’t just apply to video games. Both Austyn and Bryan can tell you that the number of changes I’ve made to my list of Top 20 Albums of All Time is pretty staggering, with the latest version (as of writing) is v11.0. But I can say, without a doubt, The Last of Us Part I is my favorite game of all time. Well, at least for now until I change it. Indecisiveness is a bitch. Let me first specify that I’m specifically talking about the 2022 remake of the original 2013 game. I played the 2014 remastered version a few years ago and of course fell in love with the game, but the 2022 remake is the much more definitive version for me, as it aligns way better with its sequel, released originally in 2020 and re-released as a remaster in 2024. Developed by the PlayStation staple Naughty Dog (the critically acclaimed studio behind such hits as the Uncharted series, the Crash Bandicoot series and others), this single-player, third-person shooter, action-adventure game focuses on the journey of Joel and Ellie as they venture across the United States in a post-apocalyptic world in search of a cure for the pandemic that ravaged the world. This pandemic was caused by a mutant strain of Ophiocordyceps which has evolved to infect humans to turn them into violent and vicious monsters. It has ravaged the world and turned good people into desperate individuals, almost making them worse than the literal monsters you see in the game. Choices are made, lives are lost, and at the center of it all is Joel and Ellie.

This game was ground-breaking at the time. Naughty Dog has always been masters at cinematic experiences that are filled with lots of emotion and combining it with solid gameplay, but it was with, I think, The Last of Us that really made Naughty Dog the paragons for this kind of game design. Given the fact that there are monsters in this game, it is technically classified as a horror game, and trust me, there are parts in this game that will put you in that place where your hands are shaking, you’re sweating, and you just wish that you didn’t have to go into that dark room knowing that you’ll have to deal with some Clickers. Someone like me who has never liked horror in any capacity has still been able to find a lot of enjoyment in this game, and most of that comes from things like the gameplay and the world, but it mostly comes from Troy Baker’s and Ashley Johnson’s spectacular performances as Joel and Ellie respectively. We’re going to be covering a lot of territory here in this review, so consider this as your official spoiler warning if you’ve never played this masterpiece before. So, get your gas mask on, craft some molotovs and let’s jump straight into this. When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light.

A Desolate World

                It’s September 26th, 2013. It’s just a normal night. Your dad is away at work, and you’ve been trying all day to fix his favorite watch, because it’s broken, and you wanted to do something nice for his birthday. He comes home and you give him the watch, and you fall asleep on the couch after some time with him and the TV. The next thing you know, you wake up in the middle of the night. You wander to the bathroom and notice a newspaper with the headline talking about a spike in hospital admittance due to some mysterious infection. Probably nothing to worry about, right? You walk over to your dad’s bedroom, and you notice he’s gone. The TV is on, and a reporter is talking on the TV about people showing signs of increased aggression when suddenly, an explosion goes off in the distance. You run downstairs to your dad coming through the backyard door being chased by someone running after him. This person breaks through the glass and lunges at you, just as your dad shoots him. Outside, a truck pulls up and it’s your uncle Tommy. You, your dad, and your uncle make your way into town, only to find it in chaos. A car hits you and when you come to, your leg hurts. Your dad picks you up and you try to make your way to anywhere where there aren’t people chasing after you. They look bloody, like they’ve been biting people or something. They’re closing in, getting closer and closer when the people behind you are gunned down by a soldier. Relief washes over you, until you realize that he doesn’t know you’re not sick, he doesn’t know anything. Gunshots go off, and your dad is over you trying to hold back the blood that’s now coming out of you. All that’s left is your dad holding your lifeless body, forever changed.

                That’s the stage that the intro to the game sets. Joel loses his daughter, Sarah, marking the beginning of a cruel and unfair world. It’s now 20 years later in the Summer, and Joel is in Boston, working as a smuggler. Joel’s partner, Tess, comes in saying that the guns that they were owed were instead sold off to the Fireflies, a resistance militia fighting to take down FEDRA. The Federal Disaster Response Agency, serving as the last remnant of the pre-outbreak United States government has established rule in many of the country’s cities that were repurposed as Quarantine Zones (QZs) to keep the infected out and to reestablish some form of pre-outbreak life. Joel and Tess track down Robert, the man who sold their guns to the Fireflies, only to be met with the leader of the Fireflies herself, Marlene. Marlene tells the pair that they’ll get more than what they were owed from the guns if they smuggle something else to a group of Fireflies waiting at the Massachusetts State House. This “something else” turns out to be, of course, Ellie. Joel and Tess are confused as to the importance of this girl, but after escaping the city that night and running into FEDRA agents who capture them and test them for infection, they find out that Ellie was bitten three weeks ago, and she has no signs of symptoms. Ellie’s importance now far outweighs any compensation that they could get from some stupid guns.

                Making it to the State House after encountering several pockets of infected, our trio find no Fireflies at the rendezvous (alive ones, anyway). Tess reveals that she was bitten sometime in their encounters with the infected. She implores Joel to continue their search for the Fireflies, because she realizes Ellie’s importance despite Joel’s desire to cut their losses and go back. Joel and Ellie decide to try and find Tommy, who had once joined up with the Fireflies after the outbreak. They escape, while Tess fends off, as best as she can, the incoming FEDRA soldiers. Joel demands Ellie never speak of Tess again, and they start making their way to Bill, another smuggler who owes Joel a favor, in hopes of getting a car which will make it easier to travel the country to find Tommy. After leaving Bill’s town, Joel and Ellie make their way to Pittsburgh only to be ambushed by a group of hunters (survivors of fallen QZs who steal the supplies, clothes, food, etc. of anyone who makes their way into the hunters’ territory). Making their way through Pittsburgh in hopes of getting out of there, Joel and Ellie run into more hunters equipped with a Humvee who are more capable than the last, when Joel is grabbed by someone he presumes to be another hunter. Joel stops beating on him when Ellie points out a teenage boy pointing his gun at him. Joel and Ellie make peace with these new allies, brothers named Henry and Sam. Henry and Sam accompany Joel and Ellie as they make their way through Pittsburgh, but Henry and Sam abandon Joel and Ellie right as the Humvee catches up with the four of them. Joel and Ellie are overrun, and they are forced into jumping off the Fort Duquesne Bridge into the Allegheny River. Joel and Ellie reunite with Henry and Sam and after a tense meeting, they navigate through the sewers and suburbs to reach a radio station. The group is attacked by hunters and infected but manage to get to the radio station. They all rest up for the night and Joel and Henry are startled by Ellie crashing into the room being attacked by Sam, who has been infected. Joel almost kills Sam, but Henry fires his gun in a moment of instinct, but after Henry realizes what he’s done, he’s overcome with grief and shoots himself despite Joel pleading with Henry to not end his own life.

                It’s now Fall. Joel and Ellie are now in Wyoming just outside Jackson County still searching for Tommy. They find a hydroelectric dam outside of Jackson and are surprised to find Tommy himself with his wife Maria and their whole community. Joel eventually talks to Tommy about Ellie, hoping that Tommy would take her off his hands, as Joel feels that it’s Tommy’s responsibility due to his history with the Fireflies. The dam is attacked, and after Joel is relieved that Ellie is unharmed, Tommy reluctantly agrees to take Ellie to the Fireflies. Ellie runs off to a nearby ranch house and Joel and Tommy follow her. Joel and Ellie argue about the losses they’ve had in their lives and Ellie states that she’s had everyone leave her, except for Joel. She’s feeling angry at him for wanting her to go with Joel, while Joel states that he’s not her dad, and their relationship isn’t like that. After fending off some bandits that raid the ranch house, the trio make their way back to Jackson and Joel reflects on his time with Ellie, realizing that he doesn’t want to leave her. Making a remark that Joel and Ellie will always have a home in Jackson, Tommy informs them that the Fireflies were meant to group at the University of Eastern Colorado, and Joel and Ellie begin to make the journey south to the Centennial State. Unfortunately, UEC is home to nothing more than infected in the dorms and monkeys in the labs. However, Joel discovers a message left behind by a Firefly saying that they’ve relocated to the St. Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. The duo’s next mission is to make the journey out west. Upon leaving the lab, Joel and Ellie are ambushed by some raiders and a scuffle result in Joel breaking through a railing and falling onto some concrete and iron rods which impale him. Stumbling and dizzy, Joel and Ellie make their way back to the horse and make an escape, only for Joel to fall off the horse a while later leaving Ellie to find a way to care for Joel in his injured state all on her own.

                Winter. A challenging time for all, even more so when you’ve been impaled and there isn’t any medicine. While Ellie is out hunting for food, she stumbles upon a deer and manages to kill it, only for it to be found by two strangers named David and James. It’s a tense standoff, and Ellie agrees to trade the deer meat for some medicine to help Joel. David orders James to go back to their settlement to get the medicine, while Ellie and David remain to wait. Infected close in and Ellie and David are tasked with escaping from the area. Once they get clear, David remarks that “everything happens for a reason,” and he tells Ellie that a group of men he sent out to get food were killed by a “crazy man” and a little girl. Realizing he means her and Joel, Ellie manages to get the medicine from the returning James and gets back to Joel to heal his sepsis. Assuming that David and his men will come looking for her and Joel, Ellie leaves Joel in an attempt to draw the incoming people away from Joel. Ellie is eventually captured by David and David tries to reason with Ellie to make her join their group, but Ellie realizes that David and his men are cannibals after seeing James butchering a human corpse. David and James attempt to slaughter Ellie for food, but she reveals that she is infected and manages to escape. Navigating the storm and eliminating David’s men, Ellie makes her way to an old steakhouse and runs into David himself. Meanwhile, the meds that Ellie got for Joel manages to heal him. Realizing that Ellie is gone, Joel sets out to find Ellie. He runs into some of David’s men, and he makes them tell him where to find Ellie by torturing them and killing them. Joel makes his way to the steakhouse, and Ellie fights with David as the building is burning down due to a lamp being thrown causing the window shades to catch fire. Ellie manages to incapacitate David, but he does the same to her. As they both recover, David almost strangles Ellie to death just as Ellie is able to grab David’s discarded machete and hack him to pieces. Joel finds his way inside and the two embrace after Joel stops Ellie from continuing to decimate David.

                Months go by, and it’s now Spring. Joel and Ellie are finally in Salt Lake City. Visibly shaken by the events of the Winter, Ellie seems distant and aloof whenever Joel tries to talk to her or engage with her. The duo can see the hospital in sight, and they make their way across the highway towards it, after observing a herd of giraffes cross over an overgrown baseball field. An underground tunnel separates Joel and Ellie from the hospital, and they make their way through groups of infected to try to get through it. Eventually, a precarious bus serves as a bridge to a platform, but Joel slips and causes the bus to fall into a raging river. Ellie tries to rescue him, but she falls into the water as well and is swept away by the current. Joel grabs Ellie and they make it to the end of the tunnel, only to be found by some people aiming guns at them. Joel is trying to give CPR to Ellie, as she can’t swim, but he is knocked in the head by a guy with a rifle. Joel wakes up in the hospital, only to be greeted by Marlene. Marlene is amazed that Joel and Ellie made it this far across the country when she herself almost lost her whole crew. Joel demands to see Ellie, but Marlene informs him that she’s being prepared for surgery. Joel asks why, and Marlene says that in order for them to develop a vaccine, they’ll need to slice open Ellie’s brain and remove the growth of cordyceps, killing Ellie. Joel is escorted out when he becomes angry and realizes what will happen, but Joel is able to get loose and find the location of the operating room. Fireflies come running, and Joel starts eliminating all the Fireflies he sees. Eventually, he makes his way to the operating room. He threatens the surgeon, and ultimately kills him for getting in his way. He unhooks Ellie from the operating room and starts running with her in his arms to escape. Making his way to the garage of the hospital, Marlene is there to stop him. She tries to reason with Joel, saying that the operation is what Ellie would want, but Joel shoots Marlene and as she pleads with him to let her live, Joel says he won’t, because she’d “just come after her.” On the way back to Jackson, Ellie wakes up wondering what happened and Joel lies to Ellie explaining that there were a lot more immune people like her and that the Fireflies had given up on the vaccine.

                Finally making back to Jackson, Ellie tells Joel that when she was bitten, she wasn’t alone. Her best friend Riley was there, and she got bitten as well. She goes on to mention the deaths of Tess and Sam, but Joel states that their deaths aren’t her responsibility. Joel explains to her that surviving is hard, but you just keep finding reasons to move forward. Ellie then abruptly asks Joel to swear to her that everything he said about the Fireflies not working on a vaccine anymore was true. Joel hesitates, but firmly says, “I swear” to her. With one last look at Ellie, she nods her head and says, “okay.”

 

 

Oh Cool, My Opinion Has Arrived

                Wow. Even after writing all of that, need a breather. That’s a long story! So much to say here. First off, that was a lot of words to read, so props for you for reading all of that. Or, if you know the story already and decided to skip to this part, good for you too I guess for scrolling this far down? I don’t know. This story is a masterpiece. A true story of human behavior, love, loss, and growth. Joel starts out as a pretty cold individual. I think it’s reasonable to assume that people can have the same opinion of Ellie that Joel has in the very beginning. She’s just something that’s in the way of a greater goal. But, as the story goes on, you learn more about Ellie. You learn that she can’t whistle, she’s a pun master, she’s a sci-fi geek, and she cares deeply about the people she knows. She becomes your daughter. Just as soon as you realize that, that’s the same moment you notice the warmness coming out of Joel. Empathy is a really hard thing to pull off in video games. That’s why this game does it so perfectly, since you get into the motions of just being Joel before you and Joel meet Ellie for the first time, and the growth you see as the game progresses really resonates with the player, causing that empathy to grow. Objectively, Joel isn’t a very likeable character in the traditional sense. As NakeyJakey put it in his video entitled, “Naughty Dog’s Game Design is Outdated” where he criticizes The Last of Us Part II, “Joel is a selfish, protective and violent sombitch that will always protect his tribe no matter what.” That, as Mr. Jaquan the Jequel goes on to say, makes him a perfect protagonist for an action-adventure video game like this but it also makes him a compelling anti-hero for this story. You’re feeling left conflicted because a lot of his actions (and I’m talking mostly about THE action at the end of the game) you may or may not have taken yourself if in the same situation. The attachment for Ellie you see grow in Joel over the course of the game molds him into a completely different person at the end of the game compared to the beginning of the game. If Boston Joel had the decision to leave Ellie behind, I’m sure he would have done it and expected to be paid for his work. That same idea can be applied to Salt Lake City Joel, where if he met Ellie for the first time, he probably would have given her a gun and made sure she was safe and all that. That’s Joel.

The other side of the story is Ellie, of course. She grows as much as Joel does, and the bond that the two of them form over the course of the events of the game makes it as real as any relationship you’d have in real life. Ellie’s journey is more highlighted in Left Behind and even more in The Last of Us Part II (which I’ll get to at a later date), but she becomes more capable of herself, and she even starts to exhibit a lot of the same traits as Joel. Her relationship with Joel is forever changed by the lie that Joel tells her at the end of the game, because you can see in her eyes in that final shot that she’s disappointed and sad because she knows the truth and that she can’t really trust Joel anymore, and she just goes along with it. A lot of the characters you meet over the course of the game serve as sort of echoes of Joel and Ellie’s dynamic. Bill is what would happen to Joel if he never allowed himself to have any companionship in either Tess or Ellie, he’d just be a crazy man alone in a deserted town. Henry and Sam have a similar dynamic to Joel and Ellie, because you can see how much Henry cares for Sam and how broken up Joel would be if anything happened to Ellie. To assume that Joel would shoot himself if anything happened to Ellie seems ridiculous, but given the fact that Joel was willing to sacrifice all of humanity for his now surrogate daughter, tells me that she is everything in the universe to him now. Maybe, Ellie is more to Joel than Sarah ever was. That’s what makes the ending so compelling, the question of if Joel did the right thing. There’s no right answer. That’s why this story is genius, that’s why Niel Druckmann is a genius and that’s why this game will stand the test of time.

 

 

Bottles, Bricks, and Candlesticks

                Talking purely about gameplay, this game is a smooth ride for the most part. The gun and shooting mechanics are really difficult at the beginning, but once you explore enough and get enough supplements to upgrade your shooting, it becomes more manageable. It’s just a little annoying to have to really lock in and try your best to simultaneously get a one headshot kill on a Clicker to kill the Clicker fast enough so you don’t die, but also to conserve ammo. Ammo, supplies, and supplements are pretty scarce in this world, especially on higher difficulties. Of course, once you beat the story and have enough points to buy cheats to have unlimited ammo and crafting materials and all that it’s not a problem, but that first run through (and any subsequent runs without cheats) is tough. Hand-to-hand combat is pretty straightforward, as long as you’re not fist-fighting a Clicker or a Bloater. It’s even better once you level up your combat capabilities with the supplements. Exploring the environments are easy enough, but even someone like me who enjoys taking his time and exploring every little corner will still miss a few things. I at the same time like how there are a lot of things to get, but it’s a little annoying that before you get into the groove of where things are and things aren’t, you’ll spend a lot of time in a lot of dark corners looking for things that aren’t there. Whenever I walk past something, I have this nagging feeling that I’m missing something in there. It’s not really a feeling of delight that I get to explore more, it’s more of a chore that I’ll have to go through this house and make sure there’s nothing of value in there. Even if there is something of value, I’d still much prefer to keep progressing the story so that I can see what happens next. Even on subsequent playthroughs, I feel pressured to explore places when I know what’s in there or if I don’t need anything.

A lot of the stress from combat encounters comes from not knowing where things are, but if you can see anyone with the ever-helpful Listen Mode, you’re golden. The only exception are those damn Stalkers. I hate those things. The scariest parts in the game come from those bastards. I feel like a chump for crutching so hard on the Listen Mode, only for it to be essentially useless when you’re against Stalkers. Maybe that’s supposed to be intentional, to shake up your routine and go after those little shits yourself, but I’m scared to go over there! Even with their creepy way of peeking around the corner like they do before scurrying to some other cover like a demon or something. Of course, the other forms of Infected are scary too, like having to get out of the way of a Bloater charging at you so it doesn't rip your eyes out or doing crowd control on some Runners, but nothing scares me more than Stalker encounters.

                Stealth sections (sans Stalkers) are a pretty enjoyable time, as long as you just take it slow and have enough shivs. The crafting UI is a breeze to navigate and super easy to craft what you need. The backpack interface as a whole is a really nice thing to interact with, because it just works. The mark of a good UI is that you never had to think about it. That’s the backpack. Looking for scraps to use them at a workbench to upgrade weapons is a great addition, because combined with upgraded shooting capabilities and upgraded weapons, you’re a pretty unstoppable machine. Fighting non-Infected is different compared to Infected, in that I think it’s much easier. I’m not as creeped out by a dude in a hoodie running at me with Menards’ finest wood as I am with a terrifying mushroom monster. The exception though is that non-Infected have guns, the Infected do not. Getting shot sucks, but as long as you pop a few dudes with headshots and use a medkit or two, then you’re all good.

                 I also want to mention that the immersion of this world is something that’s really special. A lot of the time, I’d be out in the open and look up at the sky thinking what the world is like in another country, like how the rest of the world is handling the pandemic. It felt strange to see a sky and world so calm despite the circumstances of the pandemic. Seeing the overgrown buildings and imagining the world before it all went to shit took up a lot of time for me. I spent a lot of time after beating both The Last of Us Parts I and II looking up the lore and formation of the various factions in the game. There’s just something fascinating to me to learn about where and how it all started. I can’t help myself; I’ve been a lore guy for as long as I can remember. That doesn’t just apply to The Last of Us. Contributing to the immersion of this game, Gustavo Santaolalla’s score for this game is unreal. The theme song is obviously iconic, but even the ambient music you’d get just from wandering around is somehow eerie and comforting at the same time. The big song beats you get like when Sarah dies, when Joel and Ellie are arguing in the ranch house or right at the end as the credits are rolling, makes me realize that the game has a unified theme in the score. The simplicity of the instruments grounds the world and makes it more connected, as if Gustavo composed the score using only instruments that he’d be able to find in a post-apocalyptic, mushroom zombie-filled wasteland.

 

 

Coming Up Next… Complaining Time

                Truthfully, I don’t have much here that I feel that I need to say about the things I don’t like. The story is a masterpiece to me, and I can’t think of anything that I would want to change. Gameplaywise, all the stuff I mentioned before like the gun difficulties in the beginning, my aversion to Stalkers and the nagging feeling I get to explore. Also, the fear that I get from any section in the game like the basement of the Pittsburgh hotel or the Pittsburgh sewers has more to do with me than the game.

 

 

The Verdict

                Ultimately, this is a game that defines a generation. The true masterclass in cinematic, third-person shooters and I think this should be the standard for quality in that genre. A perfect introduction to horror with human stories and morally grey decisions makes The Last of Us Part I one of the greatest games ever made. I’d happily pop this on if I’m ever in the mood to feel something deeply, and to jump back into this immersive world.

 

PROS

+ Too many pros to list

+ Incredible story

+ Solid gameplay

 

CONS

- Gun difficulties at start

- The pressure to explore

Overall Score: 9.5/10

 

-Edward Orange