So Comic Con is over, and Dubai’s nerds, geeks, fanboys and even some celebrities of cartoon and comic land were all there. But this isn’t about all that; it’s about the demo of the Playstation exclusive, The Last of Us. I played it. With my hands. And eyes. And it rocked!
Now it had an unfinished look to it, which is to be expected for a demo. Honestly, the gameplay took me a while to get used to and the vertical and horizontal settings were a little odd. Once you adjust horizontal and vertical axis separately (which is weird), it is smoother going.
That said, I think this game is going to be pretty challenging – but awesome. To recap, you play a grizzled Joel commissioned to take a young teen, Ellie, across a USA devastated by a deadly fungus that infests humans bodies/brains causing uncontrollably violent behaviour, and eventually death. This – if we’re being purists – does not a zombie make. So it’s not a zombie apocalypse – don’t call it that or puppies will cry.
The two infected types, the Runners and the Clickers are your enemies. The runners can see, and tend to attack in groups, while the clickers are blind (due to the fungus growth colonizing their entire cranium) but seem more deadly.
Without doubt, stealth will be your friend until you master pinpoint shooting, because ammo is hard to come by. You can fight off the creatures, but when several attack, things can go downhill fast. I took issue with the hand-to-hand combat which boiled down to button mashing.
Otherwise, I think we have something special in this game.
If you can’t wait for its June release, there is a 4-part comic series to fill the gap. The first issue is already out and you can get the e-comic from Dark Horse comics (hard copies too – not sure if in Dubai though). I got mine from the DH iPad app. It’s written by the game writer and it tells Ellie’s story leading up the game story line. We learn that she’s an orphan (or seems to be) forced to fend for herself in a military controlled zoneLife’s tough, but she’s tough too.
How tough are you? Giggity.
By Blakniss
