14 DAY TRIAL // The Last of Us is the next big game coming from Naughty Dog, the famous developer responsible for franchises like Uncharted or Jak and Daxter.
As opposed to those series, The Last of Us promises to deliver a highly realistic survival experience taking place in a post-apocalyptic America that's been infested by a fungal virus, creating mutants and forcing remaining humans to either take shelter or start plundering.
After lots of details, screenshots, and videos, Naughty Dog and Sony have released a single-player demo for The Last of Us on the PlayStation 3, exclusively for God of War: Ascension owners.
Can the new survival game deliver a great experience worthy of the Naughty Dog brand or should its mutants devour it whole? Let's have a quick look.
Right from the get-go, The Last of Us introduces the main characters, Joel and Ellie, but also a secondary one, Tess, a former associate of Joel who's helping them navigate the ruins of a city.
Unfortunately, the game doesn't start out on the right foot, as the graphics, while impressive for the PlayStation 3, look extremely dated, especially when talking about textures on the ground or on the buildings. The fact that the demo takes place at night takes another toll on the game, as the darkness drowns out any interesting visuals.
In terms of gameplay, The Last of Us is really similar to Uncharted in certain areas, like the movement system, the quick-time events, or even the shooting.
Overall combat, however, is a bit different, as while guns can be used, if you find enough ammo, there's a bigger reliance on blunt weapons, like crowbars, and on distractions, like empty bottles or bricks.
Fighting in The Last of Us is hectic, brutal, and really fast-paced, feeling much like real brawls. Joel needs to always keep his distance from the infected and escape by crawling to the side every time mutants gang up on him.
It takes a few tries before starting to get the hang of the combat system, although it's a bit annoying to know that both Ellie and Tess could have helped out during an encounter but only hid on the sidelines.
Overall, The Last of Us is looking pretty impressive although by far its biggest let down is in the visual department.
Check out a video playthrough of The Last of Us demo on PS3 above.