Today at Pax East I got a chance to experience a game by one of my favorite developers since childhood, Naughty Dog. Their new game “The Last of Us” was given as a 30 minute playable demo on the exhibit floor. The demo ironically took place in a mostly destroyed  Boston where the military dropped a bomb in order to kill waves of the infected. A lot of infected still linger around the city and prove to be a barrier for the main protagonists Joel, Ellie and a woman who is still a mystery to the plot of the story. Their objective is to make their way through the city without being detected or killed by the infected and make their way to the capitol building for shelter. The game gives you a bit of a glance at the crafting mode; where you use random objects you find in the area to create new ones. For example, you can use a cloth and some blade to make a makeshift knife.
According to one of the games producers, Sam Thompson, the crafting system can be used to cater to your game style. He used the alcohol bottles that you find on the ground as an example. You’re able to either use them to make a medkit and play defensive, or make a Molotov to do more damage to foes. The game seems to always balance itself out and make a seemingly good situation short lived. Stronger weapons that you craft break easier and killing monsters instead of sneaking around wastes ammo. That wouldn’t be an issue if the case wasn’t that you only get less than 20 bullets per map. It makes you really have to consider when the necessary situation for using those bullets will come about. In replacement of the combat, you are able to use tactics to get yourself around the enemies by making distractions with the various objects found laying around the game world. It’s possible to throw a glass bottle, watch the monster run to the distraction and then slit his throat with your knife from behind. If things really get frantic and you have no weapons to protect you, the combat controls are pretty well polished with great reactions like Uncharted.
Introduced to us were two types of enemies and showcased some of the development of this “virus” and it’s affects on the victims. Â “Runners” are enemies who were recently infected and still have some of their eye vision to see the player and attempt to kill. The “Clickers” are enemies that have had the virus for a longer period of time and are completely blind. They use a form of sonar by clicking to sort of hear where the player is. The game itself is truly beautiful; the production quality is exactly what I would expect from a company like Naughty Dog. After seeing this demo I am seriously excited to play this game on June 14th!
Till next year gamers,
-Bear