Every year, video game publications award one game the ultimate title of Game of the Year. Each publication’s choice varies, especially in years that are treated to the release of many great video games. 2013 was one of those years, but instead of the expected diversity among a majority of the video game publications, one game has been topping lists and stealing the award.
Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us” has already been named Game of the Year by “Giant Bomb,” “Kotaku,” “GamesRadar,” “Destructoid,” “USA Today” and many other video game publications. Other major publications, such as “IGN,” “Game Informer” and “Polygon,” have yet to crown their game of the year, so “The Last of Us” may take more awards yet. After playing Naughty Dog’s latest game, it’s difficult to not root for it. “The Last of Us” is a beautiful, story driven experience that left me in tears.
The game features Joel, a rough and pained man who smuggles goods in and out of quarantine zones for a living, and Ellie, a spunky 14-year-old who knows her way around a gun. Tasked with smuggling Ellie to another zone, the pair journeys into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Rampant with Clickers — zombie-like humans who are the result of a pandemic that destroyed civilization — and other potentially dangerous survivors, the two are forced to rely on each other for survival as they cross the U.S.
As expected of a Naughty Dog game, the characters will feel like your close friends. All of Ellie and Joel’s mannerisms and conversations feel genuine, resulting in two of the strongest and most well-developed video game characters in 2013, not to mention one of the most touching relationships of the year. Even some of the unseen characters that live in notes and journal entries scattered throughout the world are compelling and lively, and one of them ended up being my favorite character of the game. Yeah, the writing is that strong.
Aside from the brilliant characters, the writing and design of the game excels in creating an oppressive atmosphere that can’t be experienced in most games. “The Last of Us” is difficult, but not in the way you’d expect. Its difficulty stems from your realistic lack of power and resources, which helps Naughty Dog to further it’s game’s tense tone. Unless you’re playing on easy, don’t expect to find much ammo, health or supplies — this is a post-apocalyptic environment, after all.
Though many publications gave the award to “The Last of Us,” those that didn’t helped to prove how great of a year 2013 was for video games. “The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds,” “Super Mario 3D World” and “Grand Theft Auto V” have been given the award at least once from other publications but haven’t come close to touching the amount of awards “The Last of Us” has received. They’re all fantastic games, but “The Last of Us” has that extra something that puts it on another level.
