The Last of Us will push the medium further – Naughty Dog

By: Musa Afridi

  |   July 27th, 2012   |  

News, Uncategorized

The game’s developer is set to adopt a serious tone with The Last of Us and will push players to live with the consequences of their in-game actions.

The three Uncharted games that have been released thus far adopt a more light hearted approach to mowing down small armies in pursuit of treasure and eventually saving the world by the end of each game.

The game’s protagonist, Nathan Drake, has already become a gaming icon and is known for wise cracking and quick wit in the most dire of situations; however, Naughty Dog is set to flip all of that on its head with The Last of Us.

An indication of that is how the new IP from the studio will rated ‘Mature’ instead of the ‘Teen’ rating that the Uncharted series was rated as and Naughty Dog believe that the new game will look “to truly marry gameplay to the emotions and motivations of the two protagonists trying to survive, Joel and Ellie.”

This means a more gritty and visceral experience than gamers have experienced in the Uncharted series but at the same time the compelling storytelling and production values from the developer’s other series will carry forward into the new one.

Bruce Straley, the game’s director, pointed out that the studio was focused on building the game around a solid story and explained the studio’s approach towards achieving that goal.

He said, “We just feel that if you’re going to do a story, then you should learn how to make the story. It’s as simple as that. If you’re going to write a book, you should probably take a class on writing.”

Straley also pointed out that Naughty Dog was looking to “do the best video game – interactive medium, storytelling, interaction, etc. – that we possibly can,” which means raising the bar higher than what the Uncharted series has done so far.

As for what the studio wants the players to experience when they play the game, Straley explained that they wanted whoever played the game to “feel aligned with the motivations of these characters.” The characters of course being Joel and Ellie.

Straley continued, “We’re trying to emphasize the reality of the situation that Joel and Ellie are in. There are consequences to your actions.”

The demo of the game, which was shown during Sony’s E3 Press Conference showed a raw, gritty and desperate tone to the game as well as the combat, which can be described as brutal but at the same time completely engrossing.

Whether The Last of Us can live up to the promise remains to be seen but so far it does seem to be living up to the hype surrounding the title.