The Last of Us (PS3) By: Sony THE road trip is an American movie tradition, but unlike National Lampoon's Vacation or Due Date, The Last of Us is a bleak, depressing affair. Like Wild Hogs.Laser-focused on its characters and painting the apocalypse as a deeply personal experience, The Last of Us may be grief-roasted in a Cormac McCarthy-esque vibe but it has more heart and brains than a frozen meat pie. Who could have guessed that the most effective on-screen vision of the end of the world would come courtesy of a videogame?With zombies everywhere nowadays, the last thing the world needed was another undead-blasting videogame. Except Last of Us comes from Crash Bandicoot creator Naughty Dog, who have put nary a foot wrong in two decades and are still figuring out ways to cajole new tricks from the PlayStation 3.After the Grade A disappointments of Dead Space 3, Resident Evil 6 and Silent Hill: Downpour, The Last of Us tells a very human story with none of the survival genre's high camp. Twenty years after a virus mutates most of the world's population, humanity is fighting for its very survival in this beautifully written and performed masterpiece.Finally moving on from their Uncharted series, Naughty Dog use the same basic engine that powered Nathan Drake's adventures sans the Hollywood derring-do. Mixing elements from Half Life, Resident Evil and Fallout, Last of Us is a totally original cocktail that invests as much in its storytelling as it does in gunplay as grizzled anti-hero Joel and tough-as-nails teenager Ellie slug, blast and sneak their way through fungi-faced mutants and jackbooted army types on a trek across America.Kicking off with a blistering, tension-soaked intro that shames most movies, Last of Us is a far cry from Resident Evil. For one thing, the zombies aren't really zombies but humans infected with a fungus. And athlete's foot cream just ain't gonna cut it.Coming in two delicious flavours, recently infected act like gurning tramps who rush in packs as though you were made of Special Brew. When the fungus reaches its peak, enemies go "full mushroom", becoming sightless ghouls with acute hearing.Unlike typical blasters, Joel and Ellie aren't loaded to the dentures with high-tech weaponry and must scavenge the horrifically desolate landscape for precious ammo and supplies while your approach to encounters determines how battles play out.Armed with only a plank of wood, enemies will attack en masse. Pack firepower and they'll use tactics, taking cover in an attempt to flank you. Sneaky-sneaky or shotguns blazing, the choice is always yours with dynamic battles that feel disturbingly real. Your arsenal can also be juiced up at workbenches, offering everything from scissors for the end of that plank to rifle scopes.Joel is portrayed by voice-over veteran Troy Baker while The Killing star Ashley Johnson plays Ellie. Both give understated, utterly believable performances that elevate the rather silly plot to cinematic glory.The visuals are easily the best you'll see on the current crop of consoles (and will surely take some beating by the next gen) while a minimalist score from Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain composer Gustavo Santaolalla adds a touch of warmth to the starkly rendered gloom.This is a blockbuster with arthouse smarts and you genuinely care about these characters as they wander through the wreckage. Yet while nuanced and thoughtful, this is popcorn misery and The Last of Us still recognises the videogame value in taking someone's face off with a lead pipe.The fisticuffs can be a tad clunky while there are noticeable seams between action and storytelling sections, which aren't as lovingly integrated as in the Bioshock series.Still, The Last of Us manages around 16 hours of gaming gold that pushes the PlayStation 3 to its limits. Multiplayer only adds to the value, with stealth-oriented action as you take on four rivals or manage a stable of characters over 12 weeks, attempting specific missions to gain skills and items.Bioshock Infinite was easily my shoo-in for Game of the Year. But that was before my PS3's mouth had savoured the sweet video-gamey taste of The Last of Us. A new beginning for horror games and a wonderful end to the PS3 era, proving there's still life in the old (naughty) dog. The next generation has come early.
