The Last Of Us (Series)
Posted: 7 months ago, last updated 3 weeks ago.
Author: Andy Robertson.
Overview
Travelling, shooting and surviving as Joel with Ellie means their relationship builds haphazardly, between and during the action. Even without direct control, you step into the shoes of a father’s heartbreak and feel responsible for its resolution.
- The Last of Us is on PlayStation 3
- The Last of Us Remastered is on PlayStation 4
- The Last of Us Left Behind is paid additional content.
- The Last of Us Part II is on PlayStation 4.
Details
Release Date: 14/06/2013
Platforms: PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative and Shooting.
Tips
This game is good if you want to:
Commitment
Players: This is a single player game. It’s possible to get through the game in 12 hours, but taking your time with the narrative and investigating every area will need upwards of 30 hours. The Left Behind additional content adds around 6 hours of further gameplay and substantially fleshes out Ellie's back story and a section in the game where she is looking after Joel.
Costs
The Last of Us Left Behind is a paid expansion for the first game, and adds an important part of the story. There are also packs and bundles, which include multiplayer maps as well as the harder "grounded" mode for the single-player game.
This game is free with PlayStation Now.
Age Ratings
ESRB rated this MATURE with Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol.
In addition to the official ratings, it's worth noting there is a scene that can be interpreted as attempted rape. It also includes a scene where a young person appears to kill himself with a gun.
Accessibility
Difficulty
How you can adjust the challenge of play, and assistance the game offers when you fail or get stuck.
Difficulty Options
Select Difficulty: Select difficulty from a range of presets.
Customise Difficulty: Customise different aspects of the game.
Assistance
Assistance When Stuck: The game notices if you get stuck and provides assistance, such as skipping levels, hints or tutorials.
Assistance With Controls: You can get the game to assist aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc.
Assistance With Direction: Indication of where to go next with arrows, cookie trail and the like.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials, instructions and tips.
Reading
How much reading or listening comprehension is required, and how accessible this is.
Moderate Reading: Moderate reading required.
Large Clear Text: Text is large and clear, or can be adjusted to be.
Any spoken content has subtitles: All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game.
All Dialogue is Voiced: All of the game dialogue and narrative can be voiced.
Controls
How you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.
Remap Controls
You can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Select Preset Controller Mappings: Select preset button layouts.
Swap Sticks: Swap the sticks over.
Invert X/Y Axis: You can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming.
Informative Vibration: Controller vibration indicates aspects of the game, echoing visual and audio cues.
Image
How you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events.
Motion sickness friendly: Option to reduce motion sickness (motion blur, depth of field, field of vision).
Audio
How you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.
Adjustable Audio
Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately.
Customise Audio Levels: Control volume levels of specific events and elements in the game.
Audio Events
Visual Cues for Audio Events: Text or other visual indicators of audio events.
Visual Depiction of Directional Audio: Indication on screen with arrows, icons, located colour splashes and the like, to show where directional audio for damage, footsteps, environmental or way-finding sounds are coming from.
System Settings
PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping)... read more about system accessibility settings.
Supported by PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors: @uncannyvivek
Similar Games
The following games are like The Last Of Us. They address a similar topic or offer a similar way to play. They are good options to play next and also good alternatives to The Last Of Us for younger age ratings.
The Last Of Us is in These Lists
In addition to the similar games listed above, which have been linked to this game specifically in the database, you may find games with a similar theme to The Last Of Us in the following lists:
Walk in Someone Else's Shoes
In contrast to films or books, characters and relationships in video games need to be discovered by the player. Some of my favourite relational moments in games happen amidst other action. Often these other actions – whether shooting, puzzle-solving, or fetching and carrying – serve to underline the difficult, awkward and snatched nature of interpersonal interactions.
Big Budget Popular Games
Free With PlayStation Now
- PlayStation Now costs £8.99/month
- PlayStation Plus costs £6.99/month
- Screen Share – Let's someone in another place watch your game on their PlayStation. PlayStation Plus is not required for either party
- Pass the Controller – Let's someone in another place take turns on a game you own, without owning the game themselves. PlayStation Plus is required for the host, but not for the guest
- Playing Together – Let's you play local co-op or split screen games with someone in another place who has a PlayStation. PlayStation Plus is required for both players
Attempt The Impossible
This might be grappling with the flying mechanics in Rocket League, getting endlessly lost trying to find the next guardian in Shadow of the Collosus or coming up with the right tactic to get enough money for the ship you need in Elite. Of course, some of these games can be made easier, but to play them at their best is to ramp up the difficulty to max (crushing on The Last Of Us for example) and let them give you all they've got.
Interpret Deeper Meaning
The games in this list have been the subject of a series of articles I have written about video games and faith. Firstly, from 2013-2015 for ThirdWay magazine, and more recently for Youth and Children's Work (YCW) magazine.These are two publications for Christian audiences, that have invited me to shed light on what a range of video games might mean for those communities. I aim to make connections with faith, the bible and the experience of these video games. This is one way to interpret them which of course invites further and possibly counter interpretations from other perspectives.
YCW articles:
Firewatch | Everything | Bury Me My Love | Abzu | Wilmot's Warehouse
Thirdway Articles:
Proteus | Joust | Uncharted 3 | Alan Wake | This War of Mine | Journey | Limbo | Spaceteam | A Dark Room | Altos Adventure | A Year Walk | Bioshock Infinite | The Last of Us | Disney Infinity | Everybody's Gone to the Rapture | That Dragon Cancer | Spec Ops The Line | Papo and Yo
Space For Grief
I've come up with some games that explore this topic, along with help and suggestions from Gaming The Mind (Twitter), an organisation of UK-based mental health professionals who aim to promote positive mental health within the gaming community. By focusing on the intersection between gaming and mental health, they want to raise awareness of mental health challenges and reduce the stigma surrounding these issues. "We express grief in different ways depending on our age," they said. "To help children cope with loss, it is important that they receive honest explanations about death, appropriate to their level of understanding. With these games, players may find valuable space in which to acknowledge grief as a completely normal reaction to bereavement."
"The games we have selected don't necessarily offer an ideal way to cope with death but tackle the topic of death openly and with a positive attitude. They can help show the player that they are not alone in what they are going through. Playing these games with young people, and answering questions they might have along the way, can be a useful starting point for important conversations about grief."
Tell White Lies
Whether it's not telling Ellie the truth about her unique response to the infection so she can have a "normal" life in The Last Of Us, lying about who's drugs they are to save a friend in Life Is Strange, deciding not to be honest with friends to save their feelings and avoid confrontation in Oxenfree or rearranging an old man's memory so he thinks he's made it to his dream in To The Moon, telling lies is sometimes the right thing to do.
The games in this list challenge our neat conceptions of right and wrong. Playing them, we face the messiness of real-world justice and consider the power of withholding the truth. We might not always agree with the reasons or ethics, but we have a chance to revisit our values as we play.
Thank you for using our resource, supported by AskAboutGames, ParentZone and PlayAbility Initiative. We are editorially independent, written by parents for parents, but welcome sponsorship, partnership and suggestions. Email our editor for details on these opportunities.The information on this database is designed to support and complement the in-depth discussion and advice about video game "addiction", violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. If you have any concerns or questions in these areas, email our editor who is quick to respond or can arrange for a one-to-one conversation.