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The Last of Us Part 1 was a game that at first I was sceptical about buying. After reading several reviews on this game I can to the conclusion that it was a game riddled with bugs, performance issues and also had many crash problems. However I still had high expectations for this game. After maybe a year of the game rotting in my wishlist like most of my games there do I finally bought it and I have zero regrets.
The Last of Us Part 1 is story telling at its best. I think I heard somewhere on the internet that the game "has a simple story but complex characters" and I think this is what makes the game story so great. Throughout the game you see Ellie and Joel's relationship changing as they first hate each other and then start to like each other and end up see each other as family near the end. The exchange of dialogue in this game feels like actual conversations you would see in real life with each characters face having realistic human facial expressions and body language. They speak like real people, with interruptions and pauses and imperfections in their speech which makes the conversations feel more natural. The game goes into great detail in these exchanges of dialogue, for example when Joel and Ellie are talking, Joel gets reminded of his daughter Sarah and glances down at the watch she gave to him before the apocalypse started. There are countless more details and definitely more that I have not even noticed but might in a second play through. As mentioned the story is simple which is great, because its easy to follow along and engage your self in it.
A lot of people say that graphics don't mean anything in a game, and its all about gameplay and story. And I agree to an extent, but the graphics in this game are mind blowing and it really immerses you into the environment. I am sure I would still consider this game to be a masterpiece with much more toned down graphics, but the graphics really excel the game. I could not tell you the amount of times I stood in an area to look at the details in the environment. I must of taken 100+ screenshots of the environment throughout my playthrough. However there are a few small issues that I noticed throughout my play through. I did notice that some of the mirrors in the game reflected my character in a way which made it look quite pixilated, however I do specifically remember in the introduction in this game before the apocalypse the mirrors reflected the character nearly perfectly, however this is such a small issue where I simply do not care. I did also find it a tiny bit odd how the puddles of water would reflect the environment around it but not the player. This is another really minor issue that I really think does not matter in the slightest and it might of even just been my settings.
The gameplay I think is the weakest part of the game, but I would say its still great. The combat is nearly perfect and feels smooth and satisfying. The game almost always gives you the choice to either go guns blazing into an area or go as stealthily as possible, slowly picking off enemy AI. Crafting items and choosing when and what item to use in a certain situation adds some more depth to the game play and you can also upgrade your weapons at an upgrade bench, however I did find that I did not use this too much and I had more than enough resources to upgrade my weapons even on the hard difficulty. And if you are struggling to find items and are finding the combat scenes too hard, you can easily turn down the difficulty to suit you best. Personally I stuck on the hard difficulty throughout the playthrough as it felt perfectly fitted to me. Some of the game play does feel very the same throughout the whole game. For example in the water sections you will almost always need to find a raft to bring Ellie across a body of water since she cant swim. It does get repetitive but its not a deal breaker and usually the post apocalyptic environment around me would distract me from getting bored because of just how good it looked. I also need to quickly mention that the transitions of game play to cut scenes are almost seamless.
Anyways, The Last of Us is an amazing game in blending storytelling with gameplay. The story is incredibly gripping and easy to follow along. This is a must play game for me for anyone who is considering it. The game has few bugs throughout and the few that I experienced did not effect my experience with the game a whole lot. The game is definitely in a lot better place when it first launched on PC. I would also say that the £50 price tag is a bit too much. I bought the game on sale for £24 and I would say that, that price is fitting for the game. I just don't think you get enough play time for the money spent. Aside from that, this game is a 9.5/10 for me. Play it if you can.