Introduction

The Last of Us takes place roughly twenty years in the future. Following the modern-day outbreak of a fungus which changes people into homicidal, runny-zombies, things quickly look bleak for mankind. The game places us in the shoes of a grizzled, post-apocalyptic veteran named Joel. I figure that covering as little of the base storyline as possible will make things interesting for first-timers, so we’ll leave it at that That said, if you go into this expecting an Uncharted-style feel, crazy parkouring, and insane gunplay, prepare to be surprised. It focuses quite heavily on resource management (especially on higher difficulties), stealth, and playing things safe. Oh yeah -- NO REGENERATING HEALTH.

The game was released in June of 2013, seen as the swan song for the PS3. What we ended up with is probably the most eye-catchingly gorgeous game of the generation, complete with satisfying gameplay and a rather nice story.


We’re gonna be doing things a bit different on the commentary front. Working with me on this is Skippy Granola, who is coming in to the game blind. I streamed a bit of this in the past, so he’s only seen maybe the first couple of hours.

For those in the dark, I’ll be going with two commentary options: edited for cutscenes/important dialogue, and just uncut. Youtube will be the primary player for both options, but I’ll have a dual-audio source available via hosted download. The episode banner links to no-commentary over cutscenes, the second link is uncut, and the third is for the source MP4 with dual-audio commentary (right click > save as).

As for the LP itself, I’ll be playing on Hard Mode. There is a mode called Survivor (unlocked after beating the game), but given how unforgiving it is, I don’t think it’d make for an enjoyable LP to watch. I’d basically spend almost all of it tie-toeing on broken glass, whereas I’d like to make the most of the combat in a botched stealth segment, if possible. Normal gets a bit too generous with items/ammo at times, so Hard should be a nice middle-ground. Also, this is going to be a 100% LP. There are collectibles, special interactions, optional dialogues, and so forth in store for us.




Alternate Ending! ((Official Naughty Dog Video))

Post-game viewing! This guy covers the theory behind the game in a series called The Rootwork Building. It's still ongoing at this point, but definitely worth looking in to!

The Making of The Last of Us (~90m Documentary)




Released a number of months after The Last of Us, the “Left Behind” DLC covers a bit of Ellie’s backstory. Specifically, it sheds some light on the friendship Ellie had with her pal Riley, meaning that it takes place before the events of the main game. I could elaborate a bit more on the setting, but we’ll keep it light to avoid spoilers

That said, you should only be watching this after having played/seen the entirety of the main-game. There are several spoilers and nods to things which take place in the original game’s story-mode, and you should definitely avoid this LP if you don’t want that stuff spoiled!


For the DLC, I’ve got my buddy Panzer Skank tagging along! She played the original game, but hasn’t had time to tackle DLC due to work and stuff (ps: ROUNDABOUT!). The format for the LP itself will follow the same approach as the main campaign’s LP; specifically, three links per update (uncut commentary, cut commentary, and a hosted source video with dual audio tracks).