The Last of Us - New Game by Naughty Dog

So yesterday (I almost feel terrible linking the last post made before this but oh well) I posed the question that has been on a lot of minds this past week:  "What the hell is The Last of Us?"  And tonight on the Spike VGAs, the answer was revealed to us.  In a trailer that went on for just under two and a half minutes (not counting the time spent on showing Presenting screens and other such non-game-related things) we have got a pretty good introduction into the game but by no means do we know a lot about it.  What can be said is that it is definitely post-apocalypse (more to the I Am Legend style, also possibly Enslaved?  I didn't play that, but I think I'm remembering right) and it is definitely having to do with 'infected' humans that may or may not act like 'zombies'.  But at the same time, it's being made by Naughty Dog, so those put off by the last thing should still have some interest at least.

Unsurprisingly, the game looks absolutely beautiful and the animations are as fluid and just plain good as one would expect from Naughty Dog.  To me, I'm already sold on the concept, but the opinion I'm seeing around the internet is one of dismissal for being 'another zombie game' that we apparently have a glut of.  Which is quite disappointing as it's quite obvious with Naughty Dog at the helm that it'll be quite a bit more than it appears to be at first, but I guess people will see that when it comes out and not a moment before.  Regardless, all I can do is talk with what I've got to work with, which is still very little unfortunately, until more information comes out which won't be soon enough.

I can already tell that that girl is going to be one of the better characters of 2012, even though she'll be up against some rough opposition (The Last Guardian says what), or at least she should be with all things considered, which I'm quite looking forward to.  There's just a quality that Naughty Dog puts into their trailers (well, their characters that comes -through- in their trailers) that elevates whatever or whoever it is, so just the subtle characterization made with "Ellie" in those two and a half minutes (the non-flinching reaction to violence, the fact that she's apparently grown up in this disaster world, thus her perceptions are clearly different, etc.) means that any writer worth their salt will be able to make a complex, yet good and understandable character for us all to enjoy.

I am excited for this, quite a bit, and I look forward to seeing what's going to come of it.  The news we have, however sparse it is,  is setting it up to be great as is, so as far as I'm concerned, we're just looking for more filler to accentuate that.  Well, and information to help shape what we're looking at, really.  Despite the Uncharted games that definitely have Naughty Dog in the public's eyes, I don't expect something similar to them, though I don't know what else to really suggest.  Something more platform/puzzle-reliant?  I certainly wouldn't turn it down.

Update!:  There have been a few trickles of information to come out after what we got that seems worthy of at least a little attention.  More or less both are covered here but there's also this to reference as well.  First and foremost, it should be said that the mains have been named Joel and Ellie (though we knew the latter) and are being played by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who has been in a lot of stuff that I have missed completely.  The game, unsurprisingly, will have survival and action parts to it as the pair make their way across the country for reasons unspecified.  Worthy of note is the fact that The Last of Us has apparently been in development for two years and will very likely (and also unsurprisingly) be a Mature game, which will be a first from Naughty Dog.  And if you were hoping to co-op this game with a buddy across the states, that isn't slated to happen as of now, but could change.  Personally, I have serious doubts about having a multiplayer thing at all for the game, but we'll just have to see.  I would hope that it would stick to just telling a story in the single-player perspective and focus on that, really.