The Last of Us: Left Behind ROM Description

If you’re a PlayStation 3 owner with good taste, chances are you’ve played or at least heard of The Last of Us by now. It widely received critical and commercial success while also snatching up countless Game of the Year awards. Now, Naughty Dog has given us a chance to step back into the beautiful, decaying world of The Last of Us in the form of Left Behind.

Story and Setting

Stepping into the shoes of Ellie once again, the prequel sections take place before the events of The Last of Us but after the events of American Dreams – the four-part comic series that focuses on the beginning of Ellie and Riley’s friendship. I suggest reading these and finishing the campaign before you start Left Behind.

The Last of Us does an amazing job of immersing you in this post-apocalyptic world, and Left Behind is no different. Although it only lasts a little over around 2 and 1/2 hours, the density of creative gameplay scenarios and emotional character interactions makes this something you won’t want to miss.

Without spoiling anything, this is a giant step forward for AAA development, and Naughty Dog should be commended for their boldness in going places we haven’t seen before outside of the indie movement.

Gameplay

Scavenging for supplies and crafting items is just as fun and rewarding as before, especially on Survivor difficulty, where every scrap counts. Ellie is much more vulnerable than Joel, which adds to the tension felt in combat scenarios. Your chances of survival increase if you sneak around enemies and avoid a fight wherever possible.

Some of these scenarios can play out differently from the original campaign, with the addition of encounters involving both the infected and hunters. It’s incredibly satisfying to stay hidden and use bricks and bottles to draw the infected to the hunters, sit back, and enjoy the chaos you’ve created. It’s a brilliant new mechanic that I only wish they could have incorporated into the full game.

I can’t deny that I enjoyed the brutally violent combat in The Last of Us, but throughout Left Behind, I couldn’t help but imagine what kind of game we could have seen with even less combat.

Exploration and Relationships

Where Left Behind really shines is in its explorative, fun, adolescent nature. Navigating a decaying Halloween store, trying on masks, riding a carousel, and making a game out of throwing bricks at old abandoned cars are just a few of the non-combat-centric activities you’ll find yourself doing. It’s incredibly refreshing, and Naughty Dog should be commended for what they’ve done here.

You get to experience Ellie and Riley’s relationship firsthand, and it’s 100% believable. As tragic as the ending of the main story was, and despite knowing from the beginning how this tale ends, by the end of Left Behind, I found myself so attached to these characters I kept hoping for a happy ending.

It’s almost like going back to watch a scary movie after you’ve seen it a hundred times, but you still find yourself hoping for something good to happen.

Conclusion

Downloadable content can sometimes feel like a quick cash grab, but here it’s different. Left Behind feels important; it feels essential to understanding Ellie’s character better. So if you’re on the fence about this one, don’t hesitate. Left Behind is an amazing experience.