Sony has released the first in a series of video dedicated to the creation of The Last of Us. It starts fromintroductionwhich is explained and commented by the developers and writers of the HBO TV series of the same name.
“In one horrible night, Joel’s life was changed forever. Serving as an introduction for players to the world of The Last of Us, the evening spent with Joel, Sarah and Tommy as the cordyceps epidemic changes everything solidifies the tone, the style and stakes of the franchise’s world.”
At this point be careful, because in case you haven’t played The Last of Us, you might not want to see the advances contained in the video. So consider yourself warned.
Naughty Dog explained the importance of the intro, which is the first opportunity to give players an impression of The Last of Us. The developers changed the sequence during development, adjusting it as needed. One of the differences? Originally players were supposed to control Joel much earlier.
“The start of the game was one of the last things we finalized while creating The Last of Us,” says Naughty Dog president and The Last of Us co-director Neil Druckmann. “For a long time the plan was to play as Joel, not Sarah, and one as Joel would hear noises in the neighbor’s house, go there and see that they had been infected. Then go back to take the daughter… and then everything else [nel gioco finale] remained as planned.”
To avoid that the chosen solution seems too obvious, Naughty Dog opted to put the player in Sarah’s shoes: “It felt like a very special way to approach [questa storia]. The fact that you’re seeing it from the point of view of a very innocent little girl makes it all the more creepy and scary and that’s become our guiding star.”
The video actually contains many more curiositysuch as the one related to the end of development and how the situation also affected the introduction: “”[Dato che questo livello è stato completato quasi alla fine dello sviluppo], the chaos of trying to finish the game infiltrated that of what was happening and we felt that that was just the excitement, the confusion, the chaos, being disjointed, not knowing what was going to happen. The chaos escalates and comes to a head as Joel carries away a wounded Sarah from screaming civilians, snarling infected, and blazing flames. But just when he thinks he can escape the scene, a soldier draws a gun on him with clear instructions to kill him. To protect his daughter, Joel turns just as the soldier fires, but that’s not enough. Joel loses the world of him in one intensely brutal moment.”
In short, if you love The Last of Us watch the video to discover some of its secrets.
