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The announcement of The Last Of Us created a massive buzz among the industry and the gamers alike. It was only amplified when it was revealed that Naughty Dog would be developing it. Up until now, all we had was a reveal trailer and a couple of screenshots, with no real idea as to how the world it portrays came to be, why lead characters Joel and Ellie are trying to run away, or from whom. But that changes now, thanks to a video posted on Game Informer, where game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Druckmann sat down to explain it all. As expected, it is going to be a story and character driven adventure.
“The story takes place 20 years after this apocalyptic event happens,” Neil Druckmann explains. He goes on to talk about what the game’s trailer have hinted at; society is collapsing as a result of a deadly virus, and the population has been decimated. Though the government is falling apart, the military comes in and creates certain quarantine zones that act as safe residential areas for the remaining, uninfected survivors. “The entire landmass is broken into chunks. Where you live is different from where you work and where you pick up your supplies and so on,” Druckmann adds. He also goes on to explain that even the quarantine zones begin to fall apart over time, however, as supplies run low, people start losing their minds, and the infected start infiltrating the safe zones.
Artist's impression of the heavily guarded, Military run Quarantine Zone.
“The story picks up in one of the last few remaining quarantine zones” Druckmann goes on. Martial law is rampant, and even the smallest of violations result in immediate execution. The quarantined city the game begins in is split up into various sections, which are heavily-guarded with barbed wires and giant concrete slabs. Scanning for the infected happens constantly. “If you scan positive for infection,” he notes, “you’re taken off to the side and euthanized.”
Then Naughty Dog mentions Joel. Described as being in his 40′s, Joel knows what the world looked like before it was devastated. Over time, he’s begun to become less bound by morality and more bound by doing whatever is necessary to survive. “He is gradually chipping away at his conscience. What he wouldn’t do in the past is almost a daily occurrence at this point,” Bruce Straley adds.
Joel supposedly considers a “black market” within the zone as his only home. And while there, he’s given a task. While he usually deals in “contraband,” such as illicit drugs, illegal weapons and more, this particular job tasks him with smuggling a young girl out of the city. That young girl is Ellie, the other main, albeit non playable, character. No reason was given as to why she is being smuggled, as Druckmann admits that it’s something they’re not ready to talk about.
Druckmann also mentions the game’s beautiful environments. “We have tried to mix the familiar with the unfamiliar. At one side, you have the same streets and the same, wide city, but on the other side, they are flooded and covered in the green fungus. It paints a contrasting picture, a devastated world with the beauty of the nature. And you also have the wildlife roaming around the streets freely, which only inhibits their quest” he adds.
An artist's impression of the fungus covered, flooded and abandoned city streets.
Joel and Ellie’s quest is not an easy one. Joel is caught with Ellie outside of the city, and he’s seemingly unable to return, as he’s now wanted by the military. Having made an oath to a friend within the city that he’d look after and protect Ellie, the two move on outside of the city as a team. Joel knows someone outside of the confines of the quarantine zone and hopes to deposit Ellie in safety then continue on alone.
There you have it, an in-depth look at the game’s world and its doomed fate. The full video can be viewed at the Game Informer website.
Looking forward to it? Can’t wait to know more? Sound off below!
Source – Game Informer
Picture Credits – Naughty Dog via Game Informer
