The last of Us (franchise)
Introduction:
The Last of Us is an action-adventure video game franchise created by Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic United States ravaged by cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated fungus in the genus Cordyceps. It follows several survivors, including Joel Miller, a smuggler who lost his daughter during the outbreak; Ellie Williams, a young girl who is immune to the infection; and Abby, a soldier who becomes involved in a conflict between her militia and a religious cult. The games use a third-person perspective in which the player fights against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures with firearms, improvised weapons, and stealth.
Game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Druckmann led the development of the first game, The Last of us, which was released for PlayStation 3 in June 2013. A downloadable content addition, The Last of Us: Left Behind, was released in February 2014 and follows Ellie and her best friend Riley. A remastered version, The Last of Us Remastered, was released for PlayStation 4 in July 2014. Druckmann continued to lead the development of a sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which was released for PlayStation 4 in June 2020. A remake of the first game, titled The Last of Us Part I, was released for PlayStation 5 in September 2022, and Windows in March 2023. An untitled multiplayer game is in development.
The series has received critical acclaim and has won numerous awards, including several Game of the Year recognitions; the first game has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, and the second won more than 320 Game of the Year awards. Games in the series are among the best-selling PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 games. As of January 2023, the franchise has sold over 37 million games worldwide. Strong sales and support of the series led to the franchise's expansion into other media, including a comic book in 2013, live show in 2014, television adaptation by HBO, haunted house by Universal Studios, and tabletop game by Themeborne in 2023, and an upcoming tabletop game by CMON.
Media
Games:
The Last of Us was released for PlayStation 3 on June 14, 2013. A remastered version, titled The Last of Us Remastered, was released for PlayStation 4 in July 2014.Twenty years after losing his daughter Sarah during the outbreak of the mutant Cordyceps fungus, Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie, a teenage girl who is immune to the infection, across a post-apocalyptic United States so the revolutionary group Fireflies can potentially create a cure. Throughout their journey, the two become closer after experiencing several traumatic events. After arriving in Salt Lake City, Ellie is prepared for surgery, which will involve killing her. Unwilling to let her die, Joel battles his way to the operating room, kills the lead surgeon, and carries the unconscious Ellie to safety. When Ellie wakes up, Joel lies to her, stating the attempts to create a cure had failed.
The Last of Us: Left Behind was released for PlayStation 3 on February 14, 2014. A downloadable expansion pack of The Last of Us, Left Behind was included in Remastered for PlayStation 4 in 2014, and was released as a stand-alone expansion pack for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 on May 12, 2015. It is set three weeks before the events of the main game, following Ellie as she spends time with her best friend Riley in an abandoned mall in Boston. Riley reveals she has been assigned to a group of Fireflies in a different city. Ellie tearfully begs Riley not to leave; Riley agrees and rips her Firefly pendant off, prompting Ellie to kiss her. They are overrun by Infected and both bitten. They briefly consider shooting themselves to prevent the infection taking over them, but instead choose to spend their final hours together.
The Last of Us Part II was released for PlayStation 4 on June 19, 2020. Four years after the events of the first game, Abby Anderson tracks down and kills Joel as revenge for murdering her father, the head Firefly surgeon. Ellie and her girlfriend Dina set out for Seattle to track down Abby. Over the course of three days, Ellie kills several of Abby's friends, while Abby befriends Lev, who has been branded an apostate after defying the traditions of the religious cult Seraphites. After Abby discovers her friends dead, she tracks down Ellie and overpowers her, but spares them at Lev's insistence. Several months later, Ellie and Dina are living on a farm. Ellie sets out to find Abby again in Santa Barbara; she discovers Abby and Lev captured and forces Abby to fight. Ellie overpowers her but has a change of heart and lets her live. Abby and Lev sail to the Fireflies, while Ellie returns to the farmhouse and finds it empty.
The Last of us Part I was released for PlayStation 5 on September 2, 2022, and for Windows on March 28, 2023. It is a remake of the first game, featuring revised gameplay, overhauled artificial intelligence, improved performance, and expanded accessibility options.
An untitled standalone multiplayer game—a sequel to the multiplayer mode of the original—is in development.
