It was easy to gush over every trailer, screenshot, and gameplay presentation for The Last of Us rattled off in those early months of its public existence. Encouragingly, though, the austere appeal of its dilapidated world hasn’t rusted as we draw closer to the game’s early 2013 release.
Naughty Dog‘s panel presentation at San Diego Comic-Con proved yet another example. Not for showing off a sequence of the game’s brutally effective combat or releasing a batch of highly polished screenshots, but rather for a simple, yet stunning portrayal of The Last of Us‘ cinematic ambiance.
Meet Bill, another cast member on the Naughty Dog call sheet revealed at Comic-Con alongside new The Last of Us story details. Bill doesn’t cut corners. Wearing a gas mask and heavily strapped with accouterments, he accompanies Joel and Ellie into his safe house after a narrow escape from a wave of Infected (who are inching ever so close to making their public debut), fuming that all of his traps have now been set-off.
After a tense, physical minute of settling in – which may well be the societal norm for exchanging pleasantries 20 years after the Cordyceps unilateralis virus annihilated the global population – we also learn Bill is indebted to Joel for some past exploit of the two. Why? Naughty Dog wouldn’t go that far. But the developer hinted that it might be pivotal to the events of the game, promising to reveal more on Bill’s backstory in the coming months.
In any case, despite his initial appraisal that the obliged favors “aint worth that much” – “Actually, Bill, they are.” – the mechanically-inclined acquaintance is convinced to help Joel and Ellie hunt down parts to assemble a working automobile. (The pair’s pick-up truck has already joined the motor vehicle graveyard encompassing most of the world.)
And yet as intriguing as the story may be before the title-screen cutaway, the scene truly captivates for its pristine cinematic realism: breathtaking voice acting as the breathless characters exchange back and forth (Bill is voiced by W. Earl Brown – Deadwood’s Dan Dority), dynamic facial expressions about as lifelike as this generation is going to produce, and spot-on lighting and sound effects intimating that famous Naughty Dog obsession to detail.
The scene was enough to steal the minds of our team in attendance yesterday, and its new official release will doubtless have the same effect on fans – even (or especially) with so much time until the final product is released.
The Last of Us is slated for a release in 2013, exclusively for the PlayStation 3.
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Follow me on Twitter @Brian_Sipple.
Source: Official PlayStation Blog
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This game looks to be something special, Naughty Dog’s got another gem on their hands.
I wasn’t very involved with Naughty Dog’s last title Uncharted, but I’ve gotta tell you I am really excited for this game. Looks really good and Naughty Dog has enough experience to pull of another great hit.
Now if only they had put all of this work into a game running on some real hardware it could look awesome…
Good voice acting for a game though. Too bad not every developer cares that much about it. I’ve seen some really really bad examples, lol.
@Ken J
Does it not look awesome already? I’m completely satisfied with games running on current consoles, but not all of them, of course.
Games like Batman:Arkham City, Uncharted, Halo, etc keep me patient for next-gen. Others not so much.
Being a PC gamer ruined my expectations for next-gen lol I feel like I’m already playing it.
@ATG
Eh, I’m a little spoiled. It looks good for a console game, but I get really annoyed when I see the blocking you see in the shadows, and the blurry textures, all of the jaggies everywhere, etc. etc…
@ATG
And about Batman: Arkham City, play the PC version for a couple of hours, then play the PS3 or Xbox version right after. Your eyes will bleed at how terrible it looks in comparison… I played it at my friend’s house on his PS3 and I was shocked at how terrible it looked…
Just chiming in to say that W. Earl Brown is great as Bill and the scene really shines in person.
@ken J
What about arkham city on consol looks bad?
OMG, seriously, I got the same thing from all of the kids in that room while we were playing it at my friends house. You guys say that because all you’ve played are other console games. Seriously. Play the game on a PC with all settings on high. Play it for a few hours. Then play it on either console. Then see if you still have any questions… Trust me, you won’t…
you have right, i own a ultimate gaming pc and nothing on consoles can be comparized, but we must say that a ultra game machine has a proibitive price, if i must purchase a graphic card only i have to spent 600 eur,o and is not the most powerful… for that i have to pay at leas 1000 euro! and i must change that after one year of use… a console cost 500 euro at day one but the life is something about 8-10 years… in this point we can decide.. at day one a console quality game is same of pc… after 8 years, is obvious is not..a question of choice… the last of us is a masterpiece form me anyway… graphic , phisique… playability.. i own all consoles and a pc..
sorry for my english
Wow, this trailer/cutscene is amazing! The graphics and animations are as good as it gets on current-gen consoles, and the characters’ personalities really shine through. I really like Ellie’s behavior.
@Matt
I agree, she’s totally feisty, pretty cool.