Overview of The Last of Us

By Lissa Milano

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Figure 1 showing Ellie and Joel

Summary

Joel was just a normal single father to his daughter Sarah until the apocalypse happened one night, forcing him into a different life where he has to struggle to survive each day from zombie-like creatures called the infected. The story picks up twenty years later with Joel and his partner, Tess, easily making their way around the Quarantine Zone, what’s left of the military resistance. Joel and Tess stumble across a young girl named Ellie who was being transferred to a safe zone secretly. Now Joel needs to transport Ellie somewhere safe for she might hold the key to the survival of humanity.

Features I love about the game

  • The story – Storyline wise, The Last of Us is amazing. The plot is great and the survival feels real. The environment feels real as you explode a broken world and encounter people that grew up only knowing how to survive in such a place. You start to believe in the characters and cheer them on in what seems like a fruitless yet desperate task to find a cure.

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Figure 2 showing an overview of the world

  • The characters – Joel, Ellie, and even secondary characters such as Sarah and Tess are all relatable and show real emotions and individual personalities. The emotion that is brought out by the characters and their surroundings is simply beautiful. You really feel like you’re right there with them, struggling to survive in the apocalypse. There will be constant moments where you’ll be fearing for a number of characters’ lives and well being as if they were real people.

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Figure 3 showing the two main characters

  • The landscape – The atmosphere and environment are simply beautiful. They flow with the story and the feel of the game perfectly. You almost start believing that you’re part of Joel’s world as you help guide him along paths and make decisions.

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Figure 4 showing the landscape

My favorite things Beautiful graphics Touching storyline Feeling of survival Realistic characters
Not so much things Too many characters come and go Tough zombie fights Items are harder to find Some horrific scenes

Here is a short story trailer to the game. The one minute long trailer is enough to grab attention to the emotion of the game. 

Reflection:  

Encoding to me was a more difficult process than clicking on the button to change the view for you. For example, when I wanted to do something in bold I had to write out the whole process instead of just one click and I’m done type thing. It took me a lot longer to get anywhere with my post with just doing the text version and not the usual visual. I would say an advantage to typing in the text form would be that you know the placement and the exact form you want as you create your piece. Some disadvantages would be that it is easier to make mistakes with so much to remember and look out for. It’s also confusing and takes longer if you don’t know what you’re doing to start with.

Liu’s article on _Transcendental Data _actually made the process of encoding more confusing for me. I didn’t fully understand the points Liu was making. I’ll zero in on what Liu is trying to say about the separation of content on page 58. I believe Liu is saying that encoding is about consumption management. There is a kind of management when it comes to writing in the text form and not the visual. You need to create your piece in a manageable format as to keep yourself from getting confused by having to type out the commands. Liu also states that there are three powerful needs for transmission of information: transformable, autonomously mobile, and automate. I believe Liu’s point with these three needs is that encoding is a process that needs to be considered before attempting. When I started my post, I didn’t know how to begin in the text form. I had to research what to do in order to form what I wanted to say.