Recently I was lucky enough to interview Ashley Johnson (who plays Ellie) and Neil Druckmann (who is the Creative Director from developer Naughty Dog) about The Last of Us.
Abandoned cities reclaimed by nature. A population decimated by a modern plague. Survivors are killing each other for food, weapons; whatever they can get their hands on.
Joel, a brutal survivor, and Ellie, a young teenage girl who's braver and wiser beyond her years, must work together if they hope to survive their journey across the US. First announced at E3 in 2012, The Last of Us has been one of those games that everyone wanted to find out more about.
In the interview with Ashely, we talk about the role of Ellie, what's its like to do mocap, how Ashley got the role, and I even ask her about Avengers 2! And much more besides:
At the event, Neil coined the phrase Survival Action to describe The Last of Us, and that really does fit very well with the game.
The Last of Us isn't just a game where you run around killing things, it's a game that really makes you think about what to do next. You have very limited resources so just shooting anything and everything will result in using all your valuable resources and that will get you killed. There are times that you will need to just hide and wait for your opportunity to sneak past, but there are times you have no choice but to stand and fight.
And choice is a theme that runs throughout the game. Throughout the game you scavenge for supplies, whether its ammunition, rags or alcohol and you have to decide what to do with those supplies. Do you use your crafting skills to make a health kit out of the rags and alcohol which could save your life, or do you make a molotov cocktail which may also save your life? What choices will you make?
The Last of Us will be released on the PlayStation 3 from Sony on June 14th 2013 so not long to wait now!