Video Game Saga *

Earlier this week, Neil Druckmann, creative director for The Last of Us and the games director, Bruce Straley gave an interview with Game Informer in which they went into great detail about the story line of The Last of Us. They revealed that the game will take place 20 years after the outbreak has occurred. When the outbreak first struck, the military tried containing the outbreak by creating quarantine zones but  the infection quickly spread and like the population, the military was heavily infected by the outbreak. And if the infection wasn't bad enough, food supply was low and driving people to go crazy as well. Now all that remains is one military ran quarantine camp and heavily guarded zones in the city. On a regular basis people are being scanned for infection and if tested positive they're taken off to the side and euthanized.

This is where the main character Joel comes in. He is described by Naughty Dog  as a man who knows what the world looked like before the infection hit, it is what keeps his morals in check. However, as time went on Joel realized that he had to sacrifice his morals to do what ever necessary to survive. Joel lives in a black market quarantine zone of the city where he deals in contraband such as illegal drugs and weapons. He is tasked with smuggling out a young girl named Ellie who is seen in the debut trailer with Joel. Why is she being smuggled out is still a mystery and as Druckmann states, "That's something we're not ready to talk about." What we do know is that Ellie was born after the infection and that she is an orphan who often gets into trouble. She has no idea what the world was like before. However, she has taking a liking to pop culture such as comic books and music from before the outbreak.

We come to find that Joel has promised a friend that he would look after Ellie and protect her. He smuggles Ellie out of the city and quickly finds himself being hunted by the military for his decision to leave. While outside the city, the two work as a team as they fight for survival. However, Joel has plans to meet up with a contact to unload Ellie and continue the fight on his own against those infected by the plague. Being a Naughty Dog game there will be plenty more story elements that will offer cinematic twists and turns. Stay tuned for more information! 

You can view the GameInformer interview here